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 202

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 202

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After the redistricting in 1861, M. D. Bartlett, of Durand, was chosen Senator from the Thirty-second District, for 1862-63 ; Carl C. Pope, of Black River Falls, for 1864-65; and Joseph G. Thorpe, of Eau Claire, for 1866-67. The Assembly District was repre- sented during those years as follows: 1862-Orlando

Brown, of Gilmanton ; 1863-Alfred W. Newman, of Trempealeau ; 1864-Fayette Allen, Durand ; 1>65- John Burgess, Maxville ; 1866-William H. Thomas, Sumner.

At the Session of the Legislature in 1868, the as- sembly districts were again remodeled and Pepin to- gether with Eau Claire, constituted an assembly dis- triet and was represented in 1867 by Fayette Allen, of Durand ; 1868-Horace W. Barnes, of Eau Claire ; 1869-Fayette Allen, Durand ; 1870-Charles R. Gleason, Eau Claire ; 1871-Henry Cousins, Eau Claire. The Senatorial District was represented in 1868-69, by A. W. Newman, of Trempealeau ; 1870-71. by William T. Price, of Black River Falls. The apportionment of 1871. included Pepin County in the Thirtieth Senatorial District, which was represented in 1872-73, by Joseph G. Thorpe, of Eau Claire ; 1874-75, by Hiram P. Graham, of Eau Claire ; 1876-77, by R. J. Flint, of Menomonee. This apportionment also made Pepin together with Dunn County are as- sembly distriets, which was represented in 1872, by Elias P. Bailey, of Menomonee ; 1873-Horace E. Houghton, of Durand ; 1864-Samuel L. Plummer, of Waterville ; 1875-R. J. Flint, of Menomonee; 1876- Menzus R. Bump, of Rock Falls. The apportionment of the latter year, included Pepin County in the Twenty-Ninth Senatorical District, which was repre- sented in 1877-78, by Alexander A. Arnold, of Gales- ville ; 1879-80, by Horace E. Houghton, of Durand ; The present Senator is Augustus Finkelnburg, of Fount- ain City. This apportionment also made Pepin, to- gether with three northern towns of Buffalo County, an assembly district, which has been represented by Vivus W. Dorwin, in 1877 and 1878 ; James Barry, in 1879 ; William Allison, in 1880 ; and George Tarrant, in 1881.

The present county officers are as follows : Sheriff, A. F. Peterson ; Treasurer, D. W. Phelps ; County Clerk, J. J. Morgan ; District Attorney, John Fraser ; Clerk of the Court, A. G. Coffin ; Register of Deeds, John Newcomb; Surveyor, Nat Plumer; Probate Judge, S. L. Plummer; School Superintendent, William E. Barker.

PRESS.

The first paper in the county was published at Pepin, in 1857, called the Pepin Independent, by Lathrop & Shaver. The next year, in 1858, Richard Copeland started the Hesperian Monthly. These papers lived only for a short time, when they withdrew from the " vain world " and became things of history.

In 1860, Myron Shaw started the Home Mirror, at Durand. In 1862, he sold a part interest to George Van Waters, and the name was changed to the Durand Times. In 1863, Mr. Shaw severed his connection with the paper, Mr. Van Waters purchasing his remain- ing interest, and continuing its publication until 1868, when he disposed of it to Powers & Foster. In 1869,

Mr. Powers sold his interest to Mr. Foster. In Octo- ber, 1873, Mr. Foster disposed of the Times to W. H. Huntington. Mr. Huntington continued the publication of the paper until May, 1876, when he disposed of it to Matteson & Bon. Mr. Matteson soon purchased Mr. Bon's interest, and published the Times until No-

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HISTORY OF PEPIN COUNTY.

vember. 1878, when the office and presses were con- sumed by fire.

In 1869, George Van Waters started the Lean Wolf, which he published in Durand only about three months, when he removed it to Menomonee, where he soon sold it to Knapp, Stout & Co.

In December, 1877, W. H. Huntington started the Pepin County Courier. In November, 1878, after the Times office burned down, he purchased the subserip- tion list, etc., of Mr. Matteson, and changed the name of the paper to the Pepin County Times and Courier. In January, 1880, it again became the Pepin County Courier, under which name it is still published. It is stanehly Republican in politics. It is a newsy, well edited, well printed, spicy local paper. It receives a liberal support from the business men of the place and county, and is the official and only paper in the county.

The Pepin County Agricultural Society was organ- ized in March, 1878, and their first fair was held in September of the same year. The first officers were : S. L. Plummer, president; W. H. H. Matteson, secre- tary ; and George Tarrant, treasurer. Soon after its organization, the citizens of Durand rented for five years and fitted up their present fair grounds, by sub- seription. They expended $200 in fitting them up for fair purposes. The society hold their fairs yearly, the last one occurring on the 31st of August, and the 1st and 2d of September, 1881. The present officers are ; S. L. Plummer, president; Miletus Knight, secretary : and George Tarrant, treasurer.

Since our history was written, Ed. Maxwell, alias Williams, who murdered the two Coleman brothers, was captured in Nebraska and taken to Durand, where the enraged populace took the law into their own hands, and placed the desperado where he can do no more harm. We clip from the Chicago Tribune the following account of the affair .- EDS.

JUSTICE-THE RED-HANDED DESPERADO AT DURAND LYNCHED-RECORD OF THE MANY BLOODY ACTS WHICH MADE ED. AND LON. WILLIAMS INFAMOUS.

At a quarter past two o'clock this afternoon, Ed. Maxwell, alias Williams, was hung in the court-house yard here. His examination was to have taken place this forenoon. He stated that he should waive examina- tion, but the matter was postponed till two o'clock in the afternoon. The fact that he was not at once sent back to Menomonee gave rise to the suspicion that there was a movement to be made to take him away from the officers. From about noon until two o'clock, the people from the surrounding country came into Durand by squads, and at two o'clock the court-house yard and court-room were thronged with men and women. The prisoner made a statement, confessing the shooting of the Coleman brothers, and what he claimed to be the facts connected with the affair, and that he should claim that it was done in self-defence. Immediately thereafter, a rope was thrown over his neck. He made a feeble, but momentary, effort to re- lease himself, but was instantly jerked down, then through the aisle, down the stairway to the ground, and dragged to a tree a few rods distant, and the rope was thrown over a limb and Ed. Maxwell left swinging

between earth and heaven. It appears that the lynch- ing was preconcerted and arranged, and, if not partici- pated in by the masses, received their tacit consent. The widow of Charles Coleman and Henry Coleman and his wife were present and witnessed the rescuing of Maxwell from the custody of the law. So rapid were the movements of the vigilantes that death from strangulation ensued before they reached the tree.

There is intense excitement at Durand, and even those who do not approve of the summary method by which he was executed, do not give expression to their disapproval. There, doubtless, was no more hardened criminal in the land, and his statements and manner of making them showed him to be utterly void of all moral faculties.

AN EYE-WITNESS'S STATEMENT OF THE LYNCHING.

I send you the story of an eye-witness of the cul- mination of the Maxwell tragedy at Durand, Wis. A Pioneer-Press reporter joined Maxwell when he passed through St. Paul, rode with him in the cars to Me- nomonee, spent part of Friday night with him, fol- lowed in a buggy the vehicle that took him and the Sheriff to Durand, and assisted at the examination this morning, and was present at the tragic termina- tion of the legal proceedings at two o'clock this after- noon. Durand is twenty miles, by a frightful road, from the nearest telegraph office, and the full account was not transmitted until at an early hour this morn- ing. The following is the dispatch :

Edward Maxwell to-day waived examination before an earthly Judge, and in ten minutes after was sum- moned before the Eternal Judge. He was hung by a crowd of excited citizens of Dunn and Pepin counties. at 2:15 P. M., in the presence of at least 500 people, among whom were the widow, children and brother of one of his victims. This morning, between nine and ten o'clock, he sent for your reporter, who, arriv- ing at the cell he left the evening before, found a gaping crowd peering through the bars, and in the cell proper several persons talking to Ed., whose shackles had been taken off that he might walk up and down and relieve bis limbs of numbness. He took me into a corner and said : " I haven't any friends here. I guess I haven't many anywhere, but you don't seem partic- ularly hostile, and I would like to ask you what you think about my waiving an examination. They told me I was to be examined at nine o'clock this morning, but now I hear the District Attorney says he won't be ready until two o'clock this afternoon. I guess if I waive a hearing he won't have much to get ready. What do you think about it ?" I told him a prolonged hearing could do him no good, and he then said : " I've made up my mind, then. But I will make a statement about the murder before I leave the court-room." We had some further conversation, and I left him, promis- ing, at his request, to see him later. The jail-a com- mon two-story frame house, with iron gratings at the windows and wooden ones inside, a flimsy, insecure structure throughout - stands on a little eminence about a block and a half from the court-house. The latter is surrounded by a large yard, in which are sey- eral small and one large tree; one with a projecting limb reaching to the walls of the building. When I

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

reached the yard, I found a number of people therein, all talking about Maxwell, and all waiting patiently, though it was far from warm and there were several inches of snow on the ground, for a sight of the pris- oner when he should be brought out for his prelimi- mary examination. Most of those gathered there seemed like farmers or lumbermen from out of town, and there was a fair sprinkling of women and children. As the minutes past the crowd augmented, and when two o'clock came, the court-room up-stairs-a small apartment at best-was crowded to suffocation. As Maxwell, cool and collected as he was yesterday, when he landed from a skiff in the midst of a crowd on the river-bank and not showing the faintest trace of ner- vousness, was led through the aisle between Deputies Knight and Coleman, the crowd surged and pushed to get a better sight of him, and threats grew from mut- terings to menaces, but he flinehed not a whit, and stood before Justices Dwyer and Huntington as uncon- cernedly as if he had been on the bench and they in the dock. His eyes roamed a moment over the erowd, and I saw his lips move into a half-sneering smile. Possibly he was thinking of a remark he made to me in the morning: "There will be a big crowd at the examination to-day. You stand at the door and sell tickets, and be sure you divvy on the square." To the formal question he pleaded not guilty, and then said : " I waive examination and would like to make a state- ment." He was told to go on, and spoke as follows :

"We killed the Coleman boys in self-defense, but didn't know them from Adam. We were sitting in the grove up town when we saw them pass us. They had guns with them and looked around often as if search- ing for something. We knew there was no game about there, and that they wouldn't be hunting Sunday, so we knew they were after ns, and kept a sharp lookout. When they got past us they started to run. Then we got over the fence and followed them up the road, thinking we were surrounded and caught in a trap. We had not gone but a short distance before we met them, and the one nearest the fence (Milton Coleman) fired first, his shot hitting Lon in the face and arm. Charley fired at me, and I at him in a second later. His shot struck my arm, and he fell to my bullet, but got on his knee and fired again. Lon had shot the oth- er one before that, and both were down. We then turned and ran." All this was delivered in a conver- sational tone, as if it were a recital of the most ordin- ary adventure, and I could see as the story progressed that the spectators were edging nearer and nearer to him. Ile had scarcely finished-indeed, I am inclined to think he was about to continue-when, with a growl like a wild beast, a dozen men sprang on him. Women shrieked as the melee grew greater, and it was impos- sible to tell for a moment what was being done. The officers made resistance, but not a very determined one, and in less than a moment the prisoner was dragged through the yelling crowd to the door. A rope had made its appearance asif by magic, and when he reached the outer door the noose was round his neck. I caught one glimpse of his face as he was going down the stairs. It was as pale as marble, but his eyes glared defiance, and every look betokened the agoniz- ing wish : "If I had but my Winchester and a sec-

ond's freedom," but arms and freedom Omnipotence alone could have given him. The crowd, the initiative having been taken, was wild with passion. "Hang him !"" "Choke him !" "Burn him !" etc., etc., were heard on all sides, and if pity was felt by a single crea- ture its expression was not heard. It took minutes to write this, it took seconds only to reach the tree I spoke of above. The end of the rope was over the projeeting bough in an instant, and a shuddering sob went up from the onlookers as the body of the desper- ado was jerked into the air, a score of willing hands tugging at the other end of the rope. There were a few spasmodic clutches of the ironed hands, the feet were drawn np once or twice, and then the head fell over with that siekening droop familiar to all who have ever witnessed such a death, and all was over. The cord of the rope was made fast, the crowd dispersed in the awsome silence that fell after the deed was done, and the body, so full of muscular energy a few moments before, swung to and fro in the cold wind, the drifting snow ever and anon hiding it in its drifting rush. Max- well died as he had lived, a desperate man, but endowed with an amount of physical courage rare indeed, and filled with a restless energy that preferred erime to inaction. The sentiment here is, of course, divided on the question of the right or the wrong of the lyneh- ing. Most all aver that if there had been any decent chance of meeting out ample punishment to Maxwell by law the summary mode would not have been pur- sued, while others deprecate the whole affair, and say its effect will only be evil. One thing is certain. The people of Durand had very little to do with the affair. Of the arrivals from out of town, many of them were blue or red shirted lumbermen. I do not believe, eith- er, that there was any concert of action beyond a circle of five or six, who knew, however, that they had only to commence to receive ample support. If the District- Attorney had not put off the examination till this af- ternoon, but had held it at 9 A. M., as first intended, Maxwell would, in all probability, be alive in Menom- onee jail at this moment. Knight intended, he says, to take him to Menomonee on Monday, and the team that brought him here yesterday was held across the river for his return.

THE MURDER OF THE COLEMANS.

The murder of the two Coleman brothers by the desperate Williams boys is still fresh in the memory of those who read of the crime, and their meeting with the desperadoes at Durand on the evening of Monday, July 10, is well remembered. The skill of the Williams brothers in the use of firearms resulted in the death of the brave Colemans, who had started out to capture them, and on the dead body of Milton Coleman was found a blood-soaked postal-card, signed by J. O. An- derson, Sheriff of Henderson County, bearing a deserip- tion of the two desperadoes, who were wanted in Hen- derson County for horse-stealing. The card also bore the following words, written in red : "Go prepared. They are desperadoes and will resist arrest." It was this letter card that directed the Colemans to their death. The story of the crime is well known, and Sheriff Anderson, who spent some time with the party in pursuit of the criminals, said he was determined to

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hunt down the murderers, as the victims were in a measure performing his orders when they were shot. His story of the Williams brothers is as follows : "The true name of the family is Maxwell, and they have adopted the name of Williams for use in Minnesota. Just about the commencement of the civil war the father and mother and the two sons-one of whom was at the time a mere child-arrived in Fulton Co., Ill., and represented themselves as refugees. The father rented a small farm and cultivated it. In 1874 the fam- ily moved to Washburn, Woodford Co., thence to Lex- ington, McLean Co., and thence to Colchester, McDon- ough Co. The son Edward was detected in petty thieving while in Washburn County, and during his residence in Colchester he broke into a clothing store one night and took out a $70 suit of clothes which he had purchased a day or two before and ordered done up. He was employed on a farm near the town at the time, and the proprietor of the store soon found out that he was the thief. He went out to the farm, and while he was talking with the farmer Ed. stole his horse and rode rapidly away. The officers who were after him for the theft of the suit gave chase, but he escaped them.

Some weeks after this, Ed. and Lon, the younger brother, went to La Harpe and robbed the houses of two farmers, doing it boldly with the use of their revolvers. They were followed to the next town and found in a saloon, but they brought their revolvers into play again and escaped a second time. The two broth- ers were captured about three weeks afterward, but Ed. succeeded in breaking jail. Subsequently he was arrested and imprisoned in the Stillwater Penitentiary. He was sentenced to serve a term of six years, while his brother, Lon, was imprisoned for three years.

Their experience in Wisconsin has been wide, and they have a good knowledge of the country. Lon has been known at Hersey, Knapp and Menomonee, for at least two years, and, while he has ostensibly been work- ing, he has been engaged in deviltry of various kinds. He has associated with the worst class of people, and many serious crimes have been traced to him during his residence in that section. The three Wolfe broth- ers have been associated with him in his depredations, and they have undoubtedly visited the murderers in the woods. Last Fall, Ed. Williams joined his brother at Hersey, and was described as looking pale, thin and consumptive. It is believed that they lived together there, and engaged on odd jobs when they had no thievery on hand.

On the night of May 30, they, the brothers, turned up in Henderson County, Ill., and stole two horses. These they rode to Colchester, reaching there Wednes- day, and thence proceeded to Macomb, McDonough Co., where they stole a single and double harness and a single top-buggy from the stable of the Hon. W. H. Neese, the lawyer who prosecuted Lon when he was sent to Joliet. After going twenty-five miles through the woods, the buggy was run into a stump and ruined, and the buggy and harnesses were found in the woods. They then went to Smithfield on the horses' backs and camped in the woods until Friday morning, when a boy discovered them. They tried to intimidate him, and said they were out hunting. The boy gave the alarm, and Sheriff Anderson was telegraphed. He took the

track and followed them across the Illinois River, just above Peoria, where they crossed Saturday night and stopped in a school-house, putting the horses in a coal- shed. An alarm was given by a man who saw the horses sticking their heads out of the shed. An inves- tigation was made, and the school-house found locked. A trustee unlocked the door, and on entering was con- fronted by two revolvers. The crowd withdrew with- out further invitation, and the robbers quietly mounted their horses and rode away. They went south three miles and doubled back, an old trick of theirs, passing Sheriff Anderson and his posse in the woods.

About two days after, the trail was discovered, and it was found that the thieves had doubled back to Washburn, where they were known, Sheriff Anderson, who had been informed that they were at Woodford, went there and found they had gone north. This sat- isfied him that they were bound for Wisconsin, and he sent telegrams and postal-cards to all sections. One of these postal-cards was received by the Colemans, who came upon them accidentally at Durand, and were murdered. When in this section, they had a horse and top-buggy and led another horse. Their rig was cap- tured in the woods by the officers. The brothers called afterward at the house of a Mrs. Sands, where they left the rig, but they were not captured there, as they should have been.

THE CRIMES IN ILLINOIS.

On the 3d of October last, Gov. Cullom offered a reward of $500 for the capture of the Williams boys, who had turned up in Pike County a short time before and killed the Sheriff of Calhoun County, who attempted to capture them, besides wounding two of the posse. After the killing they roamed around Calhoun County and had very little trouble in keeping out of the hands of the law, either owing to the fear or friendliness of the citizens of that county. One of their exploits was to ride into a small village saloon and order the drinks for a crowd of loafers. The latter drank, but the Williams boys did not, and rode away without moles- tation. At that time they were heavily armed, and carried a powerful field-glass, by the aid of which they were able to detect pursuers long before the latter could discover them.

HOW KILLIAN CAPTURED THE DESPERADOES.

Sheriff Joseph Killian, of Hall County, Nebraska, received information on the evening of November 5 last from Constable Chris Stahl, of Merrick County, that there were two suspicious characters at the house of a neighboring farmer, named William Niedfeldt, living near Grand Island. The two men were supposed to be the notorious Williams brothers. The next morning about four o'clock the Sheriff, Stahl, and Ludwig Shultz, a neighbor of Niedfeldt, and August Nitsch, a Grand Island cigar-maker, armed themselves with shot- guns and revolvers, and started for Niedfeldt's house, reaching there about 5 A. M. They represented them- selves as hunters, and had breakfast prepared for them. While waiting they were shown into the room occupied by the suspicious characters, who had heard their ap- proach and had their Winchester rifles lying within easy reach, while two revolvers lay under their pillows.

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

Killian passed the time of day with the brothers, who represented themselves as goose-hunters from Hastings, a town on the Burlington & Missouri Railroad. They were asked questions about the town and its inhabit- ants, which they were unable to answer, and this fact. together with the fact that they were too heavily armed for goose-hunters, convinced Killian of their identity, and he resolved to arrest them while at the breakfast table. The boys dressed themselves leisurely, keeping an eye on the Sheriff's posse, and it was noticed that Lon Williams, who had lost the second toe on the right foot, put his stockings on with his feet under the bed- clothing. After dressing Ed. posted himself near the corner of the room, with his right hand on his Win- chester, while Lon left his hat and coat and leisurely walked out of the kitchen door and towards the barn. Changing his plans, Killian coolly walked up to Ed., and said : " I want you." As Ed. moved to bring up his gun, Killian grabbed and floored him, and took the gun away, Nitsch covering him with a shotgun. On being secured and bound, he saw that the "jig was up," and set up a series of yells to alarm Lon. The latter ran to the corner of the house, but was confronted by Killian, who was there, and covered him with a revolver and ordered him to halt. Lon replied with a shot, but Kil- lian dodged, got into the kitchen, closed the door, and put his foot against it. Lon came up, expecting it to fly wide open. It only opened a few inches, and Lon fonnd himself looking into the muzzle of Nitsch's gun. He then jumped around a corner of the house and went to another window, but Nitsch was ready for him and aimed at his head. Both cartridges, however, failed to explode. This seemed to satisfy Lon that further at- tempts at rescuing his brother would be futile, gave it up as a bad job, and made for the tall grass on the bot- tom at full speed. By 7.30 that evening Ed. was landed at the Grand Island jail.

DURAND.

Durand, the county seat of Pepin County, is a village of about 900 inhabitants. It is built on the eastern bank of the Chippewa River, about twenty-five miles from its mouth. It includes within its corporate limits all of the south half of Section 21, the northwest quarter of Section 28, the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 22, and the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Sec- tion 21, all of Township 25, Range 13.

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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