USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 31
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35I
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Williams, Jr., Alexander Wilson, Christopher Wiswell, John Wood, Simon J. Woodbury, Calvin H., George W., and Robert Wylie, George Young.
The census of 1842 shows a few once well known names as: William Baumis, Zebulon Bugbee, Israel Hamblin, Jacob Harkness, Solomon Lewis, Henry Noblet, Theodorus Bailey Northrop, Thomas Pollock, Sherman Mor- gan Rockwood, Henry H. Sterling, Charles H. Thompson, and others who may have been of either part of old Spring Prairie.
Amasa Allen (1776-1845) and his son Lester (1810-1884) were long residents in the town. Lester died at Elkhorn.
Truman B. Bartlett ( 1815-1907) came from Vermont in 1844, with wife Serena Strong ( 1823-1890) and settled in Spring Prairie. About 1856 he bought his farm in section 6. Lafayette.
Major Nathaniel Bell ( 1800-1868) was sheriff from 1845 to 1849. He came in 1837 with his wife Sarah L. ( 1809-1847) and bought in sections 12, 25, 36.
Robert Bentley ( 1800-1854) and wife Maria Burse ( 1809-1868) came to section 5, in 1847.
Joseph H. Bishop ( 1801-1882), son of Levi Bishop and Nancy Hunt, lived in section 10. His wife was Clarissa R. Balsley.
Alexander Hervey Bunnell (1813-1889), son of Salmon Bunnell and Lois Leete, of Broome county, New York, came to section 20 in 1837. He married, first, Mary Dyer in 1839. She died in 1847 and he married in 1848 Harriet N. Dyer ( 1825-1883). These were daughters of Capt. Charles Dyer and Mary Galusha, and sisters of Dr. Edward G. Dyer.
Harvey Morse Curtiss ( 1817-1890), son of Harvey Curtiss and Melinda Morse, bought in sections 14, 23. in 1840. He married twice: Calcina A. Smith ( 1831-1852) and Eliza Almira Smith (1825-1899). They were daughters of John and Caroline Smith. Mr. Curtiss was one of the best men in his town.
Julius Derthick ( 1795-1863) and wife Esther Monroe ( 1790-1879). daughter of George Monroe and Miss Bennett, came from Portage county, Ohio, in 1854 to section 25. Their sons, John H. and Walter G. are named in the official lists of the county.
Isaiah Hamblin ( 1790-1857) was son of Barnabas and wife Daphne, daughter of William Haynes. (His other ancestors: Sylvanus,4 Elkanah,3 James2 1). He was born in Massachusetts and died in California. His wife died in Iowa in 1847, before which time he had left his home here to rejoin the Mormons, beyond the river.
352
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Albert Dyer Harris ( 1820-1891), son of Dyer Harris and Temperance Watrous, had earlier ancestors : Ephraim,4 3 Asa,2 James.1 He was born in Connecticut, married in 1845 Maria, daughter of William Bell and Harriet Owen, and came in that year to section 36.
Thomas Harrison (1793-1872) had wife Clementina M. (1811-1845). His land was in section 26.
Anson Hendrix (1793-1849) and wife Cynthia Niles (1799-1871) left a son Wellington ( 1821-1889), whose wife was Abigail Briggs ( 1822-1895), and who was long a man of various public usefulness.
Elias Hicks (1800-1885), son of Nathaniel, of Bristol county, Massa- chusetts, married Eliza Witherspoon in 1822, and came in 1837 to Lafayette. His second wife was named Amanda. He died at Elkhorn. There have been several namesake families in the country, some of whom came from Nova Scotia.
Murdock (1810-1886) and Roderick Mckenzie (1825-1898) came from Scotland in 1842 and in 1846 to northern Lafayette. Murdock married Jane Lamont ( 1827-1857) ; Roderick married Susan, daughter of Thomas and Susan Pollock. Their sister Barbara was wife of Alexander Matheson.
Winthrop Norton ( 1800-1863) married Hannah Cranston ( 1800-1879) and in 1842 came from Ohio to section 25. Their sons, Abraham C., John H. and William C., and daughter, Zilpha M. (Mrs. John C. Keyes), were long active and helpful members of their community. Mr. Norton died in California.
Urialı Payne, son of the pioneer at Geneva Lake, came about 1842 from Duck Lake, and bought in section 15, but left no distinct mark in the town history.
Thomas Pollock ( 1808-1882) and wife Susan Manderson came from Scotland. They settled near their son-in-law, Roderick Mckenzie.
Zephaniah Short ( 1815-1896) was born in Otsego county; in 1835 married Sally Cockett ( 1815-1893) ; came to Lafayette. section 27. In their later years they lived at Elkhorn. Their son George died in service as a soldier of the Twenty-eighth Infantry in 1863.
Emory Singletery (1798-1891) was born at Sutton, Massachusetts. He may have been a near relative of Solomon A. Dwinnell, whose mother was Hannah Singletery. He married, first. Lois Pierce: second, Catharine Smith ( 1800-1875). He lived in section 22.
Ezekiel Brown Smith (1809-1882). son of Willard Smith and Amy, daughter of Palmer Gardner and Hannah, daughter of Joseph and Mary Nichols-therefore an aunt of the first-comer to Spring Prairie. Her father-
353
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
line was George.1 Nicholas, 23 Sylvester. + Palmer.3 Amy". The other Gardner line was George,1 Nicholas,2 3 Sylvester.4 Palmer,5 Sylvester,6 Palmer,7 of Spring Prairie. In 1840 Mr. Smith married Sophronia ( 1812-1885), daughter of Amasa Allen, at Ellisburg, New York, and came in 1843 to section 12.
Sylvester Gardner Smith ( 1796-1878) was a brother of Ezekiel B. Smith, and was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts. He came to sections TI. 12. His first wife was Diana Ward, whose son, Capt. Lindsey J. Smith, of Troy, was serviceable in war and in peace. His second wife was Mrs. Charity Pierce.
Daniel Kingsley Stearns was son of Theodore Stearns and Charlotte Root. He died between 1857 and 1860, at his farm in section 21. His wife. Elizabeth Kellogg, was thus descended in father line: Nicholas,1 Thomas,2 Philip,3 Martin,+ Joseph,5 Nathaniel,67 Moses,8 Whiting.9 Her mother was Elizabeth ( 1750-1832), daughter of Aaron and Mary Cross.
Isaac Vant ( 1806-1861) and wife Ann ( 1809-1888) came to section 12.
David Tower Vaughn ( 1810-1888). son of Samuel Vaughn and Ruth Bowker, was born in Vermont; married Rebecca Dinsmore (1813-1876) ; came in 1838 to Spring Prairie, bought in section 13 of Lafayette in 1840, to which he added land in section 18, Spring Prairie, until he owned more than five hundred acres. His brother, Samuel Cole Vaughn, and brother- in-law. Isaiah Dike. came also to Spring Prairie in 1837.
Joseph D. Whiteley (born 1799) and wife Mary Jane ( 1806-1889) went within a few years (before 1860) to Walworth.
George Whitton (or Whiton?) married Jane Hare. He died in 1851 and ten years later she died.
Absalom Williams ( 1818-1892), son of AAbsalom Williams and Fanny Root, married Melissa Tiffany in 1840. In 1844 he came to section 34. He had sons Emory, Collins M., Frank, George, and Arnold D. From 1853 to 1886 he lived in Spring Prairie, and died at Elkhorn. His wife ( 1820-1890) died at Lyons.
Alexander Wilson ( 1802-1873), section 28, married Abigail ( 1801- 1887), daughter of George and Abigail Bishop. They came to the town in 1842.
Christopher Wiswell ( 1811-1883), son of Capt. Henry Wiswell and Elizabeth Salter, was born at Dalton, Massachusetts, and came from Chen- ango county in 1840. first buying in section 5. He married Almira ( 1817- 1883). daughter of Stephen G. West and Rebecca Pike.
(23)
354
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
The Elkhorn and Eagle branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway crosses sections 4. 5. 8, 18, 19, 31, and has a station in section 8, named by the company for Jedediah W. Peck.
There are seven school districts in the town, of which district 2 is joint with Troy, district 4 with Sugar Creek, district 7 with Spring Prairie (the Bowers schoolhouse). and district 9 with Sugar Creek and Troy.
There is a church in section 10, at the Bishop farm, its service usually supplied from the Congregational church at East Troy, and near it is a well- kept burial ground, laid out in 1848. There are also graves at "Westville," in section 6, and at the Seymour farm in section 18, laid out in 1844.
CILMIRMEN OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Dr. Jesse Carr Mills 1843
Nathaniel Bell 1844-6, '50-I
Christopher Wiswell 1847, '60-3
Harvey Morse Curtiss_1848, '74, '83
Ralph Patrick 1849
John Bell 1852-3
James Harkness 1854-5
Robert Thompson Seymour 1856-7, '66-8
Reuben B. Burroughs 1858-9
Ezekiel Brown Smith 1864-5
Stephen R. Edgerton 1869,'73
Jedediah William Peck 1870
Calvin H. Wylie 1871-2, '78
Abraham Cranston Norton __ 1875.
'84, '87
Joseph Potter 1876, '82
Jay P. Wylie 1877
Virgil Cobb
1879-80
Theodorus Northrop
1881
Delos Harrington
1888. '91
Jay Foster
1889, '90. 94
James E. Lauderdale
1892
Bennet F. Ludtke
-1893. '97
Milo Bingham Ranney.
1895-6. '98
George L. Harrington
1899-190I
Charles E. Knapp
1902-6
Frederick Milton Dike
1907-9
William Harmon
1910-12
ASSOCIATE SUPERVISORS.
Lester Allen 1855
George Costello
Anthony Belk
1905
George Bentley 1879-80
Erwin AA. Bloodgood .1907
Albert Brown 1882, 1902-3
James Child 1859. '71-2
Oscar P. Coats
1907-9
William H. Conger
1852-3
Harvey Morse Curtiss __ 1846-7. '50, '81
Harvey Ward Curtiss I891
John Henry Derthick I873
Julius Derthick 1860
Walter George Derthick 1 866-7
Frederick Milton Dike.
1900-6
355
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Brewster B. Drake __ -1866. 75. 78
Charles E. Ellsworth. 1904
William Pierce Ellsworth 1869
George W. Fairchild. 1885
Jay Foster
1887-8
Solomon H. Foster 1876
Everett A. Greene 1909, '12
Porter Greene
1856
James Harkness
1910-1I
Rufus Dudley Harriman
1874
Albert Dyer Harris.
1851
James V. Hempstead
1854
Wellington Hendrix
1863-4. '68
Peter Hinman
1844-5, 47-8
Henry A. Hubbard
1867-8, '80
Hiram Humphrey
1845, '49
Charles E. Ketchpaw
1883
John C. Keyes.
1871-2
James E. Lauderdale
1895-6
Louis E. Lauderdale
1912
Bennet F. Ludtke
1891
1
Donald F. Matheson
I
1908
Oscar D. Merrick
1889
Nathan W. Mower
1870
Anthony Noblet
1879
Abraham Cranston Norton
1869
Ralph Patrick
1846, 48
Jedediah William Peck
1865
Frederick Peglow
1899
Alonzo Potter
1870
Geo. Eugene Potter __ 1890, '92-4, '97
Joseph Potter
1859. '75, '77
Patrick Powers
1893-4
Milo B. Ranney
1898
Henry Rieck
1898
Sherman Morgan Rockwood 1843 Charles F. Rohde ___ 1884-6, '92, '97 Sylvester C. Sanford 1861
Robert Thompson Seymour
.1873
Ezekiel Brown Smith.
1857
'60-2, '74
Henry Harrison Sterling 1862
August Voss
1881-3, '87
John Wadsworth 1850
William Webb
1884,'86
Nelson West
1865
Stephen Gano West
1851-2, '54
William Montague Whitney __ 1863-4
Absalom Williams
1853
Alexander Wilson
1843-4
Frederick Winter
1877-8,
'88-90, '95-6
Christopher Wiswell
1856, 1858
Frederick Clayton Wiswell-1899-1901
William J. Wood_1 -1906
Calvin H. Wylie.
1849. '57-8
John Perry Wylie
1876
TOWN CLERKS.
Reuben B. Burroughs 1843
Charles Seeley 1844-6
Alva H. Thompson 18.47
George G. Sewell
1848-50
Harvey Morse Curtiss.
1851-2
Wellington Hendrix 1853
George Washington Wylie_1854-1860
Calvin H. Wiley __ 1861, '65-6, '70, '82
Stephen R. Edgerton 1862-4
Wallace W. Hartwell 1867-9
Niles Anson Hendrix.
1871-3
Milo Bingham Ranney.
-1874- .
80, '83-8
Ilarvey A. Greene 1881
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WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Leonard Cobb __ 1889-96. '98, 1901-9 Joseph Robert Potter 1899-1900 George P. Peck -1897, 1910-12
TREASURERS.
Solomon Ashley Dwinnell 1843
Albert E. Oviatt. 1867
Joseph Whitmore 1844
Niles Anson Hendrix 1868
Sylvester Gardner Smith 1845-8
Robert B. Webb
Alexander Hervey Bunnell 1849
Sanford Doane _1869
1870-3
Christopher Wiswell
1850
Theodorus Northrop
1 877-80
Jedediah William Peck 1851
Ezekiel Brown Smith
1881
Peter Hinman 1852
N. Howard Briggs 1
1
1853
William H. Coombe
1885, '91-3
Jacob Wright 1854 1
Leonard Cobb 1886-7
Julius M. Ellsworth 1888-90,
`98-1907
Clayton E. Mower 1894
Charles E. Ellsworth 1895-6
Robert S. Hendrix
1859
Stephen Williams 1860
Frank Harmon 1897
George Wright 1861-5. '74-6
Erwin A. Bloodgood 1908-9
Charles W. Coneklin. 1866
Robert J. Ludtke
1910-12
JUSTICES OF TIIE PEACE.
Nelson Catlin. 1862-3, '65-6
Robert Cheney 1899-1900
James Child. 59-60, '62-5,
68-74, '75-90, 94-9
Oscar P. Coats 1901-2, '06-7
Walter George Derthick 1879, '86-7 .
Frederick Milton Dike 1908-9
Stephen R. Edgerton 1867-74
Henry Schroeder 1 1 1881-7
John Schubert 1860-I
Ezekiel Brown Smith
1877-9
Levi Hare 1872-3
George 1. Harrington 1898
Wellington Hendrix 1863-74
Mark Hunt 1895-6
Willam L. Lane. 1866-7
William HI. McArthur 1880-3
Clayton E. Mower 1 890
Charles Isaac Peck 1891-2
Milo B. Ranney 1893-4
Oscar B. Rogers
1879-80
Richard Baker Flack 1859-62
Jay Foster 1887-95
Jesse Pike West. 1865
Alexander Wilson 1860-1
Calvin H. Wylie. 1885-90
William H. McArthur 1882-4
William Montague Whitney 855-6
Reuben B. Burroughs
1857
William Pierce Ellsworth 1858
CHAPTER XXIX.
TOWN OF LAGRANGE.
Town 4 north of range 16 east was set off March 21, 1843, from the town of Elkhorn and named for an estate or country-seat of the hero, of three revolutions, Marquis de Lafayette. It lies next southward from Palmyra, in Jefferson county ; and the city of that name has trade relations and some personal interests with part of the town on this side of the line. Lagrange is generally about nine hundred fifty-five feet above sea-level. It is within the lower loop of the great Kettle moraine, and its numerous pot-like de- pressions are characteristic of that great glacial deposit. Some of these are (or have been) miniature lakes. The group of lakes named Lauderdale, from owners of adjacent land, is in the southeastern corner, section 36, and from it Honey creek takes its course across the Troy and Spring Prairie to Fox river. A branch of the Scuppernong flows northward, from section 18,and through sections 7 and 6.
, The land is generally as fertile as any in the county, and Heart prairie, in the southwestern quarter, was long regarded as especially so. The farmers of the town have been as far-seeing and prosperous as elsewhere within county limits. Stock-raising received early attention and effort, and men of Heart prairie made their corner of the town widely famous for its improved breed of hogs. For a few years each side of 1880 a few tons of tobacco were raised, but that crop has since disappeared from the yearly reports. Heart prairie lies about 965 feet, and the opposite corner of the town about 943 feet above sea-level. Trenton limestone is found at 720 to 870 feet above the sea.
James Holden made the first lawful claim to land within the town. a square-mile on Heart prairie, early in 1837. He was soon followed, within the year, by Amasa Bigelow, James Burt, Gabriel Cornish and sons, Edwin DeWolf, George Esterly, Volney A. McCraken, True Rand and Benjamin Swett. 1838 brought Stephen B. Davis, Orison G. Ewing, Ephraim C. Harlow, William MeDougald, Thomas Waterman, John Weld, Elijah Worthington (with father and brother). Robert G. Esterly and Marshall Newell came in 1839. Among men of 1840 were Charles P. Ellis,
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WALWORTHI COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
James W. Field, Stephen C. Goff, Oliver P. Gunnison, Caleb and Levi Harris, Enos J. Hazard, Ezekiel Lewis. In 1841 Benjamin F. Fox, John King, William Lyon, Caleb and Robert K. Morris, John Norcross, Moses Rand, Samuel Robinson, James H. Sanford. Other early arrivals were those of Horace and Nathan Adams, John H. Cooper, Hiram Cross, David S. Elting, Benjamin Fowler, James Lauderdale, John Olds, Isaac C. Phelps.
Entries at the land office, were made by Henry Adkins, Sewell Andrews, Thomas Astin, William Benjamin Astin, Hugh Barker, Samuel Barr, Harvey Birchard, Thomas Bray, William Bromley, Walter Clayton, James Coats, James George Conklin, Richard Day, Julius Edwards, Walter P. Flanders, Jesse Halsted, John C. Harlow, John Harrison, Charles Heath, Silas and William Houghton, Herman Jenkins, Lars Johnson, Caleb and George W. Kendall, Samuel Kershaw, Edmund King, Jacob R. Kling, Sjur Knudson, Julius H. Lauderdale, Harvey Andrew Lawton, Hugh and Patrick Lee, Henry C. Leffingwell, George Leland, Ralph Lockwood, William Lumb, Alexander McDonald, Isaac Magoon, Patrick Mahan, Edward Malcomb, Corrall Higley Mills, Delos Storms Mills, Forest W. Mills, Richard, L. Morris, Noyes Darling Niblack, John B. and George W. Norcross, Benjamin, Halver, Matthias and Oliver Oleson, John Padley. Ole Peterson, Isaac Severance, Sidney F. Shepard. Isaac 1. Sherwood, George and Maxwell Smith, Peter Spur, James and James P. Stewart, Nelson Z. Strong. Joshna Taylor, Homer Ward, Francis B. Webster, Iver Wickinson, John Wilson.
Horace Adams ( 1801-1863) had first wife Sarah R. (1802-1849), second wife Fanny Emerson (born 1811). He died at Racine.
Nathan Adams (1778-1850) had wife Rachel. (His headstone gives dates 1781-1855-not a solitary instance of difference between stone-cutter and other record-makers.)
Thomas Astin (1822-1907) had wife Elizabeth (1823-1898). He bought in section 9.
Amasa Bigelow came from Nova Scotia. His first wife was named Welch. Second wife, Aun, died in 1906.
James Burt's son, born in 1838, was the first native resident of the tow11.
Gabriel Cornish ( 1772-1853) and wife Eliza ( 1873-1837) came with sons Anson, Jared, and Nelson, in 1837. to section 15. Anson became a clergyman.
Hiram Cross (1811-1882) came in 1842 to section 25. He was an carly improver of stock-breeds, and took premiums at the first county fair.
359
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Stephen B. Davis married Esther Newell April 24, 1842. She was probably a daughter of Marshall and Esther Newell.
Edwin DeWolf married Elizabeth C. MIcCracken, February 8, 1843.
David S. Elting was earlier of Lafayette. He married Eliza Manwell, October 31. 1841.
Ephraim C. Harlow ( 1806-1899) was son of Levi Harlow and Eliza- beth Cary. He married Emeline ( 1811-1891), daughter of Joseph Bigelow, and lived on section I, near Little Prairie.
Caleb Harris (1810-1893), son of Jeremiah Harris and Priscilla Cole, grandson of Anthony Harris, Jr., was born in Jefferson county, New York. He married April 11, 1844, Laura Ann Bronson ( 1822-1904). He came with a brother, Levi, and brother-in-law, Ellis, in 1842. Wesley Harris (1795-1884) and wife Esther ( 1789-1852) are buried at Lagrange; but relationship, if any, with Caleb is not learned.
Enos J. Hazard ( 1810-1857) married Celestia Knight, December 10, 1845. (His widow, Julia C., may have been the same person.) In 1848 he was chosen as assemblyman over Augustus C. Kinne and Thomas Water- man.
Charles Heath ( 1818-1889) and wife Harriet E. (born 1817) were parents of Julia M. V., late widow of William H. Morrison, who, was long known in county and state service.
Nathaniel G. Holden (1818-1872) was son of Josiah Holden and Elizabeth Leland. Elvira J., his wife, was born in 1819. They came in 1842 to Heart prairie.
William Houghton ( 1802-1889) bought land in sections 14, 22, 23, 26. His first wife was Orilla E. ( 1809-1853). His widow, Clarissa, was born in 1818.
George W. Kendall (1799-1887), known as Captain Kendall, was called in 1839 for service as petit juror in Judge Irwin's court. His house was for a time a wayside tavern.
Edmund King ( 1819-1901) was born at Pomfret, Verinont. He came to Whitewater; thence to section 17, Lagrange, where he married Deborah ( 1825-1901), daughter of Samuel Loomer and Deborah Eaton; returned in after years to Whitewater, where he died.
John King (1806-1899). a native of Lancashire, was son of James King and Elizabeth Brierly. He married Ilannah ( 1808-1887), daughter of John and Ellen Hilton, and came to New York in 1834, and to Lagrange in 1841.
360
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Jacob Rensselaer Kling ( 18-1892) was son of Jacob Kling (born 1784) and Dorothy Gasper. He bought in section 1. The family came from the valley of the Mohawk. A sister, Catharine, was wife of Silas. B. Chatfield, of Troy, and this and other relationships were so numerous as to give a family character to a quarter of that town.
Ezekiel Lewis (died 1858) married Abigail ( 1795-1878), daughter of Job and Lydia Harrison, and settled on section 21 in 1840. Their son, John S. Lewis ( born 1822), is named in. early official lists.
Samuel Loomer ( 1782-1853), son of Jonathan and Eunice. married Deboralı Eaton ( 1789-1870) and came from Nova Scotia in 1841. Their children, as far as learned, were Hiram, Samuel N., Timothy, Deboralı (Mrs. Edmund King), and Prudence Sophia (Mrs. Andrew W. Arwood).
Volney Anderson McCracken (born 1803), a cousin of Austin Mc- Cracken and brother-in-law of Edwin W. Meacham (perhaps, too, of Edwin DeWolf), never married. After several years he went to another county. He was the first clerk of the county, and was captain of the militia of his town.
Robert Kennedy Morris ( 1807-1846) and wife Emeline Bird (after- ward Mrs. Austin) were parents of Azel Bird Morris ( 1842-1886), a soldier of the Thirteenth Infantry.
Marshall Newell ( 1803-1870) came about 1840 to section 23. He died at Whitewater. Esther Newell ( 1782-1851) was probably his mother. John Norcross ( 1785-1862) and wife Mitty ( 1788-1862) were parents of George Washington, Joel Butler, and Walter W., all early-comers. (Franklin and Lydia P. lived in the town in 1860.) George W. Norcross married Jane Taylor, July 4, 1845.
John Olds ( 1787-1869) had wife Polly ( 1789-1856) : lived at or near Little Prairie.
Isaac C. Phelps ( 1812-1882) had wife Mary ( 1815-1899).
Moses Rand ( 1800-1881) was born in New Hampshire and died, un- married, at Racine. True Rand, his brother, died in 1875. His wife was named Lydia E. A sister, Emily E., was wife of Elijah Worthington.
Samuel Robinson ( 1804-1872) married Levina ( 1833-1893). daughter of William Lyon and Sarah Sanborn, and sister of James Lyon.
James H. Sanford ( 1816-1882) married Rebecca Johnson (born 1820). He settled in section 32.
Isaac Severance ( 1796-1875) had wife Lucia ( 1801-1877). Some persons of his name and kindred lived at Whitewater.
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361
WALWORTHI COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Joshua Taylor ( 1816-1896) , son of Joshua and Sarah Butlin, was born in Yorkshire; came to Oneida county, New York, in 1839; married Eliza- beth (1820-1884), daughter of Joseph Garlock, in 1841; came to section 15 in 1843. A son and grandson have served as county superintendents of schools.
John Weld (1795-1884), son of Thomas and wife, Laurana Leavens, was born at Reading, Vermont, where in 1830 he married Wealthy, daughter of Elisha Bigelow. She died in 1876. Mr. Weld came in 1841 to section I.
Daniel Williams (1813-1907), son of Joseph and Elizabeth, was born in Connecticut; in 1838 he married Julia M. Judson ( 1818-1896) and had children, Elbert J., Laura (Mrs. I. Ebenezer Weaver), Daniel Judson, and Chester B. He came in 1851 to Sugar Creek; left the state; returned in 1867 to ownership of the flouring mill at Lauderdale lakes; removed late in life to Elkhorn, where, after later marriage, he died.
Elijah Worthington ( 1803-1858) married Emily E. Rand ( 1806- 1888). He came in 1838 with his father and brother Theodore to section 20. In 1839 he was granted a tavern license, and elections were held at his house.
In 1839 Amasa Bigelow built a saw-mill at the entrance of Honey creek, or Mill lake, at the Troy line, and this was followed by a grist-mill, known as the Williams mill and as the Lean mill. It is yet in running order, with reduced custom. A church was built early at Heart Prairie by the Methodist society, and a much better building soon followed on the same site. A union church was built at Lagrange, and, yet later, a summer hotel at the lakes. A store or two and shops were added to each of these settlements, but a village grew from none of them. Had the rails been laid on the now useless grade from Lake Geneva to Whitewater a station, most likely, would have been made at Heart Prairie, and thence a more or less promising village. The postoffices at these three places were long of local convenience. A single star route, between Whitewater and Elkhorn, carried mail for all of them, tri-weekly from each terminus,-a ,long, tiresome, and often dif- ficult trip for the luckless sub-contractor. Rural delivery routes from White- water, Palmyra, and Elkhorn now supply daily service to all parts of the town.
Four school districts are wholly within town limits, and there are five joint districts; with Palmyra, with Sugar Creek, with Troy, with Sugar Creek and Troy, and with Whitewater. The buildings and grounds very fairly meet modern requirements, and show the town's enlightened interest in the welfare of its youthful population.
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362
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
The true valuation of land and improvements for 1910, as computed by the supervisor of assessments, was $1,410,900. The numbers and values of personal property were: 2,913 cattle, $61,893; 1,314 hogs, $13,900; 486 horses, $36,500; 150 mules, $11,250; 1,139 sheep, $3,400. There were 320 vehicles, worth $6,400; and three automobiles, valued at $400. Total valuation of personal property, $1,727,700. The average value of land was in 1844, $3.28 per acre; in 1910 $64.38 per acre. Acreages of crops: Apples, 62; barley, 2,033; corn, 3,345 ; hayfield, 2,598; oats, 2,764 ; potatoes, 104; rye 606; timber, 2,295 ; wheat, IIO.
The federal censuses showed the population : 1850, 1,049; 1860, 1,255; 1870, 1,039; 1880, 921 ; 1890, 844; 1900, 882; 1910, 779.
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