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 140

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 140

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MINDORO, La Crosse County, Wis., July 15, 1881.

JUDGE CYRUS K. LORD.

Judge Lord was born at East Parsonsfield, York Co., Me., on the 10th of June, 1811. Lived at home, work- ing on the farm during the Summers and attending the common school and the chores alike in the Winter. In the Spring of 1832, he went into the office of Dr. Moses Sweat and studied medicine till in the Fall of that year, when he was called to take charge of the busi- ness of an uncle in the town of Cornish, who had been elected to the Legislature. In the Spring of 1833, he bought out a stock of merchandise, and was at the head of a country store till 1834. He was in the business till 1836. In January of that year, he was married to Miss Abby Clark, the daughter of Hon. Nathaniel Clark, of Leamington, Me., a prominent politician, who was in public service during half of his life, mostly in the Legislature. serving in both branches. In the Spring of 1837, Mr. Lord came to the West, stopping for one season at Galena ; then went to Platteville, where he engaged in smelting lead ore in 1838, and spent two years and a half. He then entered the law office of Benjamin C. Eastman, who afterward became a member of Congress, and was admitted to the Bar in

April, 1842. He opened an office in Potosi and re- mained there till 1853. He was elected County Judge of Grant County in 1849, and served in that capacity till appointed Register of the land office at La Crosse in April, 1853, when he resigned the judgeship and came to this place, May 16, at once making arrange- ments for the land office, which was transferred to this locality and opened June 1. He served as Register till July, 1856, and then resumed the practice of law. He has since kept an office. In 1854, he joined Col. Rodolf, his associate in the land office as Receiver, in buying out the La Crosse Democrat, with which he was associated for a year. He was also engaged in the lumber business from 1867 to 1871. Though the judge has reached the allotted age of three score and ten, he is, to all appearances, as hale and robust as in the prime of life.

THEODORE RODOLF.

The subject of this sketch, a native of Switzerland, was born in the canton of Argovia, October 17, 1815. He devoted his earlier years entirely to educational pur- suits, and later graduated from a college of Aaran, the capital of his native canton, and from the University of Zurich. When he was about seventeen years of age, his father immigrated to the United States, with his family, and afterward died in New Orleans, of the yel- low fever. In 1834, the mother and her children re- moved to Southern Wisconsin and settled on a farm near Wiota, La Fayette Co. In 1840, we find Theodore Rodolf at Mineral Point, keeping store, em- ploying miners, and trafficking in lead. Thirteen years later, he settled at La Crosse, and there assumed the duties of Receiver in the Land Office, under the ap- pointment of President Pierce, a position which he held, by re-appointment of President Buchanan, until 1861. Since that time, he has been engaged largely in insurance and in real estate operations. Aside from this, Mr. Rodolf has held many other offices-has, in fact, been in some official position most of the time for thirty years. He was Captain of the Mineral Point Guards from 1848 to 1851, and of the La Crosse Rifles from 1856 to 1860. He was President of the village of Mineral Point two years, a member of the Board of Supervisors of La Crosse County about four years, and Chairman of the same one year. He was Mayor of the city in 1868 and 1870, and a member of the Assembly during the same years, and while in the Legislature did good service on the Committee on Railroads, Lumber, Manufacturers, etc. He received the Democratic vote for Speaker the second time he was in the Legislature, but, the Republicans being in the majority, he was de- feated. He was Democratic candidate for Presidential Elector at Large in 1864, and the same party's candi- date for Elector in the Sixth District in 1868, the Re- publicans in both instances being in the ascendant. He was Democratic candidate for State Senator in 1876. He has always been a Democrat, and for a long time one of the leaders in Western Wisconsin, and is well-known throughout the State. During the administration of Gov. Fairchild, he was appointed by him a member of the Visiting Committee to the State institutions. He has been for several years Secretary of the La Crosse Board of Trade. In many ways, he has made and

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still making a very useful man, and is an esteemed and most worthy citizen. Mr. Rodolf is a prominent mem- ber of the Odd Fellows' fraternity, and in 1975 was Grand Master of the State. He was Grand Represen- tative, and attended the meeting of the Grand Lodge of the United States, held in Philadelphia in Septem- ber, 1876. He was reared in the Reformed Church of Switzerland, but, having found no organized society of that people since coming to Wisconsin, although hold- ing Christian people in high respect, has identified him- self with no religious body. His mother, who died at Mineral Point in 1856, was a member of the Episcopal Church, and his sisters belong to the same body in La Crosse.

The wife of Mr. Rodolf was Miss Marie Thomas, of New Orleans. They have had twelve children, six of whom are now living. Four died, within as many weeks, of diphtheria. The eldest son, Theodore F., who is a partner of his father in the insurance busi- ness, married a granddaughter of Henry Dodge, first Territorial Governor of Wisconsin, and daughter of Gov. Clark, of Iowa, when it was a Territory. She died in September, 1875, leaving two children, who live with their grandfather. Mr. Rodolf has two daugh- ters married and living in La Crosse, the wives of Will- iam Servis and F. A. Copeland.

WILLIAM W. CROSBY.

Mr. Crosby was born July 26, 1818, and is the son of Logan Crosby and Sally (Knox) Crosby. The an- cestors of the Crosby family, consisting of three broth- ers, came to this country from London, England, in the year 1660. One settled in the Massachusetts Colony on Cape Cod ; one at what is now Portland in Con- necticut, and the other in the Province of Maine. Mr. Crosby's family sprang from the Connecticut branch, and tradition says the head of this family's name was David, and that he was a minister of the Gospel of the Baptist persuasion, and that he also took an active part in the Indian wars then being prosecuted along the banks of the Connecticut River. William's grandfa- ther moved from Connecticut to Massachusetts, and settled in the town of Blandford. He had a family of ten sons and two daughters, and himself with eight of his sons surrendered with Gen. Hull's army. They were imprisoned at Detroit, and the small- pox broke out among the prisoners and two of his sons died of the disease while yet in prison. He, with his remain- ing sons and some other persons, succeeded in making their escape from Detroit to Northern New York and Pennsylvania. His grandfather settled in Batavia, N. Y., at which place he died. Logan Crosby, the father of William, was born in Blandford, Mass., May 8, 1789, and made that town his home through life. He served in the war of 1812-14. March 2, 1815, he married Sally Knox. She was born in the town of Blandford, February 9, 1790, and belonged to the celebrated Knox family who claim to be descendants of the celebrated John Knox, the great reformer of Edinburgh, Scot- land. On account of religious persecution, they fled from Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland, from whence they emigrated to America, and settled in the town of Blandford, Mass., where a remnant of the Knox family still remains, The fruits of their mar-

riage were two children, Alonzo K. and William W., the subject of this sketch. Their mother, Sally Cros- by, died May 12, 1822, aged thirty-two years, and Alonzo died in La Crosse, September 1, 1855. Logan Crosby married his second wife, and by her had two children, Sarah and Homer. Homer was killed in an accident, and Sarah married Mr. G. C. Hixon, now president of the La Crosse National Bank. She died in 1856.

The subject of this sketch was married, April 4, 1841, to Sarah M. Wright, of Chester, Mass. They settled in La Crosse in 1854. Mrs. Crosby was killed by lightning, August 15, 1855. September 8, 1856, he married Mary Pennell, of Honeoye, N. Y. The fruits of this union are William Logan, born October 27, 1857, Charles Pennell, born August 3, 1859, Ho- mer, born February 11, 1865, and Mary, born April 30, 1867. His father, Logan Crosby, died September 29, 1875, at the age of eighty-six years. but his widow is now living and draws a pension, for his services, of $96 per year.

The following, in the words of the subject of this sketch, may prove interesting. "My father was a farmer in a small way and resided about four miles from the center of the town, which contained two stores, two taverns, a post-office and a "meeting house." Nothing but sickness was an excuse for not going to meeting on Sunday. We, boys, were conducted to the gallery by the "Tything" man, armed with a hickory whip-stock about six feet long. Here we were seated and not allowed to look in any direction except at the preacher. If we made a move we were sure to get a "rap" over the head with the hickory. The older ones were seated in the square pews below, that were owned by them and deeded the same as their farms were. In those days we had to stand during prayer, which was from half to three-quarters of an hour long ; then listen to the long sermon on the doc- trine of election from firstly to fifteenthly. In imagi- nation I can now see the old men and women, the young men and maidens, and children, after the fore- noon servies in Winter, eating their frozen lunch, and trying to keep warm by whipping their hands and stamping their feet, so as to be able to endure the severe cold for the afternoon services. This was from fifty to sixty years ago, before stoves for heating houses and churches were invented. In Winter they used to go to the meeting from the outskirts of the town with "ox-sleds." In Summer the husband mounted his horse, with a pillion strapped to the saddle, rode to the horse block where he took up his wife and child behind him. The young man waited on his sweet- heart in a similar manner. No carriages or wagons in those days. My school advantages were limited to the district school, where the town appropriations were small, and the qualifications of the teacher were read- ing, spelling, writing and arithmetic, and the wages for male teachers in Winter were from ten to twelve dollars per month, the teachers having to board around. I was called on to teach when I was but sixteen years old. I informed the committee that I was too young, and that I could not get a certificate, but no would not do, I must go forward and be examined. You can imagine how a green, bashful country boy would feel

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HISTORY OF LA CROSSE COUNTY.

to be brought in contact with the town committee, who were supposed to know everything, and have them ask questions that they did not know whether they were being answered right or wrong, then issuing certifi- cates to country blockheads to teach. I among the rest got a certificate to teach and followed the business for seven Winters with success."

Mr. Crosby engaged in the mercantile business, and followed that until the Spring of 1854, when he came to La Crosse, the then small village, claiming three hundred inhabitants. He immediately engaged in the lumber business, and has continued the same with suc- cess. He has been identified with the interests of the city ever since his residence ; was elected Alderman in 1856 upon the organization of the city, which office he held for twelve years ; was also first United States Assessor ; raised the second company of militia, called the Light Guards, that afterward enlisted in the late civil war. When Mr. Crosby was appointed by Gov. Randall major general of Militia, Wilson Colwell was made captain of the Light Guards. This company served out their first enlistment of ninety days, and again enlisted and served till the end of the war. Captain Colwell was killed at the battle of South Mountain. Mr. Crosby has seen the little village of La Crosse grow to be a city containing 16,000 inhabi- tants.

CHARLES GREEN HANSCOME.

Mr. Hanscome, one of the early settlers and attor- neys of La Crosse, first came to the village of La Crosse in May, 1853, with the intention of making this his home, and commenced the practice of law, in which he was engaged until May, 1861, when he made a trip of observation and adventure to Colorado, from whence he returned, having made some investments in that Territory, his intention being to make La Crosse his permanent home, first securing an interest in the new Western Territories, on a trip to which he fell a victim to savage ferocity.

The following extract from an Eastern (Maine) paper gives so full an account of the life history of Mr. Hanscome, that it is transcribed as just and reli- able :

"Of the Class of 1845, Charles Green Hanscome was killed on the Upper Platte River, fifty miles east of Fort Laramie, on July 14, 1864, aged forty years. He was the eldest of five children of Oliver and Ruth (Rich) Hanscome, and was born in the town of China, Kennebec Co., Me., on the 13th of May, 1824. He was fitted for college in his native place, and entered Waterville College in September, 1841. After he graduated, he engaged in teaching for about a year, and then studied law with his uncle, J. C. Woodman, of Portland, Me., and was there admitted to the Bar.

" In June, 1847, he left his home and removed to Wisconsin, whence, after three years' residence in the practice of his profession, he returned to Maine. He next spent a year in Central America, but returning again to the West, he took up and continued his resi- dence in La Crosse, Wis., till the year 1863, which year he spent in Colorado, where he was chosen a mem- ber of the Territorial Legislature.

" In May, 1864, he left La Crosse with his brother,

William B., and others, on an overland expedition to Idaho. The tragic end of his journey may be best narrated in the words of a notice that has already ap- peared in the village newspaper of that time :

" 'On the evening of the 14th of July, the party, increased in the course of the march of over 300 miles, to the number of eighteen men and from twenty to thirty women and children, with its attendant train of sixty wagons drawn by many horses, cattle and mules, had encamped for the night, when a party of well- mounted Sioux Indians, about twenty-five in number, made a dash upon them, giving them a flying attack, and suddenly disappeared.

" . Mr. Hanscome had just gone over the hill a few rods to the river, for the purpose of watering some mules. Some of the party heard the report of a gun, when, seizing their arms, they ran to the river just in time to see the retreating of six of the Indians, who had made a rush upon Mr. Hanscome for the purpose of securing the mules, as was seen by one of the com- pany, who was some distance from the scene. Mr. Hanscome, unable to relinquish them, held on to the ropes, whereupon one of the Indians raised his gun and shot him through the head, killing him instantly.' "

Mr. Hanscome possessed an unusually cheerful disposition and ready wit, was a warm friend and genial companion ; his energy, quickness of repartee, self reliance, tact and love of adventure, qualified him ad- mirably for the life of a pioneer, and gave him an easy ascendency over the class of men whom he met in such a life. Mr. Harscome was married, Oct. 19, 1853, to Miss Anna J., daughter of Abram and Anna Anderson. Mrs. Hanscome and her two daughters still reside in La Crosse.

HARVEY J. PECK.

Mr. Peck was born in South Bainbridge, Chenango Co., N. Y., June 18, 1818. Resided there and in Cov- entry, same county, until 1826, when he removed with his parents to Whitestown, Oneida Co., N. Y. Here he received a good common school education, and, at the age of twenty-one, getting the Western fever, and having some relatives at Green Bay, Wis., he started on a canal-boat for Buffalo ; then he took passage on the old steamboat " Columbus," which took him around the lakes to Chicago, Milwaukee and back to Green Bay, where he landed in September, 1838. He was married on his way West. Some time after, he, with five others, took a canoe and started up the Fox River to see the country ; hauling their canoe around the rapids of the Fox River, they entered Lake Winnebago, and worked their way to Oshkosh.

He remained at Green Bay during the Fall of 1838, working at the carpenter and joiner's trade until Win- ter, when he hired out to go down the bay lumbering at a saw-mill, where they lived on bread, salt fish and potatoes, with no tea, coffee, sugar or meat. After staying there about two months, he left and went to Fond du Lac ; here he remained until 1851, generally engaged in farming, doing some carpenter work, and sometimes lumbering. During this period his wife died. In October, 1851, he hired out to Rev. William Card, to go to La Crosse, to assist him, in company with George Carlton, in building a store on Third

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street. La Crosse was then in its infancy, but grow- ing rapidly. About the 1st of December of this year, Mr. Peck, in company with two others, bought an ox- team and supplies, and started up the Black River to get out hewed timber and lumber; they succeeded in rafting down the river in the Spring of 1852, four rafts of timber and two of lumber. They sold their timber to Rublee & Smith in La Crosse, and the lumber to R. C. Van Renssellaer at Onalaska. Mr. Peck did some work at La Crosse, and helped finish a wharf boat for J. M. Levy; then went to Onalaska to reside, and there got out the hard timber and worked on the first saw-mill built at that place, the owners being Nichols & Tompkins. That Winter (1852), he hired out to George Farnham (who put a crew in the woods to get out logs for Nichols & Tompkins) to drive a tole team. During this Winter, he went to Madison twice for supplies ; from Neillsville to Yellow River, he followed a new road for fifty miles, along which there were no houses nor stopping-places, and being obliged to camp in the woods alone without supper, breakfast, or feed or water for his team. After logging was done, in the Spring, he took charge of driving Farnham's logs. This is the first time logs were driven out of the Black River, and the first year of Sam Western being on the river, i. e., 1853. Subsequent to this, he took up his residence at Onalaska, working at the carpenter and joiner's trade, in company with H. D. Egerly. Here Mr. Peck held the offices of Justice of the Peace, Town Treasurer, and, for several years, Postmaster. In September, 1856, he married his second wife, Miss Carrie M. Lawrence. In 1864, having been elected Clerk of the Circuit Court, he removed to La Crosse and held the office six years; then went into the insur- ance business, and, in August, 1870, was appointed by the Judges of the United States Circuit and District Courts (Judges Drummond and Hopkins) their Clerk, which position he now holds.

A. STEINLEIN.

Mr. Steinlein is a native of Prussia, having been born in the old city of Treves in 1823, a place made famous as having one of the most renowned of all re- Jigious relics-the reputed coat worn by the Savior, which is exhibited with much pomp and ceremony once in fifty years, and is confidently claimed to work miracles. Mr. Steinlein was favored with a sight of this holy vestment-a kuit garment, which he thinks is renewed as often as occasion requires. He received his education at the Gymnasium of that city, of which he was a student for five years. This institution is equivalent to the academy in this country, being inter- mediate between the high school and the college. As his father was a professional teacher, he was a student from his earliest years. He graduated from the Gym- nasium at fifteen, and then spent two years at the Nor- mal school at Breuhl, from which he graduated at sev- enteen, and was a teacher at Treves for two years, then emigrated just in time to escape service in the army.

Mr. Steinlein came to New York City in 1843, and learned his trade (printing ) in the publishing house of Ludwig. Came to La Crosse in 1856, buying a farm back of the bluffs in the town of Barre. That Winter he returned to La Crosse and helped found the Nord-

Stern (North Star), with which paper he was con- nected for a year, when he went back to his farm where he lived for six years. Here he was very active in es- tablishing roads and schools. By great personal ef- forts, he succeeded in having the first school-house built of brick, thus insuring a substantial, permanent structure on the start, and also the most economical, as the expense was almost wholly obviated in following his suggestion and example to build it by their own joint labors, the only outlay being for brick-laying. About 1862, he became connected with Mr. Ulrich in publishing the Nord-Stern, with which paper he was connected for two years, when he was elected Register of Deeds, an office he held for four years. He has since held the office of Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, Commissioner of the Poor, Commissioner of Schools, the latter continuously since 1874 ; is also an agent for steamboats, land, etc .; has been Police Jus- tice since about 1864. He still takes great interest in all movements of a public character, and is an active member of the German Singing Society, which has for its object the culture of music, athletic exercises, art, literature and education, all worthy objects that should enlist the commendation and support of all good citizens.

CITY OF LA CROSSE.

In a former portion of this work the endeavor has been made to portray that period in the history of La Crosse when the primary steps were taken to found a colony and build a city, bringing the record down to a date when the early settlement, emerging from behind clouds of disappointment and uncertainty, took its al- lotted place among the established evidences of West- ern enterprise.

It is now proposed to examine into a later period in the history of the same city, when with resources greatly enlarged and territory extended by a brilliant career of enterprise and industry it has progressed to a degree of perfection, invariably attending the exercise of these incentives. Such success, born of laudable ambition, may have excited the jealousy of rivals. but it has not bred a mischievous policy, nor nurtured the germs of domestic corruption which gradually culmin- ate in dismemberment and decay.

History and tradition unite in ascribing to the pres- ent city site a semi-sacred character, as the resort of Indians, from time immemorial, to indulge in games of athletic sports and skill. Without the sanctity attach- ing to grounds wholly devoted to religious usage, it was so far privileged as to be made a ground of neu- trality and a common place of assemblage for the vari- ous tribes of a large section of the country. Being easy of access by reason of its contiguity to Black and La Crosse rivers, both of which empty into the Mis- sissippi within the city limits, and the mouth of Root River on the west, but four miles below, furnished ad- mittance by canoe for a radius of one hundred miles.

After the manner of the Greeks who, in ancient times, contended in the Olympic, Isthmean and Namean games at stated intervals, these red-browed contestants came from far and near to enter the list against foemen of rival tribes. One who witnessed the game of La

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HISTORY OF LA CROSSE COUNTY.

LA CROSSE.

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

Crosse, speaks of seeing not less than three hundred of the most superb and renowned warriors of opposing tribes matched against each other. To avoid all in- cumbrances to their movements, they were stripped almost to nudity, and the efforts made by the contend- ing forces called into exercise every faculty of the sav- age nature. The excitement was shared by friends of the respective parties who inspired them to renewed vigor and the exercise of every power of which they were capable, to the end that they might prevail. These gatherings are said to have occurred both in the Spring and Fall, and the contests were prolonged and bitterly conducted.

As nearly as can be ascertained, the first resident of the city site was the one-eyed Decorra, so named from a French ancestor. He was born about 1772, and set- tled at La Crosse when fifteen years of age. He aided in the capture of Mackinaw, took part in the expedi- tion against Prairie du Chien, participated in the cap- ture of Black Hawk, in 1832, and died during the month of August, 1854, at the advanced age of ninety- two years.

THE FIRST VISITORS.

The first account of visitors to the city of La Crosse relates that Maj. Z. M. Pike arrived there on the 12th of September, 1805, while en route to discover the source of the Mississippi. Maj. Stephen H. Long is said to have reached La Crosse on the 9th of July, 1817; six years later, Lieut. Martin Scott, of Maj. Long's command, arrived on the city's site. In 1835, rails were left at La Crosse, according to the statement of Gen. Sibley, for the purpose of fencing in a claim, but nothing came of it. These rails were cut and hanled on to the ground under the direction of Gen. Sibley, H. L. Dousman and François La Batt, to in- close a considerable portion of the unsurveyed prairie, but La Batt, in whose hands the matter was intrusted by his co-laborers, neglected to carry out the measures necessary to secure the claim, and the rails were sub- sequently appropriated by passing steamers for fuel. During 1835-6 and part of 1837, there are no evi- dences, beyond the claims of Coons & Cubbage, already cited, of any visitations to this locality. While on a trip from Mendota to Washington, in the latter year, Gen. Sibley was frozen in at La Crosse and obliged to pack his baggage overland to Prairie du Chien. In May, 1838, Hon. William Hull states he was encamped for a night at a point near where the Bellevne House now is, and in 1839 and 1840, the Hon. II. M. Rice passed La Crosse prairie. In the lat- ter year, says Nathan Myrick, a member of the Ameri- can Fur Company hauled rails to a point near the river, with a view to making claim to land, but these were taken for fuel by steamers. He states, further, that a company of United States troops encamped on the present city site during the same year, for a few weeks, to prevent the Indians from crossing from the west side of the Mississippi, and the marks of their encampment were the only visible evidences of occu- pation by the whites.

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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