USA > Wisconsin > Winnebago County > History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and early history of the Northwest > Part 56
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On the succeeding day, April 4th, the officers of the election again met, and the can- didates for chairman and supervisors being present, lots were drawn, which resulted in the election of Andrew Merton, chairman, Aquilla Eastman and Lewis Braun, supervisors.
At the election April 5, 1856, the officers elected were Lyman Pomeroy, chairman; Her- man Page and Leonard Waterman, super- visors; C. Hulton, clerk; A. B. Whigtman and Herman Page, justices; L. Waterman and
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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
1849-79.]
Benj. Brickley, assessors; C. Pitt, treasurer; G. Spindler and John Hickman, constables. Highest number of votes cast was twenty.
CHANGE OF NAME AND BOUNDARIES.
January 9, 1861, the name of Orihula was, by order of the County Board, changed to Wolf River, and, January 8, 1873, the two tiers of sections in the eastern part of Town- ship 20, Range 14, were detached from Win- chester and added to this town.
CHURCHES - POST-OFFICE -SCHOOLS.
There are at the present, two churches in the town, both German and Protestant.
September 29, 1865, a post-office was estab- lished at Merton's Landing, and called Orihula; George Theby was appointed the first post- master.
A post-office was also located at Spiegle- berg's Landing, on Boom Bay, Section 36, and called Zoar, May 22, 1871, the first post- master was William Spiegleberg.
In 1875, the population of the town was eight hundred and seventy-nine.
At the present time the town contains eight school-houses and three hundred and ninety- three children between the ages of four and twenty years.
TOWN OFFICERS.
Joseph Hoffberger, chairman, Charles Dub- berphul and Dominic Sieger, supervisors; Albert Neuschaeffer, clerk; John Hoff berger, treasurer; Gotthelf Metzig, assessor; Frank Gruenhagen, Carl Dobberphul and Fred Radke, justices.
TOWN OF POYGAN.
CHAPTER LXIX. .
Situation-Originally Forest Land-Face of the Country-Soil -Timber-Water-Farms-People-Population - Schools -Church - Menomonee Pay Ground- First Birth - First School-Post-office-Organization of the Town-Organic Election-Present Town Officers.
HE Town of Poygan, situated on the western border of the county, and south of Lake Poygan, which forms its entire northern border, comprises Fractional Township 19, Range 14. It was originally forest land, covered with a fine growth of oak, maple, hickory, basswood and other varieties. It formed a portion of what was once known as the Indian Land, and was included in the Menominee purchase of 1848.
The face of the country is generally undu-
lating. In some of the western portions of the town it is more level, and extensive hay marshes are found in that location.
The town, as a whole, is fine farming land, the soil of which varies from a rich black loam to a clay soil, with small areas of sandy soil, and is generally very fertile; good water and timber are abundant. The land is generally cleared, with the exception of wood lots, which have been preserved, and which add very much to the handsome appearance of the town.
The main traveled roads are good, and a great portion of the cultivated fields are cleared of stumps. The farms are generally in a good state of cultivation, with comfort- able dwellings and large barns, and the people thrifty, intelligent, and surrounded with the comforts and conveniences of farm life.
The population is composed principally of Americans, Irish and Germans; the Irish pre- dominating, and the people, as a whole, are as hospitable and courteous a community as can be found in this county.
The educational interests have been well looked after. In 1855, there was a popula- tion of four hundred and one, with five school- houses and one hundred and eighteen scholars. In 1875, there were six hundred and eighty- eight inhabitants; and there are now six school- houses and three hundred and forty-seven scholars. There is also a town-hall and a neat Catholic Church, with a resident priest and a large congregation.
INDIAN PAY GROUND.
On the southern shore of the lake, in Sec- tion 16, is the site of the old Memomonee " Pay Ground," where annually from 1838 to 1851, about October in each year, were assembled the rapidly-diminishing bands of this once formidable tribe. Here they were met by the Government agents, whose duty it was to deal out a small quantity of rusty pork, a few pounds of damaged tobacco, with blankets, and some money. A company of soldiers were generally on duty to guard these treasures from the avarice and cupidity of the hundreds of white men who congre- gated here as promptly as the natives them- selves. White and half-breed traders, who for the year past, had been scattered over the country trapping with the Indians for furs, peltries, maple sugar and cranberries, would invariably manage to be on the ground at pay day. Merchants from all parts of the country, from Green Bay, Appleton, Neenah, Oshkosh, Milwaukee, Prairie du Chien, Chicago, Detroit and elsewhere, would each lay in a stock of Indian goods, which about the appointed
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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
[1849.79.
time were shipped to the pay ground. About this time, gamblers in flocks, like wild geese and ducks, were seen flying northward.
Eating-houses were distributed over the ground in profusion.
The only thing prohibited here was spiritu- ous liquors, consequently large quantities were offered for sale upon the outskirts of the . forbidden ground, and sub rosa under the very droppings of the pay-house.
The agent, having distributed the goods brought for that purpose, and everything in readiness, he proceeds to pay out the money, specie. As the interpreter calls the name of the head of a family from the roll, the indi- vidual so called enters the pay-house, walks up to the counter, reports the number com- prised in his family, and if this corresponds with the number on the roll, he receives the amount for the entire family, and secreting it as far as possible under his blanket, he emerges from the building, at the end opposite the door he entered, and passes along between two files of soldiers, who protect him for a considerable distance from the mob of traders, who are greedily awaiting an opportunity to pounce upon him. He no sooner passes the . last soldier than he is seized by two, three or, perhaps a half dozen of this motley crowd, each one claiming to have an old account against him, and each striving to get the first chance at the pittance just drawn from the pay table. In an instant he is stripped of every- thing that could hide a dime, and each of his captors taking an amount sufficient to satisfy his rapacity, the victim is released and left to gather up his scanty clothing, and depart with the small amount, if anything, he has left. In the meantime another debtor has been turned loose from the pay-house, to run the same gauntlet, and another set of traders are relieving him in the same manner.
The true definition of "Indian trader " is: " A man to whom the Indians are always indebted." This constitutes the main differ- ence between that class and merchants, or peddlers. Having escaped this debtor's court, from which there is no appeal, he is now beset at every step, with temptations to part with
what remains. Blankets, broadcloths, cali- coes, saddles, fancy bridles, beads, brass but- tons, ear-rings and finger-rings, are everywhere conspicuously displayed. Pint bottles of whiskey, two-thirds water, are offered him at about the price of a gallon, and are seldom declined.
At last the payment is over, the eating- houses have received a considerable money for a small amount (in value) of provisions, the
gamblers have reaped a rich harvest, the whiskey-dealers have figured up a profitable trip, the merchants have taken a great deal of money, and have a large proportion of their goods left, and the spectators have been hand- somely remunerated in amusements, and all in the space of three or four days.
There is one more feature of the payment which should not be omitted. After it is all over and the natives have taken time to figure up their gains and losses, it is found that some persons, or perhaps families, are, either from age or infirmity, in need of assistance, where- upon the young men of the nation, ornamented with paint and feathers, proceed to the wig- wam of some more fortunate family, where a peculiar dance for their purpose is performed at the door, at the end of which the head of the family, perhaps a chief or prominent man of the tribe, appears and responds in an elo- quent address, and again stepping inside brings out his donation of pork, flour, tea, coffee, or whatever he may be disposed to give, which is gratefully received by the party, with a few words from their speaker, and they proceed to the next wigwam that promises success, where the same forms are repeated.
Having completed their rounds they now proceed to distribute their charities in the same manner, and with the same forms, the speaker of the party delivering the address and the recipient responding; the music and dance are varied somewhat, being more or less after the order of the " Dead March in Sanl;" and this, the only creditable act in the "grand scheme" is the finale of the payment, the Indians returning to their hunting-ground and winter quarters.
This was also the site of an Indian village, the headquarters of a chief called Grizzly Bear and his band. A Catholic mission was estab- lished here for the Indians, in 1844, by Father Bonducl, and a trading-post about the same time by George Coustaugh (Cowen).
EARLY SETTLERS.
The first move toward a settlement of the town by white men was in the spring of 1849, when John Keefe, then residing at Wankau, located a claim, but for the time continued his labor and residence as before.
In the fall, Mr. Thomas Mettam came here with his family, and found Messrs. George Rawson and Brother, Jerry Caulkins and Thomas Robbins, who had all arrived within a few weeks.
Mr. Thomas Brogden and Henry Cole, with their families, Richard Barron, George Bur- lingame, Joseph Felton, Jonathan and David Maxon and Reed Case, followed immediately after, and John Keefe returned with his family
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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
1846-79.]
before the £ expiration of the year. In 1850, Philander Hall, James Heffron, Jaines Barron, William Johnson, G. and S. Wiseman, H. Scofield, William Tritt and E. B. Wood, became residents of the town. Michael O'Reiley came in the spring of 1851.
FIRST BIRTH-FIRST SCHOOLS-RELIGIOUS SERVICES - POST-OFFICE.
The first religious services were held by Mr. Charles Duro, at the residence of Henry Cole, in the winter of 1849 and 1850.
The first birth was that of Charles, son of John Keefe, in February, 1850.
In 1853, a log school-house was erected in the northeast corner of southeast quarter of southeast quarter of Section 35, and, in the winter following, Miss Julia Jordan officiated as teacher therein.
In the spring of 1854, a school-house was erected in the Mettam neighborhood - Dis- trict Number 2.
March 29, 1855, occurred the first death, that of Hugh Mongan.
Regular religious exercises were instituted by Rev. Maxon, in 1851, at the house of Thomas Brogden.
A post-office called Powaickam was estab- lished July 8, 1852, and William S. Webster appointed postmaster. The name of the office was subsequently changed to Poygan.
ORGANIZATION OF TOWN - ORGANIC ELECTION.
The Town of Poygan was set off and organ- ized as a separate town by action of the County Board, November 11, 1852, compris- ing Town 19, north, Range 14, east.
At the first annual town meeting, held at the house of Jonathan Maxon, April 5, 1853, William Hammond was chosen chairman, B. Wilkinson, clerk, William Tritt and William Johnson, inspectors. There were forty votes polled, resulting in the election of Thomas Brogden, chairman; Edmond Cain and David Safford, supervisors; Charles B. Wilkinson, clerk; William Tritt, treasurer; Benedict Ham- ilton, William Johnson, Jonathan Maxon and James Broderick, justices; Michael O'Reiley, Orson Cass, and Thomas Kenney, assessors.
At the election of April 4, 1854, the success- ful candidates were: Orson Case, chairman; Joseph Felton and Henry Cole, supervisors; C. B. Wilkinson, clerk; William Tritt, treas- urer; Thomas Brogden and Edward S. Thomp- son, justices; Thomas Mettam, assessor.
The above names of candidates for justices in 1853 and 1854, and of assessors in 1853,
were voted for, but we find no record showing the number elected or to be elected.
PRESENT TOWN OFFICERS.
Wm. Tritt, chairman; James Heffron and Frederick Tegtmyre, supervisors; David Blish, clerk; Michael Broderick, treasurer; Bernard Mongan, assessor; A. B. Blackburn and G. K. Whitney, justices.
TOWN OF BLACK WOLF.
CHAPTER LXX.
Situation - Face of the Country --- Handsome Tract Border- ing the Lake - Beautiful Wooded Points - The Camping Grounds of Summer Excursionists - Indian Neighbors of the Early Settlers - Soil -- Timber --- Water - Streams --- Good Gravel Roads -Well Cultivated Farms --- Inhab- itants - Early Settlers - Society in the Early Day - Humorous Incidents - Town Organization - Organic Election - Schools - Population.
LACK WOLF is situated in the south- east corner of the county and on the shore of Lake Winnebago, which forms its entire eastern boundary. It com- prises Fractional Township 17, Range 17, and the eastern tier of sections of Town- ship 17, Range 16, the whole being about half of a township.
That portion of the town embracing a tract, a mile to two miles in width, bordering the lake-shore, is very handsome undulating land, indented with bays, which form beautiful wooded points. These points are the favorite camping-grounds of excursionists during the summer months - parties frequently camping there for weeks at a time. The shores are generally gravelly and stony, with handsome sloping banks, which were originally covered with a fine forest growth. In many places enough trees have been preserved to retain much of the original appearance; in others the timber has been cleared off.
Along the shore in this town were what was : called "timber openings, " and Indian planting- grounds; being very large, tall oaks, with an occasional tree of hickory, bass, elm, and other varieties. These trees were scattered at inter- vals with open spaces and thickets of hazel brush, plum and crab-apple. The under- growth was so kept down by the annual fires, that large tracts presented the appearance of great well- kept parks. So open was the coun- try that in some places the lake could be seen through the trees for a distance of a mile or more from the shore.
The Indian planting-grounds were more
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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
[1841-79.
open spaces, with an occasional scattering tree and clump of hazel-brush, and were the sites of Indian villages that formerly occupied the more eligible points on the lake-shore. On one of these points, called Black Wolf Point, was the village of Black Wolf - a famous and shrewd Winnebago chief, who was skilled in all the arts of Indian diplomacy, and who exercised much influence in Indian affairs. The town was named after him.
The signs of Indian cultivation were plainly visible in many places on the lake-shore, in this town, up to within a very recent period, and probably the corn-hills can yet be seen in some places.
These old Indian planting-grounds are lovely spots, with the great spreading oaks and greensward in handsome contrast with the sparkling waters of the lake, and were once the homes of a dense Indian population.
For many years after the white settlement of the county, the Indians made this locality a favorite resort - living on very friendly terms with the early settlers, and in many instances, preserving the latter from starvation.
An old acquaintance and friend of the writer-Wm. Armstrong, who settled on the lakeshore, in this town, in 1845, at which time there was only one other house between his place and Fond du Lac-a distance of twelve miles, stated that on several occasions, when his family were out of food, the Indians who were very friendly to them, brought them corn, wild-rice, maple-sugar and venison. The Indians were, of course, very frequently the recipients of the bounty of the whites.
That portion of the town lying west of the tract just described is more level, and was originally covered with a forest growth of maple, oak, ironwood, bass, elm, poplar, hick- ory and other varieties. In the southeastern part of the town are found large hay marshes. The soil varies from a black loam on the lower land to a clay loam, and is generally fertile and highly productive.
The town is noted for the superior quality of its wheat, which took the first premium at the Paris Exposition, in competition with all other countries.
Three small streams traverse the town, and empty into the lake, forming good harbors for sail craft. Good well water is readily obtained, by digging or drilling.
The soil is largely impregnated with decayed or disintegrated limestone, and portions of the land are stony. abounding in " hard heads," large boulders, and limestone. The base is limestone, and the soil is generally a good wheat soil. £ Bank-gravel is found at intervals
in thelake-shore district, and furnishes an excel- lent material for roads.
The roads on the lake-shore are now among the best in the county, although at an early day they were execrable, in fact almost impass- able during wet periods.
In the days of the early settlement of the town, a party of travelers on their way from Fond du Lac to Oshkosh, after dragging all day through the mud-in some places hub- deep, brought up at a settler's house, on the roadside, glad to avail themselves of an oppor- tunity for a little rest and refreshment.
It happened that this settler's family were then experiencing their first year of back wood's life, and were people who were brought up in a city where they had been formerly surrounded with the luxuries of life, and moved in the cultured circles of society. Some of the travelers, in a pompous, rude manner, made disparaging remarks about the country and its roads; expressing a sort of supercilious pity for backwoods people, and enquired: What possessed them to settle in such a place(?)" The lady of the house, amused at the vulgar pretentions, and rudeness of her interrogators, laughingly replied: " That the fact was, they had straggled off here, hardly knowing where they did want to go, and had traveled through the mud as far as they could get, and were glad to stop.'
The early-day traveler through Black Wolf would hardly recognize the excellent roads, delightful scenery, and highly cultivated farms of the present day, as the same place; although in a state of nature it was very handsome, the chief drawbacks being the bad roads, with which all new countries are afflicted.
A large portion of the cultivated land is now cleared of stumps, and the farms generally present a fine appearance, with good buildings and all the comforts and conveniences of farm life
The inhabitants of the lake-shore are prin- cipally Americans. In the interior part of the town they are chiefly Swiss and German.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The first settler in the town was Clark Dick- inson, who moved on a piece of land in the northern part of the town, in the spring of 1841. He was followed by C. R. Luce, Ira Aiken, Wm. and Thos. Armstrong, Chas. Gay, T. and. H. Hicks.
The Armstrongs came in 1845, and settled near Black Wolf Point. The country at that time was an unbroken wilderness, and their near- est neighbors four miles distant. No road had been cut out and the only line of travel was Indian trails, or by canoe on Lake Winne-
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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
1843 79.]
bago. The Armstrongs were gentlemen of fine address and polished manners - having passed their earlier years in the most polished and cultured circles of society. They were Irish by birth - their father a surgeon in the British Army -but leaving home at an early day, they passed many years with a wealthy 'uncle at New York City, and, subsequently went to Santa Cruz, one of the Dutch West India Islands, where they lived for some time with another uncle, on a sugar plantation. In 1836, they came to the then Eldorado of the West, Chicago, where they lived several years, when Thomas returned to Santa Cruz; and William, in connection with Gurdon S. Hubbard, of Chicago, engaged in looking up choice lands for purchase. While making his explorations, he visited the Lake Winnebago country, and was charmed with this lake and its delightful surroundings. In the winter of 1843, accom- panied by Charles Gay, a cousin of his wife, and formerly a midshipman in the British Navy, he went to the now town of Black Wolf, and selected for a home the former planting grounds and village site of Black Wolf, since known as Black Wolf Point, and near this point, on the lake shore, built a log house. He then returned for his family, con- sisting of wife, one child, and his wife's young brother and sister. They started for their new home, and in due time reached Fond du Lac, where they took the ice, the lake being yet frozen, and reached their place on the 4th of March, 1843 .* It was truly a home in the wilderness, the nearest neighbors being set- tlers in the vicinity of Fond du Lac, some eight miles distant, and Clark Dickinson, five miles, with no means of communication but an Indian trail or the lake. It was a dreary, cheerless season of the year, and there was no one but Mr. Gay and a band of Menominee Indians encamped near by, to welcome them to their new home. The Indians were very friendly and neighborly, and they became quite intimate with them. The melting snows and the rains soon filled the sloughs, and the trails became impassable; while at the same time the broken ice in the lake made canoe navigation impracticable. In this emergency their provisions gave out, and for three days they lived on maple-sugar procured from their Indian friends, who were making that article at a sugar camp near by. The Indians told them that the fish would soon begin to run up the creek; so, after living for three days on
sugar, the Indians brought them fish, which varied the bill of fare for two more days, at the end of which time Mr. Armstrong, who had gone to Fond du Lac for flour, returned with a fifty-pound sack, which he had backed from that point, through the sloughs, by the Indian trail.
The warm spring days soon changed the face of nature; and their surroundings assumed a more cheerful appearance. They prepared a small piece of ground, which they planted, and then set to work preparing more land for breaking. In the early summer they were regaled with strawberries, which grew abun- dantly in the vicinity. The band of Indians which they found on their arrival, continued to camp near them for several seasons, and they found them quite companionable, and in time regarded them as old acquaintances. Wild game and fish were plentiful, and they easily supplied themselves with an abundance of meat and fish. The Indians used to trade two measures of maple-sugar for one of flour.
In a few years settlers began to flock in and occupy the adjoining land.
This town, in the early day, presented a pecu- liar social phase. On the lake shore were con- gregated a number of persons, many of whom had mingled in the world's widest currents of social life, and in its aristocratic circles. Wil- liam Armstrong and wife; Dr. Carey, a grad- nate of Edinburg College, his wife the daugh- ter of an Irish Baronet; Charles Gay, form- erly a midshipman in the British Navy; Old Mr. John Harney and William Greenwood, the last three natives of the City of Halifax, all men of cultured manners, and of professional or business antecedents. Old Mr. Harney was particularly noticeable for his well-bred, courteous manners, and was held in the high- est esteem. He had been for many years engaged with his father in conducting a heavy business - that of contracting for the supplies of the army and navy, at Halifax. On the death of his father, he moved with his young family to Chicago, in 1836, where he engaged in the wild speculations of the day, making considerable money, only to lose it again, in the financial crash of 1837-8. In 1843, he moved to Racine, and from there to Black Wolf, where his friends, the Armstrongs, were living. Like many others, he never recovered from his fallen fortunes, and died in Blaek Wolf on the 14th of May, 1877, at the advanced age of 82.
William Greenwood, educated as a lawyer, came to Black Wolf in 1850, where he settled on a farm, and soon became an adept in pio- neer farming. In his earlier years he had
*NOTE .- It is erroneously stated in the former part of this article that Armstrong settled in Black Wolf in 1845. It should have been 1843.
36
282
HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
[1846-79.
mingled in the aristocratic circles of St. Johns, New Brunswick, but having a passion for farm life, he visited his relatives, the Arm- strongs, and being attracted with the hand- some locality, purchased a farm and gave up Blackstone for the plow.
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