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 148

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 148

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).

512

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN

This company furnished all kinds of supplies for steamers, and, in addition, did a general jobbing busi- ness. During the two years of his connection with the house the trade averaged $200,000 per year, having the largest custom as well as variety of goods of any ex- isting establishment. He then opened business at No. 16 Front street, jobbing merchandise and groceries exclusively to raftsmen, and dealing in raft supplies of all kinds. The yearly returns footed up from $125,- 000 to $150,000. This was the era of high prices, as will be readily seen by reference to the buying prices of a few staples-sugar, 40 cents per pound ; coffee, 41 to 43; carbon oil, 75 to 90 cents per gallon ; rope, 25 cents per pound ; tea, $2.08. In October, 1869, moved to his present quarters, No. - Front street, a three- story brick, 25x100, erected at a cost of $7,000. From the basement, goods are received or shipped directly by car or steamer, thus saving all the expense and delay of drayage. In 1868, he became interested with Dr. Chamberlain in pine lands in Clark, Marathon, Chip- pewa and Jackson counties. In 1875-76, was engaged in logging on Black River and its tributaries, and brought out 10,000,000 feet of pine. On the last day of 1876, his partner, Dr. Chamberlain was killed by Oscar Wis- senger, who was afterward adjudged insane. This occurrence terminated the firm, and, in the Spring of 1879, Mr. Hogan resumed business in his former stand, which had been leased in the interval. His trade has been a growing one, and in July, 18:0, his brother-in- law, F. P. Cook, became a partner. Sales the last year aggregated a quarter of a million with hopeful promise of increase during the future.

Davis & Medary .- The connection of Mr. Medary with this extensive leather and saddlery house extends back to 1860, when he was employed by Jesse R. Grant, father of ex-President U. S. Grant, who was then its head. In 1862, Mr. Burke became a partner, and the firm name was known as Grant & Burke. It so contin- ned till 1866, when they sold out to Davis, Medary & Hill. During this time the establishment was located at No. - Main street, on the site now occupied by Alex Forbes. In 1867, the new firm removed to their pres- ent location, No. 12 Pearl street, into a building built expressly for their use, 23x100. In December, 1870, Mr. Hill retired from the firm. In 1872, the new firm added the adjoining building, No. 14, being the same size as No. 12, each having two stories above, all of which are occupied, the two rooms on the first floor be- ing used for an office and sales rooms, and those above for manufacturing and storage purposes. The present year, 1881, on an adjoining lot, has been built an ad- ditional storeroom, erected the same size as those now occupied, 22x100. Of this, forty feet in front will be given up for office purposes and sixty for a store, thus giving them a total of 68x100 on the first floor, and two stories of 46x100 for storage and manufacturing. Their work consists largely of the making of horse-col- lars and fly-nets, of which there were turned out of the former one thousand dozen, and of the latter from two to three hundred dozen the past year. To this they have now added the making of riding saddles, which promises to grow into a large business. The firm keep a complete stock of saddlery, hardware, leather and shoe findings.

Mc Culloch, McCord & Co., wholesale druggists. The large drug house of this firm had its beginning in a small way on the 27th of April, 1852, when Messrs. Howard & Hastings were its proprietors, under the firm name of Howard & Co. This was changed in 1855 to that of S. D. Hastings & Co. The next year Bayme & Wells succeeded. This was followed by the firm of Wells & Parry, and, in 1859 or 1860, by Uriah Parry, Jr. In 1864, the present firm came into possession, and are engaged in wholesaling exclusively, selling only to dealers. Their trade extends the whole length of the Southern Minnesota Railroad, Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, Clinton, Dubuque & Minnesota Railroad, Green Bay & Minnesota Railroad, and branches. They have an extensive river trade with the counties adjoin- ing the river, and with all that section lying eastward within a radius of 100 miles. Two traveling salesmen are kept constantly employed, one on each side of the river. The rooms occupied include three stories and a basement, on Front street, of 25x100, always well filled, so that it is necessary to use a storage lot in addi- tion, of 50x100. In addition to drugs, paints, glass, etc, the firm make a specialty of oils, and are the sole agents of the Standard Oil Company for the sale of carbon oil, of which 6,000 barrels were disposed of in 1880, to which 2,000 barrels should be added of other oils, the tonnage of this single article alone amounting to 3,200,000 pounds. Adding to this such articles as white lead, 200,000 pounds, an equal weight in glass, 80,000 pounds of axle grease, etc., a total is soon reach- ed of 5,000,000 pounds shipped by this firm yearly. The two members were employed at the same time in the drug house of John Price, in Milwaukee, both com- ing to La Crosse in 1864, and at once entering into their present business.

Gordon & Manville, wholesale dealers in foreign and domestic wines, liquors, etc., No. 9 Front street. The foundation of this firm was laid in 1858, by Milton M. Morse and Alexander Gordon, who entered into part- nership under the firm name of Morse & Co., for the purpose of rectifying whisky, and made their first joint venture in business in the Union Block, State street. The time was very unpropitious for the establishment of any business enterprise, but they experienced a fair measure of success from the start, and, two years later, were in a position to take advantage of the business revival which then began to be manifested. They built and operated the first distillery established in the State, a work which would have been largely increased but for the difficulty of procuring a sufficient local supply of corn, which had often to be supplemented by pur- chasing in Illinois and Iowa. In 1869, the late James D. Lyndes purchased the interest of Mr. Morse, and, in enlarged premises, the business was prosecuted with increasing success, under the firm name of Gordon & Langdon, till Mr. Langdon's death in 1874, when the present title was adopted, Mr. Manville having acquired Mr. Langdon's interest. The firm now occupies a build- ing built specially for this trade, with all the facilities requisite for the prosecution of an extensive business. The progress and prosperity of the firm have never experienced interruption, have been in fact cotempora- neous with the growth of the city in which its interests are centered. Its business field covers the States of

513

HISTORY OF LA CROSSE COUNTY.

Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa and the Territory of Dakota, and demands the active services of three trav- eling agents, including the junior member of the firm. Their stock is large and varied, comprising all the estab- lished brands of Kentucky whisky, both free and in bond, together with a full line of foreign wines and brandies, indispensable to a well-organized establish- ment of the kind.

Isaac Tuteur & Son, wholesale liquor dealers. In 1856, Isaac Tuteur commenced a wholesale and retail liquor business on Front street, and conducted this for about two years when he disposed of it and went into the lumber business. He soon afterward established a liquor trade again, and subsequently associated himself with J. B. Jungen, dealing in wholesale liquors and groceries. In 1868, Mr. Tuteur established his present business at No. 13 South Second street. September 8, 1875, he associated with himself his son, Joseph Tuteur, under the firm name of Isaac Tuteur & Son. They deal in all grades and all kinds of foreign and domestic wines and liquors, their yearly sales amounting to $65,- 000.

John B. Jungen, wholesale liquor dealer, opened his first liquor and grocery store in the Fall of 1857, on Pearl street. He conducted this business at different places in the city, meeting with great success until 1876, when he associated himself with C. B. Solberg, this partnership existing until 1879, when he established his present business. Mr. Jungen now confines his attentions solely to the local trade, and accordingly keeps on hand such goods as are used and will supply that trade. When doing business for himself at first, his sales amounted to $75,000, but will now reach only about one-fourth of that amount.

Fred Mueller established himself in the wholesale liquor business in 1874, on Third street, between Main and State streets, one door north of his present place of business. The first year his sales amounted to be- tween $18,000 and $20,000, and for 1880 they amounted to about $30,000. His goods are sold throughout Wis- consin, Minnesota, Iowa and Dakota, being shipped over all the railroads leading out from the city of La Crosse. He constantly keeps on hand and deals in all kinds and grades of both imported and domestic wines and liquors.

Ignatz Schierl established a wholesale liquor house on Third street, between Main and State streets, in 1874, where the liquor house of Fred Mueller now is, conducting a business the first year of between $15,- 000 and $18,000. In 1876, he moved to his present place of business, on the east side of Third, between Main and State streets. His goods, consisting of all kinds of foreign and domestic wines and liquors, are sold throughout the northern and western parts of Wisconsin, eastern and southern parts of Minnesota, and the eastern and northern parts of Iowa. He sells yearly about 200 barrels of liquors, his yearly sales amounting to about $30,000.

VILLAGE OF WEST SALEM.

Beautifully located in the center of the town of Hamilton, and also of La Crosse County, on a level strip of land on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and Chicago & Northwestern railroads, is the pleasant

village of West Salem. It is regularly and handsomely laid out into alleys, streets and avenues, and its citi- zens, who have always the beauty of their village upper- most in their minds, have made this location " to blos- som as the rose." They have displayed taste in adorn- ing and beautifying their streets and highways with rich foliaged shade-trees, which are not only a pride and benefit to her own citizens, but admired and en- joyed by visitors and others who have the pleasure of gazing upon them and basking in their luxuriant shade during the sultry Summer weather. From a business point of view, West Salem stands at the head of ship- ping points in this portion of the territory.

In 1858, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- road was built through the town of Hamilton, and it was at this time that that public-spirited citizen, Thomas Leonard, gave to the railroad company the required bonus of ten acres of land lying east and northeast of the present depot, on condition that they locate a depot or station at this point. The donation was accepted and the depot built. Forthwith, Mr. Leonard, in com- pany with M. L. Tourtelotte and Oscar F. Elwell, laid out the " original plat " of the village of West Salem. This plat consisted of twenty acres, and was surveyed by H. I. Bliss, of La Crosse, into alleys, streets, ave- nues and squares. Soon after, "Leonard's Addition " was made, and the village assumed regular and hand- some proportions. The streets were termed, Main, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, intersected by Melville, Church, Leonard, and Mills streets. The first frame building erected in the village was built by Frank Bur- gett, in 1857, and occupied by him for a store, in which he conducted a general mercantile business. He re- mained but one year, however, when he sold out and left for Chicago. The first hotel in the village was established by Thomas Dutcher, who, in the Fall of 1857, built the frame building still standing on the cor- ner of Main and Leonard streets. Here he catered to the taste of the public for one year, when he sold out to Mr. Johnson, who in turn disposed of the property to a Mr. Hickcox, and subsequently Ethan Allen be- came proprietor, and finally the present owner, A. El- dred, took possession of the hotel and now occupies it for a residence. The first saloon in the village was started by John Hommell, on the corner of Main and Leonard streets. This was a favorite resort in early days.

The first drug store was started in 1863, by A. K. Viets, and continued by him to the present time. Dr. William Stanley was the first physician to locate in the village, the date of his arrival being June, 1858. In 1856, a Dr. Palmer located in the village of Neshonoc, and some years after, moved to West Salem. The first and only disciple of Blackstone to locate in the village, was a Mr. Harwood, who came to this vicinity in 1860. He remained a few years when he took his departure for a less peaceable locality. Prior to 1860, the growth of the village was slow and uncertain, but during this year large accessions to the population were made and before Winter and his aged locks appeared, West Salem contained upward of three hundred inhabitants. The advent of the Chicago & Nuthwestern Railway brought others to this locality, and the business and improvements continued until now West Salem ranks among the leading villages in this portion of the State.

514

STORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

MANITOWOC COUNTY.

NATURAL ADVANTAGES.

Manitowoc County borders the western shore of Lake Michigan, lying sonth of Brown and Kewaunee counties, north of Sheboygan and east of Calumet. It contains an area of nearly 600 square miles. The land is generally undulating, presenting the usual pleasant diversities of a section which bears evidence of never having been disturbed by any unusual convulsion of nature. The only marked natural feature of the county is the existence of what are called the " Potash Kettle Hills," a suggestive chain of elevations, in places rough and broken, which extend from south- west to northeast. They are supposed to have been formed by glacial action, and are from one to ten miles in width. The underlying strata of rock are Niagara limestone, the lower coral beds, and those only, being exposed principally along the valley of the West Twin River, in Cooperstown. This regularity of surface, combined with the fact that the prevailing soils are a red marly clay, strongly impregnated with lime, make the county a favorable one for agricultural purposes. The soil is generally strong as well as fertile, and grows easily all the grains, fruits and grasses. In the valleys it is of a sandy mixture. Oats, wheat, potatoes, rye and barley are especially prolific, as will be seen by figures which follow. The dairy products are also a source of great revenue to the farmers of the county. During 1880, 459,565 pounds of cheese, and 478,068 pounds of butter were made. The surface of the country is watered by the Manitowoc and Twin rivers, the former draining over half the territory. In its southern and southwestern portion are numbers of small lakes, such as Prairie, Pigeon, Wilke and Cedar ; also little creeks which serve to add to its natural attractiveness and to its value as a grazing and farming country. The most valuable of the pine, oak and hemlock forests which formerly covered so large a portion of its surface, have disappeared before the ravages of saw-mills, ship yards and tanneries. There yet remain, however, for build- ing purposes inexhaustible beds of limestone and clay of a superior quality. By nature, Manitowoc Couuty is certainly rich, and as one source of her wealth is being exhausted, another springs to view.

GENERAL HISTORY.

The name " Manitowoc " is an Indian word, or a combination of two Algonquin words, translated " The Place of the Manitou," " The Home of the Good Spirit," or " The Den of the Devil." It is uncertain whether the good or the evil spirit gives Manitowoc its name, but tradition runs to the effect that a spirit was wont to haunt the mouth of the river. The earliest tribes said to have inhabited the county were the Mas- coutins, who, according to Canadian voyageurs, hunted the country lying along the western shore of Lake Michigan. Later came the Ottawas, Chippewas, Win-

nebagoes, Menomonees and Pottawatomies, who wan- dered over this region, hunting and fishing. The Chip- pewas and Menomonees seemed to have chosen the region near the mouth of Manitowoc River and along the coast for their "Summer resorts," and in Winter moved further back into the interior. The other tribes, except the Pottawatomies, had either disappeared from this section entirely, or merely held an undefined claim upon the territory, when the first white men commenced to appear in force. This period may be said to have commenced in 1822, when the trail from the south along the lake shore was first opened to Green Bay. Explorers from the North and South, and travelers with supplies for the garrison at Fort How- ard, stopped, now and then, at different points in what is now Manitowoc County, and especially at the mouth of the river. The Indians were generally peaceable, and when travelers stopped to settle and put up their rough shanties, exchanged their venison and wild cranberries for the pork with which the pioneers were supplied. Their brisk and quite large settlements at Manitowoc and Mani- towoc Rapids were abandoned, and their corn- fields abandoned. The Menomonees and Pottawato- mies relinquished all claim upon their lands, although in some portions of the county a few families remained to cultivate small tracts of land and obtain their living in a semi-civilized manner. At Cato Falls, in the town of Cato, near the center of the county, a corn-field was still in process of cultivation by some Chippewa In- dians as late as 1837. This locality was the head- quarters of a chief of that tribe named Mexico, who was a kind and re-assuring friend to the early white settlers. He died in 1845, and was buried at Manitowoc Rapids. In the town of Schleswig the Menomonee Indians had planting grounds as late as 1859. After the real set- tlement of the county commenced in 1835-37, around Manitowoc, Manitowoc Rapids and Two Rivers, through the Manitowoc Land Company, Jacob W. Conroe and Judge Lowe, neither Chippewas or Me- nomonees were seen in any numbers. In 1836, Mr. Conroe built a saw-mill at the Rapids, and the next year a second one was erected for Theyer, Rouse & Thompson, near Two Rivers, Judge Lowe, of Green Bay, having entered a large tract of land in that vicin- ity. A mill was also built by G. Conroe, the same year, at Neshota, in the western part of the town of Two Rivers. He had bought 5,000 acres in that vicin- ity, as a member of the Neshota Company.

The panic of 1837 stopped work at all the mills, except Conroe's, who purchased the establishment operated near Manitowoc Rapids. After the effects of the panic had somewhat subsided, mills began to spring up again in different portions of the county. More attention also began to be paid to farming. The early settlers had, of course, generally raised enough grain

515

HISTORY OF MANITOWOC COUNTY.

and vegetables for their own use, but not until 1841 did the first farmer really follow agriculture as a means of livelihood. H. Conroe had cultivated a small farm previously, and removed from the county. In that year, Hiram McAllister, who had previously been en- gaged as a lumberman and carpenter, purchased a farm in the present town of Manitowoc Rapids. It was subsequently purchased by John Landreth, and is con- sidered one of the finest pieces of land in the county. Mr. McAllister was the first bona fide farmer in Mani- towoc County, and carried on his farm for many years. Returning to the general settlement of the county, it is found that the towns of Two Creeks, Cooperstown, Kossuth and Mishicott, in the northern portion, were being populated quite rapidly by 1846.

Capt. Edwards, formerly the mail-carrier from She- boygan to Green Bay, settled in Cooperstown in 1840, and in 1847 a saw-mill for Pierce & Bruce was erected. After that, the growth of the town was rapid, although the early settlers were somewhat troubled by Indians. In 1843, Joseph Poquin came to Kossuth Town, and was for many years a tavern keeper. The influx of population took place in 1847, and two years later Michael Kellner settled in the northern part of the town, and gave his name to the village there. Mishi- cott and Two Creeks, comprising the then wild country to the northeast of this vicinity, commenced to be set- tled about the same time. In 1843, P. Rowley built the first house in the latter town, and K. K. Jones was the first to settle in the village of Two Creeks. Daniel Smith, the pioneer of what is now Mishicott, built a saw-mill in 1844, and another one two years thereafter. In 1846, Edward Brown settled in the region now in- cluded by the town of Gibson, and three or four years thereafter, quite a number of families had located. In 1847, a man by the name of Adams located on what is now the site of the village of Centerville, and K. O. Oppen became the pioneer of the town of Liberty.

These facts of early settlement are stated that the general remark may be borne out that by 1847 Mani- towoc County had been mostly populated in its northern and eastern sections.

From 1847 to 1850, and thereafter, immigration was brisk. The interior of the county settled up rapidly. In 1850, Ira Clark built a saw-mill and a grist-mill on the Manitowoc River, in the town of Cato, which was the basis of the thriving settlement of Clark's Mills. In the same year, D. Able located within the present limits of the town of Schleswig, and the villages of Kiel, Rockville and Millhome sprung up. The regions now comprised by the towns of Meeme, Rockland, Franklin, Newton and Maple Grove had, between 1847 and 1850 received their pioneers and first settlers, and were preparing, with the other portions of the county, to grow and flourish. One other important region within the present county bounds remains to be ac- counted for-the town of Eaton. The town itself re- ceived its name from C. Eaton, who engaged in lum- bering in 1849-50. Its prosperity, however, dates from the time that Rev. A. Oschwald organized a colony from Baden, Germany, and planted it here in 1854. A saw-mill and a grist-mill were erected, a church and convent erected in 1858, and the settlement soon bore

the marks of prosperity and growth. Later the colony became the Catholic Association of St. Nazianz. Thus, in general terms, has been given a picture of the early settlement of Manitowoc County. Those details which have merely a local interest, and have no bearing upon the general county history, have been omitted.

POLITICAL.

Manitowoc County was created by act of the Legis- lature, December 7, 1836. It did not include the towns of Gibson, Cooperstown, Two Creek, or Town- ship 21, Town of Mishicott, which were taken from Brown County and attached to it, by legislative act of February 9, 1850. The county seat was fixed at Man- itowoc Rapids, the county being attached to Brown for judicial purposes. In 1837 it was set off as the town of Conroe, and was organized for county purposes December 17, 1838, the whole territory being included in one voting precinct-Conroe's. The first election was held at the house of P. P. Pierce at Manitowoc Rapids. Benjamin Jones headed the Manitowoc party, and J. G. Conroe the Manitowoc Rapids faction. There was the greatest rivalry between these places, and the canvassing and voting caused much excitement. Out of the thirty-three votes cast, the Conroe element received seventeen-one majority-and rejoiced ex- ceedingly. H. Conroe, J. G. Conroe and John Rigney were elected County Commissioners ; Peter Johnson, Treasurer ; O. C. Hubbard, Assessor, and J. W. Conroe, Register of Deeds. The first meeting of the Board was held at the house of J. G. Conroe, Manitowoc Rapids, March 15, 1839, the Legislature having set off the county into the town of Manitowoc during the pre- vious week. It was also divided into two precincts- Conroe's and Two Rivers. During the Summer of 1840, J. W. Conroe completed the county building, a little one-story frame house, at a cost of $650. It was built on the hill to the north of the Rapids, and was destroyed by fire in 1852. In the Fall of 1849, a jail was built, which cost $235. It was not a very secure affair, and the next year, in the cause of public secur- ity, its timbers had to be spiked together and its win- dows barred more heavily. When the county building burned down in 1852, Manitowoc had so far gained the popular heart that her claims to the county seat were soon legalized by a vote of 498 to 60. This was in April, 1853. In May of that year, the Board of Com- missioners held a special meeting to decide upon the erection of suitable county buildings. After some in- decision, it was decided to locate them on the present site on Eighth street. Disagreements with the owners of the property and contractors delayed the work, so that it was not fully completed until 1857. John Meyer was the contractor. The cost of the court- house, jail and sheriff's house, was $10,000. The county offices, a plain brick and stone structure adjoin- ing, was erected by Benjamin Jones in 1860. The court-house is a substantial, conveniently arranged three-story brick structure.

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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