USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Memoirs of Milwaukee County : from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Milwaukee County, Volume I > Part 12
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II2
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
for licenses during the year 1838 was $435 ; fines, $27.50; jury fees in district court. $24 ; amount received from A. J. Vieau on tax of 1837, $82.19 ; amount received on delinquent returns of the tax of 1837, $157.67 ; and the amount received on the tax list of 1838 was $4,234.23. These several sums amounted to $7,900.43, which left outstanding against the county, orders to the amount of $1,456.56. There was cash in the hands of the treasurer, however, at the time of the making of this report, to the amount of $221.76, which made the county debt on Jan. 12, 1839, $1,234.80.
The above figures are of interest in showing the financial condi- tion of the county in its days of infancy, and also for the purpose of comparison with the figures of the present decade. This report was made in 1839, and a third of a century later, in 1872, the tax of the county was $1,087,192, divided as follows : Total county tax, $215,341 ; total of town, city and village tax, $769,614 ; state tax, $102,237. Dur- ing a more recent period, in the years given below, the state and local taxes in Milwaukee county were as follows :
Total County Total town, city Tax.
State Tax.
Year.
1875.
$195,600.00
and village tax. $1,068,111.00
$79,730.10
Total. $1,343,441.10
1876.
132,100.00
1,082,025.00
94,827.06
1,308,952.06
1877
I 50,000.00
1,004,639.00
82,923.00
1,237,562.00
1878
209,348.00
985,924.00
110,216.00
1,305,488.00
1879
310,000.00
785,545.05
55,844.33
1, 151,389.38
188I
437,320.20
1,567,559.18
90,301.07
2,095,180.25
1882
493,891.89
1,339,299.57
94,718.45
1,927,909.91
I90I
688,662.53
2,881,614.65
563.305.12
4,133,582.30
I903
1,065,971.76
3,271,790.91
246,207.25
4,583,969.92
1905.
1,231,765.89
3,680,524.37
239,618.36
5,151,908.62
A statement of the items of all county taxes, exclusive of town, city and village taxes, shows that in 1903 the total was $1,065,971.76, of which $801,275.31 was for county purposes, $262,696.45 for the county school tax, and $2,000 for the salary of the superintendent of schools. In 1905, $990,631.93 was for county purposes, $238,533.96 for the county school tax, and $2,600 for the salary of the superintendent of schools. Of the town, city and village taxes, in 1903, $15,000 was for loans or interest, $89,056.31 for school district tax, $36,610.04 for high- way tax, $1,478.50 for poll tax. $39,042.14 for all other purposes, and $486.39 overrun of tax roll. In 1905, $3,650 was for loans or interest, $124.739.28 for school district tax, $78,189.94 for highway tax, $1,-
II3
ROADS, BUILDINGS AND FINANCES
585.50 for poll tax, $23,182.25 for all other purposes, and $532.28 over- run of the tax roll.
In 1904 there were special levies as follows : For special charges, $10,646.97 ; for special loans, $420; for school district loans, $5,791.80; for the mill tax, $229,348.48; a total of $246,207.25; while the reappor- tionment of the mill tax was $219,680.
The following statement will show the purposes for which the county tax was expended in the years given :
Support
County Buildings.
Roads and Salaries of
Court
Year.
of Poor.
Bridges. County Officers. Expenses.
1883 . . .
$58,654.II
$22,012.87
$1,387.90
$85,000.00
$17,177.00
1885. . .
52,941.09
53,915.50
3,129.85
93,450.00
16,491.55
1887 ...
52,500.00
34,000.00
II,000.00
93,000.00
17,500.00
1901 ..
115,389.77
64,679.31
10,754.17
225,397.86
71,072.60
1903 . . . 24,940.02
57,530.88
563.95
238,098.86
67,212.46
1905 . . .
31,413.48
56,349.16
64.00
253,784.96
75,657.29
Sheriff's
Jail Expenses.
Relief for Soldiers.
All other Expenses. $172,363.95
Expended.
1883. . . $2,577.31
$2,362.04
$361,535.18
1885 ...
1,928.96
2,500.99
144,429.61 368,787.55
1887 .. .
5,500.00
177,842.42
391,342.42
1901 ... 21,082.76
$12,667.30
263,694.96
784,738.73
1903 . . . 16,521.73
12,814.50
352,191.34
769,873-74
1905. . . 14,237.88
29,168.72
17,723.80
388,801.75
867,201.04
The total state taxes received from the county in 1902 was $372,- 030.09, the items of which were as follows: Mill tax, $351,795.13; charitable tax, $10,279.38; tax for losses, $5,658.69; accruing taxes, $4,296.89. In 1904 the total state taxes were $248,478.51, divided as follows : Mill tax, $229,348.48; charitable tax, $10,646.97; tax for losses, $6,211.80 ; accruing taxes, $2,271.26.
The following special charges have been levied on the county for charitable institutions, and collected in the years given :
Industrial Home for Care of
State Northern
School for Boys.
Feeble- Chronic
Total
Year. Hospital. Hospital.
1876. . . $1,901.32 $4,400.66
$985.00
$7,286.98 1877 . . . 169.78 7,911.00 1,331.75
9,412.53
1878 ... 229.II 7,797.77
1,321.25
.... 9,348.13
Total Tax
Year.
Accounts.
Minded. Insane. Charitable.
8
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MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
1879. . .
195.63
7,960.38
1,372.25
·
9,528.26
1880. . .
182.51
5,477.54
992.79
. ...
6,652.84
1881. . . 112.16
515.87
1,140.16
.. . 1,768.19
1882. ..
74.57
386.04
974.27
. ..
1,434.88
1884. .
304.21
891.00
...
1,195.2I
1885. .
224.34
1,101.00
... .
1,325.34
1886. ..
135.85
1,106.57
... .
1,242.42
1887 ...
82.1I
78.21
1,550.56
. ... .
1,710.88
1888. . .
21.86
78.68
1,553.00
1,653.54
1890. . .
78.76
2,129.57
2,208.33
1901. .
742.53
2,877.29
$6,574.64 $84.91
10,279.38
1903 . . .
554.91
2,734.98
7,276.27
80.81
10,646.97
1906. ..
95.41
169.73
5,028.58
10,760.30
83.00
16,137.02
Special levies have been made at different times for the repayment of interest and loans of state funds to school districts, etc. In 1901 the total amount thus levied was $5,658.69, of which $5,208.65 was for school district loans and $450 for special loans ; in 1903 the total amount was $6,211.80, of which $5.791.80 was for school district loans and $420 for special loans ; and in 1906 the amount was $7,925.26, of which $7.535.26 was for school district loans and $390 for special loans.
In 1901 taxes to the amount of $4,296.89 were collected in Mil- waukee county and accrued by law to the state, the sources from which they were obtained being as follows: Suit tax, $934; legacy tax, $2,- 666.48 ; vessel tonnage tax, $696.41. In 1903 the amount collected by suit tax was $1,145, and from vessel tonnage tax $1,126.26, making a total of $2,271.26. In 1905 the amounts were : From suit tax, $1,262; from inheritance tax, $34,041.95: from vessel tonnage tax, $169.17; making a total of $35,473.12, all of which accrued by law to the state.
CHAPTER VIII.
POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS.
EARLY ELECTIONS AND ISSUES-PARTY DIVISIONS-CELEBRATION OF THE ELECTION OF HARRISON AND TYLER-CAMPAIGN FOR TIIE FIRST CON- STITUTION-ASCENDANCY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY-REPUBLICAN SINCE 1880-CAMPAIGN OF 1896-HENRY C. PAYNE-UNITED STATES SENATORS-GOVERNORS-OTHER STATE OFFICIALS-PERSONAL MEN- TION.
In giving the political history of Milwaukee county it will be necessary, although to some extent a repetition, to begin with the year of 1835, when the county first acquired an independent po- litical organization. In that year, as the reader of these pages will recall, Albert Fowler received the appointment as county clerk from the governor of Michigan territory. The governor also com- missioned for the county of Milwaukee a chief justice and two associates, a judge of probate, seven justices of the peace, and a sheriff, the recipient of the last named commission being Benoni W. Finch. Milwaukee was the county seat, and the county clerk was ex-officio register of deeds.
The first election held in Milwaukee county took place in September, 1835. It was held in the house of Solomon Junean, at the southeast corner of East Water and Michigan streets, where the Mitchell Building now stands. This election was held for the purpose of organizing the township of Milwaukee, in pursu- ance of an act passed by the Michigan territorial legislature, ap- proved March 17, 1835. Section 12 of this act provided as follows :
"That the county of Milwawkie shall compose a township by the name of Milwawkie, and the first township meeting shall be held on the first Monday of September next, at the house of Solo- mon Juneaux."
II6
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
During the summer of 1836 occurred the first enumeration of the inhabitants of the county to serve as a basis for the apportion- ment of members of the Wisconsin territorial legislature. The population of the county was found to be 2,893, of whom 1,328 were returned as living within four miles of the mouth of the Mil- waukee river. The first election under the new apportionment was held on the second Monday in October, 1836, and there were seven polling places in the county, only one of which was within its pres- ent limits. There were 781 votes cast in the county, 449 of which were polled in the Milwaukee precinct. The issues on which legis- lative candidates appealed for votes at this election were the loca- tion of the state capital, the division of counties and the location of county seats, and-last, but by no means least, so far as Mil- waukee county was concerned-the question of local improve- ments, including the projected Milwaukee and Rock river canal, which has been mentioned at considerable length on preceding pages.
In 1837 the Sentinel was started, in the interest of Juneau and the East Side, the Advertiser having been established on the West Side in the interest of Kilbourn. The Advertiser was stoutly Demo- cratic. The Sentinel began as a Democratic paper, but before long passed out of Juneau's ownership and became the organ of the faction which, when the time grew propitious for the avowal of the real principles of the proprietors, declared itself upon the side of the Whigs.
At the county election held in March, 1838, county commis- șioners were elected for the first time. County business had pre- viously been transacted in Milwaukee by a board of supervisors. but a legislative act passed in December, 1837. provided for the substitution of a board of three commissioners. At this election there were two county tickets in the field, and the one supported by the Sentinel was defeated. In the political campaign of the fall of 1838, which marked the spirited contest between George W. Jones and James Duane Doty for election as delegate to Congress, and in which the latter was successful, the cry of "duelist" suc- ceeded in turning a large number of votes in Milwaukee county against the defeated candidate, he having acted as second for Con- gressman Cilly in the fatal duel with Congressman Graves. At the same election Alanson Sweet, who had been active against the canal in the legislative assembly, was defeated as a candidate for a scat in the territorial council, as was also his running mate. George Reed, while Daniel Wells, Jr., and William A. Prentiss
II7
POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS
were elected. The delegates elected from Milwaukee county to the Territorial House of Representatives were Augustus Story. Ezekiel Churchill, William Shew, Lucius I. Barber, and Henry C. Skinner. The convention at which these successful candidates were nominated adopted a resolution declaring opposition to all secret societies.
The signs of a party division of the political forces in Mil- waukee county were noticeable in many directions in 1838. The Sentinel, beginning in April of that year. published a series of articles under the heading "The Aristocracy of Office," which con- tained thinly disguised attacks upon Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, and openly and bitterly assailed the administration of Governor Dodge, asserting that he was unfit to discharge the duties of chief executive of the territory, and that he ought not to be reappointed, at the expiration of his term in 1839. A local application was given to these assaults by bringing in Byron Kil- bourn and Congressman Jones as objects of censure with Jackson and Dodge. The Advertiser responded by warmly defending all the men whom the Sentinel assailed, and lauding the political prin- ciples and policies which they represented. In 1839 there were two nominating conventions held for the purpose of selecting can- didates for the position of delegate in Congress from Wisconsin territory. One of these conventions placed James Duane Doty again in the field and the other nominated Byron Kilbourn. Thomas P. Burnett ran as an independent. The Sentinel sup- ported Doty, who was elected by a majority over both Kilbourn and Burnett. In Milwaukee county the vote stood 379 for Doty. 362 for Kilbourn and 54 for Burnett. The Democratic ticket was generally defeated and the Democratic-Republicans scored a vic- tory. Although the last named was distinctly a Whig organiza- tion, as late as September, 1840, the Sentinel raised a prudent voice against the holding of a Whig county convention. The issue which should govern the selection of county officers, it argued, was not a party issue, but a local issue-"Whether the county shall con- tinue to be burdened with a project which is destroying her best interests, or whether the canal shall be vigorously prosecuted." But on Nov. 30 the paper came out squarely for "Harrison and reform." On Dec. 15, 1840, a committee of Milwaukee Whigs sent invitations to Whigs throughout the territory to unite at Milwau- kee on Jan. I following, in a public celebration of the election of Harrison and Tyler. The affair attracted an attendance of fully
II8
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
12,000 people, including men from all parts of the territory, and the event is thus described by another writer :
"The celebration began at I o'clock in the afternoon, when Jonathan E. Arnold, as the orator of the day, delivered an address at the court house. Two hours later at the Milwaukee House, the celebrants sat down to a repast, which, in the language of the in- vitations was to be 'a plain and substantial dinner,' an ox roasted whole, with plenty of hard cider.' Sylvester Pettibone, who had agreed to furnish the piece de resistance, had contributed, it is said, a cow instead of an ox. The carcass was cooked in barbecue style, according to the pre-arranged plan, but not a morsel of it ever reached the hungry mouths which were waiting for it. While the Whigs were sitting expectant around the board, a horde of Demo- crats made a successful sortie upon the 'ox,' which was suspended above a fire in the open air, near what is now the southeast corner of Broadway and Wisconsin streets. The marauders carried their plunder across the river and made a hearty meal from it in Kil- bourntown. But though disappointed in this respect, the Whigs had plenty of hard cider and enthusiasm, and did not permit the loss of their roast to rob them of enjoyment. Harrison Reed pre- sided as toastmaster, and eloquent responses to Whig sentiments were made by John H. Tweedy, Elisha Starr, John F. Potter, and others who were for many years afterward high in the councils of the Whigs and their successors, the Republicans, in Wisconsin. The president of the day was W. A. Prentiss."
Not to be outdone in a social way, the Milwaukee Democrats indulged in a Democratic celebration of Washington's birthday, and the affair took the form of a dinner at the Fountain House. The members of the committee of arrangements were Horatio N. Wells, Charles J. Lynde, James Sanderson, Thomas J. Noyes and Daniel H. Richards. Daniel Wells, Jr., James H. Rogers, Samuel Brown and George H. Walker were on the list of vice- presidents, while Hans Crocker was the orator of the day, and Joshua Hathaway, Clinton Walworth, and B. H. Edgerton served as members of the committee on toasts. Among the speakers at the dinner was Fred W. Horn.
Josiah A. Noonan, who was destined to loom up on the Demo- cratic side in the politics of Milwaukee county, became the editor and owner of the straight-out Democratic newspaper in the last week of March, 1841, superseding D. H. Richards and changing the name of the paper from the Advertiser to the Courier. It is stated of Mr. Noonan that he "was not an editor whose course could be
119
POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS
as easily foreseen as that of his predecessor. He was a law unto him- self, and never scrupled to disregard the plans of the other local leaders of his party if it suited him to do so."
The "Democratic-Whigs," at their territorial convention in 1841, nominated Jonathan E. Arnold, of Milwaukee, for delegate to Congress, while the choice of the "Democratic-Republicans" fell upon Henry Dodge, who had been superseded in the governorship through President Tyler's appointment of Governor Doty. The campaign was a spirited one throughout the territory, and nowhere more so than in Milwaukee county. It was at this time that H. N. Wells obtained possession of the Sentinel by foreclosing a chattel mortgage, and surprised its Whig subscribers by turning the sup- port of the paper from Arnold to Dodge. From Aug. 3 to Oct. 23 the Sentinel remained in charge of the "usurpers," and when Dodge was elected, as he was by a majority of 497, the paper came out with a cut of a clipper ship, beneath which was this sarcastic invi- tation to its Whig friends: "All aboard for Salt River." The sup- porters of Arnold had helped him to the best of their ability by pub- lishing during the campaign a Whig paper called the Journal, with Elisha Starr as editor. When Harrison Reed resigned control of the Sentinel, Starr insinuated that there existed a collusion be- tween Reed and Wells, and there were Whigs who believed this for a time, but there was no evidence to support the charge.
In the fall election of 1842 the Democrats were successful, elect- ing both their legislative and county tickets. It was a hot contest, and the Whigs grumbled at the lukewarmness of the support which their ticket received from Harrison Reed, who had been re-installed as editor of the Sentinel. When the legislative assembly came to- gether in 1843, George H. Walker was elected speaker of the house.
At the election for sheriff and judge of probate, which was held in May, 1843, E. D. Holton was chosen to the former office, his unsuccessful competitor being William A. Barstow, who after- word was elevated to the position of governor of the state. Bar- stow was the candidate of the Democracy, while llolton ran as an independent, but even at that time the latter was known as an Abo- litionist. He was also a staunch teetotaler, and these advanced ideas (called "idiosyncracies" in those days) would have handi- capped him politically under ordinary circumstances, but in this instance they were more than offset by an uprising of Democrats against Barstow on the ground that he had packed the convention which gave him the nomination. The election of a delegate to Con- gress this year was conducted on party lines, the Democrats renom-
I20
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
inating Dodge, while the nominee of the Whigs was Gen. George W. Hickcox. Milwaukee county gave 930 votes for Dodge, 351 for Hickcox and 115 for Jonathan Spooner.
At the county election in 1844 the entire Democratic ticket was again victorious, with the exception of John White, the candidate for sheriff, who was defeated by Owen Aldrich. The result was a surprise as well as a great disappointment to White, and his defeat was greatly resented by his friends, who charged it to prejudice against his nationality, he being a native of Ireland. In the fol- lowing year Charles H. Larkin, the Democratic candidate for regis- ter of deeds, was the victim of a similar unpleasant surprise, his successful opponent being William A. Rice.
The Democratic nominee for delegate to Congress in 1845 was Morgan L. Martin, of Green Bay ; the Whig convention nominated James Collins, of Iowa county, and the standard-bearer of the Free Soilers, who this year denominated themselves the Liberty party, was E. D. Holton, of Milwaukee. Mr. Martin was elected by a fair majority.
In the delegation from Milwaukee county to the first constitu- tional convention, the names of the gentlemen composing which will be found in a preceding chapter, the only. Whig was John H. Tweedy. Dr. Francis Huebschmann was influential in securing the provision granting the privilege of suffrage to foreigners who had formally declared their intention to become citizens of the United States. Mr. Tweedy served on the committee on the constitution and organization of the legislature, and also took a conspicuous part in the general proceedings of the convention. The period in- tervening between the adjournment of the constitutional conven- tion and the first Tuesday in April, 1847, the date of the spring elec- tion, when the constitution was to be submitted to a vote of the people for ratification or rejection, was one of great excitement in Milwaukee county. Some of the `incidents of this campaign are thus related by John C. Gregory in another publication :
"On the 19th of January, 1847, friends of the constitution took part in a torchlight procession. Ten days later a meeting arranged by 120 Democrats opposed to the constitution, who had joined in signing their names to a call, was held at the council chamber on Spring street. This gathering was attended by many not in sym- pathy with its purpose, and its proceedings were marked by disor- der. Don A. J. Upham and A. D. Smith spoke in support of the constitution. Byron Kilbourn spoke at some length, setting forth the defects of the instrument in a strong light, and a resolution
121
POLITICS AND OFFICIAL HONORS
offered by James Holliday, calling upon the legislature to authorize the holding of a new convention, was adopted. On the 18th of February a grand rally for the constitution was held at the court house. Marching clubs from the several wards met at the Mil- waukee House, where they formed in procession and moved to the place of general assemblage, headed by torch-bearers and a military band. W. P. Lynde called the meeting to order and Jolin P. Helfenstein was chosen as presiding officer. Speeches were made by A. D. Smith and Isaac P. Walker, and resolutions, drafted by a committee appointed for the purpose and heartily endorsing the constitution, were adopted amid great enthusiasm. The com- mittee which drew up the resolutions was composed of A. D. Smith, Levi Hubbell, John A. Brown, M. Walsh and Moritz Schoef- fler. *
"On the 2nd of March the court house was the place of meeting of an assemblage of anti-constitutionalists. The call for the gather- ing contained no fewer than 800 names. Solomon Juneau was presi- dent. The vice-presidents were George Abert, Moses Kneeland, John Furlong and S. H. Martin. Powerful addresses, advising the rejection of the constitution were delivered by Byron Kilbourn and Marshall M. Strong. An overflow meeting listened to speeches in the open air by H. N. Wells, James Holliday and others.
"Gen. Rufus King was among the most active opponents of the constitution, not only attacking it in his paper, but organizing the opposition throughout the eastern portion of the territory. It was for the purpose of this work that he secured the establishment of a new German newspaper, the Volksfreund, the editor of whom, Frederick Fratney, was brought on from New York by his invita- tion. This was a very effective piece of strategy on the part of Gen- eral King, as the supporters of the constitution made most of their capital, not by defending the banking article, but by appealing to the fears of foreign-born residents and seeking to make them be- lieve that the chief cause of the opposition to the constitution was 'nativistic' prejudice against foreigners. Among other influential opponents of the proposed constitution were John H. Tweedy and Jonathan E. Arnold.
"On the 15th of March the supporters of the constitution held two meetings-one at the court house, which was addressed in English by George H. Walker, W. K. Wilson and E. G. Ryan ; and the other at Military hall, where Dr. Huebschmann and Messrs. Haertel, Liebhaber, Hasse and Gruenhagen spoke in German. Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations followed in rapid suc-
122
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
cession till the eve of election. A torch-light procession by the 'antis' on the evening of April 3 marched to the Milwaukee House, in front of which a bon-fire was built, in whose light addresses were delivered by Governor Tallmadge and other speakers."
Milwaukee county's delegation to the second constitutional convention contained only one man who had represented the county in the former deliberations-Garrett M. Fitzgerald-and he was one of the only two men in the territory who were members of both conventions. In the second convention Byron Kilbourn was chair- man of the committee on general provisions and took an influential part in the proceedings of the convention. General King was the only Whig in the Milwaukee county delegation. He was a member of the committee on executive, legislative and administrative pro- visions, and also served on several special committees. Moritz Schoeffler drafted the provision on the elective franchise, and Charles H. Larkin suggested the banking article, which, with some amendments, was finally adopted.
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