History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Part 63

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 63

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

At Fair Grounds.

MARGINAL NOTES.

HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

413

+$300 payment of temporary loan.

11. Lathan, Tress .....

1874 S. B. Edwards, Pres't .. S. G. West, Sec ...

Sept. 28, 29 and 559 20' 30, and Oct. 1 ...

At Fair Grounds.

578 42 1076 00 2197 05 100 00

1140 99 4514 04 2227 00 1836 38

238 86 4302 24 790 22

1876 John Jeffers, Pres't. S. G. West, Sec ..... H. Latham, Treas.

1877 Asa Foster, Pres't ...

At Fair Grounds

755 65

741 32 5367 72 1088 37

1880 C. R. Gibbs, Pres't .. W. H. Morrison, Sec ... H. Latham, Tress ...

1234 00 3001 90 100 00 75 00 1426 64 5837 54 2667 65 1200 00

sources. and other

Year.

Sept. 30, and Oct.

Sept. 29 and 30, and Oct. 1 and 2

556 74

109 28

414

HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

AGENCIES OF SUCCESS.

The different agencies that have combined to render this one of the most successful societies of its kind in the country are worthy of mention.

The fundamental element of success to which all others are subordinate. and lacking which the executive ability of its officers, and all other correlative agencies, would have proved value- less, is to be found in the constant and faithful support it has had from the farmers and stock- growers of the county, who. by their never-failing appearance with stock and other material go- ing to make the agricultural attractions of the fair, have furnished the show itself, from which the income has been derived. Some have exhibited, regardless of distance, unfavorable weather or personal expense, at every fair, from the first, held in East Troy, to the present time. Seymour Brooks, of East Troy. with his brother. Homer, are among the number who nursed the society in its feeblest infancy, and, as its constant friends, have sustained it through thick and thin up to the present day. Special mention is made of them, as they were two of the leading exhibitors at the East Troy fair of 1850, and have not failed to lend their aid at each and every fair since. Others no less reliable might be named. They are examples of the unfailing sources from which comes the material of which the exhibit is made.

Hardly less important as an auxiliary to success has been the faithful and constant work of the women of the county, who have been its staneh friends from the first exhibit of the products of their household skill at East Troy, more than thirty years ago, to their last, in Floral Hall. which they filled to repletion with articles evincing their skill in the useful household arts, and the more refined, if less important, feminine accomplishments that make up the embellishments of the affluent and refined life they have come to enjoy, through the honest toil of the years gone by. During the whole life of the society, the women have kept even pace with the men, and vied with them in the increasing excellence and variety of each annual display. Floral Hall is the necessary outgrowth of the women's work. and was erected especially to furnish suitable and commodious room for their exhibition. which. for its utility and attractiveness, stands only sec- ondary in value, and first in sustaining an interest in the annual fairs, and rendering them each year an assured success. The hall, since its erection, has been under the direction of a Super- intendent and a corps of female assistants. appointed to the charge of the several departments for which they were peculiarly fitted by their taste or education. In addition to the household departments, which display in every conceivable form the excellence of their dairy products, and their skill in cookery and needle work. is a floral exhibition, including a display of rare house plants; an art gallery of paintings and drawings, many of them of rare excellence: min- eral and geological collections, curiosities, musical instruments, embroidery, fine needle work, etc .. ete. Whatever the weather, this feature of the fair is each year an increasing success. The hall has, from its building, been fortunate in its Superintendents. It was in charge of Mr. Thomas W. Hill, a man of intelligence, refined taste, and possessing rare ability for the posi- tion, from 1865 to the time of his death, which occurred in 1879. He was succeeded by Mr. S. G. West. the long-time Secretary of the society. He still remains in charge of that department. [replaced this year by Gen. I. C. Abbott], and has shown the ability to hold it to the high stand- ard of excellence it had attained under his lamented predecessor.

Another element of success is found in the good fortune which has attended the society in the selection of its executive officers, all of whom have proved exactly fitted for the emergencies of the time. From the first start of the society in its career of financial prosperity in IS55, to 1881, no serious mistakes have occurred. The best evidences of the managing ability of the va- rious incumbents is given in the financial exhibits of the annual fairs which have been heretofore given.

As the details of the work of inaugurating and conducting the annual fairs have increased, the clerical labors have grown to be more laborious and important, and the executive work has devolved more and more upon the Secretary of the society, the work of the President and other officers becoming more advisory. Indeed, from the beginning, the labors of an efficient Secretary have been indispensable. He must of necessity take the laboring oar, and do the greater share of the perplexing, and oftentimes thankless, labor that is essential to the successful work of an agricultural society. For this most important office, the society has had the good fortune to have, in succession, four incumbents as efficient as could be found in the county, and having no

J. Com

417

HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

superiors elsewhere. It showed wisdom in retaining them through long terms of service. Ed. ward Elderkin served twelve years, and was the faithful friend of the society through the critical period of its infancy, and till long after it had attained to full strength. Hollis Latham suc- ceeded Elderkin, and served four years. He has for the past twelve years held the fiduciary office of Treasurer. He was succeeded by Stephen G. West, who, after a faithful and efficient service of nine years, on the death of Mr. Thomas W. Hill, was selected his successor as Super- intendent of Floral Hall. Mr. West was succeeded by the present incumbent, Mr. W. H. Mor- rison, who has served for the past four years, and has evinced such ability as to place him in the foremost rank of agricultural officials in the State.

Mr. Hollis Latham and Mr. George W. Wylie have served as officers of the society the longest periods, Mr. Latham having served almost continuously as Corresponding or Recording Secretary and Treasurer for twenty-six years; Mr. Wylie having served as Chief Marshal since 1856, with the exception of three years, during one of which he was President of the society, and the remaining two being absent in the army service during the war.

Without further individual mention, it will be seen that the long terms of meritorious offi- cers is peculiar to the society, and doubtless has had much to do in promoting its welfare and prosperity.

The rules and principles adopted for the conducting of the annual fairs are in some feat- ures characteristic, as the following resolutions, adopted in 1873, and since then generally ad hered to, will show. The resolutions are as follows:

WHEREAS, Petitions from the ladies of several towns of the county of Walworth have this day been pre- sented to the Walworth County Agricultural Society now in session at the court house in Elkhorn, asking said society to suppress and prohibit the sale of intoxicating and malt liquors and cider on the grounds of the society and the grounds adjacent to them, now therefore be it

Resolved, By the members of said Walworth County Agricultural Society that hereafter, at our annual fair, all intoxicating and malt liquors and cider shall be totally suppressed and prohibited on the grounds of the society, and the grounds adjacent to them; and for such violation of the rule, each offender shall be liable on conviction before a proper officer of said society, to the highest penalty known to the laws, and shall also be forthwith expelled and prohibited from any future participation in the interests of said society. And all lotteries and gambling devices are equally prohibited and forbidden by said society.

The excellence of the police regulations is another element of success. There has never been any serious disorder, and the detective force is so admirable that roughs. pick-pockets and other disreputable gentry who ply their trades and reap their harvests in unsuspecting crowds, no longer put in an annual appearance on the grounds.

The conduct of the business of the society from the beginning has been strictly non-parti- san and non-sectarian. No political party or religious sect has ever prostituted the professed objects of the society to selfish purposes. The officers know no political or religious affiliations in the common and definite objects which the society was organized to promote, to wit, " to pro- mote improvement in the character and operations of agriculture, horticulture, and the mechan- ical and household arts."

The variety of entertainments provided from year to year, in addition to the display of cat- tle, horses, agricultural implements and machinery, household and dairy products, and all else that goes to make up an agricultural fair, has had much to do with the large attendance and financial profits accruing to the society. Public addresses, essays, poems, military displays, concerts, band contests, firemen's contests, trials of speed, plowing matches, velocipede races, foot races, and numerous other public entertainments that the officers could devise, have, at different fairs, been added to the ordinary exhibition to enhance its interest andswell the receipts.

The excellence of entertainment at the various dining-booths, all conducted by the women of Walworth County, has, from the beginning, been a great element of success. The fame of the Walworth County Fair dinners is co-extensive with that of the society itself. The booths are generally rented for a small sum to the ladies of various religious societies, who, with the in- signia of the sect they represent spread in bold letters over the entrance, forthwith forget that they are Baptist, Congregationalist, Methodist. Universalist or Catholic, and set about the friendly emulation of providing the best dinner, knowing full well that sectarianism does not appeal to the empty stomach with the force of a well-cooked meal.

These are among the agencies that have brought the society to its present high state of effi- ciency and excellence. Other societies can have no surer guarantee of prosperity than in fol- lowing the example of this, the model agricultural society of the State. G

CHAPTER V.

OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY.

ORGANIZATION -- ANNUAL RE-UNIONS-ROSTER OF OFFICERS- ROSTER OF MEMBERS.

ORGANIZATION.

This society was, after several preliminary meetings, permanently organized and a consti- tution adopted March 30, 1869. The first meeting was held at the above-mentioned date, in the village of Darien, in Clark's Hotel. At this meeting, a constitution was adopted, and the first officers chosen as follows: President, Daniel Salisbury, Spring Prairie; Vice Presidents, Pros- per Cravath. Whitewater: Thomas P. James, Richmond: John Bruce, Darien; Cyrus Lippitt, Sharon: Cyrus Church, Walworth; Henry Barlow. Delavan: P. G. Harrington, Sugar Creek; William Houghton. La Grange: Sylvester G. Smith, Troy; George W. Dwinnell, La Fayette; Le Grand Rockwell, Elkhorn; Osborn Hand. Geneva; Allen McBride, Linn: William D. Cha- pin. Bloomfield; Z. B. Burk, Lyons; A. L. Merrick, Spring Prairie: S. B. Edwards, East Troy; Recording Secretary, James Simmons, Elkhorn; Corresponding Secretary. Edward Elderkin, Elkhorn; Treasurer, Hollis Latham, Elkhorn; Executive Committee. P. Golder, S. G. West, G. W. Wylie, J. W. Peck and Charles Wales.

Except the adoption of a constitution and the choice of the officers above named, no busi- ness was transacted. It was voted that the next meeting should be held at Elkhorn.

The constitution was as follows:

ARTICLE I. The first settlers of Walworth County do hereby associate themselves together under the name and style of the " Old Settlers' Society of Walworth County, Wisconsin."

ART. II. The objects and aims of this society shall be to revive and perpetuate the friendly associations heretofore existing among its members, by a yearly social re-union; to collect and preserve in our records the names of all the carly settlers of this county, and especially of those who have already passed from earth, together with such incidents in their and our pioneer life, and such statistics of the early settlements of the county as may he of interest to the present and future generations; and generally to promote such ends as may be deemed worthy the consideration of the society.

ART. Ill. The officers of this society shall be a President, a Vice President from each town, a Record- ing Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Central Executive Committee of five; all of whom shall hold their offices until the next annual meeting succeeding their election, and until others are elected to fill their places.

ART. IV. The duties of these several officers shall be such as usually appertain to like officers in organi- zations established for mutual benefit. The President shall preside at all meetings of the society or. in his absence, the senior Vice President who may be present. The Recording Secretary shall keep the records of the society. The Corresponding Secretary shall correspond with early settlers in each town, with a view to collect all such items pertaining to the early settlement of the county as may be of interest to the society. The Treas- mrer shall faithfully keep all moneys belonging to the society, and disburse the same upon the order of its Ex- ecutive Commitee.

ART. V. The annual meeting of this society shall be held on the first Tuesday of October in each year, at such place as the preceding annual meeting may have determined by a majority vote.

ART. VI. Each old settler of the county who came into it to reside in the year 1845, or previous thereto, may become a member of this society by subscribing his name to this Constitution, and paying 50 cents into its Treasury.

ART. VII. The members of the press of Walworth County shall be ex officio members of this society.

ART. VIH. This Constitution may be amended at any annual meeting by a vote of two-thirds the mem- bers present.

The amendments to the constitution as above adopted have been few. The time of the annual meeting, as appointed in Article 5, was changed by amendment, passed October 5, 1869. to " the second Wednesday in June, " and for six years that was the anniversary day. June 9, 1875, the anniversary day was again changed to the " fourth Wednesday of June." and June 21. 1876, again changed to the "third Wednesday in June," which still remains the established old settlers' day.

One other quite important amendment was made at the meeting June 14, 1871. At that meeting, Artiele 6 changed the eligibility to membership, and amended so as to admit " any

419

HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

person who shall have resided in this State for a period of twenty-five years, and is an actual resident of this county."

This last amendment was not passed without quite earnest opposition on the part of the pioneers, who felt that, by right of prior occupation, they had the right of succession. An amendment was offered "that all members who settled prior to 1840 should be denominated pioneers," and those between 1840 and 1850 as "old settlers." The amendment did not pass. So the society was put on a continuous basis of life. The old settlers die, and their children, in their time. become " old settlers. " and " their children's children to the latest generation."

Since the organization of the society, it has been vital -not an anniversary has passed un- observed, and it is now the sturdiest society of its kind in the State. The old settlers still live in sufficient numbers to make the annual re-unions memorable. and as each year thins their ranks, the occasion of their re-union becomes more and more a time to be remembered. Each year addresses have been made. eulogies pronounced on those who had died, and a memorial service been held for the days of auld lang syne. Following is a synoptical sketch of the an- nual gatherings:

FIRST ANNUAL MEETING.

The first annual meeting was held at Elkhorn, October 5, 1869, on the fair-grounds. Or- der of exercises was as follows: Opening remarks by the President; prayer by Rev. J. D. Stevens, who came to Wisconsin as a missionary to the Indians in 1827; business session: din- mer: business session; singing by the Elkhorn Glee Club; historical address by Hon. Charles M. Baker, of Geneva: election of officers: music; speech by Prosper Cravath, Esq., of White- water: music, Auld Lang Syne, by the Elkhorn Glee Club: adjourned.

The address by Mr. Baker was the first effort ever made to give a history of Walworth County. It was prepared under many difficulties, and during the intervals of leisure torn out of a very active professional life. It was a model of its kind, and. at the risk of detracting somewhat from the originality of this work. extracts are given from the address sufficiently full to show its general scope.

The following is an extract from address of Hon. Charles M. Baker:

OLD FRIENDS-permit me to call you-old in years as well as in associations, for a whole generation of men has been swept from the earth since first most of us here pitched our tents for our final earthly home. One-third of a century almost have we held intercourse, not only in the ordinary duties of life, but also in those pertaining to citizenship. in organizing and sustaining civil government. We have together shared com- mon privations, common hopes and joys, and it is meet now in the autumn of our lives that we should come up, as we have this day from all parts of our goodly county, to look again upon each other's faces, and take each other by the hand, and here together from this central outlook review the last thirty years or more, as they move past in solemn march with all their pleasant, all their sad memories.

There are no more enduring ties than those formed by companions in dangers, hardships and privations, and they are as unselfish as enduring. Travelers who have together crossed arid plains and penetrated gloomy forests, forded rivers and sealed mountains, exposed to innumerable dangers: sobliers who have long shared the same tent, endured together the toils of weary marches, have stood sentinel in the same bivouac, and fought shoulder to shoulder in the same battles, form attachments enduring as life. And so is it with those who to- gether in a new country have taken upon them the burden of subdning nature to the nses of man, and planting and watering the seeds of human society. * * *

* * * * % * * *

Walworth and Rock Counties composed one election district up to February 24. 1845, when they were sep- arated. Col. James Maxwell, then of Big Foot Prairie, was the first member of the Council for the two coun- ties, and Gen. William B. Sheldon, of Janesville, the first member of the House: Othni Beardsley, of Troy, was the first member of the House from this county for the joint district, and was elected in the summer or fall of 1838. The first member of the council from this county, after its separation from Rock in 1845, was, if I am not mistaken, Jesse C. Mills, And the first members of the House were Caleb Croswell, Warner Earl and Gaylord Graves.

The first land sale for the Milwaukee land district, of which we formed a part, was appointed for Novem- ber 16, 1838, but at the earnest request of the settlers, who desired longer time to raise funds to purchase, it was postponed till into February, 1839, when it took place.

As near as I have been able to ascertain. Walworth County was surveyed in 1835 and the spring of 1836, the running of the section lines being completed at the latter period by lohn Brink and John Hodgson, the surveyors under the Government contractor, one Millett, of Detroit. The first election of county officers was held in 1838. The first county officers elected and appointed were, for Commissioners, Benjamin Ball. Nathaniel Bell and William Bowman. They organized the board at the house of Daniel E. Bradley. Elkhorn, on the 7th of January, 1839, and appointed Volney A. McCracken, Clerk. Gen. S. Walling was elected Sheriff, LeGrand Rockwell, Register of Deeds, and he was also appointed Clerk of the District Court. Joseph Griffin was appointed Judge of Probate, and C. M. Baker, District Attorney, in the winter of 1838 and 1839. William

420

HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.

Hollinshead was elected County Treasurer, Edward Norris, Surveyor, and H. Latham, Coroner, all at the first election.

The first Distriet Court was held by Hon. David Irwin, Judge, in April, 1839, in a small frame building ereeted that spring by LeGrand Rockwell for a Register's and Clerk's office. I believe it is still in existence, though removed from its original site near the northern limit of the public square in Elkhorn. The courts were held here a number of terms. They were next held for some time in a small frame schoolhouse situated near the western boundary of the public square. The old log jail was built soon after, and stood an unsightly monument of the olden time, till within a recent period, the terror of no one, except, perhaps, unruly boys. The present court house was built in 1841-42, by Levi Lee, the contractor, and the first term of court was held in it in April, 1843.

In these mementos of the carly history of our county, Judge Irwin, our first United States District Judge. is deserving a passing notice. Ile was a Virginia gentleman of the old school. Social, kind-hearted, aristo- eratic as became a Virginian of the F. F.'s, he was a bachelor with his whims and peculiarities. He was a great lover of hunting, particularly of prairie hens, in the shooting of which he was an expert, and in which he prided himself, and no one must excel him if he would keep in his good graces. He was also learned in the knowledge of horses and dogs, as well as in the law, and his own horse, Pedro, and his dog. York, to whom he was much attached, and whose superior blood often formed the theme of his conversation, were as well known to the bar as the Judge himself. They were necessary appendages of the Judge and the court, and it was said by the wags, if one wanted to win his case before the Judge, he must praise his dog and his horse.

But in truth it can be said of him, he was a lover of justice, detested meanness, was well-grounded in the principles of the law, and was possessed of very respectable perceptive reasoning powers. He seldom consulted law books, of which the bar of those days was poorly supplied; but on the whole, for the times, was a fair and respectable Judge. He suffered much from neuralgia in the back, and, on that aceount, had his judicial beneh constructed in the form of a lounge with one end raised, into which were fastened iron clamps to sustain an upright board slanting back a little, against which he could reeline whilst trying eases. Permit me to say that this ancient seat of justice is in existence, in my office, confessed by me here publicly, to be the property of Walworth County, and I think they could do no more worthy aet than to donate it to the Old Settlers' Society of Walworth County.

Following, Mr. Baker gave a detailed sketch of each town in the county. The address aroused a strong feeling of brotherhood among the old settlers, and was the first starting-point in the compiling of the pioneer history of the county. The interest in the work has never slept since, and, although circumstances have not favored the publication of a complete history under the direct auspices of the society, much valuable material has been gathered and preserved. which will become the basis of the early history, of which this is a part.

SECOND ANNUAL MEETING.

The second annual meeting was held June 8, 1870. at the court house in Elkhorn. The programme was as follows: Announcements of the decease of members were made. H. S. Winsor announced the death of L. G. Rockwell, and pronounced an eulogy on his character as a business man: C. D. Long announced the death of John Bruce. of Darien; Edward Elderkin announced the death of Hezekiah Wells, an early settler of Delavan. A vote was taken to ascertain the year of settlement of members present, which resulted in the decision that there were present three of 1835. five of 1836. fourteen of 1837. ten of 1838, eight of 1839 and seven of 1840.

Resolutions commemorative of deceased members-Roekwell. Bruce and Wells-were pro- sented by Edward Elderkin, and passed by the society. The election of officers followed, after which the orator of the day, Hon. Prosper Cravath. an old pioneer of Whitewater, pronounced his address, from which the following extracts are given:

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Part 63

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