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 194

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 194

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).

In 1855, the population of Outagamie County was 4,914; 1860, 9,587 ; 1865, 11,852 ; 1870, 18,440 ; 1875, 25,558 ; 1880, 28,875. The report of the County Su- perintendent, J. A. Leith, shows that, in 1880, there were 106 school districts in the county, with an aggre- gate attendance of 5,114. The total enrollment was 8,148, and the number of teachers, 113. There were seven private schools, with an average attendance of 109.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND AFFAIRS.

Unlike most new counties, when Outagamie was set off from Brown County, in 1851, no serious claims for the location of the seat of justice were put in, as against the village of Appleton. That seemed to be the only really favorable location, the University and its manufacturing advantages having already stamped it as the metropolis. After the formation of the coun- ty, therefore, the first meeting of the Board of Super- visors created no special interest, as no one had an ax to grind-all was harmony. The County Board gath-

ered at the hotel of R. P. Edgarton, which had been erected as the pioneer public house two years pre- viously. The date was April 18, 1851, and the follow- ing Chairmen were present from their respective towns : Grand Chute, George M. Robinson ; Kaukauna, George W. Lawe ; Lansing, Lewis A. Hine ; Greenville, Loren-

668

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

zo E. Darling ; Hortonia, Josephus Wakefield. John R. Rynders, Ellington, was absent. Mr. Robinson was chosen Chairman. The officers-eleet of the county proceeded to present their certificates. Charles A. Grignon, of the historic family, presented his certificate of election as Treasurer of Outagamie County, his bond being signed by himself, Morgan L. Martin, Perry H. Smith and Alexander Grignon. Next stepped forward Lorenzo E. Darling, as Clerk of the Board, and Charles Turner, Surveyor. The other officers were : A. S. San- born, District Attorney ; A. B. Everts, Sheriff ; Henry S. Eggleston, Register of Deeds, and William Johnston, Probate and County Judge. In the afternoon, to which time the Board adjourned, resolutions were passed an- thorizing the Register of Deeds to transeribe from the Brown County books all records relating to lands in Outagamie County ; that bids would be received for erecting county buildings in Grand Chute, Appleton, Lawesburg, or any other part of the town of Grand Chute. A furnishing committee having been appointed, they reported at the next meeting (July 1) that Outa- gamie County would be fairly launched into history, via one deed book, one mortgage book, two alphabet- ical books, one index book ($40.75) and one ream of paper ($3), the latter purchased of J. V. Suydam, of Green Bay. The time for receiving proposals to erect the county buildings was extended until the next day, and then to the next meeting, held on July 14. Upon that date the bounty on the scalp of every wolf taken and killed in Outagamie County was raised from $5 to $10. It was resolved at a previous meeting, held July 3, that the electors of Outagamie County did, at an eleetion held on the first Tuesday of April, 1851, estab- lish the seat of justice in the town of Grand Chute, and that the Court-house should be completed before the next annual meeting, separated from the jail, Register of Deeds and Clerk's offices. That the latter res- olution had little effect upon the status of subsequent history is evident when it is remembered that Theodore Conkey donated Block No. 31, and lands adjoining it on the east, in the plat of the village of Appleton, and that although an agreement was drawn up by the Dis- trict Attorney, between the county and contractors, Conkey and Amos A. Lawrence, the Court-house was not ready for ocenpancy until November, 1354. When in November, 1-52, $500 had been expended on their contract, the site was conveyed to the county and the parties released. It was estimated that $500 more would have to be expended. Committees were ap- pointed to contract for the finishing of the work, but the county finally returned to its " first love," and allowed Mr. Conkey to complete the buildings. In the latter part of 1860, the jail was burned, and a new building ereeted in the course of three or four years. The foundation for an elegant new Court-house, to take the place of the old wooden structure, was laid in the Fall of 1880. It is to be three stories, built of brick, with stone basement, and erected at a cost of $40,000. The edifice will be surmounted by a handsome tower, with town elock, and the time for completion has been set for January 1, 1882. The county buildings are sit- uated on the square between Sixth and Seventh, Allen and Walnut streets, Third Ward. L. E. Darling is

Chairman of the County Board, and J. E. Harriman, County Judge.

WAR ITEMS.

The important records on file in the Adjutant Gen- eral's office, cause much confusion in the statements concerning the military of Wisconsin. From such books as are therein presented, is gleaned the fol- lowing :

The quota of troops assigned Outagamie County. during the war, was 786; the total number of troops credited, 499. The amount of money paid by the sev- eral towns in the county for war purposes, during the rebellion, was 849,284.17 ; amount raised by the county at large, $11,000.

A number of Outagamie's men enlisted in the Sixth Infantry.

Company K, of the Seventeenth Infantry, was formed of men from Outagamie and Waupaca counties.

Company D, Twenty-first Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry, was raised in Outagamie County. The regiment was organized at Camp Bragg, Oshkosh, under Col. B. J. Sweet ; was mustered into serviee September, 1862; was engaged in the battles of Chaplin Hills and Stone River ; marched with Gen. Thomas to Chattanooga ; took part in the battle of Chickamauga and in the assault upon Mission Ridge; marched to the summit of Lookout Moun- tain, remaining there some time; then went with Sher- man toward Atlanta, participating in the actions at Re- saca, Pumpkin Vine Creek, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Moun- tain, Chattahoochie River, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, then from Atlanta to the sea, taking an active part in the battles of Savannah, Averysboro and Ben- tonville ; participated in the grand review at Washing- ton, on the 24th of May ; mustered out on the 8th of June, and disbanded on the 17th of that month, 1865.

Company I, Thirty-second Wisconsin Infantry was raised in Outagamie County. It did considerable march- ing and fighting, with its regiment, in Tennessee and Mississippi ; was on provost duty ; engaged in fatigue and guard duty at Atlanta ; marched with Sherman to the sea, being hotly engaged at Marlow, Whippy Swamp, Binnaker's Bridge, Cherau, Fayetteville, Bentonville and other places ; took part in review at Washington, and was mustered out June 12, 1865.

Company E, of the Fortieth Infantry, was formed in Lawrence University, Appleton, May 13, 1864. Left Appleton for Camp Randall, Madison, Wis., May 20, and was mustered into the United States service by Lieut. J. H. Purcell, United States Infantry, on the eighth day of June, 1864.

Captain Hauser, of Co. E, says: "At the time of Forrest's raid on Memphis, August 21, the Fortieth Wisconsin marched nearly three miles, most of the way, on the double-quick, to the Hernando road, where the rebels entered the city. They were ordered to support the battery which was engaged with the enemy. The men lay down for an hour between the rebel line and the battery, while an artillery duel went on over their heads. When the enemy retreated, the Fortieth pursued them two miles. Lieut .- Colonel Fal- lows (who had resigned his commission as chaplain in the Thirty-second regiment and been commissioned

669

HISTORY OF OUTAGAMIE COUNTY.

lieutenant-colonel of the Fortieth), commanded the Fortieth in this action, and it is said, to have conducted it in this, its first and only fight, in a cool and soldierly manner."

A number of Outagamie men were in the cavalry regiments. John C. Broughton was quartermaster of the First Cavalry; Peter J. Williamson was first lien- tenant Co. F, First Cavalry ; Edgar T. Clark, second lieutenant Co. G, First Cavalry ; John H. Barnes, sec- ond and first lieutenant, Co. G, First Cavalry ; Josiah G. Calvert, second and first lieutenant Co. I, Third Cavalry. Co. L, of Third Wisconsin Cavalry, was partly raised in Outagamie County.

APPLETON.

The founding of Lawrence University is the founding of Appleton. It is doubtful whether there ever would have been an Appleton had there never been a University, for it was the presence of this splendid educational institution which was the means of forming a thriving settlement, and of eventually calling attention to her advantages as a manu- facturing center. Previous to 1848, when the University was an established fact, but one white man had settled in this vicinity, J. S. Therber; and the settlements in the northern part of Outagamie County were later, by some years, than in the southern. In 1848, when the erection of the preparatory building of the Institute was in progress, such men as Geo. H. Myers, H. L. Blood, Rev. A. B. Ran- dall, James Blood, R. R. Bateman, J. S. Buck, J. F. Johns- ton, and W. H. Warner, "came to stay," erecting their shanties on the future site of Appleton. Why this particu- lar spot should be chosen for the site of the University, when Mr. Lawrence only expressed a desire to have it lo- cated somewhere on the banks of the Fox, has always been a matter of speculation. The choice seems to have been partly accidental, and partly brought about by the fact that certain gentlemen had lands here to give away. As the move was purely in the interest of religious education, geo- graphical position-this being nearly in the center of the then Green Bay mission district of the Methodist Episco- pal Church-may have had a weight, even an unconscious one, in placing the University where it now stands. But further speculation is needless. The University stands, and men put it there. Its inception and growth will be briefly traced in succeeding pages, a start being made at a point where the establishment of the University was first broached to Mr. Eastman, of Green Bay, who then had charge of Mr. Amos A. Lawrence's legal affairs in this sec- tion of the State.

At the Methodist Episcopal Conference, held in 1844, Rev. Wm. H. Sampson was appointed presiding elder of the Green Bay mission district, which extended from Green Bay to Whitewater, and from Lake Michigan to the Wiscon- sin River. In the Spring of 1846, he received the follow- ing letter, which is self-explanatory, from H. Eugene East- man, of the former place :

EL.DER WM. H. SAMPSON, Dear Sir .- I am in receipt of a letter from a gentleman of Boston, whose name I am not at liberty to disclose, con- taming the following proposition, which I take the liberty of tendering to you to be submitted to your annual conference, should you see fit to do

so: " If there is any certainty of a vigorous co-operation by any other body, lay or clerical, I should be willing to put such a sum or money in the hands of trustees as, placed at interest, will, in ten years, amount to $10,000, and also give, provided there should be no failure in case of my death, the sum of $r,ooo yearly, for ten years, toward securing a compe- tent salary to such instructors as may be required; or, if necessary, I will pay the $10,000 cash, now, to secure the desired object. But all this is founded on the expectation of a similar sum from other quarters. I have a high opinion of the adaptation of the principals of Methodists to the people of the West, and I think, from all that I can learn, that their institutions are carried on with more vigor, and diffuse more good with the same means, than any others. It seems to be decided by experience that all library institutions must be controlled by some sect, and efforts to pre- vent this have often blasted their usefulness. I wish you to keep this as much to yourself as possible, and, at any rate, keep my name out of view." This proposition, it is proper to add, is for the establishment of an insti- tution of learning at, or near, DePere, in Brown County, which appears to be a sine qua non with this gentleman who makes it. Please take the trouble to present the above to your conference. If there is any reasonable prospect of the society meeting the same with a similar en- dowment, inform me of the disposition as soon as possible ; meanwhile I should be glad to hear your views on the subject. Should you write soon, you will please address, Boston, Mass.

Green Bay, April 16, 1846.

H. EUGENE EASTMAN.

This course Mr. Sampson eagerly took, as he had al- ready become fully impressed with the necessity of provid- ing Christian education for those of his district growing up to the responsible duties of more mature life. In the fol- lowing August, the proposition was presented to the Rock River Conference, and first referred to the Committee on Education, next to the presiding elder of the Fond du Lac (formerly Green Bay) District, whoever he might be, with instructions to obtain the name of the unknown but gener- ous patron. Mr. Eastman declined to throw any light upon the subject, but Lawrence University was to be, and the mystery was soon made clear through a natural, although somewhat peculiar course of events. While Mr. Sampson and hundreds of Methodist parents were praying and striv- ing for help out of this educational difficulty, struggling to gain some knowledge of Mr. Eastman's correspondent. Reeder Smith, agent of Albion Seminary, Michigan, was la- boring with Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston, in the cause of that oppressed institution. Thinking that Michigan was able to sustain her own educational projects, Mr. Lawrence declined to render assistance, remarking also that he had already made a proposition to found a literary institution in Wisconsin. It is said that Mr. Smith was not in good odor at Albion, and this last failure to place the Michigan enterprise on a better footing determined him to throw the weight of his support into the Wisconsin scales. He ac- cordingly secured the privilege of bringing Mr. Lawrence's proposition to Wisconsin. On December 28, 1846, a meet- ing of laymen and ministers was held in Milwaukee, for what purpose notice had been given by Mr. Smith. Rev. William M. D. Ryan was chosen chairman and Rev. William H. Sampson, secretary. Mr. Smith presented the proposi- tion as the duly accredited agent of Amos A. Lawrence, and it was most favorably received. A charter, incorporat- ing " The Lawrence Institute of Wisconsin," was granted, January 17, 1847, and on September 23 the Board of Trust- ees organized as follows : Hon. Mason C. Darling, of Fond du Lac, president ; N. P. Talmadge, Fond du Lac, and Henry A. Baird, Green Bay, vice-presidents; Rev. W. H. Sampson, Fond du Lac, secretary; Morgan L. Martin,

670

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN

Green Bay, treasurer. The meeting was held in Fond du Lac George W. Lawe, of Kaukauna, and John F. Meade, of Green Bay, proposed each to donate thirty-one acres of land in the "Grand Chute," now the heart of Appleton. The former did so, but there is a bit of secret history con- nected with the latter's donation which has never before appeared in print, and which is given on the authority of Mr. Sampson himself. It is to the discredit of no one but Mr. Smith, who seemed to have a peculiar faculty for getting himself into trouble in all his efforts for the "cause of ed- ucation : "

" Mr. Lawe, after the location was made, duly conveyed his donation by deed, and Mr. Meade would have done so, he told me, except for the interference of Mr. Smith. The latter had it deeded to Mr. Lawrence, who informed me that he paid Mr. Smith for the land. Had the conveyance been made according to the stipulations of Mr. Meade's article of agreement, our college would have been worth, I think, to-day, at least $100,000 more than it is. When I informed Mr. Lawrence of the facts he proposed to deed to the University a large number of lots, but Mr. Smith hay- ing a contract to sell for one-half of the receipts, served an injunction and prevented the conveyance." At the close of the conference year in 1848, Mr. Sampson was appoint- ed principal of Lawrence Institute, and under his manage- ment, assisted by H. L. Blood, the work of raising money to meet Mr. Lawrence's proposition went vigorously on. The amount finally raised was $11,000. The frame for the preparatory building was raised July 3, 1859, and on the Fourth the Declaration of Independence was read in its hall by J. S. Stephens, while Rev. A. B. Randall delivered a patriotic oration. Nov. 12, 1849, the school opened with the following corps of teachers: Rev. Wm. H. Samp- son, A. M., principal ; Romulus O. Kellogg, A. B., professor of languages ; James M. Phinney, professor of mathematics ; Miss Emeline M. Crooker, preceptress ; Miss L. Amelia Dayton, assistant teacher. The first annual catalogue, pub- lished in 1850, shows that 105 students had enrolled them- selves with the Institute. The next year was a trying one, especially for Mr. Sampson, who was acting both as finan- cial agent and also as principal, and it may be added, to show that undue prominence is not given to his name in treating of the early days of Lawrence University, that he sacrificed valuable property in Fond du Lac to preserve its extensive and good name. With the exception of Prof. Jabez Brook's short incumbency in 1852, Mr. Sampson con- tinued at the helm until the first college classes were organ- ized in 1853. The name of the institution had been changed in 1849 to "The Lawrence University of Wisconsin." In June, 1853, Dr. Edward Cooke, of Boston, was installed as the first President of the University. The present three- story structure was erected in 1853, to meet the demands for more room, and the primary building was burned in February, 1854. This year witnessed the acceptance of the gift of $10,000 from the Samuel Appleton estate, Boston, and the foundation laid for one of the most complete li- braries of the Northwest. The donation had been expect-

ed for some time, the name Appleton having been given to the village in 1848 when it was first platted. Mr. Appleton was the father-in-law of Amos Lawrence, and it is said that the bestowal of the name was the latter's suggestion in 1861. Hon. Lee Claflin, of Boston, donated $10,000 to found the Claflin Professorship. Other generous gifts have swelled the value of the University property to $133,954.91. The University building is placed at $30,000, the grounds $20,- ooo, the library $18,400 and the cabinet $5,800.

In 1859, Dr. Cooke resigned the presidency, being suc- ceeded by Prof. R. Z. Mason, who retired in 1865. Dr. George M. Steele, his successor, whose untiring and Chris- tian zeal placed him in the front rank of all laborers, good and noble, served for fourteen years. Dr. E. D. Huntley assumed the responsibilities of the position in 1879, and has proved a worthy follower. He, with the help of liberal pat- rons of the university (Joseph Rook, noteworthily), has lifted an oppressive debt, and spread new life in all directions. During 1880, a commodious and beautiful dwelling-house was erected on the grounds for the president. What with its beautiful grounds, its complete library, its geological and botanic department, its valuable chemical and philosophical apparatus, its flourishing literary societies, its bright 250 stu- dents, its vigorous and scholarly president and other mem- bers of the faculty, the" success of Lawrence University would be assured, if it were not already an established fact.

The faculty of the university is as follows :

'Rev. E. D. Huntley, D. D., LL. D., president and Claflin professor of ethics and civil polity.

Hiram A. Jones, A. M., professor of the Latin language and literature.

Rev. Wesley C. Sawyer, A. M., Ph. D., professor of phi- losophy and German.

James C. Foye, A. M., Ph. D., vice-president and pro- fessor of chemistry and physics.

Herbert B. Perkins, S. B., professor of mathematics and astronomy.

N. M. Wheeler, A. M., professor of the Greek language and literature.

Angie A. M. Warren, preceptress and instructor in French and Latin.

Seline A. Clark, instructor in drawing and painting.

Anna E. R. Kunkle, instructor of elocution.

WATER POWER.

The arduous undertaking of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers improvement, has been traced to its present com- pletion in the chapter devoted to Brown County. While the cities of the upper valley, to a certain extent, allowed the splendid possibilities of the Fox River water-powers to blind their judgments to the necessity of improving local natural advantages, those of the lower valley entered, body and soul, into the work. In June, 1856, work on the Fox, between Oshkosh and Green Bay, was so far advanced that the "Ajax" and the "Pioneer" passed through the locks and canal below Appleton. Already the village had a popula- tion of 1,500, and the annual product of its manufactures amounted to $100,000. Now that the great water-course to

HISTORY OF OUTAGAMIE COUNTY.

671

APPLETON.

672

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

the lakes was open, and an unrivaled power within its reach, Appleton took a fresh start as a commercial and manufac- turing center. The height of the fall from Lake Winne- bago to Green Bay, is 170 feet. With the exception of that at Little Kaukauna and Little Chute, the water-power at Appleton is greater than that at anyother point between the source and the outlet of the flow. It is equal to 11,500 horse power. Lakes Winnebago, Poygan and Butte des Mortes, with streams which drain a territory 300 miles in- land, are the sources of this power, and never fail to bestow their favors; in Summer or Winter, drought or freshet, the flowage does not vary more than two feet and a half. Such is its force, that the rigor of this northern climate can not put an embargo upon the manufacturing industries of Appleton. For many years, however, the old dam, built of spars in the course of the Fox River improvement, was the only means by which the place was furnished with a head of water. This is now the origin of the lower power (No. 3), being situated below the terminus of West's canal, and maintained by the Government.

The next, and perhaps the greatest improvement in de- veloping the water power of Appleton, was the construction of the Edward West canal through Grand Chute Island. That energetic man had for years owned the island, and almost from the first moment of coming into possession of it, had seen the benefits to be derived from carrying on such an undertaking.

Finally, in 1870, the work was accomplished, under his management, at a cost of $40,000. The canal is 2,000 feet in length, 130 feet wide and nineteen feet deep, and the power is that of 4,000 horses, an average head of fourteen feet being maintained. Four years after, in 1874, the United States Government, into whose possession the Fox River improvement had passed, built the substantial stone structure known as the upper dam, at a cost of $80,000. It is of solid masonry, its foundation being the limestone bed of the river, and its dimensions 700 feet long by twelve feet high. The pier at the south end of the dam, extend- ing 4,000 feet in an easterly direction, was re-constructed in 1879-80. At the north end of the dam, the Appleton and Atlas Paper companies also built a bulk-head, in two sec- tions, and obtained a head of sixteen feet, and a water power almost inexhaustible. A quarter of a mile below the Government dam is the commencement of the second power. Five years ago, prominent real estate owners and manufacturers saw the necessity, more than ever, of con- structing a third dam between the two, for the purpose of regulating the flow of water and permanently establishing valuable powers on both sides of the river. It was com- pleted in 1877, is 800 feet long, and has in every particular fulfilled expectations. From the northern end a canal, sev- eral hundred feet in length, has been cut, thus affording other valuable water powers. West's canal taps the river from below the southern terminus of the dam.

In 1880, the Telulah Water Power Company was incor- porated, with a capital stock of $150,000, it being the re- sult of a union of interests between Capt. Hyde and Judge

Harriman, and the Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Com- pany. The latter was also re-organized, and the control of future works of improvement passed into the hands of home capital and home talent. The Green Bay & Mississippi Company controlled the water power, and the gentlemen named owned the land through which it was proposed to cut a canal, from a point below the stone dam to one oppo- site the south channel of the river. This extensive under- taking was effected in the remarkably short space of time between August 15 and November 13, 1880. The channel is 2,300 feet long and sixty feet wide, and the land furnishes unrivaled sites for manufacturing purposes. A head is here obtained of nine feet, nine inches. West's Canal being an improvement of far longer standing, the railroad facilities of the adjoining sites are not so numerous; but it is only a question of time when along both channels will be thickly clustered manufactories of every description. Further de- tails of the utilization of the water power, and mention of the enterprising and public spirited citizens connected with it, will be found in the department devoted to the manufac- tures and business interests of Appleton. To indicate by plain figures what the water power is worth to the city, an- nually, it is only necessary to present the following table, showing the value of the manufactured products for 1 880

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