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 256

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 256

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JOHN C. MUIR, dealer in grain and farm machinery, at Arcadia, was born in Norwickshire, Scotland, July 29, 1844; he came with his parents to America in the year 1853, and settled in Pennsylvania, where they remained but one year, when they moved to Maryland, and the next year, 1855, to West Virginia, and in the fall of the same year to Tennessee ; here they remained but a short time, and in the spring of 1856 came to Buffalo Co., Wis .. and located in what is now known as town of Glencoe; his father was one of the first settlers in that town, and entered 160 acres of land. The subject of this sketch remained at home until 1864. when he went to Indiana, where he enlisted in the 146th Ind. Vol. Inf., Co. B, and served until the close of the war ; he then went to Chicago. where he attended the Eastman Commercial Col- lege, from which he graduated iu June, 1866; then returned home, where he remained until 1874, when he went into partner- ship with G. H. Krumbick, of Fountain City, Buffalo Co., in the grain and farm machinery business; he afterward moved to Arcadia, where he continued to run the business with his partner until Nov. 1, 1880 ; he then bought out Mr. Krumbick's interest, and now manages the business alone; he was one of the Trustees of Areadia when the village was organized.

CHARLES EDGAR PERKINS, County Clerk and Ab- straeter of Trempealeau Co., residence Arcadia, was born in Hart- land, Vt., July 21, 1821 ; here he received a common school education, and afterward taught in Lamoille Co., and then com- meneed reading law in the office of the llon. Luke P. Poland, of Morrisville, Vt .; he was married April 2, 1848, to Mary B. Stearns, at Johnston, Vt., and in 1856 came with his family to Galesville, Trempealeau Co., where he made his home until 1877 ; he was here elected Register of Deeds in 1858, 1862 and 1864, holding that office six years; was also Justice of the Peace from 1858 to 1868, and in 1871 was appointed Clerk of' ('ireuit Court, continuing so four years, during which time he made an abstract of title of the county of Trempealeau ; he was elected County Judge in 1874, occupying that position until January of 1881, and in

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

November, 1880, was elected to his present office. Their family consists of five children ; the oldest, Laura Ann, was born in Lowell, Mass., in 1849, and is now the wife of II. R. Gale, editor of the Republican-Gazette at Willmar, Minn .; the next two chil- dren, George Henry and Isabel Lucretia, were born in Morrisville, Yt., the former in 1851, the latter in 1853; George Il. has been Register of Deeds in Jackson Co. four years, and Isabel L. is now the wife of S. A. Walker; the two last children were born in Galesville, Wis., in 1858 and 1867. and are named respectively HIattie Maria and Merton Nathan.

SETH PUTNAM, dealer in drugs and stationery, Arcadia ; was born March 8, 1832, in Peaeham, Vermont. In 1856, he left his native State and went to Ohio, where he worked at his trade that of millwright ) for two years, and then removed to Ozaukee Co., Wis. llere he remained until 1861, when he en- listed in Co. 1, 2d W. V. C., and served until the close of the war ; then came to Jackson Co., Wis., and worked at his trade until 1872, and then removed to Merrillon, where he engaged in the hardware business in company with L. G. & B. H. Merrill; he continued there until 1874, when he came to Arcadia. During the first year of his residence here, he ran a hardware store in partnership with the above firm, it being the first hardware store in the village ; and in the spring of 1875, he sold out his share and bought in a drug store with Dr. F. L. Lewis. In March, 1877. the building which they occupied was destroyed by fire and he removed to the store where he now is and started in business by himself. Mr. Putnum has been chairman of the Town Board of Arcadia, also Treasurer of the same and has been Director of the school district ever since he became a citizen here; he was a charter member of the Arcadia Lodge, No. 201, Masonic Order, and was the first Master of said lodge and has held that office up to date, with the exception of one year.

AUSTIN E. SMITH, proprietor of grain elevator and dealer in farm machinery, at Arcadia ; eame to Trempealeau County in 1872; he is the son of Augustus Smith, of Walworth Co., Wis, and was born there April 28, 1841. His father was one of the oldest settlers in that county and came there in 1834 from Massa- chusetts. The subject of this sketch was formerly in partnership with his father in the grain business in Buffalo County, but when the Green Bay Railroad was built through Arcadia, he came there and established his present business; and his was the first firm that bought grain in this village. He handled 75,000 bushels of grain one season. lIe has been a member of Village Board and in the spring of 1881, was elected President of the same. He was married in January, 1871, to Miss Lucy E. Fowler, the daughter of Samuel Fowler, one of the oldest settlers in Walworth County ; they have two children, Leander F. and Lottie E.

REV. M. C. WERNER, present minister of the Trempea- leau County Circuit of the Evangelical Association, was born in Germany, March 14, 1848; left his native country in 1853 and came with his parents to Wisconsin, locating first in the town of Ellington, Outagamie County, where he received a common school education, and then attended the Appleton College; afterward go- ing to the Northwestern College at Plainfield, Ill. IIe entered the ministry in 1861, and was ordained deacon at Racine in 1871. by Bishop Escher; in 1873, was ordained elder, in Dodge County, by the same Bishop. Ilis first mission was in Shawano County, where he remained one year, and then labored in other places, until the spring of 1881, when he took charge of his present circuit, which consists of five churches at different places, Arcadia, Ilome, Independence, Tamarack and Fountain City, the latter place being in Buffalo County.

ANTON ZELLER, harness shop. Arcadia ; was born in Ger- many. July 15, 1821. When ten years of age, he came to Amer- ica with his parents, who located first in Jefferson Co., Ky., upon a farm. They lived there eight years and then moved to Han- son County ; here Anton remained until 1862, when he came to Buffalo Co., Wis., where he farmed for two years. In 1864, he started a harness shop, which he ran until 1879, and during that

time, held the office of Supervisor in the town of Waumandee for three terms. In 1879, moved to Arcadia and established his present business.

GALESVILLE.

This most charming village, known to very many trav- elers who have visited the Badger State in pursuit of health or pleasure, as the scene of one of the earliest and most suc- eessful attempts to found a high institution of learning in Wisconsin, is situated on Beaver Creek, in the southwestern portion of Gale Township.

The latter is large, its surface is rolling, in many places quite broken and made picturesque by bluffs looking down upon the valleys through clumps of the beautiful species evergreens, which crowd their sides.

The town and village, as also the county and its super- or educational advantages, are indebted to the Hon. George Gale for whatever of success or prosperity that followed their pioneer settlement. He settled in La Crosse in the fall of 1851, where he urged upon the landed proprietors of the present city the desirability of appropriating lands for the purpose of establishing a institution of learning. But noth- ing of the kind was attempted, and Mr. Gale conceivedl the idea of not only establishing a college, but of building a town. Accordingly, in 1853, he purchased two thousand acres of land at the present location of Galesville, includ- ing the water power on Beaver Creek, and procuring, with the organization of T'rempealeau County, the location of the county seat, also that of a university, at Galesville. He laid out the present village and did what was necessary to secure a portion of the emigration at that period tending toward Wisconsin.

The first settler in the present town was B. F. Heuston, also one of the first settlers in the present village of Trem- pealeau, who built a half a mile south of where the court house was subsequently located, into which himself and wife moved during the winter of 1853-54. Mrs. Houston is sup- posed by some to have been the first white woman in the town ; but others contend that honor is due a Mrs. Ingle- man, who, with her husband, came into the town at a date anterior to the arrival of the first named. In the fall of 1853 or 1854, Peter Uhle and George Uhle came in and located in Crystal Valley, three miles from Galesville; John Det- tinger settled near the present George Smith farm in 1854; in 1855 a man named MeCliory located on Beaver Creek, two miles above the village ; a Mr. Biddle purchased 700 acres of land, a portion of which is the second farm beyond that of George Smith, and opened the first farm in the town- ship. There were other arrivals, but those who arrived halted at the village for a season, and perhaps for some time, if at all, delayed the acquisition of property for agricult- ural purposes.

In the spring of 1854, Augustus II. Armstrong, accom- panied, it is believed, by his wife, the first white woman to settle permanently in Galesville, came into Gale Town at the instance of Judge Gale, for the purpose of directing the building of the mill. The season was somewhat backward, and it was not until late in the spring that work on that structure was commenced. Meanwhile a house was built for his occupation on the court house table, as one of the elevations is designated, and though having supplied the wants of a residence, boarding house and what-not gener- ally, is still standing unmarked and unmarred by the hand

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HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY.

of time or the contumely of man, proud of his part in the age and generation when architectural superiority is the rule. As soon as the weather permitted, timbers were felled and shaped, quarries were worked, and material having been for that purpose obtained, operations were commenced upon the mill and dam.

This year, Dr. William M. Young settled in the village, the first physician, and among the heaviest land owners of that early day. At the same period, also, came Michael Cullity, whose daughter, born in the fall, was the first white birth in the village or county. Ile came West to grow up with the country, as it were, and with the assistance of Dr. Young, knocked up a plank shanty, for which a lot near Gale's book-store was appropriated, where himself and family took shelter. The quality of the residence may be inferred when it is stated that the generous hearted physi- cian to whom the inexperienced voyageur was under obliga- tlons for this munificence, was but one day procuring and preparing the lumber, framing and erecting the haven of refuge.

Among the next to reach Galesville and become part of its progressive establishment, were John French and Isaac Clark, who decided to remain, and evidenced this decision by the building of shanties on what is now known as " Uni- versity table." A Mr. Crawford came in about the same time, accompanied by his sister. The latter was an illus- trated type of strong-minded women, who became prominent about that period in the history of the sex as elaborated under the patronage and admonitions of Lucy Stone and others, who emulated the privileges and fashions of the op- posite sex. Miss Crawford sought to convey the idea that she was a "solid man " in her make-up and attire, and pranced about the prairies in full Bloomer regalia, unawed by the notice she attracted, or unappalled by the comments her appearance provoked. The new-comers lived in a wagon during their stay in Galesville, and at sun-up each day, she emerged from beneath the canvas, and was visible until sun-down. She returned with the darkness to soli- tude and reflection, and though she aped the manners and aspired to the distinction of man, she was no more like a man, says Dr. Young, than a sand-hill crane is to be com- pared to Diana of the Ephesians.

The year 1854 was replete with incidents of pioneer life, of which the above is by no means an exaggerated sam- ple. The early days of Galesville were the counterparts of the early days in other portions of the West. Strange scenes, eccentric experiences, queer characters, amusing interludes, and dispensations laden with sadness, not to say woe, were almost daily encountered.

The first commercial venture in the village was under- taken in 1854. Previous to that, the scattering settlers were wont to obtain their groceries and edibles at La Crosse, or more distant points, where they would not be compelled to pay the cost of transportation, as also the profits accru- ing to dealers, second hand. But with the arrival of Ry- land Parker, this practice was to some extent abandoned, and those in need, supplied their wants at the store which he established on the present site of Zippel's harness-shop, opposite the square. Capt. Finch was also added to the population in 1854. IIe began the building of what is now known as the Tower place, but failed to complete it. Meanwhile, Capt. Alexander Arnold arrived in the village, and procuring Capt. Finch's property by purchase, fin- ished what the latter had begun.

As the season advanced, arrivals, while by no means numerous, were such as to justify the conclusion that Gales- ville was a point of more than local repute. Among those who came in were A. R. Wyman and family. He built a house upon University table, where he lived for some time, when he moved onto a farm, and the premises were appro- priated to the uses of a boarding-house for university stu- dents. For many years, Mr. Wyman served the county as County Clerk, as also in other capacities, and died during the fall of 1880.

Before the year was over the efforts of Mr. Armstrong in building the mill and its approaches were not such as had been anticipated. The work went forward slowly, while the dam burst its bonds and the water went out alto- gether. At this crisis, Judge Gale was constrained to re- voke his contract with Armstrong, which was done, and the latter abandoned his undertaking. To supply his place, and that the mill might be speedily built, William P. Clark was brought from North Bend to superintend its construc- tion, and Ebenezer Batchelder, from the same place, to act in the capacity of millwright. Under these auspices the improvement was re-commenced, and with facilities which were afterward obtained, which included a saw mill, oper- ated by a Mr. Post, who obtained his logs on Black River, the enterprise was made ready for grinding in 1856.

The improvements during 1854, were by no means nu- merous, but sufficiently so to accommodate all in need of accommodations. The latter included those who came to work on the mill, with such others already mentioned, and some who have been forgotten in the whirl of events. The population on New Year's Day, it is said, did not exceed thirty, all told, and beside the cabins and store already noted as having been completed, a small hotel was in prog- ress of building where the Davis well now is, by a man named Ellsworth. During 1855, settlers failed to material- ize with a frequency that was either gratifying to those on the ground or the few who came in. Among the latter was Samuel Bartlett and wife, father and mother of Mrs. W. P. Clark ; Romanza Bunn, John Carey and some others, but limited in point of numbers.

There is some dispute as to the priority of claim to the first marriage ; whether John Nicholls was married to Mary French, late in the fall of 1858, or whether the marriage of Henry French to a sister of Isaac Clark, the same year, is entitled to precedence. However, opinion may incline, the facts are that John Nicholls to Mary Augusta French, June 15, 1858, and that Henry French and Miss Clark were not married until the 21st of the following November.

The second birth in the town is announced for this year, also the first death in the county ; both events happening in the family of the Ilon. B. F. Heuston. On July 7th, Ella Heuston, a child, died, and on October 7, George Z. Heuston was born. Ile has grown to manhood, and is known to the place of his nativity and among Chicago art circles as a young artist of daring and promise. Ilis pict- ures, which are scenes from life and nature, display a re- fined perception of objects, combined with a dash and brill- iancy of coloring which indicate which must in time com- mand success in the school which he seeks to exemplify and illustrate, and his friends are confident that the future will vindicate their conclusions.

In 1856, a gentleman, who arrived at Galesville from the East, states that J. W. Armstrong, then Register of Deeds, occupied a house on Ridge street ; Ryland Parker

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN

was a merchant corner of Allen street and the square ; Daniel MeKeithi was a resident of the village; William P. Clark was engaged with Judge Gale and Ebenezer Batch- elder in building a grist mill and operating a saw mill ; Franklin Gilbert resided down on the flats upon what after- ward became Mill street ; A. R. Wyman resided on Ridge street ; Isaac Clark on Clark street, and J. C. French on French street ; the hotel of which Ellsworth was landlord, corner of Allen and Main streets, was finished and in the full flush of success.

The improvements completed included, among others, the court house and a schoolhouse on or near the site of the handsome briek edifice erected in and used since 1874 for school purposes. The court house was built by Noyes & Webb, and for the time and place, one of the most im- posing of imposing structures. It is of frame, two stories high, still standing opposite the Commercial Ilotel. and in its very appearance is indicative of the objects for which it was originally built. As if the law's delays lay hidden be- hind its weather-beaten walls, where often they gallopaded with pleas, rejoinders, surrejoinders, rebutters and surre- butters until litigants, lost in the mysteries and crazed with the miseries such delays gave birth to, fled from the scenes and surrendered the rights they had vainly essayed to maintain. Here, in addition to forensic disputations, were to be heard theological discourses, the profundity of which passed ordinary understanding ; musical selections that caused one to clasp his hands in an excess of ectatic pleas- ure ; lectures from eloquent speakers that evoked applause intuitively, and all that would combine for the good, the true and the beautiful to crystallize into shape and be thought of when the old house was used as a rookery and regarded as a memory.

This year came the first blacksmith to Galesville. His name was J. W. Canterbury, and his services were in gen- eral demand. Artisans and mechanics were blessings in those days, whose value appreciated in proportion as they drew nigh unto Galesville. There was no rush this year, nor has there been, indeed, since the village was platted and efforts made to attract immigration. But the adventists remained for the most part and have added to the wealth of posterity one of the loveliest villages in Western Wiscon- sin.

This year C. E. Perkins, afterward County Judge and at present ('ounty Clerk, became a resident of the village, and erected a residence on Free street ; also W. H. Wyman, who added to the appearance of Elizabeth street ; George W. Swift, likewise a new-comer, located and built on Clark street ; R. B. Cooper made himself an abode on Ridge street and G. H. Burnham on Allen street. C. C. Averill came in this year, and Nathaniel Stearns, who had been to Galesville in 1855, then returned ; also George W. Stearns, both becoming occupants of the Armstrong House on Allen street.

In addition to these improvements, the Rev. D. D. Van Slyke, organizer of the Methodist Church in the village, built a house ; the flouring-mill was completed ; residences were built for W. II. Wyman, W. P. Clark, Isaac Clark, Capt. Finch, and one on the flats for Capt. Bartlett, in which the post office was this year opened, with Dr. George W. Young as Postmaster. During this and preceding years, after Judge Gale had obtained the charter, he was engaged in procuring subscriptions for the building of the institution of learning, which at first cautiously assumed the name of

" Yale University." During this period the venture was struggling, as it were, like a swimmer with strong courage but weak muscles, to keep head above water. Wealth did not abound in Wisconsin, and men of means elsewhere found it convenient to promise help when it should demon- strate its ability to save itself without help. In spite of these discouragements a period of suspended animation was never reached in its history.

In time, say 1858, a building was commenced upon the ample grounds which constitute the college campus ; a presi- dent and corps of professors were appointed, funds were provided sufficient to open the institution, and Gale Univer- sity was at last fairly launched. The faculty was composed of excellent material ; students entered, and in due time there was a baccalaureate sermon, and several young gen- tlemen listened to speeches in Latin and received their parchments. The building was finished and other com- mencement days followed until the day of orations. bouquets and parchments with Latin have come to be considered as something in the established order.

The panic of 1857 produced no effect upon the business or improvements of the village. Those made were made on credit, observed a gentleman familiar with the facts. S. S. Luce came from the East, and superintended the building- up of Judge Gale's property. In 1860, he established the Galesville Transcript, and has since been regarded as a prominent member of the Fourth Estate in Wisconsin. A large addition was made to the hotel this year, and a new house of entertainment built by John Anderson and D. T. Stocking, the latter being among the arrivals of 1856. The hotel was erected on the flats below the mill, where Judge Heuston also had an office.

Among the few who came in 1857 and made improve- ments was F. Kenyon, who located his residence on Ridge street ; Silas Parker on Free street, and some very few others.

The great event of 1858 was the laying the foundations and commencement of building Galesville University. The next in importance was the marriage of John Nicholls, first Clerk of the County, to Miss French-claimed as the first in the village. A Mr. Fifield came in this year and built a house on Ridge street : and others did likewise. Among these were the Thomas Davis house, put up by D. E. Goodnow; one by J. W. Root ; a house by D. Lawson, the pioneer blacksmith, and Dr. G. W. Young contracted for and superintended the erection of the house now occu- pied by Dr. Avery.

The experience of 1858 was duplicated in 1859. Arriv- als were similar in point of numbers, and the buildings for store or residence purposes in equal proportions. A store was built on Ridge street, under the auspices of J. M. Dodge; but his occupation of the premises was brief, when he was succeeded by R. A. Odell. This was the first store erected on the West table, and is still standing. The heyday of life in Galesville from 1859 until 1865-66, seemed to have fully passed. Beyond the opening of the Collegiate De- partment of Gale University, September 12, 1851, and the graduation of the first college class July 13, 1865; with the exception of these events, as also the annual exhibitions of the County Agricultural Society and war incidents, noth- ing occurred to make the sinews of the infant village strong as steel, or attract wonder from its seniors in the county.

During this period, however, a house here and there went up, the church societies perfected their organizations,

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HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY.

and the Rev. John Frothingham, first Presbyterian minis- ter to be settled in the county, took charge of his work.

On the 23d of June, 1866, the dam went out, and destruction and desolation marked the rush of waters. The hotel on the flat, put up in 1857, the saw and grist mills and other improvements, were swept away in an hour, entailing a loss of not less than $10,000; but paving the way for the making of an improvement-the Davis Mill- one of the grandest works of its kind in the Northwest. The next spring he purchased the water-power privileges, the debris left by the flood, and as soon as the same could be removed, began the building of his mill. Since those days the village has grown gradually, becoming annually more attractive to residents and as a resort for strangers. Its beautiful location, picturesque scenery, mineral springs, not to mention the educational facilities to be found there, must render Galesville unsurpassed as a place of residence, as it is now a spot that has only to be known to guide the pleasure seeker, the scholar, the scientist or the capitalist away from the beaten paths of travel to mingle in the delights of ele- gant rural life.

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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