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 261

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 261

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).

THE FIGHT FOR A CHILD.

In April, 1850, it was believed that the 'Menomonee Indians had, from some motive of malice or revenge, taken a little boy named Partridge, whose father resided in Win- nebago County. The child was five years old, and the last seen of him he was playing near his father, who was making sugar in the vicinity of the settlement of Partridge. Search was immediately instituted for the missing one, but without avail. Two years passed and the family had about given up hope of finding the boy. In April, 1852, a party of Menomonees and Pottawatomies encamped near Waupaca. A young boy of about seven was with them, and his appear-

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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.

ance was so different from the rest that the fact attracted the attention of some of the settlers. A Mrs. Burton, a sister of Mr. Partridge, saw the urchin and was convinced that the lost Caspar was found. Remembering that when very small he had cut his foot with an ax, she found an oppor- tunity to examine him and found the scar in the proper place, but almost obliterated. The attention of the people of the village was called to this circumstance, and by gifts of pork and flour, the Indians were induced to remain a few days longer, They then made preparations to break up camp. O. E. Dreutzer, now a lawyer of Sturgeon Bay, and who bore a prominent part in returning the boy to his parents, continues the story : "I had just returned from the Portage County Circuit Court, and as soon as I had been made acquainted with the situation, I determined that the child should remain, at all hazards, until Mr. Partridge's return. C. O. Brown and myself went in pur- suit of the Indians. I entered the wigwam where I discov- ered the boy to be, and took him from the squaw who claimed to be his mother. The Indians lifted their toma- hawks at me, and the squaw scratched me in the face. I brought the child to my house, however, and kept it there until Mr. Partridge came, late that evening. The Indians were in the house all day, and when the boy was washed so as to be recognizable, the squaw rubbed it all over with grease and soot. By this temporary removal of the coat of filth, it was found that both sides of his mouth had been burned with a heated horseshoe, and scars made in the same way on his breast. The father could not recognize his boy, but his brother who came with him was satisfied of the identity, and Casper was taken home by them. The next day the Indians got out a writ of habeas corpus, returnable before United States Commissioner Buttrick, of Oshkosh. That officer decided against Mr. Partridge, who took the lost child back with him, nevertheless. About a year and half afterward, when Mr. Partridge had removed with his family to McHenry County, Ill., an Indian Agent, Dr. Huebschmann, of Milwaukee, actuated by official zeal in behalf of his Government wards, carried the war into Illinois, and by watching his opportunity, captured the boy and brought him in a buggy to Milwaukee. A new exam- ination was held, and Mr. Partridge, now knowing that the child was his, got possession of its body and educated its mind at Oberlin, Ohio. Subsequent developments estab- lished the identity of the boy beyond a doubt "

ORGANIZATION.

The county and town of Waupaca was organized by legislative act, approved February 17, 1851. The bounda- ries were as at present constituted, except that of the town of Matteson, only the portion west of the Wolf River was included. This portion was subsequently added. A county seat was temporarily established at Mukwa, the first elec- tion being held in April of the same year. Following is the result : Tyler Caldwell, Chairman of Town Board ; Peter Meiklejohn and David Scott; C. L. Gumaer, Town Clerk ; Messrs. Brandy, S. F. Ware and John Boyd, Jus- tices of the Peace. The first meeting of the new Board of Supervisors was held the next month. Mr. Scott being ab- sent, Messrs. Meiklejohn and Caldwell, in their capacity as legislators, divided the county into cight road districts and organized the towns of Mukwa, Weyanwega and Center- ville (now Little Wolf). George W. Taggart was appointed Town Treasurer, and in November the four towns elected

James Smiley, Register of Deeds ; John Vaughn, Sheriff ; C. L. Gumaer, Clerk of the Board. During 1852, Lind. Dayton and Lebanon were created, making the county con- sist of seven towns. In November, 1852, at the general election, the people of the seven towns elected, among the regular officials, a County Judge, C. E. P. Hobart, but he never qualified, as even in that new country it became very soon wafted about that the proceeding was quite unconstitn- tional, though the necessity for having a Judge was quite evident. At the spring election of the next year, Judge Ware became the first " regularly chosen " County Judge, and the county seat was fixed at " Waupaca Falls," though the five towns of the county, other than Little Wolf and Waupaca, claimed that they construed the organic act in a way which would have thrown the choice over to the fall elections of 1853. The Board met April 15, 1853, and by a vote of three to two ordered the removal of the offices from Mukwa to Waupaca, the place for holding the County and Circuit Courts being "Gothic Hall." The Mukwa officials resisted, and James Smiley was arrested for refus- ing to deliver documents to the Waupacas. From this time on until November considerable excitement and hard feeling were developed between the rival factions, a popular vote then taken giving Waupaca sixty majority. The County Board declared the election illegal. The election beld in 1854 did not satisfy the contestants for Mukwa, nor that of 1855, which gave Waupaca 946 majority. And even to this day the question of whether Waupaca is the legal county seat is discussed as a matter quite unsettled. But no serious attempt has been made, since 1855, to dispute her claim.

By legislative act of February, 1853, the county was organized for judicial purposes and attached to the Third Circuit. In the spring of 1854, Judge Cate was chosen to the Third (now comprising the Seventh) Circuit, and cemented the strength of Waupaca, as the county seat, by holding his court there, as does his successor, Judge G. L. Park.

The County Judges since Judge S. F. Ware have been : Judge E. K. Osborn, who succeeded him in 1857 ; Judge C. S. Ogden, who served three terms from 1861; Judge Winfield Scott, who held the position one term from 1873, and Judge Ogden, the present incumbent, whose term of office expires January 1, 1885.

About the time the county was taken on the body poli- tic, most of its towns were being surveyed for the estab- lishment of claims. Mr. Mumbrue's survey of 1849 was, in most cases, the guide taken. Fremont, Weyauwega, Mukwa, Royalton, Little Wolf, Union, Lebanon and Bear Creek were surveyed by Samuel Perrine in 1852; Larra- bee, Dupont and the north half of Helvetia by Hon. A. V. Balch in the winter of 1852-53. The latter gentleman also partially surveyed Matteson in 1852. Other minor sur- veys were made, so that the lines were pretty well fixed by the latter part of 1853.

FIRST THINGS.

Robert Grignon built the first saw-mill in the county in 1848.

The first entry of Government land, within the present limits of the city of Waupaca, was made September 7, 1852.

The first newspaper in the county was founded at Waupaca in 1852, by the Redfield brothers. It was called

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

the Spirit. The New London Times was founded by J. Ogden in 1869.

The first railroad which pierced the county was the Wisconsin Central, the scream of an iron monster being first heard September 28, 1872. In the fall of 1873, the Green Bay & Minnesota Railroad (now the Green Bay, Minnesota & St. Paul) was completed through the county.

Dudley C. Blodget, of Oshkosh, represented Waupaca and Winnebago Counties during the fifth session of the State Legislature in 1852. The next year, Arthur Resley, of Appleton, represented Oconto, Outagamie and Waupaca Counties ; in 1854, David Scott, of Waupaca, successfully contested the seat with John B. Jacobs, of Menomonee. He may therefore be called the first home Represetative in the Assembly. In 1856, Louis Bostedo, of Weyauwego, successfully contested the seat with William Brumquest, of Waupaca. Benjamin F. Phillips, of Mukwa, was the first distinctive Representative of the County. E. L. Browne, of Waupaca, was the first State Senator who resided in the county.

In 1850, Judge Beal, from Indiana, made a claim, em- bracing a quarter section of land lying east of, and embrac- ing a past of the village of Weyauwega, and opened a gen- eral variety store in a log house. Portions of the building are still standing. The first trading post, however, is be- lieved to have been established by Messrs. Brickley & Bergstressor, at Fremont.

The first Superintendent of Schools, S. C. Dow, made a report October 1, 1851, showing that there were eight school districts in the county. Only four made returns. Three months' school was reported as being taught in each district. No public moneys had been received. The num- ber of male children over four and under twenty years of age was 90; number of female children, 76; average amount of monthly wages paid female teachers, $6; value of schoolhouses, $250; highest value, $100, lowest, $50.

The first sale of lands in the county took place April 12, 1853.

Mary Hibbard and a child of H. Sexton, saw the light vouchsafed to the first births of Waupaca County, in the spring of 1850.

The first death of a white person was that of II. Tourte- lotte's child, in Weyauwega, which occurred in 1849.

Robert Palfrey ground the first grist in 1851. The mill was located in Palfreyville, town of Dayton, the site for it being donated upon the condition that it should " grind a bushel of corn before the one at Waupaca grinds a kernel." The contract was carried out and Messrs. Holt & Lord, who had erected a mill on the site of the present " Waupaca Star Mills," came in for only second honors.

Miss Chandler taught the first school in Weyauwega, in 1850.

The first schoolhouse was built in the town of Lind- date, 1851.

Benjamin Birdsell, of the same place, became the first Postmaster of Waupaca County, in 1850.

During the same year, Rev. Silas Miller, a Methodist preacher, delivered the first sermons in the course of his cir- cuit, which included Waupaca, Lind and Little Wolf.

William G. Cooper, who located at Waupaca in 1849, although the first settler of the legal profession, had no suits until I>51.

The first physician to locate in the county was Rev. Cutting Marsh, the missionary, who came in 1851.

The first church building was erected by the Methodists of the village of Waupaca, in 1853.

THE OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY.

The Old Settlers' Society of Waupaca County was or- ganized in 1872, the first meeting being held March 28 of the same year. Its objects are those of other organizations of like character-the reviving of old memories and the preservation of early events. Some of the principal mem- bers, past and present, with the date of their settlement in the county, follow : L. Bostedo, 1851; Ira Millard, 1852; Carr Barker, 1849; J. S. Potter, 1849; R. Baxter, 1849; L. Taft, 1851 ; Paul Farrinacei. 1853; O. A. Quimby, 1855; J. W. Dean, 1854; G. D. Tarbell, 1850; M. A. Stinchfield, 1850; W. A. Springer, 1849; S. L. Browne, 1852; W. F. Waterhouse, 1853; D. Hutchinson, 1853; G. L. Lord, 1850; P. A. Chesley, 1852; W. H Teal, 1856; W. Masters, 1854; J. Fordyce, 1852; W. B. Powers, 1849; J. Hibbard, 1849 ; T. Rich, 1853; George More, 1849 ; L. L. Post, 1851 ; A. B. Balch, 1851 ; James Smiley, 1851; G. W. Taggart, 1849: W. Fife, 1854; C. S. Ogden, 1854; J. Wakefield, 1855; T. Jenney, 1849; W. G. Gumaer, 1856; W. C. Potter, 1853; A. L. Bostedo, 1852; J. Van Ormand, 1854; J. Chesley, 1852; H. C. Mumbrue, 1852; P. Meiklejohn, 1849 ; B. B. Waterhouse, 1856; E. Townsend, 1849; R. R. Roberts, 1856 ; J. Mead, 1856; F. L. Witt, 1853; R. Witt, 1854 ; F. Beardsmore, 1851 ; W. J. Chamberlain, 1851; Frank Hutchinson. 1853; A. H. Chandler, 1849 ; H. M. Vaughn, 1849; J. W. Perry, 1855; T. M. Paine, 1849; S. Woodworth, 1855; A. J. Van Epps, 1853 ; John M. Ware, 1850; John Minton, 1850; W. S. Worth, 1849; C. O. Brown, 1850; J. G. Bemis, 1854 ; J. S. Redfield, 1852; Charles Churchill, 1852 : John M. Vaughn, 1849; M. L. Haywood. 1850; C. F. Eaton, 1849; James E. Devins, 1851 ; Benj. Dean, 1855; W. A. Sterling, 1856; D. L. Manchester, 1854 ; A. C. Dougherty, 1856; A. P. Jones, 1850; James Mei- klejohn, 1849; Geo. H. Calkins, 1856 ; P. A. Ilouse, 1854 ; Felix Oborn, 1849; E. S. Waite, 1855; Andrew Meikle- john, 1852; H. S. Baldwin, 1850; H. W. Eldridge, 1849; F. L. LeGro, 1850 ; John Jardine, (deceased) 1859; H. W. Waterman, 1857; J. D. Bailey, 1853; A. Vaughn, 1849 ; S. S. Chandler, 1849. The society does not exclude ladies, a large number, mostly the wives or relatives of early settlers, having enrolled themselves. Any marked omis- sions in the list above will be easily made up by a reference to the early history of the county, and more particularly of the towns, villages and cities. "The Old Settlers' Society is in a most flourishing condition, its president being E. L. Browne, a settler of 1852. and a leading attorney of the county. It numbers about sixty members.

As stated heretofore, Waupaca County is divided into twenty regularly organized towns, the county seat being located at Waupaca. There are two incorporated cities in the county, New London and Waupaca, the former being the larger. New London is situated in the northeastern part of Mukwa. Northport is a thriving little village in the northern portion of the same town. Third in popula- tion is the village of Weyauwega, in the northern part of the town by that name. Clintonville, a wide-awake, bust- ling place, is fourth, it being located in Larrabee. Next comes Manawa, Little Wolf; Northport, Mukwa ; Fremont, town of same name ; Royalton, town of same name ; lola, town of same name; Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence ; Scandi-

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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.

navia, town of same name; Rural, Dayton ; Embarrass, Matteson ; Palfreyville and Crystal River, Dayton. In cases where the regions are among those which were early settled, considerable space is devoted to the history, more perhaps than their present importance would justify. But that " fault " is readily forgiven by the old pioneers who stood the brunt of the fight with nature over thirty years ago.

COUNTY BUILDINGS.

After the early settlers had fairly broken the ground, and made some moderate clearings in the forest, gathered around themselves some five thousand people of like deter- mination, and the fall election of 1855 had decided upon Waupaca as the county seat, the necessity became apparent for the erection of official buildings. The vote was taken November 6, 1855, and on the 14th the County Board met, and resolved to build a court house worth at least $2,000. It was erected, however, by E. J. Putnam, who leased it to the county until January 13, 1862, when it became public property. Lyman Dayton was chairman of the cominittee which finally effected the transfer. In November, 1866, the Supervisors also concluded that the county needed a jail,

earnest father. The drum and fife outside continued their noisy summons, the captain exhorted, but the second volun- teer did not come. The crowd of several hundred people left the hall, and Capt. Bragg left for Fond du Lac and his company with his solitary boy volunteer. The subsequent history of Hardy is thus traced by one who knew him : " Young Hardy went into the army with a boy's enthu- siasm, and, boy-like, his fervor soon ebbed. He served two years or more, faithfully doing his duty, then deserted and went North. For several weeks he traveled through New England, and finally brought up in New York City, where he boldly went into the office of the Provost Marshal and acknowledged his desertion. He was arrested, but was soon after pardoned on condition that he re-enlist for three years. He rejoined his regiment all the better for his escapade.

" He was taken prisoner in 1864, and confined in the shambles at Andersonville. After many months of starva- tion and agonizing suffering he died, and his grave is unknown among the hundreds who gave up their lives in that modern Gehenna."

In 1862, William H. Searles was Principal of the village

WAUPACA.

and $3,000 was appropriated for its erection. Before the buildings were finished, during the next year, the expendi- tures had risen to $7,725. The contractors were S. R. Sherwin and R. R. Roberts.

WAUPACA DURING THE WAR.

As a rule, Waupaca County responded promptly and generously to the appeal for aid made during the first years of the war. Company B, Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry, a Weyauwega organization, was the first raised, Asa Worden, of Waupaca, going out with it as Captain. The village thus redeemed itself from the reproaches which were cast up by other more enthusiastic places, that she was lukewarm, even cold toward the Union cause. The war meeting held in early June had much to do with arousing this hostile feeling toward Weyauwega. Capt. E. S. Bragg, of Fond du Lac, addressed the meeting in his most ringing and stirring tones, but his audience appeared to consider the matter as something of a joke, and when he called for vol- unteers only one gaunt, loose-jointed youth of sixteen came forward and signed his name, amid mingled laughter, cheers and ridicule. His name was Eugene F. Hardy, and had imbibed strong anti-slavery ideas, young as he was, from an

school, and he gave mortal offense to the good people by allowing his pupils to sing "John Brown's Body." A serious schism broke out in the village over the question, whether the school should not be closed to prevent the incendiary song from being sung. Col. Peter Meiklejohn, Dr. Post, Jerome Crocker, Mr. Matthews, I. C. Hardy, John B. Strain and Louis Bosteds took an active part in the discussion, which at one time threatened bloodshed and anarchy. The School Trustees finally brought about a ces- sation of hostilities, by ordering Mr. Searles to stop singing the pestiferous song, under pain of instant dismissal.

When the war was fairly upon the country, Waupaca was up in arms. Over 1,100 troops were raised, comprising Co. A, 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry ; Co. A. 42d; Co. D, 50th ; Co. B, 14th ; Co. B, 38th; Co. G, 31st, and portions of a company of the First and Third Wisconsin Cavalry.

WAUPACA.

The town bearing this name, in which the city is located, is situated south of St. Lawrence and west of Royalton. The first settlers were E. C. Sessions, J. and W. B. Hib- bard, W. G. Cooper and J. M. Vaughan, who came there

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

MOSSENGTONLY

GREEN WOOD PARK.

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HISTORY OF WAUPACA COUNTY.

June 9, 1849. In the fall of the same year arrived David Scott, Dana Dewey, A. M. Garde, and others less well known. The first child born was Mary Hibbard, a daughter of Joseph Hibbard, May 25, 1850. The first schoolhouse was built in 1851, and, the first teacher was Miss Dora Thompson (now Mrs. Le Gro), in 1850; the first church by the Methodists in 1853, in what is now the Fourth Ward of the city. The first sermon was preached by Rev. Silas Miller, a Methodist minister, in 1850, at the house of J. M. Vaughn. The town was organized in 1851. The first saw-mill was built in 1850 by Silas Miller, and the first grist-mill by W. C. Lord and Wilson Holt, in 1851. The first post office was established in 1851, with Capt. D. Scott for Postmaster, the first mail route being from Green

Moss Emt . Co N.Y

HOTEL AND TERRACE, GREENWOOD PARK.

Bay to Plover. W. G. Cooper built the first house in 1849. The first law suit was held before S. F. Ware, Justice of the Peace, in 1850-Capt. Spencer vs. L. W. Thayer.

The city of Waupaca is situated upon the Waupaca River, a tributary of the Wolf, in the southwestern part of the county, and abont fourteen miles from New London. It is very pleasantly located upon both banks of the river, with two beautiful little sheets of water-Mirror and Shadow Lakes-within the city limits. A short walk in any direction from its business center will lead one to nat- ural scenes which the artist's eye is quick to catch and enthusiastic to record The surface of the land is quite irregular, in some places being broken up by huge bowlders and outcroppings of Azoic rocks. A short distance to the northeast, near the Wisconsin Central depot, is a large tract sprinkled thickly with these formations. The rocks, veined

in places with quartz, are blocked out as regularly as if some gigantic mason had been at work. The ponderous mounds and ledges have been partially overgrown with ver- dure. The contrast between the bright green and the som- ber gray and the fantastic shapes which the outcrops have taken, make a scene quite picturesque. Mirror and Shadow lakes, referred to, lie to the south of the city, are connected by a channel fifteen or twenty feet wide, being charming resorts for lovers of boating and fishing. About three miles west of the city is a chain of eight lakes ; some call the number twelve, which, in the season, are brilliant and flashing gems. They are called "She-she.pe-ko-naw "- "Stretching Waters "-the chain being five miles in length, and stretching into the towns of Farmington and Dayton.

VIEW FROM SEVEN PINES, GREENWOOD PARK.

They are studded with islands; pickerel, black and white bass, perch and trout, make the water alive ; and, in places, the scenery is rugged and picturesque. The lakes have already been stocked with thousands of trout, and further appropriations are expected. Parties who do not incline to piscatorial sports have secluded and cool haunts scattered in every direction. Arthur Rice, who has charge of the boats, knows every nook and cranny within the five miles stretch of lake and island. In additional to these facilities a jaunty little steamer plies the lakes for the pleasure of those who do not desire either the exertion of boating or fishing. Possible in that party may be some antiquarian who is an enthusiast in the investigation of the mysteries of the Mound-Builders. His thirst is quenched by taking his bearings for the east and southeast shores of the lake. Mounds cluster there in every shape and size, ranging all

IOSO

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

the way from small heaps of earth to fair-sized fortresses. Stone chisels, hatchets and other implements of industry and war have been dug from their burial places, indicating by their appearance and form that the spot must have been a favorite one for the primitive tribes who long preceded the red man. One of the largest mounds, which extends from northeast to southwest. is fully fifteen rods long and four feet high. Its summit is covered by a thick growth of oak, some of the trees being two feet through-regular patri- archs of the forest. And long after the Mound- Builders were dead and buried the Indians found this a convenient stopping-place. Appearances indicate that they had once established quite a flourishing village in the large clearing, within which the mounds are chiefly located. In short, there is some source of pleasure open to everybody, no matter how he is constituted. And an entre to these delights is within the reach of the most economical. There is no resort in the Northwest where those of moderate means can so fully and so cheaply enjoy themselves as this which the Greenwood Park Association is building up. The aim of its originators has been accomplished. The hotel is in charge of experienced ladies, the wives of well- known citizens of Waupaca. Visitors can, if they wish, rent cottages and take their meals at the house, or stop at the hotel altogether. The freshest of everything is sup- plied in season ; the drinking water is better than medicine; the pure and fresh air is better than either. The shores, sandy and gradually sloping, seem to have been created especially for bathers.

The officers of the association who have made all this possible are : President, A. J. Van Epps ; Treasurer, W. J. Chamberlain ; Secretary, S. T. Ritchie: Board of Directors, A. J. Van Epps, S. T. Ritchie, William A. West. W. J. Chamberlain and Charles Churchill. The association was organized in the spring of 1881, and forty- three acres of splendid wooded land were purchased in the town of Farmington. Section 34, Lot 8. The tract is cov- ered principally with a profuse growth of oak, pine, birch and poplar, and borders Hick's Lake, the third one of the chain, for one hundred rods. This body of water is three quarters of a mile long by one-half broad, and shelters three islands, the largest of which is nine acres in extent. The building, which has been finished for the accommoda- tion of guests faces this island, standing about midway down the lake on the east shore. It is three stories high, the main portion being 30x36, with a wing 22x32 feet. If visitors do not desire hotel accommodations, cottages or camping sites can be obtained for any length of time by addressing the Secretary of the Association. Taylor's Grove, in which is a small hotel erected by David Taylor in the spring of 1881. is another pleasant locality. The Waupaca Rowing Club is also a source of attraction and pleasure to summer visitors. Its boat house is neat ; it has several first class shells, and its membership is drawn from some of the best young men of the eitv. The officers for 1881 are : Maj. R. N. Roberts, President ; George Lines, Vice President ; T. L. Jeffers, Captain ; C. R. Hudson, Secretary ; G. A. Brunson. Ed. Mesmer and T. L. Jeffers, Directors. Maj. Roberts also owns a splen hid driving park, half-mile track, where horses with a record are being con- stantly trained. With attractive natural scenery, boating, fishing, racing, pure air, pure water, good society, Waupaca will grow into one of the favorite summer resorts of the Northwest.

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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