USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 20
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
1852, '63
Charles Derby Blanke
1885-1901
Clifton S. Arnold
1902-04
Wells W. Belden .1858
John Deignan
1905-10
George C. Perry 1859-61
Andrew W. Hafs
1910-12
Mr. Deignan having resigned in 1910, Mr. Hafs was appointed for that year.
TOWN TREASURER.
John Wood 1844-45
Samuel R. Darrow 1859
Solon Reed 1860-62, 64
Dewitt C. Blakeman -1850
Ira Williams 1863
William Worth Byington 1851-52
Oramel Kimball 1865
Eddy Cole 1853-54
Charles Augustus Noyes 1866-68
John Chapin 1855 1
Abner Fuller 1860-70
1 John Read 1856 1 1
David B. Maine 1871-1885
Joseph Fuller 1 1 1 1 1
1857
William H. Allen 1886-1891
Homer Field 1
1858
Elijah T. Ilibbard 1892. 1902
1
1 1 1 1
1
I
*Charles Augustus Noyes, Jr .. 1864-65
Robert Moores
1 848
I
Samuel Allen I Į J
1 1
1849
William Youlen 1850 I 1
James S. Stilson 1 1
1851, '66
William Worth Byington
1853-57
William Densmore Chapin 846-49
Cyrus Rugg 1844
1903
Solon Reed 1859. '72
Ichabod A. Hart 1 862
234
WALWORTHI COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
John Hubbard Miller 1893-95 Richard R. Hoffman 1904-08
Frank Marshall Miller 1 896-99 Henry Kimball -1909
H. Albert Gibbs 1900-OI Doric W. Forbes 1910-II
Alfred Darling -1903
Charles Gifford 1912
A few assessors are named between 1855 and 1911 : William Besteder, 1855-6; Donald Forbes, 1881-91: Bryant T. Benson, 1882 and 1908-11 ; George R. Allen, 1883-4; Alfred Darling, 1892; Edwin O. Kull. 1894-1906; Frank A. Grout, 1907 .- whence it appears that sometimes there were two assessors.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
Heman H. Allen 1864
Clifton S. Arnold 1905. '07
Rasmus H. Bjerning 1910
Dewitt C. Blakeman 1859, '61
Milton B. Carey
1875
Doric W. Forbes 1 908
Charles R. Foster __ 1864-75. 1880-93 Thomas H. Grier 1 892
Frederick A. Grout, v 1902
Andrew W. Hafs, v. v
1909, 10
Nathan Harrison 1868-75. '76-83
Ichabod .A. Hart 1860
Elijah T. Hibbard -95V .. '98.
1901. 1903. 04. 10
Horace Johnson 1862, '69
Louis A. Kimball 1893. '95
Andrew Kull, Jr 1874, 76
Edwin O. Kull 1892
David B. Maine 1877-85
John Moore 1888, '90. 1900
William C. Moores, v
1884
Frederick C. Paskie. v 1909
George C. Perry 1859-63
Charles H. Prouty 1898
Hugh Reed
1868
Frederick C. Richardson, 1 895
Henry O. Roberts 1884-87
Dan Rowe
1843. 65
Amos Wagman Stafford 1870
James S. Stilson 1866
William E. Trow
88 v., 91-97
Joel Washburn
1860
These dates are usually those of the several elections for a term of two years; but two dates connected by a dash indicate beginnning and end of service. Vacancies, filled for one year, are shown by letter "v." Only names of justices who filed with the clerk of the court certificates of their election are shown, because of the uncertainty as to which of others elected took the oath of office.
GENOA JUNCTION.
Nature drew no line between the sovereignties of Illinois and Wisconsin. The fair and fertile fields of Bloomfield, Linn, Walworth, and Sharon stretch far southward into the older state. The village of Richmond is about
235
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
two miles below the point at which the Nippersink abandons Wisconsin, little more than a stone's throw from the state line. Its slightly earlier settlement and its immediate growth as a center of local trade, with similar development at the foot of Geneva lake, placed churches, schools, mills, shops and stores within fairly convenient reach of the earlier-coming farmers of Bloom- field, and thus retarded village platting in that town.
In or about 1850 James F. Dickerson came to improve the mill-site and to lay out a village, which was named Genoa, a little below the united Nip- persink and on its left bank, in section 35. within a quarter-mile of the state line. Its railway distances are : From Chicago, 77.3 miles ; from Richmond, 1.3 miles; from Lake Geneva, 8.7 miles: from Kenosha. 27.5 miles: from Harvard, 16.8 miles. All its railway connections are by two intersecting Chicago & Northwestern lines. In no long time arose occasional confusion in the mail service because of another Genoa in DeKalb county, Ilinois. To avoid this the word "Junction" was added to the village name, and now Genoa postoffice is in Vernon county. Wisconsin. The territorial road from Kenosha to Beloit passed through the present village plat, within the limits of which it is named Walworth street. The village lies on slightly uneven ground, giving easy ascents and ready drainage. Its appearance as a whole and in detail is clean and homelike, its roadways hard and smooth, and its cement walks are now measurable in miles. In the modern ways of city life this village may be regarded as suburban-directly and quickly reached from Chicago by four daily trains.
Charles A. Noyes bought in 1853 a share in the mill property, and also built the Cottage Inn, to which the Manor House succeeded in 1871 and remains as the Junction House. Mr. Dickerson had died, and Adolph Free- man had married his widow and for a short time controlled the mill manage- ment. Mr. Noyes was followed by Thomas Carter and A. J. Goin, from whom the mill passed to John Alexander Pierce, of Millard, and Charles Covell, and in later succession to John Albert Pierce, the Genoa Junction Company, and Julian M. Carey. Within a few years Mr. Carey turned the water-power to its present use, that of supplying the village with electric light. The Pierces were father and son, and their ownership of the mill was in more than one way memorable.
Welcome J. Miller came in 1850 from Kenosha, where he had well learned his business, and began work as a maker of carriages and farm wagons of such quality and workmanlike finish as to secure a wide market for his steadily increasing production. Ilis two ofdler boys, as they grew to manhood, became his partners, and for long the Miller wagon made the firm
236
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
and the village famous. Modern conditions of manufacture and sale do not long permit the several rivalries of small establishments. Mr. Miller died in 1885 and the sons have been forced into more humbly useful repair- ing and smith-work.
The Borden Condensed Milk Company, whose products reach the fron- tiers of civilization, has here one of its large and fully equipped factories, handling the local supply of milk to the extent of forty thousand pounds daily, and making Genoa Junction an important shipping station.
H. Albert Gibbs has here an ice cream factory. the product of which finds its market in this and several near-lying counties. His business seems likely to be permanent, and is an important addition to the village enter- prises.
The yearly production, and shipment by railway, of cabbages has be- come a noticeable feature of local industry.
The earliest postoffice here was named Bloomfield, and was successively named Genoa and Genoa Junction. There is no local record of postmasters in their order of service and with beginning of each one's term of office, but the following list is as full and accurate as men's memories now supply : James S. Stilson, Schuyler W. Benson, Julian M. Carey. 1878; AAlbert E. Simons, 1885: John Coppersmith, 1889: Lanson G. Deignan, 1893: Dexter B. Holton ; Julian Marcellus Carey, 1897: Charles Il. Prouty, 1908.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
Rev. Lemuel Hall, a pioneer clergyman then of Geneva, came April 5. 1846, to help Rev. Leonard Rogers in the work of organizing a Congrega- tional society, with twelve members, at the center school house. About 1852 its meeting place was fixed at Genoa. In the pastorate of Mr. Caldwell a sightly and convenient church was built at Park and Freeman streets at a cost ( with bell ) of nearly five thousand dollars. This was in 1864-5. Ad- dition was made in 1892 for Sunday school room and parlors. The present membership is forty-four persons. Dr. Benjamin J. Bill has been clerk of the society for more years than he can tell without reference to church record. His nearest predecessor was Mrs. Asa C. Rowe. Mrs. Frances Bundy, one of the earliest members, is yet living, near the village, in her eighty-sixth year, her mind clear and filled with memories of younger Bloomfieldl. The succession of pastors is: Leonard Rogers, 1846: J. V. Downs: Christopher Columbus Cakwell. 1854: Francis J. Douglas, 1869: Charles H. Fraser, 1883 : Hiram W. Harbaugh. 1886: Henry O. Spelman. 1890; Bryant C. Preston. 1892: James B. Orr ( three months ). 1893: Herbert A. Kerns, 1893: Joseph
237
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
WV. Helmer, 1895; Frank B. Hicks, 1897: Alexander E. Cutler, 1904; Benja- min F. Ray ; Frank Atkinson ; Charles Parmiter, 1910. There was now and then an interregnum in this pastoral succession-generally not more than of one year's length.
It has been told as a fact of town history that the first religious society organized was by twelve Methodists, at the center school house, in 1841. Ilowever this may have been, except for prayer meetings at convenient houses, the members of this denomination attended church at Richmond until 1887. In that year they met at Spice's Hall, in Genoa Junction, Rev. Daniel Cross holding services. In the next year they built a Sunday school room with "supper room" above. This was in the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Smith. In 1894 the main building was finished and dedicated, with Rev. Frank C. Richardson as pastor.
Rt. Rev. Jackson Kemper held Episcopal service in August. 1848, at Mr. Whiting's house in section 32, administered communion to members of the Whiting and Sibley families, and a Whiting daughter. The parish of the Holy Communion was organized in October with William H. Whiting and John Sibley as wardens and Samuel Allen, Robert Moore, Charles W. Sibley and Royal Sikes as vestrymen. Rev. Messrs. McNamara, Ludlum, Peters and Studley were successively rectors of this parish, and a few years later the rectors at Lake Geneva came over monthly. In the absences of clerical attendance. as at present, the service is read by lay readers. Mr. Whiting built a chapel in 1849 on section 29, for temporary use ; but it has not yet been replaced by a more permanent building.
The Evangelical Lutheran society was organized in 1881, its mem- bership including eight families. It owns a lot in the northern part of the village, but holds its services in alternate afternoons at the Congregational church. Its pastorate is suplied from Lake Geneva or Slade's Corners. Its present membership is about forty families.
The German Methodist society was formed in 1885. in connection with the church at Bristol, Kenosha county. It holds no property, but uses the Methodist church fortnightly in summer and once in three weeks in winter. Its membership is about twenty-five.
COMMERCIAL, INTERESTS.
The State Bank of Genoa Junction was organized in 1904 with Hiel M. Holton as president, John Moore as vice-president, Thomas Moore as cashier. and six stockholders besides. The capital was five thousand dollars. This bank seems to have made but one yearly report.
238
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Chester A. Stone had been for some time in business at the village as a private banker. In 1904 he found it practicable and advisable to bring his business under statutory provisions. With thirty-five other stockholders he organized the Citizens State Bank, with twelve thousand dollars capital, James Grier Allen as president, Hoxie W. Smith as vice-president, and him- self as cashier. Most of these stockholders are men of the town and village, and of Lake Geneva.
About 1889 Capt. Luther Granger Riggs, soldier, poet and editor, began to publish the Genoa Junction Journal, as a thus localized edition of his paper at Richmond. Ile was one of the order of cry-aloud, spare-not country editors, and seemed to think that peace is dear at any price and too inglorious for an ex-centurion. His militant editorship was regarded as vigorous and racy, and it was rather overcharged with his own personality. His paper leaned to- ward prohibitionism and the abolition of minor evils. Ile suffered some loss from a lawless entry upon his premises at Richmond, with attendant malicious mischief, as, some dumping of type cases or newspaper forms into the Nippersink. His troubled career ended with his death, October 31, 1891. He was then aged about fifty years.
In 1900 a new paper, the Times, began under ownership of Hurley B. Begun, followed about 1902 by Charles F. Dixon: in 1903 by A. M. Spence ( but initials are doubtful) ; in 1903 by Chauncey AA. Swenson; in 1909 by Morris B. Rice ; in 1911 by Swenson F. Foster, by whom it was discontinued about the end of the year.
VILLAGE ORGANIZATION.
At an election held July 23. 1901, the citizens of Genoa Junction ac- cepted a village charter by vote of 127 to 107. This was on the petition of Dr. Benjamin J. Bill, Julian M. Carey, Eli E. Manor, John Moore, Edward Miller and Chester A. Stone. William Child, county surveyor, established the village boundaries and made a plat for record at Elkhorn. The first vil- lage board was made up of Russell Holmes as president, with Dr. Benjamin J. Bill, Charles D. Gibbs, George Gookin, H. Frederick Henning, Eli E. Manor, Edward Miller, as trustees: Charles D. Blanke as clerk, H. Albert Gibbs as treasurer, and Julian M. Carey as member of the county board. Mr. Holmes is still president, having been relieved only in 1904 and 1910, in which years John H. Miller was chosen. Mr. Blanke's service as clerk has continued with- out an interval. The later treasurers elected were Clarence A. Graves in 1002, Charles H1. Prouty in 1906. Lanson G. Deignan in 1908. A. Willis Hyde
239
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
1809. Joseph W. Westlake became assessor in 1902, and William E. Trow in 1903 and is still in service. Mr. Carey served four years on the county board, followed in 1905 by Capt. Theodore A. Fellows, who served till his death. February 10. 1912; and in April Mr. Carey was called back. Dr. Bill has been and is yet health officer.
CHAPTER XXI.
TOWN AND VILLAGE OF DARIEN.
The land area of the township of Darien is given officially as 22,700 acres, leaving 340 acres ( surveyor's errors excepted) under water. Turtle creek comes out of Delavan and flows in the devious way of prairie streams for more than eight miles to reach the line of Bradford, in the next county, making a sigmoid flexure through sections 13. 12, 11, 10, 15, 16, 21, 17, 18, its exit from Darien nearly due west from its entrance. Its tributaries are few and small, the two larger ones coming out of Sharon, crossing sections 32 and 31 near Allen Grove and meeting the Turtle beyond the county line. The wooded areas were greatest in sections 3. 4. 9. The smaller forests and groves are so distributed through the town as to divide the open country into several locally named prairies, as Blooming, Hazel, Ridge, Rock, and Turtle. Rock prairie, in the northwestern sections, reaches into neighboring towns, and is one of the most fertile in the state.
STATISTICS.
County clerk's tables for 1910 show a total land value of $2,203,700, of which $164,400 is the estimate for two unincorporated villages. Average value per acre, $89.83. Acreages of crops : Apple trees, 114; barley, 4,095; beets, 20; corn, 5.564; growing timber, 2,047; hayfield, 3.785; oats, 1.535; rye, 126; wheat, 200; no potatoes. Numbers and values of live stock : 2,586 cattle. $67,200: 1.355 hogs. $13.600; 731 horses, $55.400: 9 inules. $610; 864 sheep, $2,600. Automobiles, 14. The population, at seven federal enum- erations, was: 1850, 1.013: 1860, 1,590: 1870. 1,583: 1880. 1,394: 1800. 1,218: 1900, 1.371 : 1910, 1,249.
Town 2 north, range 15 east, was at first included in the town of Dela- van, from which it was detached by legislative action January 6, 1840, and named from Darien, Genesee county, New York, the last previous home of several settlers of influence in the new community. Elijah Belding and Chris- topher C. Chesebrough came in April. 1837, apparently by way of the Phoe- nix settlement, making claims respectively in sections 11 and 14. Both broke land and planted a few acres, and Mr. Chesebrough built a house, though he
241
WALWORTHI COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
had not yet married. Near the end of May, Joseph and Arthur W. Maxson followed Turtle vale to section 18, where they found passable water power, on which, four years later, they built a sawmill and thirteen years later a gristmill. In June William H. Moore came to section 15, and Rev. Hiram Alvah Kingsley to section 19. Mr. Moore raised, threshed, ground and ate the first grain erop raised in Darien. John Bruce, Cyrus and John Lippit, Salmon and Trumbull D. Thomas eame, the first to section 22, the Lippits to section 35, Salmon Thomas to section 12. his brother to section 1. August II, 1837, Alfred Delavan Thomas, son of Salmon, was born to other use- fulness than hoeing corn or milking cows.
Within the next four years came Orange W. and William T. Carter, Ebenezer and Jabez B. Chesebrough, John Curtis, Leander Dodge, Charles Ellsworth, Jared Fox, Jasper Griggs, Cyrenus N., Kinner, Lemuel and Will- iam Hollister, Robert A. Houston, Alvah B., Asher and Hiram A. Johnson, Loren K. and Lyman Jones, Robert Lawson, Hugh and Chester D. Long, Elisha McCollister, William Gregory Mayhew, Amos Older, Lyman H. Seaver, Hiram A. Stone, John Valentine Walker, John and Joseph R. Wil- kins, Archibald Woodard, Minthorn Woodhull.
Before the new town was seven years old it received these accessions to its citizenship: Oscar Anderson, Hiram Babcock, Eusebius Barwell, Levi Beedle, Dearborn Blake, Levi Blakeman, Willard A. Blanchard, Jeremiah Bradway, Philander Brainerd, Lorenzo Carter, John Mudgett Chase, Wash- ington Chesebrough. John Clague, George Clapper. Nicholas S. Comstock, John B. and Richard Cook, George Cotton, Horace Croswell. Josiah and Samuel W. Dodge, James Dudley. Cornelius Dykeman. Walter P. Flanders, Asa Foster, Samuel Fowle, Henry Frey, Alexander and James Gallup, Thomas George, Homer B. Greenman, Samuel K. Gregory, John Haskell, Silas Haskin, John B. Hastings, Robert Hutchinson, Amos Ives, Parley W. Jones. Peter M. Keeler, Eli and Henry King, John Sardine Kingsley, Stephen Kinney, Timothy Knapp, S. Rees LaBar, Ira P. Larnard, Zebulon T. Lee, David Lindsey, James McCay, Newton McGraw, Stephen and Thomas M. Mc- Hugh, Moses MeKee, Thomas M. and William Martin, Alfred . A. Mott, Joseph Edward Newberry, Jacob and John N. Niskern, Edson B. and Will- iam Older, Hiram Onderdonk. Amos Otis, Joshua Parish. Nicholas Perry, Amasa T. and Ovid Reed. John Reinhardt, Lucius Relyea. Erastus Rood, Charles F. and James .A. Scofieldl. John Woodard Seaver, John Martin Sher- man. William H. Shinimins, Henry Smith, Charles P. Soper, Joseph Murray Stilwell, Randall Stone, Edwin and Luke Taylor, Ezekiel Tripp, Isaac Vail, (16)
2.42
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Abraham and Cornelius Veeder, Josiah Vrooman, George Walker, Alfred Watrous, Rial N. Weed. Carey Welch, Victor Moreau Wheeler, Lewis Wil- kinson, John Williams, Ebenezer and John Woodard.
Christopher Columbus Chesebro, son of Ebenezer and Anna, was born in Albany county, November 13, 1816; died at Darien March 14. 1841. He married Maria Johnson, June 12, 1839.
Jabez Brooks Chesebro ( 1811-1881), eldest son of Ebenezer, married Mary Simpson and had six children.
Nelson W. Cole ( 1818-1903) married Harriet ( 1832-1900), daughter of Martin and Esther Post.
Asa Foster (1807-1857) bought land in sections 22, 30. He married Lucy (1810-1881), daughter of Orange Carter and Elizabeth Rumsey.
Henry Frey ( 1785-1865) and wife, Amelia J. ( 1794-1839), must have been among the earliest settlers, since Mrs. Frey's tombstone is in the village burial ground. Her death, then, is the carliest found in the town. Mr. Frey was for some years postmaster, and was an active business man. His son, Philip R. Frey, was first railway station agent at Darien, and was transferred to the station at Corliss about 1870.
James Gale ( 1821-1884) married Phoebe Ann ( 1826-1903), daughter of Frederick Rosekrans and Desire Braman.
John Brooks Hastings ( 1815-1902) was born at Pembroke, New York ; came to Darien in 1843: married in 1846 Hannah Maria ( 1825-1882), daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Reed.
Asher Johnson ( 1791-1873) came from Steuben county, New York; bought land in sections 4, 17, 19, 20. His wife was Amy Smith ( 1793-1882). Sons, Alvah B., Hiram .A., John J., and Samuel, and daughter Celeste ( Mrs. Joseph R. Wilkins).
Alvalı B. Johnson, son of Asher ( 1812-1899), married, first, Hannah Boyce (1818-1845) ; second, Jane P. Kerns.
Zebulon Taylor Lee ( 1801-1858). son of Quartus Lee and Keziah John- son. was born at Willington, Connecticut, and was buried at Allen Grove. Ile married Sabra ( 1804-1883), daughter of Orange and Elizabeth Carter. He bought land in section 32. Of his children were Aurelia Josephine ( Mrs. Dr. John Dickson), Laura Ann ( Mrs. Chester D). Long). Almirette ( Mrs. William II. Babcock).
Cyrus Lippit ( 1810-1888). son of Hezekiah and Susan, came from Cattaraugus county to section 35 in 1838, having married in 1832, with his wife Lydia ( 1810-1881), sister of John Bruce. She was born at Phelps, New York. Her sister Susan was Mrs. William Phoenix.
243
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Ovid Reed ( 1820-1890), son of Alexander and Elizabeth, born in Darien, New York; married Jane M. Seaver, daughter of Joseph W. and Mary.
Erastus Rood ( 1816-1900) married flannah M. ( 1820-1900). daughter of John and Susan Wilkins.
Charles P. Soper ( 1821-1879). son of Asahel and Clarissa, married, first. Harriet C. ( 1820-1846) : married, second, in 1848, Wealthy I. Gallup ( 1823-1910). . \sahel ( 1790-1846) and Clarissa ( 1793-1869) died at Darien. They were from central New York.
Salmon Thomas (1801-1887) and wife, Elizabeth Stowell ( 1816-1893), ~ removed to Delavan village.
Trumbull Dorrance Thomas ( 1806-1889) and wife, Mary Jane ( 1818- 1885), also removed to Delavan. He was Salmon's brother.
John Wilkins ( 1872-1868) and wife, Susan ( 1794-1851), came from New Jersey with sons James ( 1805-1900) and Joseph Rusling ( 1817-1907). James married Hannah Ferguson ( 1806-1878). Joseph Rusling Wilkins married Celeste ( 1818-1891), daughter of Asher Johnson.
John Williams, Jr. ( 1798-1877), married Ann, daughter of Orange and Elizabeth Carter. A son. Deloss ( 1824-1907), married Lydia M. Phelps.
EARLY GROWTH.
In 1837 John Bruce built a house near the road to Beloit at the central part of section 27. This modest mansion also served as a wayside inn, until 1843, when his son, James R. Bruce, built a hotel with such substantial frame and workmanship that it still serves the purpose of a public house. Henry Frey built a store in 1844, and filled it with a large stock of goods. A postoffice had been established there in 1839. A hamlet grew slowly about these buildings until 1856, in which year Mr. Frey, Hiram A. Stone and Edward Topping platted the village of Darien, through the middle of which the railway came that year from Racine and onward to Beloit. The new station at once became an important point for shipping the abundant grain crops of Darien and other towns, and as busy a distributing point for the trade in pine lumber. Less grain than then is now raised and forwarded, but the station has not lost its relative importance. Before 1862 five grain houses were built, severally by Parker M. Cole, Hiram Onderdonk, John Williams, John Bruce and M. Bushnell Stone. These have been operated by men who knew how to draw and hold trade.
The village is on slightly uneven ground, but has no difficult street grades. It is generally a few feet higher than at the station, where it is
244
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
945 feet above sea level. It is 9.4 miles from Elkhorn, 65.9 miles from Milwaukee (by rail), 84.7 miles from Chicago. It is as yet unincorporated, . and has about four hundred inhabitants. ( In October, 1911, the village re- jected a proposition to incorporate by a decisive majority.)
Its churches are Baptist and Methodist, each costing about three thou- sand dollars. The town of Darien has seven school districts, of which three are joint districts. The village supports a graded school, with six teachers, doing excellent work. The school house was built in 1903 of red brick, two stories high. A town hall, very convenient for many public occasions, was built about 1870 and burned July 28, 1909, and with it inost of the priceless town records.
In 1897 the Farmers' State Bank was organized with a capital of fifteen thousand dollars, Jolm R. Eagan cashier and resident officer. It has a build- ing suitable for its purpose. Like most villages in the county, Darien is an active dairy center. Its cemetery, northwest of the village, lies on sloping ground, and is kept in perfect order. Several of the fathers and mothers of the town were buried there, and also at the Mount Philip cemetery, Allen Grove, which lies north of the station, within the town of Darien. The village (Darien) has a tidy little park of two or three acres ; but, in larger sense, the village itself with all one may see, from its higher points, of field and grove makes one of the finest parks in Wisconsin.
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.