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 246

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 246

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).

SILVER CREEK.

Three miles west of Random Lake, on the main road to Scott, is situated the busy little village of Silver Creek. Here is found a hotel, post office, distillery and brewery. The Dutch Reformed and Methodist Churches both have neat church edifices in the village. A short distance east of the village is a Roman Catholic Church.

TOWN OF MITCHELL.

The first settlement was made in 1846, when eleven families located in the town. Becoming impressed with the advantages of Fourierism, they, in the following winter, petitioned the Territorial Legislature for a charter under the name of the "Spring Farm Phalanx." This was re- fused, and many of the families left the town.

The first organization was in connection with Lyndon. The town was organized separately in 1850, under the name of Olio. At this time, the number of votes cast was 47. The first set of town officers consisted of the following per- sons : Chairman, Patrick Donahoe ; Supervisors, William F. Akin and William Austin ; Treasurer, Stephen Gray : Assessor, Peter Preston: Clerk and Superintendant of Schools, C. W. Humphrey.

The town is situated on the Potash Kettle Range, and is entirely agricultural. The population, with a few excep- tions, is Irish. There is no store, post office, tavern, saw- mill, grist-mill, lawyer, doctor or priest within the limits of the town.

TOWN OF SCOTT.

Scott is the southeast corner town of the county, Fond du Lac County being on its western boundary, and Waslı- ington County on its southern. Several tributaries of the Milwaukee River flow through the town, and agricultural pursuits are successfully followed.

The first settlement was made in 1847 by John Cleaves, who came from New York. Ezra Floyd and the Brazeltous were other early settlers.

A school was established in 1849.

R. C. Brazelton was Chairman of the first town meeting, which was held in April, 1860.

Batavia, the only village in the town, is in the eastern central part of it. It has two stores, a grist-mill, hotel and a number of dwelling houses. The nearest railroad station is at Sherman.

IO22

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

TAYLOR COUNTY.

The early history of this compact county of Northern Wisconsin and its latest history and present condition are not so far asunder as to require separate treatment.

The county, although strong and vigorous, is not yet in its "teens," and it has thus far escaped the inflietions inci- dent to youthful municipalities, which often breaks out in the form of bonded indebtedness for alleged internal or other improvements.

The act incorporating the county was approved March 4, 1875, by William R. Taylor, Governor of the State. It has for its neighbors Chippewa and Price on the north, Lin- coln and Marathon on the east, Marathon and Clark on the south, and Chippewa on the west.

The county was taken from territory formerly belonging to Clark, Chippewa. Lineoln and Marathon. Ten town- ships were taken from Clark, ten from Chippewa, six from Lincoln and one from Marathon-twenty-seven townships- making a fair sized county, forty-two miles long from east to westa, nd twenty-four from north to south. It is a reg- ular parallelogram, with a single township wanting in the southeast corner, where it is impinged by Marathon County.

Gov. Taylor, in accordance with the act creating the county, on the 25th of March, 1875, appointed the first officers of the county. as follows :

County Judge, E. R. Prink ; District Attorney, J. K. Parish; Sheriff, E. C. Thomas; Clerk Circuit Court, W. E. Lockerby ; County Clerk, Alfred Dodge ; Register of Deeds, W. B. Jeffers ; Treasurer, F. A. Healy ; Coroner, Enoch Honeywell ; School Superintendent, O. N. Lee.

The first town organization was that of Medford, which is supposed to have been named in honor of a thriving town in Massachusetts, near Boston, noted for a specific man- ufacture.

The first election was held on the 6th day of April, 1875, with the following result :

Board of Supervisors-G. W. Adams, Chairman ; Isaac Biscornet, C. C. Palmer. Treasurer, W. W. Fry ; Clerk, A. E. Harder. Assessors-M. B. Peterson, Samuel Barry, Peter Liberty. Justices-G. S. Phelps, O. N. Lee.

Under the provisions of the law, the Town Board of Su- pervisors of Medford constituted the County Board, with full power until the election on the 3d of April, 1876.

At the general election, on the 2d of November, 1875, the following persons were duly chosen as officers for Taylor County :

District Attorney, J. K. Parish ; Sheriff, Henry Grant ; Clerk Circuit Court, T. G. Jeffers ; Treasurer, F. A. Healy ; Coroner, Rasmus Peterson ; Superintendent of Schools. O. N. Lee.

The acting County Board, on the 3d of September, 1875, by resolution, provided for the organization of three ad- ditional towns-Chelsea, Little Black and Westboro.

On the 3d day of April, 1876, at the regular town meet- ing, the following officers were duly elected :

Supervisors-A. E. Harder, Chairman ; Joseph Nor- ton, William Seeger. County Judge, G. S. Phelps. Asses-

sor, Dennis Needham. Justices-William Smith, Ch. W. Cleveland. Constables-Patrick Dolan, John Danielson, P. H. Mulalley.

The very first actual settler in the county was Alvin E. Harder, who located a homestead in Milford on the 5th of December, 1872, so that Mr. Harder is the pioneer of Tay- lor County.

The first lawyer was C. W. Cleveland, and S. B Hub- bell the first physician.

The first frame building was the railroad depot, erected in September, 1873, by the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company. The next frame was by Silas Buswell, who built a hotel, and, having been appointed Postmaster, the place was also used as a post office.

When the county was organized, there was a large amount of Government land unsold in the county.

The first marriage in the county was that of Mr. George Matteson with Miss Mary Carr, on the 3d of April, 1875.

Joseph Norton cast the first vote in Medford. He also was the first to pay a tax ; was on the first jury, and it may be added that when the bank was established, he made the first deposit, and he is the first man in town in point of avoirdupois, and in all respects a leading citizen.

At the first election in the county, there was but one polling-place, which was at Medford, and there were 197 votes cast.

Lots in Medford in 1875 were laid out 50x150, and sold by the railroad company and the mill company. who were owners, for $25 each.

William Seeger, it is said, was the first man to set an example of neatness, and clean up the rubbish about his house.

Legal business at first was not very brisk. Here is a justiee's court record :

Town of Medford, ?

Taylor County. .88.

A. vs. B., April 3, 1875.

Summons duly served, and parties notified to appear at 10 o'clock, April 9th.

At 11 o'clock neither parties appearing, whereupon the court went about its own business.

Attest :

A. F. F. Jensen was the first settler in what is now Little Black, in 1873, and he lived in two different counties and in four different towns in four consecutive years on the same spot. At first it was Beaver, Clark County. In 1874, it was changed to Mayville, in 1875 to Taylor County, Medford, in 1876, to Little Black.

In 1875, the people of Medford donated the work of putting in a turn-table for the railroad company, to make this a terminus of a freight division, the company supply- ing the material.

The lumber shipped from Medford in 1875, was as fol- lows :

Lumber. 1,549,588

Shingles. 11,071

Number of cars used. 291

Amount paid for freight. $12,130.36

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1023

HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY.

In 1876, Charles McNaughton, C. H. Gearhart and C. Sidel were engaged in building town roads.

The first station agent was W. B. Jeffers, in 1873. In the fall of 1874, T. G. Jeffers came here, and went into the real estate and abstract business.

Joseph Norton came early and opened a place two miles east of the village, erected a cabin and did his own house- work. When the County Board went out to lay out the road, he gave them a specimen of his New England cook- ing, which was eaten from the head of a barrel.

The Wisconsin Central Railroad runs through the county from south to north east of the center of the State, and all the villages are on the railroad, which is the point d'appui upon which the county was organized, and its business is supported. The company owned nearly every alternate section in eighteen townships in the county, and they are now rapidly selling, and the time is not very far distant when these lands will be in the hands of actual settlers, and Taylor County will be supporting a large population.

The villages, as you enter the county from the south, are Stetsonville, where there is a mill, owned by E. K. Buttrick, with a capacity of 30,000 lumber and the same of shingles per day. Then comes Medford, seven miles from the county line ; six miles above this is Whittlesey, a sim- ple side track, and a gravel pit, with a single resident, with homesteaders about there. Chelsea comes next, six miles from the northern boundary of the county, and Westboro two miles from the county line. Eight miles east of Med- ford is Mink Creek settlement, made in 1879. There are now fifteen families, mostly Bohemians. There is a good school, etc.

There are no large rivers in the county, but it is well supplied with small streams, many of them with a log-driv- ing capacity and with mill privileges. There is no prairie in the whole county ; it is solid forest, with pine, maple, elm, ash, oak, bass, butternut, cedar, hemlock, spruce, tamarack, balsam birch-white and yellow, etc. In the town of Chel- sea, iron ore has been found, and is reported to be valuable. Kaolin is also reported in a workable bed, several miles from Medford. It is said to be remarkably fine and free from grit.

THE CENTENNIAL YEAR.

On the 4th of July, 1876, C. W. Cleveland, at the centennial celebration of American independence, delivered an address, presenting the history and condition of the shire, town and county, which was sixteen months old on that day.

Nearly all trades, professions and occupations were there represented.

Two newspapers were catering for public favor, and it may be said were struggling for existence-the News and the Star.

Four steam saw mills were running, one in each village, and one planing mill at Medford.

There were seven hotels, four at Medford, one at Chel- sea and two at Westboro.

One physician, S. B. Hubbell ; five lawyers-G. W. Adams. C. W. Cleveland, S. A. Corning, John A. Ogden and J. K. Parish.

There were three abstract and real estate offices and seven saloons.

Twelve general stores, one hardware and one drug store supplied the wants of the people in their several directions.

COUNTY OFFICERS.

1877-District Attorney, J. K. Parish ; County Treasurer, W. W. Fry ; County Clerk, P. Doyle ; County Sheriff, D. W. Weedham; Clerk of Court, Peter McCourt ; Register of Deeds ; T. G. Jeffers ; Superintendent of Schools, O. N. Lee; Surveyor, H. Ripley ; Coroner, R. Peterson.

1879 and 1880-District Attorney, J. K. Parish ; County Treasurer, S. B. Ilubbell; County Clerk, Peter Doyle ; Sheriff, Eli L. Urquhart; Clerk of Court, Peter Mc Court; Register of Deeds, Isaac Biscornet; Superintend- ent, J. B. Anderson ; Surveyor, A. S. Russell ; Coroner, I. S. Haskins.

Chippewa and Taylor Counties were the Assemby Dis- tricts in 1876, and were represented by Cadwalader J. Wiltze, of Chippewa Falls.

In 1877, the Assembly District became Clark, Lincoln, Taylor and Wood Counties. Freeman D. Lindsay, of Neills- ville, was the Representative.

In 1878, Solomon L. Nason, of Nasonville, was in the Assembly.

N. H. Wither, of Neillsville, had that honor in 1879 and 1880.

The Congressional District in which Taylor County is situated embraces the northern counties of the State with nearly one-half its whole territory.

The judicial circuit is Lincoln, Marathon, Price, Portage, Taylor, Waushara, Waupaca and Wood Counties. G. H. Park is the Judge.

Valuation of the county in 1880, by the State Board, $1,502,474. Total taxes for all purposes, $44,625.

The county has 635,600 acres ; 31,500 acres of school lands.

E. F. Blowning, of New York, owns 25,000 acres.

It is stated that the land will yield per acre as follows : wheat, 27 bushels ; corn, 47 bushels ; oats, 50 bushels ; barley, 30 bushels ; potatoes, 230 bushels ; turnips, 400 bushels ; carrots, etc., 200 bushels ; millet, 3 tons ; hay. 2 tons. This has actually been done.

The population of the county in 1875 was 849. In 1880-Chelsea, 301; Deer Creek and Little Black, 766; Medford, 1,017; Westboro, 230. Total, 2,314.

In 1880, the amount of lumber shipped on the Wiscon- sin Central Railroad was 130,000,000 feet.

As the war closed ten years before the county was organ- ized, there is no war record, but here are the names of resi- dents of the county who were in the army :

Lewis Brown, Co. I. 7th W. V. I., millman, Medford, Wis .; M. W. Ryan, Co. I. 3d W. V. C., late Town Treasurer. Medford; Joseph Norton, Jr., Co. D, 7th Maine V. I., pro- prietor hotel, Medford; Patrick Mallaley, Co. C, 17th W. V. I., farmer, Medford: George Warner, Co. H. 15th N. Y. Engineers, farmer, Medford ; Fred. Williams, Co. I, 50th W. V. I., farmer, Chelsea; G. W. Norton, Co. K. 10th W. V. I., farmer, Chelsea ; Patrick Gallagher, Co. K, 17th W. V. I., farmer, Chelsea ; Lawrence Chametzkey, Co. L, 4th W. V. C., farmer, Medford; Patrick Gaghen. Co. B, 3d W. V. I., laborer, Medford ; John Nelson, Co. B, 11th Maine V. I., farmer, Little Black : John Chrisman, Co. G, 36th W. V. I., farmer, Medford; L. Hardkey, Co. D, 12th W. V. I., farmer, Medford; William Seeger, Co. C, 4th W. V. C., proprietor hotel. Medford; Valentine Chametzkey, Co. E, 26th W. V. I .; W. J. Robinson, Co. B, 3d W. V. I., farmer, Medford; William Perry, Co. F, 7th O. V. I., farmer, Medford; William Mars, Co. A, 21st

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TO24

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

W. V. I .. farmer, Medford : Charles Roberts, Co. A. 35th W. V. I., farmer, Medford ; A. King. Co. Il, 16th N. Y. V. I., grocer, Medford: C. H. Gearhart, 6th Battery. pro- prietor hotel, Chelsea ; Fred. Merhine, Co. C., 53d W. V. I., farmer, Brennen, Price Co .; Ira Penney, Co. H. 47th W. V. I., farmer, Chelsea ; Martin Gordinier, Co. G, 21st W. V. I., farmer. Chelsea; John Worthington, Co. B, 1st W. V. C., trapper. Chelsea; Dan. Walrath, Co. K. 38th W. V. I., farmer, Medford: G. W. Adams, Co. C, 16th W. V. I .. attorney at law, Medford ; Vincent Hirsch, Co. H. 32d W. V. I., farmer, Little Black; James Ness, Co. G. 12th W. V. I., farmer, Medford; S. A. Cook, Co. A, 2d W. V. C., grocer, Unity, Wis .; Isaac Claggetr, Co. A, 2d W. V. C., farmer, Colby. Wis .; James Garnett, Co. A. 2d W. V. C., farmer, Unity, Wis .; H. R. Crowell, Co. A. 2d W. V. C., farmer, Spencer, Wis .; George S. Phelps, Co. A. 2d W. V. C., druggist, Medford, Wis. T. G. Jeffers and Peter Doyle, Co. Q, 8th Missouri Regulars. They live in Medford, Wis., and want to go along.

Most of the buildings are substantial and in good taste. Several are veneered with briek.

There are good facilities for drainage. and the place must continue to be healthy. It is constantly improving.

The second Monday in November, 1875, was the oc- casion of the first Circuit Court in Taylor County, held by Judge Park.

One week in April, 1875, the amount for freight re- ceived in Medford by the railroad company was $1,770.83.

In 1875, the railroad company gave the county a lot for the court house. 316x500 feet, a whole block.

The house of Mrs. Cranney was destroyed by fire on the 24th of June, 1876.

About the same time the Medford House was burned, with C. Donaldson's building, occupied as a saloon, with a loss of $1,500. Donaldson at once began to rebuild.

In the early history of Medford and Taylor County, there was a bitter and uncompromising fight over the location of the court house. In writing cotemporaneous history. it is

MEDFORD.

The shire town of Taylor County, is on the Wisconsin Central Railroad, at a point where it touches the Black River, which runs through the village from north to south. The railroad here is on the bottom lands, and on the east the ground rises quite abruptly, so that that part of the town is much higher than the west side, which also is higher than the depot and mill. The railroad runs 20° or so west of north, and the streets correspond in this respect. On the east side, the streets beginning at the north, at right angles with the track, are named Pine, Taylor, Broad, Broadway, Clark, Ogden and South streets. Parallel with the railroad the streets on the east side are Front, Second, Third, etc.

On the west side, the cross streets are Elm, Cedar, River, Spruce and Division streets. The longitudinal streets on that side are Wheelan avenue, Water, West Second, etc.

Good water is obtained at variable depths.

improper, as it is impossible, to characterize such a con- troversy, as it will be designated at some future time, when the parties to the contest shall have passed away and the personal interests involved shall have become obliterated. The question was whether the court house should be on the east side, where the mill-owners, McCartney and Whelen, owned the land, or on the west side, on the hill, where the railroad company owned the land.

To secure it on the west side. the mill company, with the concurrence of the advocates of that location, erected a building, had it mclosed and roofed-in. That building stood unfinished for several years, and was finally removed. Meantime the County Board. who were committed to the east side plan, had the subject referred to a vote of the county, and, notwitstanding it was overwhelmingly in favor of the west side project, they proceeded to contraet for its construction on the square donated by the railroad com- pany. In February, 1876, the contract for its construction was let to E. Perrine & Co. for $5,200, and assigned to

1025

HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY.

Roval Green, of Waupaca, who proceeded to build, and completed the structure, an injunction procured to prevent the work having been dissolved by Judge Park. So the court house was thus located, leaving many wounds, none of which healed by first intention, but the gradual process of granulation is going on, and in due time only the cica- trices will remain as an evidence of the conflict which in- volved side issues, and in which the merits of the case were often lost sight of amidst the smoke of the battle.

In the summer of 1876, hemlock bark began to be shipped as a commodity from Chelsea and other stations in the county.

May 8, 1877, the house of John Herbst was destroyed by fire, most of the contents being saved.

In the early autumn of 1877, the Medford Post Office was made a money-order office.

June 14, 1877, the house of T. T. Mulcahy was de- stroyed by fire.

At 1 o'clock, April 19, 1878, a fearful tornado passed through the county a mile north of Medford, laying every- thing low for a hundred rods wide, unroofing houses, kill- ing cattle and doing other damage.

The total amount of land sold in Taylor County in 1878 was 19,802 acres, at an average price of $3.45.

In the fall of 1878, a fine dramatic company was or- ganized with the following personnel : James E. Clancy, Ch. Clancey, F. A. Healy, Ed. T. Wheelock, Charles Wade, Miss Delia Keating, Miss Mamie Wheelock and Miss Nellie Patterson. They gave the citizens such plays as "The Drunkard's Warning," "Fruits of the Wine Cup," " The Serious Family," "The Loan of a Lover," and "Paddy Miles' Boy." The company still exist, and is a popular corps.

In 1878, Medford had 125 scholars attending school, where five years before was an Indian camping ground.

In March, 1879, a fine deer was killed within three- fourths of a mile of Medford.

At the spring election in 1879, 584 votes were cast in the county.

In May. 1879, Medford began to feel metropolitan ; in one week, there was a jewelry peddler, a photographic ex- hibition, a traveling photograph gallery, a phrenologist and a book agent, and the town was threatened with a minstrel troupe from Spencer !

In the summer of 1879, the young ladies of Medford organized an "anti-gum chewing society," and seriously in- terfered with the gum trade.

September 3, 1879, there was a fire, John Taggart, W. E. Lockerby, Mr. Russell and Mr. Craney were inconsid- erable sufferers.

The great flood: June 12, 1880, this flood. spoken of so frequently in this work, had its little frolic licre. The dam overflowed and carried out a 100,000 feet of logs, sweeping away the River street bridge. The boom broke. but the logs formed a jam in the canal and remained. The water rose to the level of the floor of the Forest House. There were three washouts on the railroad near here.

The first tent show in the form of a fragmentary circus struck Medford on the 23d of August, 1881.

The whole number of votes cast in Taylor County in the election of 1880 was 574; of these, 300 were for the Repub- lican candidates, and 274 for the Democratic.

The southwest corner township in the county is Deer Creek. The other towns in that tier constitute Little Black.

The next tier across the county is Medford ; the next Chel- sea, and the upper row Westboro. The last three contain seven townships each. Little Black contains five, and Deer Creek one.

J. A. King is the pioneer merchant, who began business near the depot in a small way.

A saloon was early established, and its successor, with several competitors, which have come in from time to time, still continue to meet the demand in their direction.

On the 11th of June, 1873, the first tree on the right of way of the Wisconsin Central Railroad, in the county of Taylor, was cut by Frank Chase.

At that time, Taylor County was a howling wilderness ; that is, when the wind blew, or the wolves were in tune. The woodman's ax had not yet resounded through her for- ests, except around the lonely and solitary cabin of a single adventurer. What it now is, after eight years of labor bestowed upon refractory stumps and stubble, by an accu- mulating population, inspired with industrial ideas, with brawny arms and stout hearts, will be shown in the remainder of this sketch of Taylor County.

Medford has a cemetery containing seven acres, two of which have been set apart for the Catholics. It is located a mile east of the town, on the State road, and is not very thickly inhabited.

The Wisconsin Central Railroad Company, in the sum- mer of 1881, built an emigrant house near the track in the upper part of the village, containing seven rooms and con- veniences for newly arrived emigrants.

C. J. Fay is station agent. The monthly amount received for incoming freight averages about $1,500; out- going, $2,000 ; passenger, $300.

Banking -- Exchange Bank of Medford, a private bank, started business August 10, 1881, with a cash capital of $5,000. The Milwaukee correspondent of the bank is the First National Bank. The New York correspondent is Kountze Bros. The bank is agent for the Hamburg-Ameri- can Packet Company. S. B. Hubbell is President, and J. H. Wheelock, Cashier.

Newspapers .- The county has but one newspaper, the Taylor County Star and News, a six-column quarto of the Republican persuasion. Ed Taylor Wheelock is editor and proprietor, a practical printer with a decided newspaper genius ; but, he has as yet been unable to determine whether the county was named after him, Abram Taylor, of Chel- sea, or Gov. William R. Taylor, or some other straggling member of the Taylor family.

The present paper is the result of a consolidation of the Star and the News, the history of which is as follows: The News was first published on Wednesday, March 31, 1875, Ogden Bros., editors and proprietors. January 6, 1876, J. E. Ogden became editor, and F. E. Ogden, publisher. July 6, 1876, J. A. Ogden, editor and publisher. March 22. 1877, J. A. Ogden and George M. Patchen, editors and pub- lishers. September 29, 1877, Patchen disposed of his interest. October 6, 1877, II. K. Pitcher bought a half interest. Ogden & Pitcher sold the whole concern to S. B. Hubbell, who at the time owned the Star, and the two were consolidated. The Star was first brought out March 18, 1876. G. L. Loope was imprinted as publisher, and George M. Patchen, editor. Loope sold the paper to E. R. Prink May 20, 1876. January 1, 1877, Corning & Cross took charge of the paper for Judge Prink in the summer of 1877. when E. B. Morley leased the paper and ran it until Novem-

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

ber, when it was purchased by Dr. S. B. IIubbeli. The Star and News is weil printed and well edited, and cer- tainly deserves the support it receives from the people of the county.

Schools .- Medford has good schools, kept in a good building, with two departments

Miss D. E. Damp is the Principal, with Mamie Whee- lock as assistant.

Miss Belle Cleveland is the teacher of the primary department.

There is a general attendance of the enrolled pupils, and the training is thorough, comparing well with schools anywhere.

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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