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 69

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 69

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CHARLES G. FLOOD, saloon, Unity Born in Kronaberj, Sweden, Dec. 24, 1850; emigrated to America in 1873; landed in New York ; came to Unity, then called Brighton, where he worked for the railroad company, first under his brother, then alone ; having a section in Dor- chester, bought some lots in the village, and built residence and saloon in 1878. In 1877, he married Miss Lonisa Bauka, of Waupaca County. They have one child, two years old, Elsie Christina. Mr. F. is agent for the Emigration Bureau ; has been Constable for two years. Both himself and wife are members of the Lutheran Church.

G. W. PETERSON, farmer and lumberman, Unity. Born in Nor- thumberland Co., Canada, on Prince Edward's Island, Jan. 16. 1847. Ile was raised on a farm, and in 1863, went to New York ; engaged in dairy and cheese factory, coming to Clark County in the Fall of 1865 ; worked on the river and in the woods until 1869, when he took a home- stead, and together with his brother, made what was known as the Peterson settlement, in the town of Colby. He left the farm, and took a trip to California ; returned, and bought ten lots in village of Unity. and built in 1877. Next year, took a trip to Texas ; came back, and farms in the Summer, and lumbers Winters. In 1870, he married Miss Mary A. Rausimer, of Loyal. They have three children-Grace A., Mary and Warren. Mr. P. has been Town Treasurer, three years, and Asses- sor, four years. Ile belongs to the I. O. O. F., and is P. G. of the Encampment.

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

J. A. PETTET, merchant, Unity, was horn in Jefferson Co., N. Y., Aug. 4, 1843. Ilis parents came to Wisconsin, stopping in Sheboygan County, town of Green Bush, on a farm, where he staid till he waseighteen years of age. He then enlisted in the Sth Wis. V .; served four years, and enlisted again in Saulsbury, Tenn., and in taking the Spanish Fort in front of Mobile, was shot in the ankle joint and lost his foot ; nineteen days afterwar 1, rejoined his regiment, and, in 1865, opened a restaurant and grocery in Sheboygan County, but soon after peddled notions through the country. In 1867, went to house carpenter work. Ile then opened a store in New Castle, Fond du Lac Co., where he was till IS78, and came to Unity, buying his property, and now carries a stock of $3 000 to $5.000, and does a business of $15.000 per year; also runs a livery stable. In 1865, he married Miss Mary Crane, of Sheboygan County. She died June 29. 1869, leaving two children, James E. and Charles S. Ile was married again, in 1876, to Miss Elizabeth Burrell, of Saukville. They have two children, O,well A., four years of age, and Marshall, two years of age. Mr. P. was Town Clerk and Justice in ISSo, and belongs to the 1. O. O. F., also to the Encampment of Brighton, holding the position of C. P. in the lodge.

N. C. RANSOM, merchant, Unity, was born in Otsego Co., N. Y., Nov 27. 1832. Ilis pirents moved to Cattaraugus County, where they were till IS45. N. C. attending school and working on the farm. 1Ie then went to Walworth County, and here worked at the carpenter and joiner's trade. Returning to his old home in New York, he went into the woods for Franklin & Tape, and then came west to Walworth Co., Wis., working for Elgar Topping and Judge Cotton, and then with the Bridge Construction Company at Dixon, Ill. Soon after this, he mar- ried Miss Catherine Eliza Coggins, of Mt. Morris. In 1854, he went into Waite & Bildwin's saw-mill, at Farmington, then made reapers for Heath, Riley & Donelson, and, in 1859, took a trip to Pike's Peak ; stopped in Kansas, and returned to Wisconsin, where he cleared and im- proved a farm. Ile enlisted, in 1863, in the quartermaster's department; in 1864. in Co. IJ, 47 h Wis. V. In 1865, he sold his farm, and tried another location ; but his wife not liking it. returned and took a farm next to the old one ; sold out in 1868, and went to Eau Claire in busi- ness in the firm of Powell, Ransom & Bros., and was employed at differ- ent things till October, 1875, when he came to Unity, Clark Co .; went into business with S. A Cook at first, then into the business he now operates, also owning the Forest House. llis children are : Harvey A. (deceased). Franklin O. (now on his farm in Nebraska), Lucy A. (de- ceased), Clara E., Arthur E. and Herbert A. Mr R. is now Town Clerk of Unity, Justice of the Peace and County Commissioner of Poor.

ABBOTSFORD.

This is in Clark County, at the junction of the Chippewa Falls Railroad with the Wisconsin Central, which was com- pleted in the Fall of 1880. It is 3 miles north of Colby, 218

miles from Milwaukee, and 132 from Ashland, the northern terminus of the Central.

It is in the midst of a dense forest, with a wide variety of timber. Several hundred acres at this point have been cleared, and a village laid out on the east of the railroad, to the Marathon County line, a few blocks away. The streets, at right angles with the railroad, are named, begin- ning at the north, Pine, Maple, Cedar, Oak, Birch, Spruce ; parallel with the railroad, the streets are called, First, Sec- ond, Third and Division streets.

One year old, the village has a depot, with an eating house seating 136, and with twenty-one sleeping rooms, and about twenty other buildings.

William Livingston has a good hotel on Second street, nearly opposite the depot. S. A. Cook has a store with gen- eral merchandise. Then there are three saloons and one restaurant. John Johnson keeps the railroad hotel, called the Abbot Hotel. Charles Partridge is Postmaster. Roads are constructing, and a lumber yard is already located here, and when the line from Wausau reaches the place, as is con- templated, it must become the center of an active hardwood manufacturing interest, and ultimately of a farming one.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

J. F. JOHNSTON, railroad hotel, Abbotsford. Born in Herker- mer Co., N. V., July S, 1822. Raised on a farm, where he remained till he came to Jefferson Co., Wis., locating in the town of Lake Mills, where his cousin, A. D. Tavill, is now doing an extensive dairy business. Then going to Neenah, he was romantically wedded under the old council tree, and settled down to farming. He pioneered to Appleton, Outaga- mie Co., in 1848, living there till the time of the civil war, when he went into service with the 21st Wis. V. I , Col. G. B. Sweet, getting home in 1864, and opened the Johnston Ilouse, and since has been in the hotel business. Ile kept the Sherman Ilouse at Minnesota Junction, Wis., in 1867; the Merchant's Hotel, of Chicago, just before it burned ; opened Farmer's Ilall Dining Rooms, then to his old hotel, called the Lavake House ; was in the hotel business in Milwaukee, and in Green Lake. On the 25th of July, ISSo, he opened the Abbott House, where he is doing a good business. In 1846, he married Miss Jenette M. Finch, of New York. They have two children, William Il. and Emma (now Mrs. D. F. Canfield) of Fond du Lac. Mr. Johnston has served in various offi- cial capacities while at Appleton, and was the first Postmaster of that place. Ile belongs to the Masons, is high Templar in the Fond du Lac commandery. The Methodist Episcopal Church, of Appleton. was or- ganized in his house ; of this church Mr. Johnston is a member.

253

HISTORY OF DOOR COUNTY.

DOOR COUNTY.

NATURAL ADVANTAGES.

The county consists of the peninsula in Northeast- ern Wisconsin, between Green Bay and Lake Miehi- gan. Its extreme northern town, Washington, is an island, separated from the main land by the legendary Porte des Morts-" the Door of Death "-from which the county takes its name. Chambers Island, west of the county, is a part of the town of Gibralter. Door County is sixty miles long and, on an average, sixteen miles in width. The streams which water the county are small, but numerous, while several lakes or ponds, connected by creeks with the big lake, materially add to the water supply, and make the country good for stock raising. Kangaroo and Clark lakes, which are partly in the towns of Bailey's Harbor and Jackson- port and in Jacksonport and Sevastopol, are the largest.

The grasses grown in Door County are sweet and nourishing, and sheep raising is gaining quite a foot- hold in the favor of the farming element. Attention is, therefore, being turned, as in Kewaunee County, to the products of the dairy. Last year over 100,000 pounds of butter were made, Forestville and Clay Banks, in the southern part of the county, leading. Throughont the county $50,000 is invested in milch cows. Wheat and oats are the leading farm products, the soil generally being a strong clayey loam, which does not easily wear out. Wheat, especially, flour- ishes in the lower tier of towns, though Union is grown almost entirely to corn, and the town of Liberty Grove, at the extreme north of the peninsula, raises some of the largest crops of both grains in the county.

LUMBERING INTERESTS.

Particular attention has been given to the agricul- tural advantages and prospects of Door County, as of all those sections of Northern and Northeastern Wis- consin, which have heretofore depended for their pros- perity almost entirely upon the manufacture of lum- ber. Under the never ceasing inroads of energetic business men, the forests in Door County are dwindl- ing, and before many years the people will have to turn their strength into the land, or other manufac- tures. The bulk of the supply of logs for the large mills in Sturgeon Bay is even now cut on the west shore of Green Cay, and towed across that body of water and through the canal to their destination. Over 40,000 acres of timber are yet growing in Door County, but as there are no streams of any size through which to raft the logs, either to the lake or the bay, the diffi- culty of getting the home product to market is at once realized. There are, therefore, no saw-mills north of Sturgeon Bay, except two small establishments in Lib- erty Grove and Jacksonport. The only large manu- factories are located in that village-the mill of the

Sturgeon Bay Lumber Company (A. W. Laurence, secretary and active manager) ; the shingle manufac- tory of Messrs. Scofield & Co., one of the most exten- sive in Wisconsin, and the mill of Messrs. George O. & A. M. Spear, which turns out more long timber than any other establishment of the kind in Wisconsin. Small saw and shingle mills are in operation in Forest- ville and Clay Banks. More particular information of the extent of the lumber and shingle manufacturing of Door County will be found in the business and bi- ographical department.

STURGEON BAY SHIP CANAL.

That this topic branches out from a local to county and even State interest no one is so foolhardy as to deny. To the lumbermen of Door County, and of all this section of Wisconsin, has it been of inestimable valne.

If any one will draw a short line from the head of Sturgeon Bay, in a direction slightly south by east, to Lake Michigan, he will trace, on paper, the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. It is thus now recorded on maps of Wisconsin, but before that short line could be printed, much hard and unrewarded labor was performed. The neck of land to be cut, which separated the waters of Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan, was one mile and a half in width. This undertaking accomplished, on on each trip from Chicago to Green Bay ports 150 miles of dangerous travel would be saved, around and through Porte des Morts. Over twenty-one years ago a man of small physique, but of true English pluek and of insight into the requirements of commerce and navigation, commenced to agitate what was then con- sidered a wild scheme. Joseph Harris, Sr., is to this improvement what Morgan L. Martin is to the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers' improvement. He spent the best years of his life in bring to completion a great under- taking, which brought prosperity to other doors than his own. In 1860, Mr. Harris began to bring the en- terprise to the notice of every one who he believed might forward it, but he met with small encouragement at home. In 1864, he was elected to the State Senate, and drew up a charter of incorporation, which passed as a harmless act, at least. The list of incorporators, however, precluded any further scoffing by unbelievers. They were William B. Ogden, Freeland B. Gardner, Thomas H. Beebe, Jesse Spalding and A. E. Goodrich, of Chicago; Alexander Mitchell, Anson Eldred and Daniel Wells, of Milwaukee; Joseph Harris and George Bennett, of Sturgeon Bay ; A. P. Lyman, of Sheboygan ; Charles D. Robinson, Henry S. Baird, George Strong, Andrew E. Elmore, II. F. Waring, James S. Baker and F. S. Schettler, of Green Bay ; Andrew Reed, of Depere ; William M. Whitcomb and Uri Balcom, of Oconto ; Edwin C. French, of l'eshtigo ; Richard S. Fay, of Boston ; George P. Smith, of Phil-

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

adelphia ; Elisha Riggs, of Washington. D. C. : J. S. Speirgelberg and David Magie, of New York; Elias Gill, of Hartford, Conn .. and William G. McMaster. of Lockport, N. Y. The widely extended territory indicated by the localities mentioned above but faintly illustrates the arduous labors performed by Mr. Harris from the conception of the canal in 1860 to its feeble birth in 1864. The next year he repaired to Washing- ton to fight for a land grant. The Wisconsin members of the Lower House thought his request-200,000 acres-too large. Senators Howe and Doolittle, how- ever, assisted him in drawing up a bill which passed the Upper House, but he left it to what proved its death in the House of Representatives. He received the comforting news in Madison, while serving out his term as State Senator, that the bill had failed to pass by two votes. In 1866, he spent all his time in Wash- ington ; the bill passed, and under authority from Gov. Fairchild, he located the lands during the same Fall. On October 4, 1866, the company organized by elect- ing William B. Ogden, president ; Alexander Mitchell, vice-president, and Joseph Harris, secretary and treas- urer. Soon after, the latter had an interview with Messrs. Ogden and Mitchell, in New York City, and being told that 200,000 acres was hardly a sufficient grant to induce capitalists to take hold of the enter- prise, he introduced bills before Congress, from 1868 to 1873, for another 200,000 acres. The grant time expired, and was twice renewed, the bills failing in the House in 1870 and 1872. In the latter year, Congress declared against the policy of land grants, which put an embargo upon the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, tem- porarily.

A survey had already been made in 1867 by A. E. Thompson, formerly in the employ of the Peshtigo Company, the proposed route being three-quarters of a mile north of that finally chosen. It was two miles in length. It would seem, then, that by this action of Congress five years later, all the hard preparatory work would go for naught. But, though the first sur- vey was abandoned, the canal was to go through. At this time, 1871, Mr. Harris was secretary to Hon. Phi- letus Sawyer, Chairman of the Committee on River and Harbor Appropriations. The two buckled on their armor, and an item was inserted providing for a new survey by the Government, and an examination of the lake shore for a harbor of refuge. Henceforward, Mr. Sawyer was a faithful and consistent friend to the im- provement, and to his labors in Congress is its comple- tion greatly due. The bill passed, which opened the way for the 840,000 appropriation which quickly fol- lowed. Under the direction of Capt. W. T. Casgrain the new survey was made in 1871, and the old route abandoned ; since then the Government has had charge of the harbor and the company of the canal. Since 1872, Capt. Casgrain has acted as chief engineer of the canal company, and G. H. Sager as superintendent of construction since 1878. The provision of the incorpo- rating act, therefore, still held good that the Company was to receive the lands from the State in one-quarter installments, as fast as the work was completed.

On the 8th of July, 1872, the first shovelful of earth was scooped from the bed of the future canal, by the dredge, Gutches. Joseph Harris and Chief Engineer

Casgrain were aboard as the only "outside visitors." In 1873 the Legislature authorized the company to mortgage their lands to the extent of $350,000. This would be security for bonds which were to be issued to that amount. Although work was pushed on the ca- nal in 1873-4, and one-quarter of the work completed. nothing was done in 1875-6. Finding that the bonds could not be negotiated, in 1877 the first 50,000 acres of land was put up at auction, and, with the proceeds, work resumed. During that year, the second quarter was completed, the lands sold in May, 1879, and the work continued. The next month, Congress appropri- ated $30,000 for the harbor improvement. In the meantime, the waters of the lake and bay had rushed together. Their union was celebrated privately and informally, Friday, June 28, at 7:30 P. M. Two dredges under the control of Messrs. Norman Mathei- son and Richard Kirby worked toward each other until only two feet of earth separated the waters of Stur- geon Bay and Lake Michigan. Superintendent Sager cut this with a shovel, and the current soon enlarged the opening so as to admit the passage of a row-boat, commanded by Capt. Casgrain. The formal celebration took place on the 4th of July. After a dinner at Mu- sic Hall, the invited guests and others proceeded to the Public Square. Gen. W. E. Strong presided over the ceremonies. Speeches were made by that gentleman, Sen. T. O. Howe, Gov. William E. Smith, George B. Smith, J. B. Cassoday, Jesse Spaulding and T. B. Chy- noweth, such visitors from abroad being present as Congressman Philetus Sawyer, State Senator George Grummer, William Pitt Lynde, George H. Paul, Perry H. Smith, P. V. Deuster, James H. Howe, Harrison Ludington, J. T. Scammon, C. J. L. Myers, Abner Kirby, etc. The canal was thus formally baptized, and its useful existence sanctioned by leading citizens of Wisconsin. But it was completed merely in the rough.

In the Summer of 1880, three-quarters of the work was finished, and light-draft vessels and larger unloaded craft passed safely through. By the close of naviga- tion, 1882, it is expected that the canal and harbor will have been completed, forming one of the most nse- ful improvements and the finest harbors of refuge for lake mariners any where to be found on the Great Chain.

The canal proper is 7,400 feet long and 100 feet wide. Along its banks for 3,300 feet on each side from the harbor extend protecting piers or revetments. At right angles to these, extending from the harbor en- trance, are two sections of piers, 350 feet in length. Safety is further afforded by long stretches of close pile piers and crib-work extending 1,350 feet into the lake. It is proposed also to build an outside break- water. and it is anticipated that the season of 1882 will witness passage through the canal and their safe refuge from storm, of the largest vessels afloat upon the lakes. It is the aim to obtain a uniform depth of water, which will float vessels drawing from fifteen to sixteen feet of water. Up to the close of navigation in 1881, $352,- 000 had been expended upon the canal and $120,000 upon the harbor.

Before the entire improvement, or the series of im- provements contemplated, is completed, it is estimated

255

HISTORY OF DOOR COUNTY.

that three-quarters of a million of dollars will have been expended. Much work upon the government piers yet remains to be done, and both sides of the ca- nal, the entire length, will be protected with the sub- stantially constructed sheet-piling which has been built nearly half the distance. Besides leveling, stone fill- ing, dredging and a hundred little things which yet re- main, a series of lights are in process of erection which will go far to make the Green Bay entrance to the ca- nal a harbor of refuge also. In fact, the whole length of water from Green Bay to Lake Michigan will be- come a grand refuge, the Lighthouse Board having determined to erect one light at the Green Bay entrance opposite Sherwood Point, two range lights on the "middle ground" (Dunlap's Reef) opposite the village of Sturgeon Bay, and another at the harbor entrance.

Every business man who owns property in Sturgeon Bay or Door County, is sure to say, at some time or another, " The canal has made us.'

THE WAR QUOTA.

The quota of troops for Door County was 207; total credits, 145. A number of her boys in blue went into Company F, Thirty-second Infantry, and others were scattered in different hardy Wisconsin compa- nies. In war times Door County was but thinly set- tled, but she did what was to the best of her ability.

TRADITIONAL AND EARLY HISTORY.

Porte des Morts-" The Door of Death "-has been closed to the navigator of northern Lake Michigan by the construction of the canal, but tradition still keeps alive a story of many who passed through never to return. When the Jesuit Fathers were battling for the cross 200 ago in Brown County, it is said that the Pottawatomies made Washington Island their ren- dezvous, obtaining their game from the peninsula just across the way. All Indian tribes are more jealous of their hunting grounds than they are of their wives, and the Pottawatomies were no exception to the rule. When they heard, therefore, that the Chippewas had invaded their territory, and were ruthlessly cutting off their base of supplies, they assembled their braves in a mighty flotilla of canoes, which drew up in battle array upon the west shore of Detroit Island, just south of Washington. While midway in their passage across "Death's Door," but by that name then un- known, a furious white squall came galloping over the waters from the south, rushed upon their frail barks and scattered them to the winds, and the warriors to their graves. For many days the bodies were washed upon the shores of Detroit Island, and the waiters and watchers there buried their dead and deserted the fear- ful region of desolation. Fate, or, in other words, the Evil Spirit, had favored the fortunes of the Chippewas. It had rushed from the bluffs of the land they occu- pied and destroyed the flower of the Pottawatomies. The place from whence it came is called Evil Spirit Point, and seldom it is that an Indian of the Potta- watomie tribe will be found within a day's journey of the Door of Death.

The first settlers of Door County located along the shores of Sturgeon Bay. He who had the honor of being the chronological father of them all was Increase Claflin, who came from New York and located with

his family on what is known as Little Sturgeon Point. He and his had considerable trouble with the Indians at first, but upon one occasion threatening to treat them to a lighted barrel of powder when the redskins expected merely fire-water, the greatest braves in all the country round let him severely alone, at last. The date of his settlement was May 1, 1835, and after living nine years on Little Sturgeon Point he removed to Fish Creek, where he resided up to the time of his death, March 5, 1867. His daughter, Adelia, married Robert Stevenson, of Pennsylvania, the second white settler, in May, 1837. Mr. Claflin's house was the only one from Sturgeon Bay to Washington Island until 1847, when William Marshall, of Bay Settlement, Brown County, came to Fish Creek and married an- other daughter. Three years after another daughter was taken away by J. E. Thorpe. Coming back to the settlements near the present site of the Village of Sturgeon Bay, it is found that soon after Claflin located on Little Sturgeon Point, a man by the name of P. Rowley made the west side of the bay, near Sher- wood's Point, his home. In 1840 he removed to Two Creeks, Kewaunee County. In 1836 Peter S. Sherwood, from which the point takes its name, com- menced a clearing, lived alone four years, then went East and brought back a wife. Neil McMullen, the first settler on the east shore (1837), also built his hut to live in as a hermit, and ended his determination by marrying a daughter of Rowley. In 1850, and for five years thereafter, much land was taken up by settlers, who afterward became prominent in county and busi- ness affairs. Anton Thompson, the well-known farm- er, came in 1850; A. W. Laurence, the extensive lumberman, in 1852; Hon. D. A. Reed, the first law- yer, in 1853; Joseph Harris, the originator of the Sturgeon Bay ship canal, in 1855 ; also A. G. Warren, Deputy County Clerk. Many other staid and worthy citizens decided at this time to found homes in "thesc wilds."

POLITICAL.

In 1851 (February 11), Door County, formed from Brown, came into political being, and was attached to Manitowoc County for judicial purposes, the seat of government being fixed at Bailey's Harbor. Alanson Sweet, of Milwaukee, who had invested money in lands there, and built piers and roads, with his accustomed energy, was really at the bottom of the county organ- ization and the county seat location. Washington Town had been organized two years before, by Amos Sanders, being detached from Brown County. Al- though considerable political organization had been going on, exactly what it amounted to, few could explain. When any one was elected to an office during the first six or seven years of the county's existence, his usual course was to take a journey to Green Bay, often through trackless woods, in order to find out what his duties were, where he was expected to perform them, or what he should do, and where he should do it, in order to be officially and legally stamped. For instance : M. E. Lyman, of Egg Harbor, tells how he was elected Justice of the Peace of the town of Washington, and, going to Manitowoc to file his bond, the Clerk of the Circuit Court could not say positively whether the

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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