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 30
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settled the bridge controversy. The measure provided for the construc- tion of bridges connecting East Water with Ferry street, Wisconsin with Spring street, and North Water street with Cherry street. The Chestnut street bridge was to be vacated as soon as the North Water street bridge was completed, and the Oneida street bridge was to be re- moved within five years from the date of the enactment. The cost of maintaining the bridges was apportioned among the wards, and the en- tire plan of settlement of this vexed question was submitted to a vote of the people of the east and west wards at an election held on Feb. 12, 1846. It was ratified by a decisive majority, and comparative harmony henceforth prevailed in locating new bridges and in providing for the expenses of their construction and maintenance.
MILWAUKEE AS A CITY.
The formative period of Milwaukee's history has now been treated of, and comprises the period extending from 1833 to 1846. With the exception of Solomon Juneau, who made his home on the east side of the Milwaukee river in 1818, and a trader or two like Vieau, there were no white settlers until the fall of 1833, when the first Anglo-Saxons made their appearance. All sections of the village increased rapidly in population and wealth during the ensuing thirteen years, and the need of a more complete organization came to be felt. The little settlements of 1834 and 1835 had increased to 1,500 inhabitants in 1839; in 1843 to 6,000, and by June, 1846, to 9,000. Naturally the question of a city organization came to be agitated, and on Jan. 5, 1846, an election was held which resulted in a decisive vote in favor of a new charter, the East ward alone giving a majority against the project. The vote upon the proposition of incorporating as a city was as follows: For the charter-East ward, 182; West ward, 348; South ward, 113; total, 643. Against the charter-East ward, 324; West ward, I ; South ward, 7 ; total, 332. The majority in favor of the charter it will thus be seen was 311. The life of Milwaukee as a village covered in all a period of nine years, beginning in 1837 and ending in 1846. Solomon Juneau was the first president of the consolidated village, and the last to hold that office was Lyndsay Ward. Other pioneers who officiated in that capacity were H. M. Hubbard and James H. Rogers, and both Juneau and Kilbourn were village presidents while the East and West sides had separate governments. In the list of village trustees appear the names of such men as Dr. Lucius I. Barber, Horatio N. Wells, Henry Miller, B. H. Edgerton, Daniel Wells, Jr., George D. Dousman, Wil- liam A. Prentiss, Albert Fowler, D. H. Richards, Elisha Starr, I. A.
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Lapham, John Hustis, Matthias Stein, D. A. J. Upham, Ed. D. Holton, Moses Kneeland, George H. Walker, Lemuel W. Weeks, Alexander Mitchell, Levi Hubbell, James S. Brown, and others who achieved dis- tinction in later years. The most of these gentlemen have been given extended personal mention on other pages of this work in connection with the history of lines of endeavor in which they became prominent. Moses Kneeland, who came to Milwaukee about 1843 or 1844, was one of the most energetic as well as one of the most aggressive men, both in politics and business, that has ever resided in Milwaukee. He was in political faith a Democrat and in religious a Presbyterian, being a prominent member of the old First (the present Emanuel) church. He accumulated a very large property, his residence being at No. 575 Mar- shall street, and there he died on Jan. 21, 1864.
Lemuel Willis Weeks was born at Hardwick, Vt., Nov. 18, 1805, the son of Lemuel, who was the son of Joseph Weeks, of Hardwick, Mass., a soldier in the American revolution, and whose father was an Englishman. Dr. Weeks' boyhood was spent upon his father's farm, but he early developed aspirations for something better than a plodding life, his thirst for knowledge leading him to walk many miles to the nearest town to obtain books to read evenings after work was done; and the few months' schooling each winter, which was all that the dis- trict afforded, was so unsatisfying to his ambition that by dint of his own exertions he secured the means for an academic course, and later taught school and studied medicine at Castleton, Vt. After receiv- ing his diploma, he was married on Feb. 9, 1829, at Montpelier, Vt., to Mary Sands, who was born on March 15, 1809, at Bux- ton, Me., and the young couple went immediately to Fort Ticonder- oga, N. Y., where he commenced the practice of his profession, in which he developed a marked talent, and later moved to Kceserville, N. Y. After about five years of successful practice. Dr. Weeks finding the life of a country physician too arduous for his health, gave it up and entered into mercantile pursuits, in which he was also successful from the start. In a few years the western fever overtook him and he trav- eled by stage coach and on horseback to St. Louis, Chicago, and Mil- waukee. He finally decided to settle here, and returning with his fam- ily in the spring of 1837, took up his permanent residence and was for several years a merchant and trader, also occupied in locating, buying and selling government lands and town lots, and entering into many enterprises with the pioneers of those days. He took an active part in the first city government, being at times president of the council and holding other public offices. About the year 1846 his real estate trans- actions having increased so largely as to take up most of his time, he
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retired from mercantile business and, as the majority of his holdings were on the South side, known then as "Walker's Point", the family removed from its residence on Main street (Broadway) to the corner of Hanover and Elizabeth streets (National avenue), where they lived many years in a fine rambling old house with handsome grounds, occu- pying a commanding position, but since leveled down. He built the first grain warehouse in the city, known as the "Checkered warehouse" on the South side, below East Water street bridge, and in company with the late Alexander Mitchell built the "Blue warehouse" on Erie street, considered a mammoth in its day, and the "South Pier" at foot of Erie street. In about the year 1855 he purchased of Alexander Mitchell 130 acres of land adjoining the.city on the south, which he platted as L. W. Weeks' subdivision, and had just fairly put it upon the market when the panic of 1857, followed later by the war, so de- pressed real estate that with other unfortunate speculators he was forced to the wall, and the bulk of his fortune was swept away. Still later his health became seriously impaired and he was obliged to relin- quish all business, and after a year or two of travel abroad he returned to Wisconsin and bought a small farm near Oconomowoc. Amid peace- ful scenes he passed away from earth on May 7, 1884, in the seventy- ninth year of his age.
The legislature passed an act of incorporation of the city of Mil- waukee in the winter of 1846, and the first election under this charter was held on the first Tuesday of the following April. Solomon Juneau received the appropriate honor of being elected the first mayor of the city, and his colleagues of the west and south sides, Kilbourn and Walker, in after years also achieved the same distinction. The other officers elected in 1846 were as follows : aldermen for the First ward : John B. Smith, Joshua Hathaway, and A. W. Hatch; Second ward : Byron Kilbourn, George Abert, and Cicero Comstock; Third ward : W. W. Graham, Nathan B. Holman, and Richard Murphy; Fourth ward: Moses Kneeland, Leonard P. Crary, and George C. Blodgett ; Fifth ward : L. W. Weeks, A. Smart, and Peter N. Cushman. Henry Bielfeld was appointed clerk; Robert Allen, city treasurer ; James Holliday, city attorney; Thomas H. Fanning, city marshal; and Charles A. Tuttle was designated from the justices of the peace to bear the title and perform the duties of police justice.
As a comparison between the original and the present territory of the city, we insert here the boundaries as they were in 1846. The in- corporating act or charter begins as follows :
"An act to incorporate the city of Milwaukee :
"Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wisconsin :
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"I. That the district of country included within the following limits and boundaries in township number seven of range numbered twenty-two east, in the county of Milwaukee, to-wit : beginning on the lake shore in the northerly part of Milwaukee bay where it is inter- sected by the section line running east and west on the north side of section numbered twenty-two; thence west along said section line and the north line of section twenty-one and section twenty to the quarter post on the north line of section numbered twenty ; thence south along the quarter section line to the center of said section numbered twenty; thence west along the quarter section line in said section numbered twenty and section numbered nineteen, to the west line of said township and range; thence south along the said range line to the north bound- ary line of township numbered six ; thence east along said north line to the lake shore in the southerly part of Milwaukee bay; and the north and south boundaries as herein described are to extend from the two points of intersection with the lake, respectively, in lines running due east to the eastern boundary of the territory of Wisconsin in Lake Michigan, shall be a city by the name of Milwaukee : and the peple now inhabiting, and those who shall hereafter inhabit within the district of country hereinbefore described shall be a municipal corporation by the name of the city of Milwaukee, and shall have the general powers possessed by cities at the common law; and in addition thereto shall possess the powers hereinafter specifically granted; and the authorities thereof shall have perpetual succession, shall be capable of contracting and being contracted with, of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded in all courts of law and equity; and shall have a common seal, and may change and alter the same at pleasure."
The city was divided into five wards, the first of which comprised all the territory east of the Milwaukee river and north of the middle of Wisconsin street ; the second all west of the river and north of the mid- dle of Cedar street; the third all of the east side south of the First ward; the fourth, loosely speaking, included all of the west side south of the Second, and the fifth embraced the entire South side. At this date the Fourth ward included all south of the middle of Cedar street, and within sections 29 and 30 of the township in which the city lay, and the Fifth ward included territory north of that river. In order to straighten the Menomonee river, many years afterward a canal running due east and west was cut through the southern part of sections 29 and 30, and at present this canal constitutes the main channel, a portion of the original water-way being filled up, so that as it now runs, the river lies north of the south boundary of the Fourth ward. Each ward was constituted a separate township and school district ; its aldermen were
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to act as town supervisors and as school commissioners; and their chairman, chosen by themselves, had a seat in the county board of supervisors. The charter provided for annual elections, to be held on the first Tuesday of April in each year, at which the officers to be elected were a mayor, from the city at large, and from each ward three aldermen, a constable and a justice of the peace. The term of office was one year in all cases except that of justice of the peace, and these officers were to serve for two years. A year's residence in the city and three months' residence in the ward was required of voters. Aliens might vote who had legally declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, and who had been assessed and had paid a tax on either real or personal property within a year, or had been assessed for and actually performed highway work within a year, or had been for six months members of a fire company. The president and trustees of the town of Milwaukee were to determine the result of the first election under the new charter, and subsequent elections were to be determined by the mayor and common council. The mayor was made the chief executive officer, and the head of the police of the city. He had power to nominate, and with the consent of the common council to appoint a marshal of the city and an additional constable from each ward. It was further provided that 'The mayor or acting mayor, each and every alder- man, justice of the peace, marshal, deputy marshal, constable, and watchman, shall be officers of the peace, and may command the peace and suppress in a summary manner all rioting and disorderly behavior, in a manner consistent with the ordinances of the city within the limits thereof, and for such purpose may command the assistance of all by- standers and, if need be, of all citizens and military companies ; and in all cases where the civil power may be required to suppress riotous or disorderly behavior the superior or senior officer present, in the order mentioned in this section, shall direct the proceedings." Thus it was many years before a separate police department was found necessary. One of the justices of the peace was to be designated by the common council as a police justice for the term for which he was elected as a justice of the peace, and whenever a vacancy occurred in that position by death, resignation or removal another justice was selected in his place. The police justice, besides the ordinary civil jurisdiction of the other justices of the peace, was vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear all complaints and conduct all examinations and trials in criminal cases within the city, and with exclusive jurisdiction of all cases in which the city might be a party. His salary in criminal matters was to be paid by the county, and in civil cases by the city.
In addition to the officers already named power was conferred on
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the common council to appoint and at pleasure to remove a city treas- urer, city clerk, one assessor in each ward, a chief engineer of the fire department and as many assistant engineers as might be expedient, city attorney, sealer of weights and measures, one or more surveyors; and as many measurers of fuel, grain, lime and other marketable articles, weighers of hay, pound-masters, sextons, or keepers of burial grounds, inspectors of streets, inspectors of flour and provisions, and harbor- masters, as expedient; and to prescribe their several duties and the compensation which each should receive. Members of the common council were forbidden to be parties to or otherwise interested in any contract or job with the city ; and any contract in which this prohibition was disregarded was to be null and void and of no force against the city.
The most general grant of power was contained in the following section :
"The common council shall have power to enact, establish, publish, enforce, alter, modify, amend or repeal all such ordinances, rules and by-laws for the government and good order of the city, for the sup- pression of vice, for the prevention of fires, and for the benefit of the trade, commerce, and health thereof, as they shall deem expedient, de- claring and imposing penalities, and to enforce the same against any person or persons who may violate any of the provisions of such ordi- nances, rules or by-laws; and such ordinances, rules and by-laws are hereby declared to be and have the force of law; provided that they are not repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States, or of this territory ; and for those purposes shall have authority, by ordi- nances or by-laws." Then follows an enumeration of a large number of subjects over which it was intended the powers of the common coun- cil should extend. In every modification or revision of the city charter down to the present time this general grant of legislative power has been retained, but the enumeration of subjects intended to be covered by it has been extended as attention has been called to various evils or abuses which seemed to require especial attention in the course of the growth of the city in territory and population. Summarized as con- cisely as possible, the original list included the license and regulation of taverns, groceries, and victualing houses ; of persons engaged in the sale of spirituous, vinous, and fermented liquors, and of shows, cir- cuses, and theatrical performances ; the restraint and prohibition of gaming of all descriptions ; the prevention of riots and disorderly as- semblages ; the suppression and restraint of disorderly houses, shows, and exhibitions ; the abatement and regulation of trades and places which, though lawful in themselves, might be dangerous, unwhole-
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some, or offensive in a city ; the prevention of improper incumbrances of streets, alleys, and sidewalks, and of rapid driving in the streets ; prohibition of cattle, swine, sheep, poultry, geese and dogs running at large; the establishment of public pumps, wells, cisterns, and water works; licensing of hacks, cabs, and drays; the establishment of a board of health, hospitals, and cemeteries ; regulation of burials and ex- emption of burial grounds from taxation; the purchase of fire engines and fire buckets and the establishment of fire limits ; the regulation of "the size and weight of bread"; the regulation of wharves, bridges, mill-races, and canals, and of exhibitions of fireworks and shooting of firearms or crackers ; the restraint of public drunkenness and obscenity, and the punishment of persons guilty thereof ; the restraint and regula- tion of runners or solicitors for boats, vessels, stages, and public houses ; the regulation of the police and the appointment of watchmen and firemen, and the making and enforcing of rules for their govern- ment ; the establishment and regulation of public markets; the licensing and regulation of butchers' stalls and stands for the sale of game, poul- try, butter, fish, and other provisions; regulating the place and manner of weighing and selling hay and of measuring and selling fuel and lime; compelling the removal by the owner or occupant of buildings or grounds, from sidewalks, streets, and alleys, of snow, dirt and rubbish, and, from any part of his premises, of all such substances as the board of health should direct.
The common council had power to lay out and vacate, to regulate, pave, and improve, extend and widen streets and alleys, paying dam- ages to be assessed by twelve freeholders. The council was authorized to levy annually, for general ward purposes, on all property, real and personal, not exceeding one per centum of its assessed value, and a tax of one per cent. on all real estate, exclusive of the value of buildings thereon, to be applied in the payment of debts previously contracted by the president and trustees of the town of Milwaukee and on behalf of the east and west wards, and due and owing on the last day of Decem- ber, 1845; such tax to continue in the First and Third wards until the debts of the East ward should be paid ; and in the Second and Fourth wards until the debts of the West ward should be paid ; also a tax not exceeding one-quarter of one per cent. of the assessed value of both real and personal property, for school purposes in each ward; and a similar tax for the support of the poor, to be levied upon all property in the city, collectively ; a tax not exceeding one-quarter of one per cent. for preserving the health and regulating the police of the city ; also a tax not exceeding one-half of one per cent. in cach ward for the purpose of building and maintaining bridges; and such further tax for
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county purposes as might be established by the county board of super- visors, pro rata with the other towns in the country. A proviso in the charter prescribed for such lands in sections 19, 30, 31, and 32, as were not used for city purposes nor laid out into city lots, a complete exemption from all taxes under the act, save for schools and for poor and highway purposes; an exemption which, however equitable or politic, was completely destroyed by the clause in the state constitution adopted two years later, which prescribed uniformity of taxation.
The general approbation of the plan of Lieutenants Center and Rose, U. S. Engineers, for opening a harbor north of the mouth of the river and nearer to the crown of the bay shore, was testified by section 32 of the charter, which authorized a tax to be levied for that object in the First, Second, Third and Fourth wards, if voted by the citizens of those wards. Two days' work on the highways, streets, and alleys were to be performed by each person liable to that duty under terri- torial laws. The assessment roll for each ward was to be made out in May of each year by the assessor of the ward, and returned by him to the clerk of the city, who was to lay it before the common council. That body was to consider, revise, and equalize the assessments, after which the taxes were to be levied. The rate per centum on the as- sessed value of the estate, real and personal, was to be determined for each ward by the majority of its aldermen, except for the general tax and the tax for the payment of ward debts, which were to be fixed by the common council, and for the county tax which the county super- visors should prescribe. The council and the county supervisors hav- ing settled the rates of all the taxes, the clerk was to make out a sched- ule of all the property and the taxes chargeable thereon, separating and classifying them so that the description of each piece should be followed by the several taxes levied upon it, arranged in a book for each ward, which was to constitute the tax list. The warrant of the common coun- cil to collect the taxes being attached to the list, the whole was to be de- livered to the city treasurer, who was to execute it. The tax upon real estate, which constituted the great bulk of the whole, was enforced by public sales of the several parcels thereof by the treasurer, after six weeks' public notice, from which sale the owner might redeem within three years on paying the amount of tax with interest at twenty-five per cent. per annum. The tax was a lien on the land, charged from the time of levy of the tax, and a deed might be claimed on it by the pur- chaser at the tax sale after the period of redemption expired. Per- sonal property was placed in a separate part of the tax list, and the tax thereon was collected by seizure and sale at auction upon previous notice of six days.
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Money could only be borrowed upon credit of the city by the com- mon council when authorized by a vote of two-thirds of the electors voting at an authorized election, "who shall have been assessed and have actually paid a tax on real and personal estate the year preceding such vote, except that a loan might be made in anticipation of the reve- nue for the year and not exceeding the amount of the anticipated reve- nue." No ward should be liable for a debt incurred "to promote the measures of any other ward." If a loan should be made for general city purposes no liability thereof should devolve upon any ward nor on the property of citizens thereof, unless a majority of the aldermen of such ward should have voted in favor of such loan ; but all those wards, the aldermen of which should have voted for the loan should be liable in their corporate capacity for the payment of the same in proportion to the assessed valuation in each, when the debt should become due. Improvements in each ward, the disbursement of corporate funds there- in, and the management of its local affairs were placed under the sole supervision, direction and control of its aldermen. But these provisions were soon found unsuitable for use and were speedily abolished.
The city authorities were authorized to fund the existing indebt- edness of the town of Milwaukee and its east and west wards at a rate of interest not exceeding ten per cent. per annum. Suits might be com- menced against the city by service of process upon the mayor or clerk. Residence within its limits did not thereby render any one incompetent to act as judge, justice, witness or juror in suits in which the city was a party.
Fire engine, hook and ladder, and hose companies were provided for, each to be composed of not more than forty able-bodied men, be- tween the ages of eighteen and fifty, officered and governed in ac- cordance with their own by-laws. Membership was to be voluntary and gratuitious ; the only rewards being freedom from highway labor and military duty. Engine houses, hook and ladder houses, the lots upon which they stood, and all fire engines, carriages and fire apparatus used by any authorized company were exempt from levy of sale under any execution, except in cases where the judgment was for the pur- chase price. The council was authorized to impose penalties for viola- tions of ordinances in the shape of fines, not exceeding fifty dollars in any one case ; and in default of payment might authorize imprisonment in the county jail not more than thirty days.
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