History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Part 144

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 998

USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth County, Wisconsin > Part 144

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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

over a year. In the fall of 1848, with his health somewhat recuperated, he returned to Wisconsin, spending the winter of that year in Madison, as clerk in the office of " The Revisers of the Statutes." In 1849, he returned to Geneva, and for something more than a year again practiced his profession. In June, 1850, he, in company with C. M. Goodsell, removed to Greenwood, MeHenry Co., Ill., and engaged in merchandising for six years ; in 1856, he returned to Geneva, with the intention ." embarking in the grain business, but delays in the preliminaries resulted in reviving his interest while at leisure, and in his decision to again take up the profession of law, which he adopted permanently that year. He was, for several years subsequent, the partner of Hon. John Wentworth, the present Circuit Judge of the First Judicial Distriet. In 1860, he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court, and, by re-elections, held the office for ten years. He has also been honored by election to many other offices of trust and honor by his fellow-citizens, among whom his unostentatious but conscientious life-work has been done. To the public he is best known by his literary work, which has for many years absorbed his time and efforts. In 1868, he published his first Wisconsin Digest; subsequently, he published two volumes Wisconsin Digest ; also two volumes New York Digest, in continuation of Wait's New York Digest ; also a Digest of English Reports ; one volume Wisconsin Reports, and various contributions to Wait's " Actions and Defenses." Still another volume of the New York Digest is now (1882) nearly ready for the press. He has also, in the leisure snatched from his arduous professional work, published the local chronicles of the region where he lives, in a style rarely excelled by those whose energies and thoughts are undisturbed by more pressing and weighty work. His history of Geneva is known and appreciated by all who have a local interest in the story he has so simply told, and admired by others for the purity of its narrative. To his neighbors he is known as an upright eitizen, and the true friend ; to the American publie, as a careful and learned member of the legal profession. Mr. Simmons married Miss Catherine MeCotter, of Lyons (then Hudson), Wis., November 12, 1848. They have three children living-John B., a lawyer in Geneva, Wis .; James, a student in Beloit College, and Mary E., his youngest, who resides at home. Mr. Simmons now resides at Geneva, Wis., which has been his permanent home since 1871.

TIMOTHY C. SMITH, hardware merchant, firm of T. C. Smith & Co., Geneva. Mr. Smith was born in Cortland Co., N. Y., in December, 1817, where he was brought up. He came to Milwaukee from Orleans Co., in 1842, and engaged as clerk in the dry goods house of N. S. Donaldson ; this business was conducted in the first briek store erected in Milwaukee; he came to Geneva Oct. 4, 1844, and engaged in general merchandising under the firm name of Donaldson & Smith ; after seven years' partner- ship, Mr. Smith condueted the business alone. In 1865, he engaged in the hardware business ; in 1881, the present partnership was formed. Mrs. Smith, formerly Miss Helen Bowen, was born in the State of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one daughter, Mary S. B.

WM. H. SPENCER, farmer, Sec. 19 ; P. O. Elkhorn. Son of Hiram S., who was born in Ver- mont, 1800, and removed to St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., when a young man ; married Miss Lois Mosely, and came to Walworth Co. in the spring of 1845, and purchased the farm of Mr. B. Powers, now owned by son ; he died at the homestead, Sept. 1, 1878; his widow still survives and lives with her son, William H .; the parents of Mr. S. have eight children - three sons and five daughters, all of whom are living, viz .: Caroline Mason, Betsey M., Harriman, Wm. H .; Mrs. Howe and Mrs. Gates live in the town of Geneva ; John S. in Chicago ; Charles E. in Sacramento, Cal. ; the two Mrs. Ilarriman in Denver, Colo., and Mrs. Mason in Davenport, Iowa. The children were all born in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. William H., who owns and occupies the homestead, was born in 1836; married Sarah M., daughter of Isaac Harris, born in Livingston Co., N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. S. have four children - Minnie I., Mary, John C. and Etta L .; Mr. S.'s farm contains 200 acres.

SAMUEL H. STAFFORD, Geneva. Mr. Stafford was born at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., in 1811 ; he was brought up to the mercantile business, and was located at Eddytown, Yates Co., N. Y., for a number of years. He came to Kenosha, Wis., and engaged in mercantile trade in September, 1843 ; he came to Geneva, Sept. 26, 1848; and has been numbered among the prominent business men of the village since that time. He was engaged in mercantile business for many years ; in 1865, he purchased the Lake House, which he still owns; he has always been actively engaged in business, and has acquired a eompe- tence ; he has been for many years engaged in the real estate business ; is the owner of mueh valuable prop- erty in the village, and of several fine farms in different towns in the county ; he is Treasurer of " The Farm- ers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company." Mr. Stafford was Deputy United States Marshal of the State of Wisconsin for four years, or during the administration of Presidents Taylor and Fillmore ; he has been President of the corporation of Geneva ; also Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. Mrs. Stafford, formerly Miss Eliza E. Gay, is a native of Saratoga Co., N. Y. The parents of Mr. Stafford, Henry and

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Polly (Gay) Stafford, resided in Yates Co. till their death ; his father was born in 1780, and died in 1864; his mother was born in 1785 and died in 1876; the parents of his wife lived in Geneva at the time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford have two children-Samuel H., born in Kenosha in 1844, and Mary L., wife of G. W. Van Slyck.

EDWARD STEVENS, Geneva. Mr. Stevens was born in Steuben Co., N. Y., March 1, 1808. He removed to Orleans Co. with his parents when a child. He is one of the early settlers of the town of Geneva. He came here in the spring of 1839; he came all the way from Steuben Co., N. Y., with team, coming as far as Ohio with sleigh, intending to make the entire journey by that mode of convey- ance, but the snow failing when they reached Ohio, they came the remainder of the journey by wagon. The entire journey consumed five weeks ; now the journey would be made in thirty-six hours. Mr. Stevens settled on a farm in the town of Geneva, where he lived until 1856, when he removed to the village. Mrs. Stevens, formerly Adeline Stevens, was born in the town of Sangerfield, Oneida Co., N. Y., in 1808. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have had three children, two of whom are now living-Martin E., born in the town of Geneva, in 1839, and Emma, wife of R. W. King; both children are residents of the town of Boone, Boone Co., Neb. Mr. and Mrs. King have three children.

JARVIS VINCENT, farmer, Sec. 31 ; P. O. East Delavan ; born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., in 1810 ; moved with his parents to Onondaga Co. when he was a child, where he was brought up. He was married to Sally A. Waterbury, born in Rensselaer Co., November, 1816. Mr. Vincent came to Walworth Co., Aug. 9, 1845, and settled where he now lives; he purchased his farm of the Government ; he formerly had 200 acres of land ; has now 160. Mr. and Mrs. Vincent have five children, one son and four daughters, viz .: Elizabeth (now Mrs. Hiram Cornwell), Osear F., Phebe A. (now Mrs. Alvin B. Calkins), Edna S. (now Mrs. Daniel D. Fairchild ), and Jennie E. They lost two children, Ida C. Utter, wife of John W. Utter ; died Jan. 18, 1879, and Marvin E.

CHARLES J. WALTERS, capitalist, Geneva Mr. Walters is the son of Joel C. Walters, who was born in the town of Goshen, Litchfield Co., Conn., in 1810. Mr. Joel C. Walters is now a resident of Chicago. Charles J. was born in that city in 1848. He came to Geneva in 1856 with his uncle, Dr. Phillip Maxwell, one of the proprietors of Geneva, in its early history, as will be seen elsewhere. Mr. Walters married Miss Elmina Maynard, a daughter of Mr. Norman Maynard. They have one daughter, Mary D.

SETH K. WARREN, artist, Geneva ; he is a representative of one of the pioneers of Geneva. . His father, R. W. Warren, was born in Windsor Co., Vt., Oct. 5, 1798 ; his father was Thomas Warren. R. W. Warren went to Essex Co., N. Y., when a young man, and afterward to Crawford Co., Penn. He came to Geneva in the summer of 1836, and was prominently identified with the early history of the town, as will appear elsewhere. His wife was Mary Knapp, a native of Cherry Valley, N. Y. They had five children, four of whom are living-Seth K., Julia R. (wife of S. Gardner), Robert W. and Mary A. (now Mrs. George P. Christensen). The last two mentioned were born in Geneva; Seth K. was born in Essex Co., N. Y., in 1823, he being about 13 years of age when he came to Geneva with his father, and has a vivid recollection of the early days in Geneva. His wife was Elizabeth L. Church, born in Ticonderoga, N. Y., in 1829. They have one son-Louis B. Mrs. W.'s mother died in the State of New York. Her father married again, and came to Walworth Co. with his family in 1844. Mr. S. K. W. is an artist by occu- pation ; he began the business of the photographer in the early days of that science. He is now engaged principally in portrait painting.

ANDREW J. WEATHERWAX, merchant tailor, Geneva; he is the oldest merchant tailor of Geneva, having established his business here in 1849. He was born in Orleans Co., N. Y., in 1817, where he was brought up, and served an apprenticeship to the tailor trade. He came to Walworth Co. and settled at Darien in the spring of 1845, where he resided four years; his wife was Miss Irene Pres- ton. They have three children-Marian, Charles and Eda.

JONATHAN WHEELER, Geneva. Mr. Wheeler is engaged in farming and dairying, having a farm of 60 acres, lying within and adjoining the corporation. He was born in Otsego Co., N. Y., in 1811, where he lived till he reached manhood. Ile afterward lived in Yates and Steuben Cos. for many years. Mr. Wheeler learned the trade of a carpenter, when a young man, and followed the business of carpentry, for many years. He came to Geneva in 1855, where he has since resided. His wife was formerly Eme- line Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have six children-Martha, Adelia, Harriet, Sarah, Charles and Horace.

REV. CHAS. A. WILLIAMS, Geneva. He was born in the town of Salem, Washington Co., N. Y., in 1814. He received a preparatory course at the Salem Academy, of which his father was Prin-

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cipal, and graduated at Williams College in 1835. He entered the ministry as home missionary, and was connected with home missions for a number of years. In 1862, he was appointed, hy President Lincoln, Chaplain of the U. S. General Hospital at Keokuk, Iowa, which position he occupied until 1865. After the war, he settled as pastor of the Westminster Church at Rockford, Ill. In 1869, he came to Geneva, and established the Geneva Home School for Boys, which he conducted for five and one-half years; but failing health compelled him to reluctantly relinquish this enterprise. During the last few years, he has devoted himself, as closely as his still delicate health would permit, to literary pursuits. He is the author of " The Age Temptation of American Christians, " and is now engaged on another religious work. Mrs. Williams was formerly Miss Susan F. Hawkes, daughter of the Rev. Roswell Hawkes. She was born in Massachusetts, and is a graduate of Mt. Holyoke Seminary. Her father, a clergyman, aided in the organization of that institution, and in raising the funds necessary for its construction.

IRA WILLIAMS, grocer, Geneva. Mr. Williams is one of the older prominent business men of Geneva. He was brought up in the State of Vermont, where he was born in 1817. His father was a farmer, to which business Mr. Williams was brought up. He received an academical education, and en- gaged in teaching during the winter, for several years. He came to Geneva in the spring of 1852, and settled on a farm in the town of Bloomfield. He sold his farm in 1868, and came to Geneva. Has been in business since 1870. His wife, formerly Alice Claxton, is a native of the North of Ireland. Mr. Williams has three children-Ivan I., Martha Jane, Flack and Frankie ; his two oldest children were born in Vermont, the youngest in town of Bloomfield. His son is of the firm of Williams & Gilhert. Mr. Williams was Assessor of Bloomfield ten years, and has been Assessor of Geneva every year but one since he came here.

E. WOODMAN, mail and express contractor, Geneva. Mr. Woodman was born in Addison, Addi- son Co., Vt., Oct. 8, 1812, but was brought up in the town of Jay, Essex Co., N. Y. He went to Kala- mazoo, Mich., in May, 1836. In October, 1837, he went to Michigan City, where he was married in October, 1839. He kept hotel near Michigan City, and elsewhere, for many years. Mr. Woodman has had the contract for carrying the mail and express between Geneva and Springfield since July, 1855 ; his contract will expire July, 1883, and will then have included a period of twenty-eight years. Few men, in his position in life, have so extensive an acquaintance as he. Of an active, energetic and accommodating spirit, he is ex - tensively and favorably known. llis wife, formerly Miss Almira Warner, was a native of Weston, N. Y .; she died Nov. 6, 1880. Mr. Wheeler has no children living, having lost his entire family of five chil- dren hy those terrible scourges, dyphtheria and scarlet fever.

REV. N. M. ZIMMER, pastor of St. Francis Catholic Church, Geneva. Father Zimmer is a native of Wisconsin ; was born in the town of Menominee Falls, Waukesha Co., Jan. 10, 1848. He is the son of John and Catherine Zimmer, natives of Prussia. He was educated at St. Francis Seminary, near Milwaukee, and ordained, in 1870, by Archbishop Henni. His first charge was at Paris, Kenosha Co., second at Grafton, Ozaukee Co., third at New Munster, Kenosha Co. He assumed his present charge May 28, 1874. He has been pastor of this church a longer time than any other clergyman, since its or- ganization. He is not only a priest, acceptable and heloved by his congregation, but is also a genial and kind-hearted gentleman, one whom it is a pleasure to meet.

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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

SPRING PRAIRIE.

ORGANIZATION.

The town of Spring Prairie was defined as such by act of the Territorial Legislature, January 2, 1838. It was one of the five original towns of the county, and embraced, at that time, two townships, described in the governmental survey, as Towns three in ranges seventeen and eighteen, east,-being the present towns of La Fayette and Spring Prairie. It was then but little more than the defined boundary of a voting precinct- one of five in the county. The place of holding the first election was designated in the organizing act, " to be held at the house of Dr. Hemenway, in Spring Prairie." The first meeting of which there is any record, where town officers were chosen was held in April, 1842. Town Three, range seventeen east, was set off and incorporated as a sepa- rate town, March 21, 1843, under the name of La Fayette, thereby reducing the town of Spring Prairie to its present geographical limits. This sketch is mainly restricted to the town as existing within its present boundaries.

Spring Prairie was originally christened by Mrs. Dr. Hemenway, on hearing a descrip- tion of the beautiful and abundant springs, which gushing out from the prairie, unite and form a large stream, which received the name of Spring Brook. At the organiza- tion of the town in 1838, the name was retained as significant and appropriate.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The surface of the country is varied. Rich and level prairies-gently undulating openings, and wooded hills are so interspersed as to form a beautiful and diversified panorama. The growth of timber is heavier in the northern, than in the southern por- tions of the town, and consists principally of the various varieties of oak, with a few maples, and occasionally a cherry or basswood.

The principal ranges of hills run easterly with Sugar Creek, and from near the center of the town to its southern line.

Given statistically, about seven thousand acres are level; 10,000 rolling ; 6,000 hilly ; and four or five hundred marshy.

Originally, there were 12,000 acres or more of openings within the limits of the town ; about 6,000 acres timbered, principally in the northern part ; the heaviest timber being found on Secs. 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 15. 16, 17 and 18.

There were about 4,000 acres of prairie, located as follows : Spring Prairie in the south western part, comprising a part of sections 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32, and a small por- tion of section 21,-a total of about 1,600 acres ; Gardner's prairie, in the southeastern part, comprising section 25, and part of sections 22, 23, 24, 26, 35 and 36, about 2,000 acres ; also 400 acres in the northeastern corner of the town.

The soil is rich in all the elements necessary to render it eminently suited to agri- cultural pursuits, being a deep vegetable mould, slightly mixed with sand on the south- ern prairies, and burr oak openings, and a whiter soil mixed with clay, well adapted to the raising of wheat and fruits, in the northern white oak openings.

The town is watered by Honey Creek, which enters near the northwest corner, runs south through sections 1, 12 and 13, at the southeast corner of the latter section forming a junction with Sugar Creek, and passing into Racine County ;- by Sugar Creek, which runs nearly through the centre of the town from west to east ;- by White River (the outlet of Geneva Lake) in the southeast corner ;- by Spring Brook, formed from several large springs near the center of the western boundary of the town, and running easterly until it empties into Sugar Creek on Sec. 13 ;- by a stream called Indian Run, which has its source in springs and a small marsh on sections 21, and 22, and runs south into the town of Lyons ; and finally by Marsh Creek, which rises on sections 9 and 10, runs in an easterly direction, and empties into Honey Creek on Section 12.

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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

There are several limestone ledges. The one most extensively quarried is, on Sec- tion 36, in the southeastern part of the town. Large quantities of this stone are used as building material for heavy abutments, sluice ways, cellars, etc., and in the neighboring village of Burlington. Racine Co., for dwellings and manufactories. A less extensive quarry-or one less extensively worked,-is on Section 16, on the farm of Absalom Williams.

There are numerous peat beds in the town-one on Section 27, of 20 or 30 acres. A few mineral springs are found, but of no very considerable importance.

Quite an extensive moraine lies in Section 34, running southeasterly and disappear- ing near the south line of the town.

SPRING PRAIRIE IN 1836.

The adjoined sketch from the pen of S. A. Dwinnell, gives a vivid idea of the con- trast between Spring Prairie as it is in 1881, with scarcely an acre of its 36 square miles, " waste land ; "-with its farms like gardens ;- its fine dwellings, its barns and granaries bursting with their fragrant loads ;- with its churches, schools and various industries ; and Spring Prairie as it was forty-five years ago, even then beautiful with the native loveliness stamped upon it by the hand of God.

" I found the place to be unsurpassed for beauty and fertility. It was one mile in width by four in length, with a gently undulating surface, surrounded on all sides by beautiful groves of timber. Upon one side were several hundred acres of heavy timber, consisting of oak, ash, basswood, butternut and maple, in which was a large sugar-bush, which had been the annual resort of the Indians for making sugar. Their wigwams,- sap-trough and boiling kettles had been left-evidently for future use-a pleasure which they were never again to enjoy. In the groves surrounding the prairie, were springs of the purest water, from which flowed streams in all directions-one of which was sufficiently large to turn the machinery of a flouring mill, afterwards erected a short distance from its source. The settlement was composed of six families, the first three of whom had arrived there on the first day of June previous. Others had come only a few days before. Their wives, children and stock being poorly sheltered, suffered much from the severity of the cold during the ensuing winter. Two fields-one of ten, and the other of twelve acres, had been broken and fenced that season. Two other fields-one of ten, and the other of forty acres, constituted the entire area under cultivation, in what is now Walworth County."

Mr. Dwinnell first entered Spring Prairie in November 1836, and the three families of the little settlement whom he mentions as having " arrived there on the first day of June previous " must have been those of David Pratt,-consisting of himself, wife and five children ; Solomon Harvey, wife and three children ; and Dr. Hemenway (who however did not arrive until June 6th), wife and one child. These three families all set- tled on Section thirty (30).

Before the arrival of these three families in June, the "virgin soil " of Spring Prairie had been broken. Palmer Gardner who arrived on the fifteenth day of April, 1836, had already sown the seed of the first harvest. On the second of May, the smiling prairie received its first lesson in the wholesome process of cultivation. On the twenty-fifth, twenty-five acres were already sown to oats, and a garden planted with corn and potatoes ; the first garden planted, and the first grain sown in Spring Prairie. There were also in the place Fred. T. Hunt, living with Mr. Gardner ; Isaac Chase, Win. J. Bentley and Joel Smith, who all came May 20, and settled on sections 28 and 29, and Daniel Salis- bury, who arrived May 25, and settled on section 29.

James Nelson, with his wife and two children, who lived with Mr. Gardner for a month, from April 30, 1836, to May 30, 1836, had removed to Racine county, and Lemuel R. Smith, who came May 20, and made a claim on section 25, did not live in the town until 1841.

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HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

Gilman H. Hoyt, of Vermont, arrived in July, 1836, and took up a claim on section

1. He spent most of the summer in Rochester, and returned to live upon his land in October. Reuben Clark came from Michigan, and the two started out together. When they arrived at the claim they took off the box to their wagon, and slept under it until they could erect a hut. This only occupied a few days. The two, being single, kept " bachelors' hall," during the winter. Mr. Hoyt returned to Vermont in 1838, and mar- ried Miss Elizabeth Heath of that State. After living there twelve years he removed to Columbia county.

On September 11, 1837, Mr. Hoyt (the father) and his family, consisting of a wife, two daughters and a son (Avery A.), left their pleasant home at the head-waters of the Union River, Vermont, bound for Spring Prairie, Walworth county. £ When about five days' journey from home, the family was thrown into a fever of excitement and anguish by discovering what appeared to be the loss of the parental pocket-book, containing about $300, their then combined earthly possessions. The lost was found in a forgotten garment, and the colony finally reached Buffalo and took passage by boat. When a few hours out, the wood-work around the old-fashioned boiler took fire ; the beams and covering above had to be chopped through; in the meantime the flames spread, and it was only by the most strenuous exertions that a probably fatal catastrophe was pre- vented. Their journey by ox-team to their destination in Spring Prairie was attended by great hardships, a severe snow-storm raging on October 25, and being particularly severe on young Avery, who did much of the driving. Upon one occasion being spoken to in regard to his careless driving, the boy did not reply, and the father found that he was so nearly frozen that he could not speak. The family finally started house- keeping with $35 in money, but with a determination to make their new move win. The first winter the privations which were suffered were those which few endure with such spirit, but they came out of the conflict with nature, bravely and successfully.

A REMINISCENCE.

The following from Avery A. Hoyt, narrating the experiences of his family, for the first few years, gives a very good idea of the general hardships endured by the first pioneers of this town and other regions : "The next day, October 26, was warm and pleasant, with the snow melting fast. 'About sun-down the family arrived at Honey Creek on the west bank of which my oldest brother, Gilman Hoyt, had built a comfort- able honse without a foot of sawed lumber in it or about it. This house was located on sec- tion one (1), in the extreme northeast corner of what was afterward the township of Spring Prairie. Our arrival at Honey Creek was on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1837. My father was greatly delighted with the country, but what the family were to subsist on for the next nine months was a question of grave importance. Three barrels of flour and about a bushel and a half of beans, raised by brother Gilman, was about all the visible means of support for a family of seven. But little money and very little provisions in the country, the prospect was not without some anxiety. After picking over the beans several times, Mother Hoyt asked brother Gilman if he did not think the beans that were left would not grow. He replied that he 'would not disgrace the prairie by planting them in it.' But before beans grew again they were thoroughly washed, and somebody had to eat them or go hungry.

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History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Part 144

Author: Western Historical Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 998

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 998