USA > Wisconsin > Waupaca County > History of Waupaca county, Wisconsin > Part 10
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The officers for 1889 were: Chairman-Jacob Wipf; Supervisors - Ole Solum, C. F. Solum; Treasurer-O. G. Fraquin; Clerk-J. C. Johnson ; Assessor-John Olson; Justices of the Peace-S. Jameson, A. Weinman, G. W. Smith.
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
VILLAGE OF IOLA.
The Village of Iola is located in Section 35. It has 5 general stores, 1 hardware store, 1 drug store, 1 tailor shop, 1 meat market, 1 livery stable, 1 saw mill, 1 shingle mill, 1 grist mill, 2 black- smith shops, 1 wagon shop, 1 hotel, and 1 barber shop.
In the Spring of 1883 the Iola Messenger, a weekly newspaper, was started by J. M. Hatch, present Clerk of the Court. It was discontinued after two years.
The Town of Iola formerly embraced Township 25 north, Range 11 east; but the County Board, at its annual meeting in November, 1890, made that township an independent town to be called Harrison.
CHAPTER XXVI.
TOWN OF HELVETIA -SETTLED IN 1853 -FIRST TOWN MEET- ING IN 1861 - TOWN OF WYOMING FORMED OUT OF HEL- VETIA IN 1890.
The Town of Helvetia comprises Township 24 north, Range 12 east. It is bounded on the north by the Town of Wyoming, on the east by Union, on the south by St. Lawrence, and on the west by Iola.
In 1853, Andrew Paulson and Nels Jacobson made the first settlement. A little later, John Anderson, J. Jacobson, Peter Peterson, J. H. Leuthold, Andrew Larson, C. Gilbranson, Jens
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
Knappen, John Sorrenson, and S. Thorson camein.
The first death was that of Stina, wife of A. Lar- son, in 1858.
The first birth was in the family of John Ander- son, or that of C. Gilbranson.
The first marriage was Peter Peterson and Mary Peterson, by Rev. J. J. Hatch, of Iola, No- vember 8, 1859.
The first school house was built in 1860, on Sec- tion 31.
The first school meeting was held November 24, 1859, in District No. 3. The town was then a part of Iola.
The first school was taught by Mrs. Bliss.
The first postoffice was established in 1868, with Cyrus Churchill as postmaster.
The first town meeting was held in 1861, at the school house. The first town officers, elected at that meeting, were: Chairman-C. Torbenson ; Supervisors-John Sorrenson, S. Thorson; Clerk -John Bliss; Treasurer -James Keating; As- sessor-Hans Knudson; Superintendent of Schools -J. H. Leuthold.
In 1887, A. W. Whitcomb built a saw mill and opened a store at Big Falls, on the Little Wolf River, in Section 26, Township 25 north, Range 11 east, (which township was a part of Helvetia until set off into the independent Town of Wyom- ing, by the County Board at the annual meeting in November, 1890.)
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
At Granite City, in Section 13 of Wyoming, Leuthold & Holman have developed a rich granite quarry, now reached by a four-mile spur track of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western railroad. There is a store at the quarry.
J. H. Leuthold writes: "At the time Helvetia was organized two thirds of its territory was covered with pine, which has since been cut and moved to Oshkosh. It helped to build up that city; but the inhabitants of the town had very little benefit of those millions of feet of good tim- ber. Thousands of acres of good potatoe, corn, and clover land yet lie idle here, while people are moving hundreds of miles to find homes."
How true! There is yet plenty of good land in this County, to be had cheap; but with most peo- ple the best place for settlement is just a little farther along !
The officers for 1889 were: Chairman-E. G. Dahlen; Supervisors-G. Gugarren, A. Rasmus- sen ; Treasurer - W. Leuthold; Clerk - Jacob Schwartzenbach; Assessor-Andrew Jensen; Jus- tices of the Peace-A. W. Whitcomb, Christian Jacobson.
CHAPTER XXVII.
TOWN OF MATTESON-FIRST SETTLEMENT IN 1855, BY Ros- WELL MATTESON, IN HONOR OF WHOM THE TOWN WAS NAMED.
The Town of Matteson comprises Township 25 north, Range 15 east, being the only town in the
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
County in that range. It is bounded on the north by Shawano County, on the east and south by Outagamie County, and on the west by the Town of Larrabee.
The first settlement was made in July, 1855, by Roswell Matteson, in whose honor the town was named.
The first school house (a log shanty) was built in 1859. The first school was taught in the same year, by Emma Dodge.
The first marriage was Gilbert Smith and Cath- erine Palmer, in 1860. The ceremony was per- formed by Elder Sharpe.
The first birth was that of a son of Erben Ewers, in 1856.
The first death was that of Sophronia Ferman, nine years old. She was drowned in 1861.
The first sermon was by Elder Sharpe, a Bap- tist, in 1860.
In 1856, William Parr built the first saw mill. It was run by water power.
Palmer & Stacy built the first grist mill, in 1861.
The first store was started in 1859, by J. M. White.
The first postoffice was established in 1856, with E. D. Matteson as postmaster. It was called Em- barrass.
The town is well watered by the Wolf, the Pigeon, and the Embarrass rivers.
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
The first apple trees were set out by E. D. Mat- teson, in 1860, and he raised the first apples.
The officers for 1889 were: Chairman-John Brown; Supervisor- Wilson Metmon; Treasurer -A. C. Palmer; Clerk-A. W. Wilmarth; Assessor -L. A. Bergess; Justices of the Peace - J. W. Morgan, John Wells, N. Ludwigson.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A CHAPTER OF MOST INTERESTING RECOLLECTIONS BY GEORGE W. TAGGART, OF WEYAUWEGA-HIS ACCOUNT OF THE ELEC- TION OF 1851.
During the year 1887 there appeared in the Weyauwega Chronicle a series of articles entitled "Waupaca County History," signed "Veritas."
The writer, George W. Taggart, of Weyauwega, is too well known to need further mention, having been an early settler, who took an active part in the organization of our County. He has been Sheriff, and has almost continuously held other responsible offices. He was the first postmaster of Lind. Mr. Taggart has the honor of being one of the oldest Odd Fellows in the State.
We make a few extracts from said article, regret- ting our inability to find room for more :
"At the organization of Shawano County, Feb- ruary 16, 1853, Township 25 north, Range 15 east, was included within the boundaries by the or- ganic act ; but a subsequent Legislature discovered that the act detaching it from Waupaca County
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
was a violation of Section 7 of Article 13, of the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin, and promptly repealed said act, restoring that town- ship to Waupaca County.
"On the first Tuesday in April, 1850, the place since called Mukwa was designated as the cross- ing of Wolf River, at the mouth of Little Wolf River. There was neither hotel, postoffice, nor human habitation within a mile of the place.
"During the next Summer, after O. E. Druetzer commenced carrying the mail on the route from Green Bay to Plover, crossing the Wolf River at this point, Horace Rolph claimed a small fraction of the south-east corner of the school section, which lay on the east side of the river, built a house upon it, and moved there in the Fall. He circulated a petition for a postoffice, which was established late in the year, and called Mukwa. About the same time, Benjamin F. Phillips and August Grignon surveyed and platted the Village of Mukwa, on land adjoining the tract claimed by Rolph, and at once commenced figuring for the organization of a new County, with Mukwa for the County seat.
"At the session of the Legislature in 1851 there was a great scramble in this part of the State for new Counties and County seats. Benjamin F. Phillips was principal owner of the new Village of Mukwa, and Thomas J. Townsend purchased a tract in Section 36, Township 18 north, Range 13
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
east, and laid out a village called Sacramento. This tract was in the extreme south-east corner of the proposed new County, (Waushara), on the south side of Fox River, where there was only about one section surveyed and entered, all the rest of the County being unsurveyed Indian land, lying north of the river.
"Theodore Conkey, who had been employed by the Government to survey much of the land in Brown County, and who had a large interest in the new Village of Appleton, on the Fox River, also had an 'ax to grind.' He was elected Senator from Brown County in the Fall of 1850, and Edward Eastman was Assemblyman from Winnebago County. .
"When the Legislature met in 1851, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Townsend had special business at Madi- son. Mr. Conkey, as Senator, had great influence in the organization of new Counties. The result was that a majority of the Legislators were con- vinced that the interests of the people demanded the immediate organization of three new Counties, and also that it would be highly improper, if not impossible, to establish a County seat at any place except where the land was surveyed, and a village platted ; so each of the parties succeeded in getting County boundaries as he wished, and a County seat located on his own land.
"Appleton has become a thriving city, and is yet the County seat; but Mukwa and Sacramento, as
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
County seats or villages, are known no more. "After the passage of the law of February 17, 1851, providing for the organization of the Town and County of Waupaca, describing the bound- aries, and fixing the time and place for holding the first election for Town and County officers, and their terms of office under such election, (which for the Town officers was one year, and for the County officers until the first day of January fol- lowing, and in each case until their successors should be elected and qualified), a report was cir- culated in the southern and western parts of the County, that a few men around Mukwa (some of them having lately removed from the vicinity of Oshkosh) were preparing to conduct the election so as to secure a set of Town and County officers
in their interest, which would give them complete control in the affairs of the County. In conse- quence of this report, a consultation was had among the settlers in Waupaca, Lind, and Little River, and arrangements made to attend the elec- tion in sufficient numbers to frustrate such design, if possible, should the report prove correct.
"Accordingly, every legal voter was urged to show his patriotism by giving the time necessary to attend the election, which would require not less than three days, and which actually took four days for every man who went from the western part of the County.
"At the first consultation there was a wonderful
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
amount of zeal and interest manifested, and it ap- peared as though the turnout would be so general that nobody but women and children would be left in the settlements. But, during the few days intervening between the discussion and the time to start, obstacles in the way seemed to multiply tremendously, (some real and some imaginary), and when Monday morning came it seemed as though we should hardly muster a 'corporal's guard' for the occasion. Not more than one-half of those we confidently expected to go were ready to start on the journey.
"The names of those from the southern and western parts of the County, twelve in number, were: W. G. Cooper, William B. Hibbard, J. B. Hibbard, and Edwin Buel, from Waupaca Falls; John M. Vaughn, John W. Chandler, and Simon C. Dow, who lived on the route between Waupaca and Weyauwega; Tyler Caldwell, G. W. Taggart, and Hiram P. Sexton, from the Wallawalla settle- ment; and J. Boyd and A. V. Rudd from Little River.
"These persons all met at Weyauwega, Monday forenoon, and started on their line of march through the woods, in single file, and on foot,- the only possible way to get through the thickets, windfalls, and swamps.
"After a very tedious and wearisome tramp, we came, about sunset, to the lower saw mill, about two miles from the mouth of the Little Wolf River,
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
then called Gorden's Mill, and afterwards the Phil- lips Mill. Here we found seven or eight lumbermen running the mill, with N. B. Millard as superin- tendent, the man who for many years was well known through all the country about Wolf River and Lake Winnebago as 'Bone Millard.'
" Here we also unexpectedly found a very efficient assistant to the accomplishment of our plans to carry the election, in the shape of a ponderous, well-filled jug.
"It being so late, and the pilgrims too tired to go any farther, we staid at the mill over night. When we reported to the lumbermen what we had heard of the intentions of the few voters at Muk- wa, they at once fell'in with our plans, and agreed to assist us to frustrate the schemes of the Muk- wa crew. It did not require much persuasion to induce Mr. Millard to close his mill for one day, and turn out with all hands to attend the election.
"Immediately after breakfast the next morning, we all, about twenty in number, started for Muk- wa. We had to walk about two miles to the mouth of the Little Wolf, and then cross Wolf River. The only ferry boat was a small skiff cal- culated to hold two persons. At first we put in two besides the ferryman, but, after two or three loads got safely over, we piled in another, making four in a boat intended for only two; but all got safely over.
" When we got up the river bank, and to the ho-
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
tel, we found we had not been misinformed, and were soon convinced that 'the half had not been told.' We found five or six persons standing around a man named William N. Davis, who ap- peared to be the leader, preparing to open the polls. They had procured tickets at Oshkosh, with their names printed for the most important offices, and had left blank spaces in which to write such names as might be preferred for the rest of the offices.
"After we got together, the first proceeding was to organize a caucus to make nominations for Town and County officers. Mr. Davis and his party made serious objections to such proceedings, for the reason that they had already selected sev- eral of the candidates; but they were willing that we should name the persons to fill out the rest of the ticket. This was not satisfactory to us; and, having a majority of more than two to one, we assumed the right to dictate the whole matter, and make tickets to suit ourselves.
"On their ticket, Mr. Davis was candidate for Chairman of Supervisors, and James Smiley for Register of Deeds. These we ignored entirely, but adopted some of the other nominations they had made.
"After completing the nominations, we pro- ceeded to choose Inspectors and Clerks of Election. For Inspectors were chosen G. W. Taggart, Chair- man; John W. Chandler and Tyler Caldwell. For
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
Clerks, William G. Cooper and Simon C. Dow. "To be fully equipped for business, we carried with us a ballot box and a pamphlet copy of the Election Laws; but we found that Mr. Davis had also prepared a ballot box, and had a copy of the Revised Statutes of 1849. We needed the two bal- lot boxes, however, one for the town, and one for the County election.
"After proclamation was made, declaring the polls open, the first man who offered his vote was Hiram P. Sexton, of Lind. The vote was promptly challenged by one of the Mukwa party. Mr. Sex- ton immediately took the necessary oath, the vote was received, and though some of the disap- pointed candidates were rather cross and sour, there was no further trouble.
" There was one occurrence during the forenoon that afforded considerable amusement to some of the party. Mr. Davis, in preparing to open the polls, had the Revised Statutes lying on the table. The pamphlet law we had carried was there, also. In the course of business, a legal question arose, and we proposed to refer to the law, but neither the Statutes nor the pamphlet could be found. One of the bystanders had seen Mr. Davis carry away the Statutes, with the pamphlet inside of it. No one supposed any wrong was intended, and a man was requested to step into the store and ask Mr. Davis for it. He did so, and came out with a reply that was neither courteous nor civil. There
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
was no great excitement, but the whole Board of Inspectors rose to their feet, and, leaving the bal- lot boxes in charge of the Clerks, walked into the store, followed by ten or a dozen stalwart men. The Chairman, as spokesman, promptly informed Mr. Davis that it might be conducive to the safety of himself and his premises to produce that pam- phlet law. After looking the crowd over, he quietly went behind the counter, took the book from under a bale of goods, and handed it over.
"After this, everything went smoothly till nearly night, when it was discovered that we had failed to vote for any Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. It was proposed to elect Mr. Smiley to that office, and two persons were found who had not voted the County ticket, and they voted for him. About this time, Ransom Nichols, a candidate on the Mukwa ticket, who had been ill-humored all day, concluded that he would like the office. He came forward, voted for himself, and found another of the disappointed ones who voted for him. Thus it remained until it was time to close the pools, when one of the Board discovered an object moving among the trees some distance away, and, request- ing the Board not to close till he returned, started out on a trip of discovery. He found it was a man named Armstrong, who was carrying the mail for O. E. Dreutzer, just coming into Mukwa, where he staid over night. He voted for Smiley, and that secured his election.
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
" The County officers elected were: Chairman - David Scott; Supervisors - Peter Meiklejohn, Tyler Caldwell. These composed the Board for the transaction of both Town and County business. Treasurer-Simon C. Dow; Clerk of the Board- James Smiley; Surveyor-G. W. Taggart. John M. Vaughn received the votes for Sheriff, though it was well understood that our County was not entitled to such an officer. It was intended as a recommendation for the office of Deputy Sheriff, which we believed our County was entitled to. No votes were given for Clerk of the Court.
" The town officers elected were: S. F. Ware, of Waupaca, Albion Brandy, of Mukwa, and John Boyd, of Little River, Justices of the Peace; Ira Brown, of Mukwa, Assessor; J. B. Hibbard, of Waupaca, Atwood Velie, of Little River, and Chauncy Foster, of Mukwa, Constables.
"After the polls were closed, and the votes can- vassed, and we were ready to make out returns, we found that the paper we had provided in the morning was exhausted. One of the Board went to Mr. Davis' store to get some, but he would not let us have any for 'love or money.' We began to think we were in a bad predicament, but Mr. Smiley generously came to our relief by bringing forward a blank book which supplied us with all the paper we needed.
"By the time we got through with the business, it was late in the evening, and no one thought of
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
starting for home that night. As full half of our party had been elected to some office, the next thing was to execute official bonds and oaths of office, which were required by law to be filed at the County seat; and we concluded the easiest way would be to have it done before we went home, as it would require at least another day to accomplish it.
"Accordingly, every one who had been elected to any office, made out and filed the proper papers by signing one another's bonds as security. For- tunately we were not required to make affidavit to the amount of property we possessed, or there might have been trouble to find bondsmen of suf- ficient responsibility, for all the land on our side of the river was Government land, and unsurveyed, at that; so it was extremely doubtful whether any of our party was worth a dollar besides what was covered by the exemption law; but the question was never raised, and we got along without any difficulty. Every man who could write his name was just as good a bondsman as though he was worth a million.
"After all the official papers were executed and filed, our Register of Deeds and Treasurer-elect found themselves in a tight place. They were re- quired by law to hold their offices at the County seat, but there were no buildings to be had, either as offices or residences, and if there had been build- ings to rent, the income of their offices would not
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
pay the rent, to say nothing of other expenses.
"There were but three buildings in the place. One was owned and occupied by Mr. Davis, part for a dwelling and part for a store. Horace Rolph had a comfortable building, used as a hotel, and Mr. Smiley had an unfinished building, part of which he converted into an office, the rest being occupied as a dwelling by his family.
"In this emergency, Mr. Smiley was again called upon for relief, and importuned to accept a deputy- ship by both the Treasurer and Register of Deeds, which he consented to do. And thus, in the case of Mr. Smiley, were the words of the Psalmist, ' The stone which the builders rejected has become the headstone of the corner,' more than verified ; for he was not only the headstone of the corner, but it may be truthfully said that he was nearly the entire fabric, for he had control of all the im- portant offices in the County at the same time, and in every public position he ever occupied he proved himself to be a worthy and capable officer. He has ever since been a resident of the Town of Mukwa, and is now enjoying a quiet and honor- able old age."
CHAPTER XXIX.
TOWN OF LITTLE WOLF -SETTLED IN 1848 BY WILLIAM GOLD- BERG - THE TOWN WAS FIRST CALLED "CENTERVILLE " - FIRST ELECTION OF OFFICERS IN 1852.
The Town of Little Wolf comprises Township 23 north, Range 13 east. It is bounded on the
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
north by the Town of Union, on the east by Leb- anon, on the south by Royalton, and on the west by St. Lawrence.
The first settlement was made in 1848, by Will- iam Goldberg. In 1849, George E. and J. P. More moved in. In 1850, came James and Peter Meikle- john, and A. P. Jones.
The first death was that of the wife of Dr. Wood, in 1855.
Miss Fortner taught the first school, at the house of Peter Meiklejohn, in 1853.
The first school house was built in 1857.
The first church was built by the Catholics, in 1877, at Manawa.
The first sermon was preached in 1850, by Elder Baxter, at the house of Peter Meiklejohn.
The first saw mill was built in 1849, by George and J. P. More, and Goldberg & Co.
The first grist mill was built in 1857, by James Meiklejohn.
The first postoffice was established in 1853, with A. P. Jones as postmaster. It was on the mail route from Green Bay to Plover.
The first survey was made by Samuel Perrin, in 1852, being the Government survey.
The first store was kept by. Beal & Meiklejohn, in 1854.
The first town meeting was held in April, 1852, at the house of Peter Meiklejohn. The town was then called Centerville.
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
Peter Meiklejohn was the first Town Chairman. In 1850, Peter Meiklejohn set out the first apple trees.
VILLAGE OF MANAWA.
The Village of Manawa is situated near the cen- ter of the town, and near the center of the County, on the Little Wolf River. It has 5 general stores, 1 hardware store, 1 drug store, 1 saw mill, 1 stave factory, 1 millinery store, 2 blacksmith shops, 1 meat market, 1 livery stable, 2 harness shops, 2 furniture stores, 4 churches, and 1 high school.
The population is nearly 500.
Manawa is a station on the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul railroad.
The town officers for 1889 were: Chairman- H. Lindow; Supervisors-Crist Hess, E. G. St. George; Clerk-D. W. Shipman; Assessor-R. J. Matthias; Justices of the Peace-G. F. Rhinehart, Albert Bolter; Constable-A. Safford.
CHAPTER XXX.
TOWN OF WAUPACA-SETTLED IN 1849-ORGANIZED IN 1852 -- VILLAGE OF WAUPACA INCORPORATED IN 1857 - THE CITY INCORPORATED IN 1875.
The Town of Waupaca comprises Township 22 north, Range 12 east. It is bounded on the north by the Town of St. Lawrence, on the east by Royalton, on the south by Lind, and on the west by Farmington.
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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.
The first settlement was on the 9th of June, 1849, by E. C. Sessions, J. and W. B. Hibbard, J. M. Vaughn, and W. G. Cooper. In the Fall of the same year Captain David Scott, Dana Dewey, H. M. Garde, T. M. Paine, Dexter Williams, F. B. Young, and James Thomas moved in.
The first two claims for farming purposes were made by J. M. Vaughn and T. M. Paine, on Sec- tions 34 and 35, in 1849.
The first child born was Mary Hibbard, daugh- ter of Joseph Hibbard, May 25, 1850.
The first death was that of Joel Deiter, May 15, 1850.
The first marriage was that of Thomas Billing- ton and Emma Baxter, in 1851, Elder Baxter of- ficiating.
The first school was taught Miss Dora Thomp- son, now Mrs. LeGros, in 1850.
The first school house was built in 1851, in what is known as the Chandler and Vaughn district.
The first church (Methodist) was built in 1853, in what is now the Fourth Ward of the City of Waupaca. It is now used as a blacksmith shop.
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