History of northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc., Part 14

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1052

USA > Wisconsin > History of northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc. > Part 14

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ERNEST H. WILSON, stationery, Ashland, was born in Roscoe, Ill., Sept. 27, 1857 ; remained there till 1878, attending high school and afterward acting clerk in a general store. He came to Ashland in 1878, and entered Wilmarth's bank ; served as Deputy Register of Deeds in 1879-80 ; was elected Register of Deeds in 1880, and now holds that office ; he is also Deputy Clerk of Court, and Assistant Postmaster. Mr. Wilson is secretary of the Masonic lodge of Ashland, and presi- dent of the cornet band.

BUTTERNUT.

July 8, 1878, the following townships were set off : Town- ship 41, Range 1 east, and Township 41, Ranges 1, 2, 3, and the east half of Township 41, Range 4 west, from towns of La Pointe and Ashland, and a new town organized called Butterntit. In 1879 it received additional territory by the vacation of town of Juniper, and some more de- tached from towns of La Pointe and Ashland ; and June 17, 1879, the town received additional territory by vacation of the town of La Pointe. The first election was held at the house of M. J. Hart, August 13, 1878, and the following town officers were elected : M. J. Hart, Chairman ; Henry Spille and Robert Rom, Supervisors; S. P. Hogan, Clerk ; H. Besse, Treasurer. In 1875 the village of Butternut was made the terminus of the Wisconsin Central Railroad. At

this time there was a boarding-house kept by Hart & Bar- nidge and a store by Parker & Stubblefield. In the Fall of 1877 the spot was visited by Henry Spille and H. Besse from Cedarburg, Wis., looking for a place to locate. They were so pleased with the country that they induced by their representations quite a number of Germans from the vicin- ity of Milwaukee to settle in this neighborhood. These people formed what is known as the "Butternut Colony," which now comprises about 120 families.

It was platted in 1878. The first school was taught in 1878 by Miss Hannah Tomkins in a log cabin, formerly used as an ice-house. She had fourteen scholars. A school- house was built the following year. A Lutheran minister visits Butternut occasionally, which is all the religious serv- ices they have. A saw-mill was built in 1879 by Karpe, Russell & Aldrich, of Plymouth, Wis. Butternut is now a thri- ving place of 300 people, and is the center of the best agri- cultural district in the Superior region. The lumber in- terest is large, being at the head waters of the Chippewa, and near the Bad River. Butternut Lake, about a mile from the village, abounds with large-sized muskallonge and black bass.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

WILLIAM BAATZ, farmer, Sec. 24, P. O. Butternut, was born in Prussia, July 19, 1840. He emigrated to America in 1857, and came at once to Milwaukee, Wis. In 1862 he enlisted in the 26th Wis. V. I., Co. I; was mustered out in June, 1865, when he went to Cedarburg, and was married to Miss M. Seidel, of that place. He remained there till 1878, when he came to Butternut, having taken a homestead of 160 acres, where he now lives, on Sec. 24, Town 41, Range 2 west. They have had seven children-William (deceased), Albert, August, Hugo, Augusta, Amanda, and a babe not yet named. Mr. Baatz is a member of the I. O. O. F., and also of the G. A. R.

HENRY BESSE, general store, Butternut, was born in Bavaria, Germany, May 4, 1823. He came to America in 1848. In 1855 he came west to Chicago and Milwaukee, going into the general merchan- dise business, and carrying that on until 1878. In the Spring of that year he moved to Butternut, and opened a generalstore, carrying a stock of $2,700, and a business of $8,000 per annum. He was married in 1849, but his first wife died, leaving seven children : Louisa (now Mrs. Hart), Henry, Ida, Herman, Arthur, Edward and Elsie. In 1869 he married Miss Anna Spille, of Cedarburg, and has three children by her- Anna, Frederick and Martha. Mr. Besse was elected, by special elec- tion, in 1878, as Town Treasurer, and re-elected in 1879.

IRA A. EBLE, farmer, resident of Butternut, was born in Milwau- kee Co., Wis., Feb. 1, 1848. He was raised on a farm in that county, and remained till 1864, when he enlisted in the 4th U. S. Reg. Inf., Co. K ; was mustered out in 1867, and went back to Milwaukee County, where he remained till 1876. He then went to Ohio, staying there till 1878, when he came to Butternut and took a homestead of 160 acres, on northeast quarter of Sec. 28, Town 41, Range 1 west. In 1880, was elected Justice, and has held two terms ; was Town Clerk in 1879, and is now Deputy Town Clerk, and a member of the G. A. R. organiz- ation.

G. A. GRANT, farmer, Sec. 32, P. O. Butternut, was born in Waldo Co., Me., town of Prospect, Feb. 7, 1841. He came with his father to Sheboygan Co., Wis., in 1847, and worked on the farm and at his trade. In 1879 he came to Butternut and bought 220 acres in Town 41, Range 1 west, Secs. 28, 29, 32 and 33. He married in 1866, Miss Margaret L. Steele, of New Jersey. She died in 1873, as did also the two children, John L. and Margaret L. He married again, in 1874, Miss Josephine Shellinger, of Wisconsin. They have one child, Maggie.

FERDINAND H. HOTH, farmer, Sec. 20, P. O. Butternut, was born in Prussia, Germany, July 7, 1837. Emigrated to America in 1875, having followed the life of a sailor He came direct to Caledonia, Waupaca Co., Wis., where he remained till 1877. In IS78 he took a homestead in Butternut, Sec. 20 Town 41, Range I, west, upon which he lives. In 1861 he married Miss Augusta Traap, of Prussia. They have had eleven children - Johanna, William, Fred., Mina, Mary and Charles are living ; Henrietta, Albertina, Frank, Rudolph and Albert are not living. Mr. Hoth belongs to the Lutheran Church.

ALEXANDER McQUILLAN, saloon and farmer, Butternut, was born in Tyrone Co., Ireland, in 1844. He came to America in 1865, and went to Baltimore, Maryland, and from there to La Porte, Indiana, where he remained until 1874. In 1878 he came to Butternut and took a homestead of eighty acres, and now works it, but lives in the village.

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.

He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1878. In 1867 he married Miss Martha Lee, of Ireland, in La Porte, Indiana. They have had three chil- dren-Jemima, Haywood A. and Thomas, deceased.

CAPTAIN JOHN J. METZGAR, farmer, Sec. 5, P. O. Butternut, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 20, 1828. Until 1837 he remained there, and his parents moved to Mercer County where they settled on a farm. In 1839 they moved to Licking Co., Ohio, which place was his home till 1854, when he went to Fond du Lac, Wis. He moved to Waupaca County and built the first frame house in Manawa. In 1861 he enlisted in the 76th Ohio V. I., Co. B. He began as a quartermaster sergeant ; was promoted to second lieutenant Sept. 30, 1862 ; to first, March 12, 1864 ; to captain, Feb. 18, 1865, and served on the Staff of General C. R. Wood. He was mustered out in 1865, and entered mercantile life at Newark, Ohio. In 1870 he received the appointment of Assistant As- sessor of Internal Revenue, for the Thirteenth Congressional District. In 1880, he came to Price County, and took a homestead in Fifield of 113 acres, in Town 40, Range 2, west, where he lives. In 1855 he mar- ried Miss C. E. Prichard, of Granville, Ohio. They have six children- Anna, John, Caroline, Mary, Frances and Catherine.

J. W. PAINE, railroad agent, Butternut, was born in Lind, Waupaca Co., Oct. 21, 1856. In 1861 he was sent to school in Waupaca City, continuing there until 1875, where he learned telegraphy. In 1878 he was operator at Chilton, Calumet Co., Wis., where he remained till he returned to Waupaca County and began book-keeping. In 1880 he took the station at Butternut, where he now is.

JOHN RUSSELL, saw-mill, Butternut, was born in Buffalo Co., N. Y., March 22, 1848. He remained in his native county till 1851, when he came with his parents to Sheboygan Co., Wis., where they went to farming. In 1878, he came to Butternut and bought a share in a saw- mill. In 1872 he married Miss Catherine Mahlock, of Sheboygan County. They have four children-Clara, Minnie, Bertha and Henry. He has 180 acres of land. He was Town Treasurer in 1880, and has served on the School Board.

J. H. SMART, farmer, Sec. 4, P. O. Butternut, was born in Pros- pect Co., Me., Sept. 14, 1833. When fifteen years of age he came to Sheboygan Co., Wis., where he lived until 1878, when he came to But- ternut and took up a homestead of 160 acres on Sec. 4, Town 41, Range I east. In 1857 he married Miss Steele, of New Jersey. They have six children living, having lost four. In 1881 was appointed to fill vacancy as Justice, and is a member of the G. A. R. organization.

HENRY SPILLE, farmer, Sec. 20, P. O. Butternut, born in Olden- burg, Germany, Nov. 17, 1833; emigrated with his parents in 1848 to Amer- ica, and came to Wisconsin and began farming in what is now Ozaukee County. He lived there till 1857, when he moved to Manitowoc County, where he lived until 1865, when he enlisted in the 44th Wis. V. I., Co. C. He was mustered out in 1875, and went to Cedar- burg. He came to Butternut, Sept. 3, 1877, and took a homestead of 160 acres. His was the first family of homesteaders in Butternut. He was appointed Chairman of the Town Board in 1878, to fill a va- cancy, and was elected to the office in 1879 ; was elected Town Treas- urer in 1881. He is general agent for railroad, State and Government lands. His wife was Miss Catherine Lubbering, of Oldenburg, who died in 1878. They had four children-Alfred H., Anna C., and Ber- tha W., deceased ; and Henrietta Eleanora. Mr. Spille is a member of the G. A. R.

G. W. STUBBLEFIELD, farmer, on Eagle Island, P. O. Butter- nut, was born in Kalloway Co., Ky., Dec. 11, 1849. In 1862 he went to Rock Co., Wis., where he was engaged in farming and going to school. He enlisted in the 10th Wis. V. I. for frontier service, and was located at Ft. Rice, D. T. He was mustered out in 1867, and re- turned to Rock County, where he remained till 1873, when he came to Butternut and located on the Flambean River, where he kept a stopping place for travelers and-trading post. In 1876 he built the first building in the town of Butternut, for a store. In 1877 he gave his full time to locating and exploring lands. In 1878 he opened a store again. In the Spring of 1879 he closed his store, and is now living on his island home in Lake Butternut, which he has made a resort for Summer trav- elers.

GLIDDEN.

The place of many names was first called Chippewa Crossing, then Juniper, then Chippewa Crossing, then Glid- den. It was platted in 1878. The first men to locate here were Charles B. McLean, the present Postmaster, and John Fraser, in 1873. The place began to settle up at the time the railroad was completed in 1877. It has two hotels kept by M. J. Hart and Mrs. Mary Fox, and one store by J. A. King. The population is about seventy. The place is sit- uated in the lumber district, and is head-quarters for the camps on the Chippewa. A school-house was built here in 1877.

White River, Marengo, Silver Creek, Winnebosho and Penoka are small railroad stations along the line of the Central.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

MRS. MARY FOX, Glidden, was born in Brooklyn, L.

I. Her maiden name was Moore, and she married a Mr. Tyler, by whom she had three boys-Thomas, Daniel and William. In 1866 she married Mr. Fox, in Janesville, Wis. They moved to what was then called Chippewa Crossing and built a hotel, which she keeps with her boys. She also owns forty acres of farm land, which the sons work.

J. A. KING, merchant, Glidden, was born in Providence, R. I., July II, 1817. In 1842 he moved to Herkimer Co., N. Y., remaining there until 1845, when he came to Wisconsin and settled in Fond du Lac County. He located on a farm in Forest Town, being the second settler there. In 1865 he moved to Fond du Lac and went into the flour and feed business. In 1873 he went to Medford, where he built the first store building in the village. In 1879 he opened a store in Chippewa Crossing, now called Glidden. In 1860 he married Miss Mary J. Jen- nings. She died, leaving one son, J. A. King, Jr. Mr. King has always been a pioneer, keeping in advance of civilization, and is well known as one of the early settlers of this section.

CHARLES B. McLEAN, Postmaster, Glidden, was born in town of Perth, Province of Ontario, April 28, 1839. His first business was clerk- ing, after which he studied law. He went to Buffalo, where he enlisted in the 8th N. Y. C., Co. A ; served his time out, and returned to Can- ada and opened a law office, but soon after began farming with his brother, Archibald. In 1872, he moved to Ashland, Wis., and worked on the Wisconsin Central Railroad. In 1874, he opened a restaurant and bakery there. He came to Glidden in 1874, and located on a farm of 130 acres, on Sec. 2, Town 42, Range 2 west. Here he lived till 1879, when he bought a property in the village where he now lives. In 1872 he married Miss Annie Riley, of Ashland. They have three chil- dren-Mary, Archie and Charles E. E. Mr. McLean was Town Clerk when the town of Juniper existed-since done away with.

R. M. WILLIAMS, farmer, Sec. 12, P. O. Glidden, was born in Columbia Co., Wis., about five miles from Ft. Winnebago, Sept. 16, 1850. Here he lived till 1869, when he moved to Pardeeville, where he learned blacksmithing and afterward telegraphy. In Summer of 1874 he moved to Medford, and afterwards took a homestead and located on Sec. 12, Town 42, Range 2 west, which he is now clearing and improv- ing. In 1868 he married Miss America A. Smith, of Wyocena. They have four children-Angy, Maurice L., Daisy and Robert A. Mr. Williams joined the I. O. O. F. in 1871.

PROTESTANT MISSIONS.

A brief sketch of Protestant mission work among the Indians in northern Wisconsin is here given.

Prior to the year 1830, the Rev. Mr. Coe missionated among the Indian tribes around the southern borders of Lake Superior, but nothing permanent was undertaken until the year above named, when Mr. Ayer, a Christian teacher from Mackinaw, came up the lake and settled at La Pointe, on Madeline Island. The year following he was succeeded by Rev. Messrs. Hall and Boutwell, who also lo- cated at La Pointe. In the course of the ensuing fifteen years, other missionaries came, and a series of stations were occupied, extending west to the Mississippi. Only one of these stations fell a victim to Indian rapacity and revenge. About the year 1845, a band of the Sioux, the old and in- veterate enemy of the Chippewas, made a descent upon the mission station of Pokeguma, and swept it out of exist- ence, murdering, scalping, burning and destroying. Shortly after this, all points to the west of the great lake were abandoned, and work for the Chippewas centered in the two villages of La Pointe and Odanah. About the year 1850, Mr. Hall, who had been for ninetcen years at La Pointe, and most, if not all, the time in charge of the work there, quit- ted the field, and La Pointe was practically abandoned. Before Mr. Hall retired from this field, however, he was the honored instrument, with the aid of Henry Blatchford, native licentiate, of getting out a revised translation of the "Ojibwe " Testament, which is to the present day, and will continue to be as long as Chippewa is spoken, the one stand- ard book of the language. Though the mortal body of the Rev. Sherman Hall now sleeps in the dust, his indefatigable

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

and faithful labors in bringing out so grand a translation of the New Testament Scriptures in the vernacular of the people, is a monument to his memory that will ever abide. Though a school was in operation during most of Mr. Hall's sojourn at La Pointe, there is no authentic data at hand from which to give statistics. The Rev. Leonard H. Wheeler, Rev. Isaac Baird's honored predecessor at Odanah, joined the mission at La Pointe in 1841. In 1845 that point was permanently occupied as a mission station, and for twenty long years Mr. Wheeler was the inspiring genius and controlling spirit of the field. Under his supervision a large mission farm was pre-empted ; a school-house, capa- ble of accommodating eighty children, erected ; a church, that will comfortably seat 150 people, built ; and a manual labor boarding-school for Indian youth, with a capacity for twenty-five children, with their teachers and helps, was constructed ; all being undertaken and accomplished at the expense of the Mission Board alone, the Government making at rare intervals such small donations as it saw fit. During Mr. Wheeler's regime a mighty work was accom- plished. The entering wedge to sever heathenism was in- troduced, a Christian church was established, the day school and the manual labor boarding-school were both doing good service, and there were times when even he hoped in his day to see the desired accomplishments. The church reached a membership of twenty-two, and the schools were at times well attended. But now ten years have passed away since that faithful toiler died, and much remains to be done. Mr. Wheeler was a man of commanding appearance, of strong intellect, of clear and decided views. His toils were liter- ally incessant to improve and benefit this people, who to- day are reaping the harvest which has sprung from his faithful sowing. In 1859, or thereabouts, he experienced the first break in his health, but for six years more continued to labor on with his remaining strength, until the year 1865, when it became imperative for him to quit the field in which he had so nobly spent the strength and best of his working days. With the retirement of Mr. Wheeler, the A. B. C. F. M., under whose care the mission had hitherto been, decided to abandon the field entirely. For some five or six years thereafter, H. Blatchford, the native licentiate named above, continued, without fee or earthly reward, to keep up the regular services of the church, and labored hard to hold together the little band of disciples so unhappily left orphans here in the wilderness. The weariness.and disappointment of those long waiting years, as they kept calling and calling, and yet only calling in vain, for another missionary to come to their aid, can not be written with ink and pen.

In 1870, this Chippewa mission was transferred from the A. B. C. F. M. to the Presh. B. Foreign Missions. In 1871, the station was re-opened under the Rev. S. J. Mills, but insufficient health for the hardships and ex- posures of the field led him to soon quit it. Before leaving, however, he saw the day school occupied by a mis- sionary lady teacher, Miss S. Verbeck ; the boarding-school re-opened under the management of Miss H. N. Phillips, and the few native Christians partially revived. Mr. A. W. Williamson, son of the now sainted Decotah missionary,

was the next superintendent of this mission. Being a lay- man, his duties were confined more exclusively to the over- sight of the farm and the educational work, though his influence was felt decidedly for good in the church work. But the situation was found to be a trying one for his health, and after some nine months' experience of it, he was re- luctantly constrained to retire and give it up entirely.

Rev. Isaac Baird was the next superintendent in the order of succession. He reached the field on the fifteenth day of March, 1873, at 12:45 o'clock, P. M. From that time to the present the day school has been constantly running, Miss S. A. Dougherty being the teacher in charge. The board- ing-school has also been kept up until the 30th of June last, when it was closed, whether finally time must decide. The church has been reorganized, a native pastor called and ordained over it, in the person of the Rev. Henry Blatch- ford (formerly licentiate and interpreter), and about eighty Indians added to the roll of its membership. The actual communicants are now scarcely seventy, a number having been lost by death and a few by excommunication and sus- pension. The church has been for five years under the care of the pastor and the elders, of whom there are usually four. Sunday services are well attended, and a good Sun- day-school and weekly prayer-meeting are very well sus- tained. The people have made rapid improvement during the past six years in material prosperity, thrift, general in- telligence, and morality. Still nearly one half of the popu- lation of 460 souls is outside the church pale. Those who have embraced the Christian faith are civilized and anxious to have patents for their land in severalty, and to go for- ward in the white man's road.

There is as yet only one out-station to this mission, and that is at a place called Puhquauhwong, on the Lac Courte Oreille reserve, in Chippewa County. The teacher and licentiate at that point is Louis Manypenny, who received his training for the work at this mission. For nearly three years now he has taught a day school four hours per day, and kept up regular Sunday services with the people. At present Mr. Baird is training others to go forth as evangel- ists among their own people. By natives, trained as teach- ers and preachers, an effort is being made to gather in these wandering children of the forest to the fold of Christ the great Shepherd.

Odanah and the Bad River Indian Reservation is situated in the northern part of the county. Odanah, the Chippewa name for town, is a settlement and head-quarters of the Indian Agency, in about the center of the reservation, at the junction of Bad and White rivers, about five miles from Lake Superior. The village now is what is left of a once flourishing town, though it yet contains quite a number of buildings. The country around is suitable for agriculture. The Government improvements and buildings have cost $30,000. The reservation contains 140,000 acres of land, with several hundred under cultivation. Population mostly Chippewa Indians. The Bad River is navigable ten miles from its mouth. July 24, 1876, a dwelling owned by the Government was burned. The village contains a trading post, a Catholic and a Presbyterian Church.

HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY.

BARRON COUNTY.

NATURAL FEATURES.

This county lies in the northwestern portion of the State, and is comprised of thirty townships. The greater per cent. of the country is covered with heavy timber, such as pine, butternut and maple. Ten per cent. is marsh land. The surface is generally level or gently rolling. In the southern portion the soil is sandy loam, but in the northern towns clay predomi- nates. The county does not rank high as an agricul- tural region. Those settlers who do follow farming as a business find ready market for their produce. The county is well watered and drained by the Red Cedar (Menomonee) and Vermillion rivers in the eastern part, and Hay River in the western, the last two being the principal tributaries of the Red Cedar, which is the chief affluent of the Chippewa. Hundreds of other brooks and brooklets ramify this region, and all, running toward the south, seek outlet through the Red Cedar. The currents of the streams are usually rapid, and afford many admirable mill-sites and water-powers, only a few of which are yet utilized. It has been esti- mated that the water-power of this county would drive the wheels of all the manufactories of Massachusetts. There are many lakes, varying from two to ten miles in length, in this county. Some are found reposing in the heart of the forest, coldly isolated from all other water; while others are found at frequent intervals along the water-courses tributary to the Red Cedar. Principal among these are Beaver, Little Chetac, Red Cedar, Rice, Bear and Long Lakes. Hundreds of small brooks run from every point of the compass, finally emptying into the Red Cedar. The natural beauties of the woods and streams are enhanced in value, to the sportman's eye at least, by the numerous- ness and variety of large game to be found here.

The eastern portions of the county contain large formations of cathinite, or pipestone, which will event- ually prove a material source of revenue, when rail facilities enable shipment. Potsdam sandstone pro- trudes in the southern towns, while in the northern the azoic granite outcrop forms a characteristic feature of the scenery. Granite boulders reveal their presence in all parts of the county.

SETTLEMENT.

The first settlement of this region is traditionary, strange as such a statement may appear in relation to the almost new districts of northern Wisconsin. It is said that more than a century ago, the grandfather of August Cadot-long a resident of the Chippewa Valley -came to the present county of Barron, in company with others, from Montreal, and established a trading post near Rice Lake. The story runs that the elder Cadot was killed by Indians, and that his grave is still discernable, near the dam erected across a stream flow- ing into Rice Lake. This dam, it is asserted, was

built by Cadot and his co-workers. It was over 300 feet in length and eight feet high. Why it was built is a mystery. The post became a noted one among the northern tribes.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 1052

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1052