USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth County, Wisconsin > Part 71
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Elkhorn
950
11190
8985
895
60
3795
400
6010
5
454
26426
67879
Geneva.
6564
128100
61050
5670
400
3200
5000
50000
100
642
1500!
150000
La Fayette, (1879) La Grange
34947
102760
49675
12403
4002
8006
1645
16165
30
169
2134
83290
Linn ..
5905
186800
59785
1555
206
5050
400
16795
29
403
2833
101650
61800
Lyons.
14544
151240
43368
11222
1250
9392
355
10750
15
107
2129
47350
42749
Richmond
25979
100150
41940
38648
98
7788
150
11030
142
549
140
1091
56250
Sharon ...
9750
97600
32700
12820
395
5900
14050
100
588
2625
36225
159000
Spring Prairie.
15075
87900
56290
8040
1850
7310
40
16200
243
340
3705
58500
150448
Sugar Creek
26016
124575
56498
15426
850
9806
440
17499
55
389
12400
2451
49640
121120
Troy
34750
61180
34338
5142
1576
7509
1580
9251
38
187
1952
47902
6000
Walworth
10794
114230
56474
10596
7945
10296
2467
360
2590
65465
109390
Whitewater
17854
142280
39578
1791
891
10634
1200
10950
18
243
3029
45025
365430
Totals
310013 1809265 874068 206745 17597 138693 13475 256019 1759 9948 175451 42218 1099162 1312041
TOBACCO, POUNDS-Darien, 1300; La Grange, 12700; Troy, 9220; Whitewater, 500; total, 23720.
ACREAGE UNDER CULTIVATION IN 1881.
APPLE ORCHARD.
MILCH COWS.
TOWNS.
Total No. of Acres Graios.
Potatoes aud Root Сгора. Acres.
Number of Acres.
Number of and Grasses Beariog Acrea Trees.
Growing Timber. Acres.
Miscel- laneous Acres.
Number.
Value.
Bloomfield.
4391
80
159
4430
2437
2411
33
824
$21555
Darien.
8326
102
370
7940
2749
1877
129
907
22675
Delavan
6835
135
267
13207
3893
2626
62
595
18356
East Troy
6388
97
258
6632
2138
3188
..
526
10520
Elkhorn ..
523
32
72
3310
503
202
6
165
4070
Geneva
3560
105
170
4360
1800
800
4
700
17500
La Fayette (1880).
6136
88
241
7515
2840
3819
4
705
13225
La Grange.
6804
81
190
8070
4027
5347
12
621
19160
Linn.
4516
476
225
9388
3517
3000
Lyons
5541
115
255
8294
1864
3142
17
933
19283
Richmond
8027
94
107
5776
3633
3885
68
473
10548
Sharon
5294
122
240
8700
1820
1550
3231
20
706
20700
Sugar Creek
6465
106
275
8656
3339
3309
28
738
14064
Troy ..
5331
80
215
6223
3005
2627
4
452
8552
Walworth
5743
91
259
7350
3410
2226
3
859
19323
Whitewater
5848
119
259
7835
3037
2163
......
1378
22374
Totals.
93890
2008
3903
127506
47403
46403
390
12293
$281080
23874
84170
51239
15722
534
7180
5789 1010
69
4381
49770
821
17175
Spring Prairie.
5162
85
341
9820
3391
890
22000
Grazing
Bushels.
Bushels.
Bushels.
27200
468
HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
SCHOOLS.
Latest School Statistics, compiled from Report of County Superintendent-1881.
TOWNS.
Number of
Districts.
Number of
Joint Districts,
Number of
Scholars over
4 and under 20
years of age.
Number of
Scholars attend-
ing School.
Number of
Number of
Graded Schools.
Number of
Teachers.
Average
Amount of
Wages Paid
Amount of
male Teachers.
Number of
Volumes in Li-
brary.
Bloomfield
7
5
358
231
7
...
8
$43 75
$27 82
Darien
5
7
422
283
8
.. .
10
55 00
19 95
......
Delavan.
5
4
763
542
6
1
13
56 65
24 37
125
East Troy
7
2
462
349
7
...
5
88 87
45 00
200
Geneva
4
6
1023
625
8
1
12
37 25
21 36
22
La Fayette
4
6
261
196
8
...
8
32 37
20 81
La Grange.
1
6
301
211
S
...
8
26 25
19 25
.....
Lyons
6
5
432
303
9
...
8
34 00
21 00
......
Sharon
7
7
615
596
12
1
16
40 50
26 11
......
Spring Prairie
8
1
307
252
9
...
5
26 00
24 31
......
Troy
5
5
329
230
7
. ..
8
28 28
22 25
246
Whitewater
5
-1
1456
751
7
1
15
47 80
88 74
..
Totals
87
73
8511
5712
126
5
160
Total valua- tion of all school prop- erty.
Amount of money received for 1881.
Amount of money expended for 1881.
Bloomfield
7
$2000 00
$700 00
$200 00
$
$2900 00
$2348 00
$1990 99
Darien.
S
3600 00
425 00
295 00
4320 00
2921 41
2593 87
Delavan.
6
12950 00
875 00
85 00
125 00
14035 00
7184 54
5597 32
East Troy
7
6000 00
670 00
65 00
50 0)
6785 00
3113 02
2625 83
Elkhorn
1
10000 00
1000 00
100 00
200 00
11300 00
4778 55
3105 62
Geneva ..
8
21900 00
1880 00
70 00
100 00
23400 00
6900 90
5304 28
La Fayette.
3000 00
300 00
100 00
3400 00
2053 69
1643 51
La Grange.
8
3000 00
250 00
25 00
3275 00
2063 06
1854 39
Linn.
8
2800 00
320 00
120 00
8240 00
1793 18
1366 52
Lyons.
9
10000 00
400 00
200 00)
10600 00
2535 24
2321 86
Richmond.
8
2000 00
240 00
2240 00
1800 38
1350 96
Sharon
12
8950 00)
950 00
25 00
9925 00
4592 41
4314 68
Spring Prairie.
9
5950 00
660 00
93 00
6703 00
2339 26
2176 58
Sngar Creek
5
3000 00
190 00
40 00
8230 00
2571 73
2552 00
Troy
8
3500 00
1220 00
150 00
155 00
5025 60
2374 61
1944 48
Whitewater.
7
15950 00
2725 00
420 00
19095 00
8227 22
7816 27
Totals.
126
$119437 00 $12570 00
$1993 00
$630 00
$134630 00 $60565 59
$51748 83
1
1
24 30
......
Sugar Creek
5
4
367
185
5
...
8
35 83
21 92
.....
Walworth.
386
282
8
..
10
27 66
24 55
......
Richmond
6
5
302
204
...
40 50
28 50
85
Elkhorn
1
1
330
273
1
1
8
32 00
21 75
Linn
8
2
340
199
8
...
Number Total valua- of
TOWNS.
school-
houses.
tion of all school- houses.
Total valua- tion of &Il school sites.
Total valua- tion of all school appa- ratus, etc.
Total valua- tion of all libraries.
PRESS OF THE COUNTY.
The growth of the county press can be traced in detail by a reference to the histories of the towns. To give an idea of its progress, however. a statement follows, in chronological order. of the establishment by towns of the first journals throughout the county, with a men- tion of those at present alive. The first paper, the Western Star, was established at Elkhorn August 8, 1845, by George Gale. In 1848, the Geneva Gazette was founded by David M. Keeler. The first paper published at Delavan, and the third in the county, was the Wal- worth County Journal, established in December, 1852, by J. C. Bunner. Next, in order of time, was the Whitewater Gazette, started by H. J. Curtice, in January, 1855. The Register was founded by H. L. & L. H. Rann, in March, 1857. In 1868, Rev. J. G. Schaeffer commenced
Average
Male Teachers.
Wages Paid Fe-
3473 39
3129 67
4837 00|
315 00
5.00
5157 00
Walworth
30 00
678
.....
Schools
-
Daniel Dalisbu ...
1
يف 1
471
HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
the publication of the Sharon Mirror. the first journal born in that town, East Troy following her example in August, 1879, by the issuing of the Gazette, by F. D. Craig. The principal papers in the county, at present published, are the Whitewater Register, E. D. Coe, editor; the White- water Chronicle, Pitt Cravath, editor; the Walworth County Independent, S. S. Rockwood, editor; Delavan Republican, W. G. Weeks, editor: Delavan Enterprise, E. W. Conable, editor; Geneva Herald, J. E. Heg: Geneva News, J. S. Badger; Sharon Reporter, Messrs. Phelps & Ziegaus, proprietors: East Troy Gazette, C. A. Cook, editor. Detailed accounts of the above publications will be found in the town histories.
CONCLUSION.
The foregoing chapters contain the chronicles of the early settlers. How they came to the country, how they lived, how they thrived, how they buried their dead, how they tilled the earth, how they got possession of their land, how they established schools and churches, how they came to be a wealthy and prosperous community-all that combined to make the county what it is, has been recounted-quite imperfeetly, but sufficiently to give the future historian data from which to write a history of Western civilization.
An agricultural community has little of the sensational in its life or growth. It keeps the even tenor of its way, unvexed by the storms that rage in the great centers.
The history of Walworth County is that of the growth of a prosperous community, under the fostering care of the best Government the sun ever shone upon.
Forty-five years ago, the settlement of Walworth County begun. The man who first put plow into the virgin sod, Palmer Gardner, is still alive. Outside of the American Republic, it has never before been recorded that the fathers should live to see their sons established in a new country. Here the earliest settlers, who came in in 1836, and viewed the country in all the wild loveliness of nature, still live to see it the home of their children.
The history is not eventful. It is nevertheless instructive. It shows how out of nothing which man possesses, mueh which God wills can be made, and as such may prove instructive far beyond the intrinsic worth or literary merits of the work itself.
J
472
HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
ELKHORN.
ORGANIZATION.
The present town of Elkhorn embraces but a single section of the original town within its limits. The prairie from which the town took its name abounded in the antlers of the elk. when the first white explorers visited it, and from that circumstance its name was derived. The honor of naming the prairie Elkhorn is given to Col. Sammuel F. Phoenix, the founder of Delavan, who, in his journal, states that on a journey from Swan Lake (Delavan) in the early part of July, 1836, on coming out upon the prairie, where the army trail crossed it, about a mile or mile and a half east of the present village of Elkhorn, as he lay down to rest under a huge biur-oak. he saw in the forks of the tree the antlers of an elk, which some passer-by had hung there, which suggested to him the name of Elkhorn for the prairie, and he so christened it on the spot. Certain it is that all subsequent comers knew it by that name.
The original town of Elkhorn was one of the five organized by act of the Territorial Leg- islature, January 2, 1838, and embraced the four townships in the northwest quarter of the county now known as Whitewater, La Grange, Richmond and Sugar Creek, comprising an area of 144 square miles. The first town meeting was held at the house of Asa Blood. who lived in what is now the town of Sugar Creek. on the bank of Silver Lake. The town was divided by act of Angust 13, 1840, Whitewater being formed from the two western townships, Nos. 3 and 4 in Range 15. now Whitewater and Richmond.
March 21, 1843, the town of La Grange was detached from the remaining territory (Town 4, Range 16), leaving under the name of Elkhorn Town 3, Range 16, it being the present town of Sugar Creek, less a single section. Its boundaries remained unchanged until February 2, 1846, at which time, by act of the Legislature, a new town of Elkhorn was incorporated, which embraced but a single section of the original town, viz., Section 36, in Town 3. Range 16. By that act, the present town of Elkhorn was established. The boundaries were described as fol- lows: " All that part of the county of Walworth comprised in Section 36, in the town of Elk- horn; Section 1, in the town of Delavan: Section 6, in the town of Geneva, and Section 31, in the town of La Fayette, is hereby set off and organized into a separate town by the name of Elkhorn," and except Section 36, the remaining part of Elkhorn was organized as a new town under the name of Sugar Creek. The town of Elkhorn, as organized by the act of February 2, 1846, is a square of two miles, embraces the geographical center of the county, and is the seat of justice. The history of Elkhorn is properly confined to its present boundaries, leaving the earlier chronicles of the old domain of the town to be treated in the histories of the towns formed therefrom.
LOCATION AND NATURAL FEATURES.
The present town and village of Elkhorn lies on the summit of the water-shed of the county, and was, before its settlement, one of the most beautiful spots in the county. Nearly all of Section 6, and the southern part of Section 1, was a beautiful prairie (a part of Elkhorn Prairie). The edge of timber just skirted along the north part of Section 6, and ran in a southwesterly direction to the middle of the western line of Section 1, Sections 36 and 3, were all covered with a growth of old oak trees, and were what was termed oak opening, being quite free from undergrowth, sufficiently so to enable teams to drive through without hindrance. It was one vast natural park. The soil is generally a black loam, with a clay subsoil.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The town was first settled in the spring of 1837. or. to give the exact date of the first set- tlement, February 27, 1837. The circumstances resulting in the settlement were as follows: The county of Walworth was set off and its limits defined in 1836. The Government survey was completed that year, and the general excellence of the land had become quite well known to the residents of the lake villages at the close of that year, and, as settlers had begun to come
473
IIISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
in quite rapidly, a mania seized nearly everybody to secure claims for speculative purposes. Among the sharp men then entering the business of land speculation was Le Grand Rockwell, of Milwaukee. He was possessed of some means and was one of the shrewdest young business mon in the Territory. He conceived the plan of pre-empting the land at the geographical center of the county, judging, as has proved quite correctly. that it would become the seat of justice whenever .the county should become sufficiently settled to organize a complete county government. Accordingly, he, with a friend, whom he had enlisted in the enterprise, Horace Coleman, came out to look the ground over and find the center. On their way out. they stopped at the house of Dr. Hemenway, where Hollis Latham, then a young, unmarried man, had been living for several months. Latham joined them, and the three prospectors reached Elkhorn, and found the intersections of the lines that marked the center of the county, February 13. 1837. The general aspect of the country in the winter showed none of the beauties that so en- tranced those who viewed it for the first time clad in the verdure and bloom of spring and sum- mer. The exact center was a sort of slough, but at a little distance in all directions. the country seemed all that was desirable for settlement. even should the embryo county seat never be established there. The three returned, however, without making any claim. The specula- tive inducements did not strike deep enough into Coleman's heart to take root, and he did not return. Mr. Rockwell, however, was more favorably impressed. and had no difficulty in making up a syndicate in Milwaukee to secure the land he desired. The company as organized con- sisted of Le Grand Rockwell. J. S. Rockwell. L. J. Higby, Allen W. Hatch and Daniel E. Bradley. It was proposed that the company should claim the four quarter-sections, one square mile, commencing at the center of the county, and start thereon a dairy farm until such time as the county seat project might develop. Accordingly, a party was organized to immediately secure possession of the promised land. It consisted. on their arrival, of four persons-Le Grand Rockwell. representing the interest of himself and brother: Milo E. Bradley, who repre- sented the interest of himself and father. Daniel E .. he having gone East for the family; Albert Ogden. then a young man in the employ of Highy, and Hollis Latham, who came on with them from Spring Prairie. The four men reached Elkhorn February 27, 1887. They brought a moderate stock of supplies, and a small tent which they pitched about a mile east of the center, in a poplar grove on the edge of the timber. They immediately made their claims to the four coveted quarter-sections, and commenced building a rude log shanty half a mile east of the center of their claim, near the north line of Section 6. The shanty was completed in about a fortnight, and the party moved in, all except Rockwell, who started for Indiana to purchase cows wherewith to start the dairy business. The young men. Latham and Ogden. not being interested in the claims of the Milwaukee company, took claims for themselves, Latham directly east on the northeast quarter of Section 6, Range 17 east. and Ogden directly west of the company's claims, on the northwest quarter of Section 1, Range 16 east.
The company's claim at the center was designated in the Government survey as follows: The southeast quarter of Section 36, Town 3. Range 16 east: the southwest quarter of Section 31. Town 3. Range 17 east; the northwest quarter of Section 6. Town 2. Range 17 east; the northeast quarter of Section 1, Town 2, Range 16 east. In addition to these claims, the con- pany made large claims in Township 2, Range 17, lying southeast of the claims above de- scribed. The center of the claim was at the southeast corner of the lot in Elkhorn Village now occupied by O. Livingston as a blacksmith-shop and residence, at the southwest corner of South and East streets.
The occupants of the shanty. after the departure of Rockwell (Ogden, Latham and Brad- ley), enjoyed all that labor, novelty and youthful hope could give them. They set to work with their axes to cut down the trees and hew the timber for a frame house for the expected colony, consisting of the Bradley families whom Daniel E. would bring with him, and in get- ting out fence rails to inclose some parts of the claims made. They were none of them expert housekeepers nor good cooks, but took turns in cooking-one day Ogden fried the pork. the next Latham tried his hand at pan-cakes, and the next Bradley made saleratus cake or some other mysterious compound from the material at hand. It mattered little with their good ap- petites what was set before them. With the assurance that it was not poison, it all went down. They had tea and coffee, with sugar. They labored assiduously-cut the oak timber, hewed
474
HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
and framed it, and some time in May had the frame of the first house in Elkhorn raised. In raising. they were assisted by two men named Cook and Smith, who had taken claims some two miles west. and had "shantied " with them while preparing a shelter for themselves on their own claims. The covering of the house, oak siding, and the flooring were obtained from the Geneva saw-mill, just fairly started. The windows were bought in Milwaukee. The chimney, also, consisting of a few joints of stove-pipe, came from the same metropolis, then consisting of three stores, two taverns and other buildings, enough to make a village of perhaps 400. The interval of ten weeks, while this house was being built, was onlivened with such episodes as fall only to the lot of pioneers in a country possessing no resources except those in nature's own store- house. The colony did not suffer any actual privations. but they occasionally came, by stress of circumstances, to the verge of short rations. In addition to the labors of house-building. the provisions were to be obtained from a distance. Mr. O. Preston, in an article in the Elkhorn Independent. March 11, 1880, gives an entertaining account of the foraging efforts of the party during the period. Beginning with the building of the shanty, it is as follows:
" A cabin of logs was at once decided upon. and immediately commenced. yet it was some two weeks before the exceptionally cold weather yielded sufficiently to admit of filling in the crevices between the logs, so as to make it habitable. After two weeks of dreary waiting. the cold so far abated as to admit of digging up the earth to the south side of the cabin, and. with hot water. obtained a plastic mud, with which, with wooden paddles. the chinking was done. and the new residence was thus completed. The inhabitants of the whole town were Rockwell. Bradley. Latham and Ogden-four persons-who occupied the new building. the first dwelling of Elkhorn, the future county seat of Walworth County.
"The larder question next became the paramount subject of solicitude and inquiry: so Milo Bradley improvised a hand-sled. with which he and Ogden made a trip to Spring Prairie for supplies Be it borne in mind that flour, meal and salt pork were, at that time. the stand- ard necessaries of the day. Having successfully made the trip, they there also learned that one Alpheus Johnson, who had a cabin in what was then and is now called the Dwinnell Settle- ment. in La Fayette, had a few potatoes, and it was decided to add that excellent vegetable to their frugal far .. Accordingly, the next day Ogden, equipped with the hand-sled. made his way through the brush for th . much-coveted luxury. The trip was void of success. The old man positively denied the suspicion of having any potatoes. As he was slowly wending his way homeward, he discovered in the softening crust of snow, coon tracks, which were but another confirmation of the maxim that Providence or Hercules helps the persev ring. A new field of enterprise was here opened; he followed the trail until he found where the coon had ensconced himself for his night's repose. Returning to the cabin for an axe and re-enforcements. the siege of the coon commenced. The coons had probably heard of the discussion of one of hisrelatives with Capt. Scott, and, being like-minded, surrendered. Two of them were captured and brought alive to town, and. for a few days, the colonists fared sumptuously on . baked coon.' But at
that time, the example of the boy and the woodchuck had not materialized, but the analogy of being ' out of meat ' had. The day of such a luxury was drawing to a close; so Hollis Latham started on foot for Milwaukee for the purpose of purchasing provisions. He went by the way of Skunk's Grove, Racine County, near what is now Franksville, and contracted with Mr. Jo- seph Nickson to haul out some provisions. Reaching Milwaukee, the provisions were pur- chased, and Niekson agreed to be at Elkhorn as soon as Latham, who determined to return by the way of Mukwonago, a nearer route. When he arrived here, no Niekson had appeared, and the sequel showed that Nickson on his return by way of his home, had concluded to accept an invitation to a wedding in Kenosha County, and it was some ten days before he put in an ap- pearance. In the meantime, having nothing except the rib bones of some salt pork, Ogden's rifle was brought into requisition, to the detriment of the prairie chickens, of which, with the rib bones, they made a stew: and the chickens feeding at that season of the year upon hazel buds. they were about as savory as the celebrated political erow, which politicians sometimes diet upon, and it is a notable fact that at this day, none of the old settlers at that period en- thuse worth a cent during the chicken season."
The house was not entirely finished till the middle of the summer, but sufficiently so for the occupancy of a numerous family, on the arrival of the Bradley families early in June. It
475
HISTORY OF WALWORTH COUNTY.
was, for the times, a very pretentious structure. Its size was 18x30 feet. It was a story and a half high. It had two outside doors, the main entrance being on the south side, the other at the southeast corner, on the east end. The whole east half of the lower floor was in one room. being kitchen, dining-room and general sitting-room. The west half was divided into three small rooms. The upper floor was unpartitioned and constituted a grand dormitory, sheets being hung up to define personal rights and insure privacy. It was guiltless of paint, and a stove funnel, stuck through the roof, did duty as a chimney. A small dairy or cheese-room was subsequently attached to the northeast corner of the house. The order of architecture was un- definable, and suggested comfort and utility more than æsthetie taste. It has given way to more modern and convenient dwellings, but is still remembered as the abode of comfort by the early settlers, and the welcome place of sojourn of many a weary traveler of the early days.
Rockwell returned from Indiana with his drove of stock early in June-about the 5th. He brought some twenty-five cows, three yoke of oxen and a horse. They were not what a farmer of Walworth County would to-day call a faney lot: there is not, probably, in all the county, among the thousands, twenty-five as scurvy as those which constituted Rockwell's drove. As they were safe from the disgrace of comparison, there being no others near, they were satisfac- tory to their owners, and were put to grazing on the fresh-grown grass of Elkhorn Prairie. The colony luxuriated on bread and milk till the women might arrive. It is not believed that either of the men attempted to churn before that time.
Soon after Rockwell's return, Daniel E. Bradley arrived in Raeine with the families of himself and Milo. The ox-team was immediately dispatched for them, and they reached Elk- horn and took up quarters in the frame house, not yet plastered, June 12, 1837. This addition of women and children made the colony complete. The families who arrived with Mr. Daniel E. Bradley consisted of three women-Mrs. Daniel E. Bradley and daughter (now Mrs. Hollis Latham), and Mrs. Milo E. Bradley, with six children, the oldest of whom, then a youth of four- teen years, is the present Postmaster of Elkhorn -- Mr. Henry Bradley. The census taken at that time showed the population (all imnates of the new house) to number fourteen, viz., five men. three women and six children. Mr. Bradley, Sr., with his wife, constituted the head of the united family. Business began in earnest. Some twenty-five acres of prairie were broken during the latter part of June, partly on the claim of the company on Section 5, in what is now the town of Geneva, and a few acres on each of the claims of Latham and Ogden, on Sections 6 and 1, within the present limits of the town of Elkhorn. So the first land broken by the plow for cultivation was by Messrs. Latham and Ogden on their respective elaims. The crops that year consisted principally of corn, with a bounteous erop of rutabaga turnips, taken from six aeres, which helped the cows through the following winter.
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