USA > Wisconsin > Walworth County > History of Walworth county, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 8
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Troy
1875
Burgit, William .
East Troy 1870-1874
Chapin, William Densmore.
Bloomfield 1856
Cheney, Rufus, Jr
Whitewater
1850
Child, James Lafayette 1860
Clough. Darwin P. Darien
1899
Cochrane, William Avery Delavan
1893
*Coe, Edwin Delos. Whitewater
1878-9
Conrick. Edward P
Delavan .
1859
Cooper, Dr. Joel Henry Spring Prairie
1852
Cravath. Prosper Whitewater 1848
Davis, Thomas . Sugar Creek 1865-6
Derthick. Walter George Lafayette 1882
Dewing, Ely Bruce Elkhorn
1879
De Wolf. John. Darien 1860
Douglass, Carlos Lavallette Walworth 1873
85
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Dow, Everett E
Lagrange 1901
Dunlap. Charles Geneva
1875
Easton, Elijah .
Walworth 1851, 1858
Edgerton, Stephen R .Lafayette 1870
Estabrook, Experience Geneva
1851
*Farr, Asa W. Geneva
1856
Fellows, Timothy Hopkins Bloomfield
1852-3
Foster, George H
Whitewater
1863
Fraser, Frank L.
East Troy 1803-6
Goff, Sidney Clayton Elkhorn
. 191 !
Graves, Gaylord
East Troy
1848
Greening, William
Lagrange
1807
Grier, Thomas S.
Bloomfield
1805
Groesbeck. Benjamin F
Linn
1865
Hall. Henry 870
Harrington, Perry Green
Sugar Creek
1854
Hastings, Samuel Dexter
Geneva
1849
Hazard, Enos J.
. Lagrange
18.49
Heminway, Henry C
Richmond
1851
Herron, Wilson R.
Sharon
1874-1877
Hill, Thomas Worden
Hudson
1853, 1863
Hooper, Daniel
Troy 1855. 1859. 1869
Hurlbut, Dr. William Henry
Elkhorn 1897, 1899
Isham, William Willard. Delavan
1855
Jeffers, John Sharon
1864,
1871
Johnson, Frank H
Darien
1905
* Johnson, John B
Darien
1885
* Kellam. Alphonso G
Delavan
1860
Kelsey, Milo Delavan
1848,
1849
*Kizer. Fernando Cortez
Whitewater 1889, 1891
Kull, Edwin O.
Bloomfield 1909
Lake. Phipps Waldo
Walworth
1854
Latham, Hollis
Elkhorn
1862
Lauderdale. James
Lagrange
1853. 1856
Lee, Levi .
Elkhorn
1855
Long. Chester Deming Darien
1861
Long. Hugh
Darien
1848
Lown. George Hiram
Walworth 1849
Lyon, Joseph Foster. Darien 1868
Walworth
86
WALWORTHI COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
McKibbin, John Linn 1858
Mason, Albert L Sharon 1879
Maxon, Joseph F Walworth 1891
Mead, Zerah. Whitewater 1852
Meadows, William Lyons
1881
Merriam, Amzy
Linn 1871
*Miller, Dr. Clarkson
Geneva
1860
Noble, Butler G.
Whitewater
1858
Palmer, Dr. Alexander S.
Geneva
1850
Pemberton, John
Richmond
1878
Pettit, Paris East Troy 1866
Potter, John Fox.
East Troy
1856
Pratt, Orris
Spring Prairie 1883
Pratt, Samuel
Spring Prairie
1849, 1855, 1863
Ray, Adam E
East Troy 1851
Ray, George A.
Lagrange 1868
Raymond, Shepard O.
Geneva . 1866
*Reynokls, Dr. Benoni Orrin Lake Geneva 1876
Reynolds, Dr. James Constant
Lake Geneva
1885, 1887
Richardson, Erasmus Darwin Geneva 18.48
Rockwell, Reuben Hudson
1859
* Roundy, Dr. Daniel C Geneva
1864
Seaver. Joseph Warren
Darien
1853
Seymour, Robert Thompson Lafayette
1856
Sharp, Elijah Matteson. Delavan
1872, 1875
Sikes, George Sharon
1850
*Smith, Albert E
Delavan
1901-4
Smith, Daniel.
Richmond 1864
Smith, Francis. Sugar Creek 1861
*Smith, John A. Geneva
1868, 1869
Smith, Lindsey Joseph. Troy
1881
Spafard, Simeon W Geneva 1854
Spooner, Wyman . Elkhorn
1850-1. 1857. 1861
Sprague, Edward Harvey Elkhorn
1907
Stafford, Amos Wagman. Bloomfield 1872
Stearns. Daniel Mansfield. Sugar Creek 1876
Stewart, AAndrew J Richmond 1887
Stewart, Donald.
Sugar Creek
1882, 1883
Sturtevant, Charles Holmes Delavan 1863
S7
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Teeple, Charles S.
Darien
18-6
Thomas. Salmon
Darien
1856
*Tilton, Hezekiah C Sharon
1865
Voorhees, Samuel Wood Sharon
1857
Wakeley. Solmous. Whitewater
1855. 1856. 1857
Weeks, Thompson Dimock
Whitewater
1867
White, Samuel Austin
Whitewater 1871. 1872
Whiting. Anderson
Richmond 1854. 1860
Williams, David
Geneva
1857
Winsor. Horatio Sales
.Elkhorn
1865
Wood. Lewis N
Walworth
1852
The names of physicians in this list and the next one show that the pro- fession, as practiced here, did not regard politics and medicine as incompatible. the one with the other ; and the Civil war found another fieldl for their activity. George and Dwight S. Allen were father and son. as were Hugh and Chester D. Long. Samuel and Orris Pratt and Solmons and Eleazar Wakeley, the latter of the State Senate. A. E. and J. A. Smith were brothers. Mr. Tilton was a Methodist clergyman.
CILAIRMEN OF COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Capron. John M.
Geneva 1842
Mills, Dr. Jesse Carr
Spring Prairie 1843
Graves, Gaylord
East Troy 1843
Magoon. Dr. Oliver C.
Whitewater 1844
Bell, Nathaniel
Lafayette 1845. 1846
Farnum, John Allen
Geneva
1846
Gale. George
Elkhorn
1847. 18448
Ray. Adam E.
Troy
1849. 1856. 1857
Snell, John Peter
Linn
1850
Winsor, Horatio Sales
Elkhorn
1851
Cotton, George
Darien
1852
Rockwell. LeGrand
Elkhorn 1853
Frost, Eli Kimball
Sugar Creek
1854. 1855
Conrick. Edward P.
Delavan
1858. 1859
Hodges. Edwin
Elkhorn
1860. 1861
Sturtevant, Charles Holmes
Delavan 1862
Hill. Thomas Worden Hudson 1863. 1864, 1865
88
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Allen, George . Linn 1866
Allen, Lucius Spring Prairie 1867
Seymour. Robert Thompson
Lafayette 1868. 1873
Chapin, William Densmore Bloomfield 1869. 1881
Richardson, Erasmus Darwin Geneva
1870
Lyon. Joseph Foster .. Darien
871, 1872
Boyd. John William
Linn
1874
Williams, David
Darien
1875
DeWolf, John
Darien
1876
Treat. Julius Allen. Sharon 1877. 1882
Bishop, Matthew P.
LaGrange 1878. 1879
*Allen. Dwight Sidney
Linn
1880. 1883-90
Allen, George Rue
Bloomfield 1891-97
Barr. George W.
Linn 1898-1902
Douglass, Carlos Stewart
Walworth 1903. 1910
Christie, George
Darien .19II
Messrs. Bell, Gale. Winsor, Cotton, Rockwell and Treat were Demo- crats. Messrs. Mills. Cotton, Conrick. Lucius Allen, Lyon and Williams had been or were afterward citizens of other towns than those here named.
The order of county officers as prescribed by statute for printing official ballots is: County clerk ( for many years named "clerk of the board of su- pervisors"). county treasurer, sheriff. coroner, clerk of circuit and county court, district attorney, register of deeds, county surveyor. The older ar- rangement had been in the order of their desirability for candidates. This placed sheriff. register of deeds and treasurer at and next to the head of the tickets and the coroner at the foot. Since 1883 their biennial terms have begun on the first Monday of January. in odd-numbered years. Since 1905 the superintendents of schools have been chosen the first Tuesday of April and begun their terms on the first Monday of July.
COUNTY CLERKS.
McCraken, Volney Anderson Lagrange 1839
Latham, Hollis . Elkhorn 1840, 1841, 1843
Kelsey, Milo (old board) Delavan 1842
Fish. John (new board)
Delavan 1842
Hodges, Edwin
Elkhorn 1846
Thompson, Albert A. Linn
1847
89
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Frost. Eli Kimball
Sugar Creek 1848
Cowdery. Lyman
Elkhorn 1851
Sibley, Charles W.
Bloomfield 1853
Dewing. Myron Edwin.
Elkhorn 1857-1874
Dewing. Ely Bruce (deputy) Elkhorn 1874
Cowdery, Dyar Lamotte
Elkhorn
1875-1900
Clough. William E. (deputy)
Darien
. 1900
Harrington. Grant Dean
Delavan
1901-1913
Myron E. Dewing died March 26, 1874, and his brother served till the end of the year. The Cowderys were father and son. The latter died May 10. 1900. The records of this office have suffered little from fading and dis- coloration, and are generally easily legible. Mr. Thompson's records are pleasant to look upon for their neat handwriting and their clerical form. At two years old. Myron E. Dewing lost the fingers of both hands by burning in the embers of a rubbish fire. He learned to write a bold, business-like hand. and early reached a surprising degree of expertness in many things that usually require unmaimed fingers. His aptitude for the duties of his place made him almost indispensable to the county board. His two successors het- tered his excellent example, and, since 1903. the board's proceedings have been neatly and accurately typewritten.
COUNTY TREASURERS.
Hollinshead, William Delavan 1838. 1839
Norris, Edward Delavan
1839. 1840
Spooner. Jeduthun
Sugar Creek 1842
Winsor, Horatio Sales
Elkhorn 1842
Lee. Levi
Elkhorn 18.44
Bellows, Curtis
Elkhorn
1845
Mallory, Samuel
Elkhorn
1846. 1855-6
Hartson, Henry Hobart
Elkhorn 1847. 1853-4
Latham. Hollis
Elkhorn 1852
Handy, Daniel Parmelee
Geneva 1857-60
Brett. John Flavel
Elkhorn 1861-6
McGraw, Newton
Delavan 1867-8
Fairchild, David Lupe
Walworth 1860-76
Blomiley, Fred W.
Lagrange 1877-82
Lauderdale, James Henry
Elkhorn
1883-6
90
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
*Church, Leonard Cyrus Walworth 1887-92
Clough, William E. Darien 1893-6
Allen, William H. Bloomfield 1897-1900
Farley, William E. Lyons 1901-04
Foot, Harry H. Sharon 1905-7
Foot, Clinton H. (deputy) Sharon 1908
Norris, Harley Cornelius.
Elkhorn
. 1909-12
Since 1893 the treasurer has been limited by statute to two terms of con- tinuous service. Mr. Foot died at Elkhorn, June 1, 1908, and his son com- pleted the term of office.
SHERIFFS.
Walling, Sheldon
Geneva 1839
Mallory, Russell II. Geneva
1841
May, William K.
Bloomfield 1843
Bell, Nathaniel Lafayette 1845
Preston, Otis
Spring Prairie 1848
Carver, Philetus S. Delavan 1851
Crumb. Joseph Clark
Walworth
1853
Gates, Joseph Geneva
1855
Perry, John Adams
Troy
1857
Stone, Hiram A.
Darien
1859-60. 1867-8
*Wylie. George Washington
Lafayette 1861-2, 1865-6. 1881-2
Billings, Seth M.
Whitewater 1863-4
Humphrey, Williamn
Sharon 1869-70
Fay. Charles G.
Whitewater 1871-2
Taylor, Cyrus P.
Lyons 1873-4. 1877-8
*Goff, Sidney Calkins East Troy 1875-6
Babcock, Stephen S.
Delavan 1879-80. 1883-4
Derthick, John Henry
Spring Prairie
1885-6, 1891-2.
Wiswell, George Nelson
Elkhorn 1887-8
*Foster, Lewis George
Lake Geneva 1 889-90, 1893-4
Hollister, Seth Henry
Delavan 1895-6, 1899-1900
McMillan, Fred Alonzo Whitewater 1897-8
White, Edgar E.
Elkhorn
1901-2, 1907-8
*Flanders, Joseph Taylor Lyons 1903-4, 1909
Harrington, George L. Lafayette 1905-6. 1910
Piper, John Darien
1911-13
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Sheriff Flanders died suddenly at tea-table. December 16, 1909, and ex- Sheriff Harrington was appointed by Governor Davidson to serve until 1911. , Mr. Goff is the oldest living ex-sheriff. Babcock and Wiswell are dead. At the end of Wiswell's term he was appointed United States marshal for east- ern Wisconsin. He had held the post of sergeant-at-arms of the Republican national convention of 1900, at Philadelphia.
The rather shadowy line of coroners began in 1839 with Hollis Latham. A single function, that of serving papers on the sheriff, if occasion requires, is about all that is left belonging to these statutory but unsalaried and practi- cally unfee'd officers, for justices of the peace may and usually do hold in- quests. A statute of 1875 seemed a little more favorable to coroners, but still left their pay to the judgment or liberality of county boards of super- visors. William H. Bell, then of Elkhorn, had been elected in 1874, but, according to usage, had not "qualified." He now hastened to take the oath of office, and to ask the board at its November session to make the place worth the holding.
His memorial, petition, or "sifflication" was received as soberly as possi- ble, and the sum of fifteen dollars was the salary fixed. Since 1848 the coroners elected were, in that year, Horace Noble Hlay, and thereafter David Williams, Samuel Pratt, William H. Pettit, John B. Hutchins, Dr. Daniel C. Roundy, G. C. Gardner, Julius A. Treat, Henry Adkins, G. C. Gardner (again ). Wellington Hendrix, Abram G. Leland, Charles D. Root, William H. Bell. Charles Lysander Lyon. Mr. Bell was chosen at four successive elections (the last one in 1880), and Mr. Lyon has been elected biennially from 1882 to 1910, and has given his official bond and taken his oath of office for fifteen terms. From 1848 to 1906, in which latter year primary elections put aside the old machinery of nominations, Republican county conventions, whose work was always ratified at the November polls. struggled titanically to determine majorities for their nominees until near the lower end of the ticket. Then, wearied of their almost deadly earnest- ness, they ended their work in the smoke of cigars ( passed about by success- ful candidates), with an acclamation for some worthy citizen who least looked for such honor. The nomination for coroner was thus a tired con- vention's return to care-free good humor. Mr. Lyon's acceptance of his good fortune was at first his part of the joke, and it afterward became his habit. As turnkey and deputy under several sheriffs he was clear-headed and ress- lute. Though now more than "eighty years young." he is yet the Yorick of county officers. The late Joseph F. Lyon was his brother.
92
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
CLERKS OF THE CIRCUIT COURT.
Pettit, William Harrison Elkhorn 1849-54
Cousins, Henry East Troy 1855-60
Simmons, James Geneva 1861-70
Wentworth, John Theodore Geneva . 1871-5
Lyon, Joseph Foster
Darien 1875-7
* Allen, Levi E. Sharon 1878-84
Keats, Washington Sidney East Troy .1885-8
Dewing, Ely Bruce
Elkhorn 1889-94
Morgan, Theron Rufus
Darien
1895-1905
Kellogg, George Olney Whitewater 1905-12
Mr. Morgan died September 28, 1905, and Mr. Kellogg filled out the term by appointment. Mr. Wentworth became circuit judge in June, 1875. and he appointed Mr. Lyon to serve till the next election.
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.
Baker, Charles Minton Geneva 1839
Estabrook, Experience Geneva 184I
Barlow, Stephen Steele Delavan 1845, 1852
Meacham, Urban Duncan East Troy .1849
Spooner, Alfred Stephens
Delavan 1854. 1856, 1878
Smith, Harley Flavel (acting)
Elkhorn 1854
Wentworth, Jolin Theodore
Geneva 1858, 1860
Murphey, Newton S.
Whitewater 1862
Babcock, Alender O.
East Troy 1864
*Harkness, Robert
Elkhorn
1865, 1868, 1870
Thomas, Alfred Delavan
Delavan 1872. 1874, 1876
Wheeler. Jaynes Bailey
Elkhorn
1880
Sprague, Edward Harvey
Elkhorn
1882
Menzie, Silas W.
Delavan
1885, 1887
Ingalls, Wallace Sharon
1889. 1891
Sumner, Charles Bennett
Delavan 1893. 1895. 1897
Ilamilton, Hubert O.
Whitewater 1899
Burdick, Hugh A.
Lake Geneva 1901, 1903
Ingalls. John Peter
Walworth 1905, 1907, 1909
Bulkley, Robert C. Whitewater 1911
93
WALWORTHI COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Wallace and John P. Ingalls are brothers, the former now of Racine; the latter was a soldier of the war with Spain. Messrs. Wentworth. Hark- ness. Thomas and Wheeler became judges of various courts.
REGISTERS OF DEEDS.
Rockwell, LeGrand
Elkhorn 1839
Davis, Booth Beers
Hudson
1842
Boyd. John S.
Sugar Creek 1843
Lyon. Isaac
Hudson 1846
Frost. Eli Kimball
Sugar Creek 1847
Long, Chester Deming
Darien
1851
Perry, John Adams
Troy
1853
Adkins. Henry
Lagrange
1855, 1857
Humphrey, Benjamin Blodgett
Geneva 1859. 1861
Houghton, Otis B. Spring Prairie 1863. 1805
Lawton, James H.
Lagrange 1867
*Noyes. Charles Augustus Geneva 1869, 1871, 1873
Sanborn. Arthur Loomis
Geneva 1875. 1877
Morrison, William Henry Troy 1879, 1881, 1883
Webster. Joseph Haydn
Elkhorn 1885, 1887
Taylor. William Thomas
Lagrange 1889. 1891. 1893
* Barnes, Henry D.
Spring Prairie. 1895. 1897. 1899. 1901,
1903
Holmes, Frank G. Whitewater 1905. 1907
Dunbar, Samuel James Elkhorn 1900. 1911
Mr. Davis had lost both legs by freezing. He was a pioneer at Hudson, but after his term of office had ended he remained a citizen of Elkhorn till his death in 1880. Mr. Noyes, his father's namesake, was a nephew of the pio- neer Warrens of Geneva village and a son-in-law of Benjamin B. Humphrey. He was a soldier of the Eighth Wisconsin Infantry, and a wound received at Farmington. Tennessee. crippled him for life. Mr. Morrison became director of farmers' institutes, and died at Madison in 1893. Mr. Webster is a son of the composer, Joseph Philbrick Webster.
COUNTY SURVEYORS.
Norris. Edward
Delavan 1839
McKaig. Thomas Morris. . Geneva 1847
94
WALWORTHI COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Kelsey, Samuel C. Delavan . 1853
Tubbs, James Lawrence Lafayette 1855 to 1865, 1867. 1869
Beckwith, Warren
Geneva 1865. 1871. 1873. 1875
Child, James
Lafayette 1877 to 1891
Taylor, Ray W. Richmond 1891
Child. William
Lafayette 1893 to 1905. 19II
Maxon, Jesse G.
Walworth 1905
Teeple. George L. Whitewater 1907, 1909
James and William Child were father and son. The elder Mr. Child once said, in the latter half of his long tenure of this office, that while he had done much professional work within that period, he had been employed but three times because of his official position. As long as original corner- stakes of towns and sections left their traces Mr. Tubbs was accounted the one man in the county surest to find them.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS.
*Cheney, Augustus Jackman Delavan
1863. 1864
Smith, Osmore R Geneva App. March 1, 1865
Bright. Orville Thomas Geneva 1867
Bright, William H. Geneva App. Aug. 31. 1868
*Lee, Elon Nelson Delavan
. 1869
Montague, Melzer Sharon 1871
Ballard, Samuel P. Sharon, ( App. January 3, 1873) , 1874
Isham, Fred Willard Sugar Creek 1876. 1878
Taylor. William R. Richmond 1880. 1882
Skeels, John G. Sharon 1885
Williams, Leo .1. Whitewater 1887. 1889, 189I
Taylor, Ray W. Richmond
1893. 1895
Webster, Lillian B.
Whitewater 1897
Voss, John Gustavus
Sugar Creek 1899 to 1909
Martin, Helen Elkhorn
1909
Mr. Montague was killed in December, 1872 (by sleigh-ride accident). and Mr. Ballard was appointed to serve till 1874. and elected for another term. The Taylors were father and son, in like order of service. Miss Webster is now Mrs. Charles P. Greene, of Elkhorn. This superintendency, at first something more than nominal, by slowly, surely, forward steps has reached a high order of efficiency. Every district in the county. one hundred and four (besides the graded schools and high schools ), is visited yearly and as much oftener as found necessary.
95
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF POOR AND INSANE.
Gaston, Dr. Norman L.
Delavan 1852-1855
Clark Henry B.
East Troy 1852-1854
Williams, David
Geneva 1852-1855
Latham, Hollis Elkhorn 1854-1886
Rice, Edwin Mortimer
Richmond 1855-1861
Gage, Thomas
Spring Prairie
1855-1864
Salisbury, Daniel
Spring Prairie 1850
Hulce, Elisha
Richmond
1861-1891
FIill, Thomas Worden
Lyons 1864-1879
Dunlap, Charles
Geneva
1879-1914
Davis, John Potter
Richmond 1886-1912
Cushing. Joseph H.
Whitewater 1891-1901
Spooner. Truman Rollin
Whitewater
1901-1913
Hemstreet, Frederick Spring Prairie 1912-1915
Mr. Salisbury did not serve and Mr. Gage resumed his place until his resignation in November, 1864. Mr. Hill died May 26, 1870. Mr. Latham February 26, 1886. Mr. Hulce September 14, 1893, and Mr. Cushing AAugust 31. 1901. The resident managers at the county farm, rather confusingly called superintendents, have been :
Irish, Earl M.
Delavan 1852
Irish, Joseph E.
Richmond
1853
French. Charles S.
Geneva 1855
Gray, Elihu
. Geneva 1856
Gray, Thomas Baker
Geneva 186t
Hill. Thomas Worden
Lyons
1866
Dımlap. Charles Geneva
1879
Davis, John Potter
. Richmond
1882
Allen, William H1. Bloomfield 1901
Charles, Henry R.
Whitewater 1902
Stanford, DeWitt
Elkhorn 1993
In 1887 the county board ordered a tax of one-tenth of a mill for a soldiers' relief fund and appointed a committee of three soldiers of the Civil war to administer it. The fund has been found more than sufficient for the purposes prescribed. The sum used in 1910 was one thousand eight hundred dollars. The members have been :
96
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Knilans, William Allen
Whitewater 1888
Allen, Dwight Sidney
Linn 1888
Matheson, John
Elkhorn . 1888
Church, Leonard Cyrus
Walworth 1890
Kizer, Fernando Cortez
Whitewater 1903
Meadows, John Greenwood Lyons 1908
Mr. Matheson died November 17, 1890. Captain Knilans removed in 1902 to Beloit. Mr. Allen died May 5, 1908.
Under a then recent statute, creating a state civil service commission, John Gustavus Voss and Albert Clayton Beckwith were appointed, in 1905, local examiners for the county, to hold their places at the pleasure of the commission.
CHAPTER XI.
PAST AND PRESENT DIVISIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES.
Men of New England, New York and northern Ohio met in these six- teen townships to build up a new community in no way essentially different from the communities they had just left far eastward. Most of these men brought their political ideas, notions, or prejudices with them. They were Whigs and Democrats, with a few Abolitionists. They might vote, each ac- cording to his former habit, at elections for delegate in Congress and for members of the territorial Assembly: but the record of the county's vote, if such record was ever preserved, is not found. Judging partly from the little now known of the sentiments at that time of successful candidates, there seems to have been a small Democratic majority or plurality. The later comers were mostly from the same states as were the first ground-breakers, and do not appear to have affected greatly the relative strength of parties. In the short infancy of the county and its towns it may be supposed that local affairs had more influence at elections than opinions prescribed by national conventions on tariff, United States Bank, sub-treasury, and internal improve- ments. Writing of the earlier days, in which he played some part, Judge Gale says : "Location of school houses, roads and amount of tax levy often made town elections most spirited of any in the year. Politicians of old towns have no adequate idea of the spirit often manifested in a new town over these matters. Feuds were got up between leading families that have not passed away-and similarly throughout the west." This may be a Macaulayan "heightened and telling way of putting things, for which allowance must be made." Whatever may have been the earlier facts as to April and November elections, the yearly inflow of settlers must have tended more and more to clearly-drawn party lines in general elections. . At the beginning of state gov- ernment a new political question had just grown from the annexation of Mexican territory.
By 1848 both Whig and Democratic parties of the Northern states were already considerably leavened, as to their members, with the sentiment of non-extension of slavery, and the "Wilmot Proviso" had spoken the word for Walworth. At the general election of that year, while the electoral vote
(7)
98
WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
of Wisconsin was for Lewis Cass. this county's vote was 1.494 for Van Buren ( Free-Soiler,), 804 for Taylor ( Whig), 550 for Cass ( Democrat ). In 1852 the county vote was 1.432 for Hale ( Free-Soiler). 1.141 for Pierce (Democrat). and 965 for Scott (Whig). In 1856 the returns showed 3,518 for Fremont, 1,297 for Buchanan, 4 for Fillmore. The intermediate state and congressional elections gave similar results, for at each of these the Free-Soil candidates were consistently preferred to Whigs or Democrats; though in 1851 the Whig candidate for governor, Leonard J. Farwell, was of the Free-Soil wing of his party and therefore acceptable to Walworth. When, in 1854, a convention met to organize the Republican party of Wis- consin, Wyman Spooner was one of the leaders and lights of that high de- liberation. From that year to 1910 the county's majority has been only for Republican policies, measures and candidates. Until 1860 the newspapers an- nounced almost daily the arrival of one or more "prominent Democrats" -- leaders or "wheel horses"- of some state north of the Ohio and between two oceans at the all-receiving Republican camp.
At the dissolution of the Whig party a few of its members joined the victorious Democracy, but by far the greater number went to the new and hopeful opposition. It was observed by some of these ex-Whigs that many converted Democrats were thrusting themselves into Republican leadership and finding choice places on Republican ballots with little or no probation or delay. Harley F. Smith, a lawyer of Elkhorn, who was both largely toler- ant and harmlessly satirical, said to his Democratic friend Preston, early in the campaign of 1860: "Otis, we shall beat you this year, surely." Preston answered drily. "Aha!" and asked. "On-what-do-you-pred-i-cate-your- o-pinion?" Smith's answer to this rather grandly-uttered question was: "Well. we have now taken about all the slippery fellows from your party into ours." In September. 1856, Judge Doolittle, of the first circuit, who had resigned after the January term of court, was a defeated candidate for non- ination at the Democratic congressional convention of the first district. Early in the following January he was chosen United States senator. Arthur Mc- Arthur, the Democratic president of the state Senate, and Wyman Spooner. the Republican speaker of the Assembly, refused to sign the certificate of Doolittle's election. This was on the ground that the constitution of Wis- consin disqualified judges for holding other office within the period for which they had been elected. But Doolittle was seated at Washington, as Judges Trumbull and Harlan had been two years earlier. in spite of similar provision in the Illinois and Iowa constitutions. Of course, some men said that Mr. Me Arthur wished to punish Doolittle for his conversion or deser-
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WALWORTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
tion, and that Judge Spooner wished himself to take Senator Dodge's seat ; but this was measuring great minds by the gange of small souls.
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