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 6
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After the election the newly appointed secretary of the territory of Michigan, John S. Horner, who succeeded Governor Mason, when the latter was chosen governor of the new state of Michigan, thought it proper to issue a proclamation as secretary and acting governor, which was a cause of great confusion and misunderstanding and resulted in an abortive session of the legislative council, at Green Bay. The proclama- tion, "for divers good causes and considerations," changed the time of the meeting of the council from the first day of January. 1836, to the first day of December, 1835. The proclamation was dated on Nov. 9, and owing to the nature of the country, the season of the year, etc., it was impossible for the members to reach Green Bay on the day set. None of
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the members elect went to Green Bay on the first of December, neither did Secretary Horner appear, but on Friday, Jan. 1, 1836, a quorum of the legislators convened ready for the transaction of business. The members of the legislative council remained in Green Bay, holding ses- sions almost daily, from Jan. I until Jan. 15, but Secretary Horner was conspicuous by his absence during the entire period. A number of mat- ters were considered and acted upon, none of which, however, pertained to the local history of Milwaukee county, and a select committee was ap- pointed by resolution to prepare a memorial to Congress praying that a separate territorial government in the country west of Lake Michigan, commonly called Wisconsin Territory, might be established. And the seventh and last session of the Legislative Council of Michigan Terri- tory, on Friday, the 15th day of January, 1836, adjourned sine die.
On April 4, 1836, the first election was held for the purpose of choosing county officials, and the record of the election, which is still in existence, shows that "Pursuant to public notice the meeting was called to order at S. Juneant's." On motion it later adjourned to Child's Tavern, and "all the votes having been received and canvassed, it was ascertained that the following persons were elected," who proceeded to qualify for their respective official positions : Register of Deeds, Albert Fowler ; Treasurer, George D. Dousman ; Coroner, Enoch G. Darling ; and a large number of other positions were filled which come more prop- erly under the head of township offices.
George D. Dousman, who was thus called upon as the first man to handle the finances of Milwaukee county, came in 1835 from Mackinac, and was from the time of his arrival recognized as one of the prominent men of Milwaukee. He built the second warehouse in the city, and after Horace Chase was the first warehouseman, which business he fol- lowed for many years. He was much in public office, as county treas- urer, town trustee, and other places of honor and trust, and it can truthfully be said of him that all moneys which came into his hands, as a public officer, were honestly and fully accounted for. Soon after com- ing to Milwaukee, in 1835, he built a two-story frame dwelling upon the lot now occupied by the Custom House, and a warehouse at the foot of Detroit street on the west side of East Water street. This was a famous warehouse in its day, it having the honor to receive and ship the first cargo of wheat that ever left the city, in 1841. Upon the erection of the Custom House in 1856 the dwelling was removed to 484 Astor street, where it remained until 1883, and was then removed to the northeast corner of Lyon and Jefferson streets. Some years after its erection the warehouse was removed to Milwaukee street, south of Huron, where it was used as a furniture factory. Upon the organization of the East
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Side and the institution of a village government there, in February, 1837, Mr. Dousman was elected a member of the first board of trustees. At the election for county officers, held on April 3, 1837, he was a can- didate for re-election as county treasurer, but was beaten in the race by Henry Miller. One year later, however, on March 6, 1838, he was again elected to the position, being re-elected on Sept. 10 of the same year, and again in 1840. Mr. Dousman's last years were spent upon his farm in the town of Wauwatosa, having retired from business, and from there he came into the city almost daily to get the news and see his old friends, whose name was legion. He died upon his Wauwatosa farm, March 15, 1879, and was buried in Forest Home cemetery.
Enoch G. Darling, as a result of the above mentioned election was the first man who served as coroner of Milwaukee county. In February, 1837, he was elected as the first marshal of the town of Milwaukee, but soon thereafter he resigned and removed to Jefferson.
The Act of Congress providing for the organization of the Terri- tory of Wisconsin was passed on April 20, 1836, and went into effect on July 4 of the same year ; and Henry Doge, of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, was appointed by President Jackson as the first governor of the new ter- ritory. On July 4 the governor took the prescribed oath of office, which event contributed a novel and interesting element to a grand celebration of the national jubilee. It will be recalled, as mentioned on a previous page, that the offices of probate judge and sheriff of Milwaukee county had become vacant, either through the abdication of the gentlemen whom Governor Mason had appointed to such incumbency or from some other cause, and it became one of the earliest duties of Governor Dodge to fill these vacanies. Accordingly, at a mass-meeting called at the suggestion of the governor to nominate persons for the offices re- quired to be filled by him, Nathaniel F. Hyer was named as probate judge and Henry M. Hubbard as sheriff. Those gentlemen were com- missioned on Aug. 2, 1836, and about the same time Governor Dodge appointed the following additional officers : Justices of the Peace, D. Wells, Jr., John A. Messenger, S. W. Dunbar, Barzillai Douglass, and Elisha Smith; Auctioneers, William Fusky and C. D. Fitch ; Notaries, William N. Gardner, Cyrus Hawley, and George Reed; District Sur- veyor, Joshua Hathaway.
The last-named gentleman came to Milwaukee from Rome, N. Y., in 1835, and at once assumed a high rank in the young city. He was by profession a civil engineer and as such surveyed a part of the territory now comprised within the limits of Wisconsin, more particularly the southern portion, during 1833 and 1834, making his headquarters at Chi- cago. On his arrival at Milwaukee he at once pitched his tent upon the
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lot so long occupied as his homestead, at the southeast corner of Broad- way and Mason streets, and in the spring of 1836 he built a commodious dwelling, in which he commenced his wedded life and where his earthly career was ended. His fellow citizens were not slow to appreciate his sterling business qualities, as is evidenced by the fact stated above, upon the organization of the territorial government he was honored with the appointment as district surveyor, a position of great responsibility in the embryo state. His commission was dated July 8, 1836. He also held the office of public administrator for Milwaukee county in 1838, a post of great responsibility, being the same as judge of probate under the pres- ent system, and he also filled this position with honor to himself and sat- isfaction to the public. He entered at once largely into speculation, both in Milwaukee and other lake towns, particularly Kewaunee, and few are the names that appear in the early records with more frequency than Joshua Hathaway's. In 1854 he was elected Commissioner of Surveys for the first ward of the city of Milwaukee. Mr. Hathaway died July 4, 1863.
The first important thing to be done to complete the organization of the territorial government was the convening of the Legislative As- sembly. Preliminary to this a census was to be taken by the sheriffs, and an apportionment of members of the two branches made by the governor among the several counties. The population of Milwaukee county in August, 1836, as exhibited by the census, was 2,893. On Sept. 9, Gov- ernor Dodge issued a proclamation to the effect that he had apportioned the members of the Council and House of Representatives amongst the several counties of the territory, and that Milwaukee county was en- titled to two members of the Council and three of the House of Repre- sentatives. The proclamation further ordered and directed that the first election should be held on the second Monday of October. The notice for this election was issued on Sept. 15, 1836, and upon the same date a meeting of the Democratic electors of the town of Milwaukee was held for the purpose of making arrangements for a county convention, at which candidates should be selected to "run" for the several legislative positions. The convention was held at Godfrey's, on Fox river, Oct. I, and the ticket there selected was successful, viz: Council-Alanson Sweet and Gilbert Knapp; Representatives-William B. Sheldon, Madi- son W. Cornwall, and Charles Durkee.
Alanson Sweet came from Owasco, N. Y., in 1835, settled upon a claim and became a farmer and speculator generally. He was by trade a stone mason and worked at his trade in Chicago during the infantile years of that city, but never followed the occupation after locating in Milwaukee. He built largely in the "Cream City," dwellings, stores
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and vessels, and the first steam elevator was built by him. He also con- structed many of the light-houses for the government on the lakes and the custom house at Mobile, Alabama. He became involved in law suits in the latter years of his residence in Milwaukee and lost his property, after. which he removed to Evanston, Illinois. The course pursued by Mr. Sweet in the session of the legislative assembly which convened at Belmont, in relation to the location of the capitol at Madison, the charter of the Bank of Milwaukee, and the division of the county at that session, caused great excitement in Milwaukee, and a very bitter newspaper war was the result. In the Advertiser of Feb. 18, 1837, is the report of a meeting called on the 11th, at which some severe resolutions were passed in regard to Mr. Sweet's public acts at Belmont, and a call was made upon him in strong language to resign the office he had disgraced by be- traying the liberties of the people into the hands of a heartless bank monopoly, and other heinous sins. But he didn't resig.1. He became one of the directors of the Bank of Milwaukee, and as indicated above, was in possession of considerable property at one time. He was very prominent in politics and an acknowledged leader of the Democratic party in Milwaukee county during the territorial days. In 1845 he was running a warehouse at the foot of Washington street, and two years later was a member of the pool formed by the storage and commission men of the South Pier.
As a matter of interest it may be stated here that of Milwaukee county's representatives to this, the first legislative assembly to convene in the new territory of Wisconsin, Gilbert Knapp was a native of Barn- stable county, Massachusetts : Alanson Sweet, of Genesee county, New York : William B. Sheldon, of Providence, Rhode Island ; Madison W. Cornwall, of Monroe county, Virginia, and Charles Durkee, of Royal- ton, Windsor county, Vermont.
Both houses convened at Belmont on the day appointed by the gov- ernor (Oct. 25, 1836), and a quorum being present in each house they were duly organized, the oath having been administered by the governor. The first act of this session was one which privileged the members from arrest and conferred upon them authority to punish for contempt. The next act divided the territory into three judicial districts, and made an assignment of one of the three judges to each district. Milwaukee and Brown counties were made to constitute the Third district, to which Judge William C. Frazier was assigned, and the act further provided that two terms of the district courts should be held annually in each of the counties, the dates in Milwaukee county being the second Monday in June and the first Monday in November.
During this session of the legislative council at Belmont, with the
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approval of the council, the following appointments were made for Mil- waukee county by Governor Dodge, and this division of the territory was then considered fully equipped for local government : James Clyman was appointed colonel of militia; Isaac Butler, lieutenant- colonel ; Alfred Orrendolf, major ; justices of the peace for three years, Isaac H. Alexander, A. A. Bird, Sylvester W. Dunbar, Barzillai Doug- lass, and John Manderville ; for sheriff, three years, Owen Aldrich ; dis- trict attorney, William N. Gardner, three years ; supreme court commis- sioner, John P. Hilton, three years; master in chancery and judge of probate, William Campbell, three years ; district surveyor, George S. West, three years ; auctioneers, George S. Wright and William Flusky, two years ; inspector of provisions, A. Peters, two years.
CHAPTER V.
TERRITORIAL ERA.
COUNTY REDUCED IN SIZE-1836 A MEMORABLE YEAR-NUMBER OF LAND CLAIMS-FINANCIAL DEPRESSION OF 1837-SETTLERS ORGANIZE FOR PROTECTION AGAINST SPECULATORS-SECOND ELECTION FOR COUNTY OFFICIALS-PERSONAL MENTION-DIVISION OF THE COUNTY INTO TOWNS-POPULATION AND OTHER CENSUS FIGURES OF 1840-WILLIAM A. PRENTISS-SKETCH AND EARLY LETTERS OF DANIEL WELLS, JR .- REMOVAL OF THE INDIANS-LAND SALES-TOWN SYSTEM OF GOVERN- MENT-GEORGE H. WALKER AND OTHER PERSONAL SKETCHES-CEN- SUS OF 1842.
The fact should be borne in mind that Milwaukee county at the time of the convening of the first territorial legislature com- prised all that vast scope of territory extending from the lake on the cast to what is now the western boundary of Rock county on the west, and from the state line on the south to the line between townships II and 12 on the north. In other words the dominion extended over what is now the southeast portion of Columbia county, the greater part of Dodge, Washington and Ozaukee coun- ties, all of Dane county east of a north and south line drawn through the city of Madison, and all of Jefferson, Waukesha, Mil- waukee. Rock, Walworth, Racine and Kenosha counties. But at this first session of the legislative council, by an act which was ap- proved on Dec. 7. 1836, the territory above described was divided. Townships numbered one, two, three and four north, of ranges fifteen, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen east of the fourth principal meridian were constituted a separate county, to be called Walworth. This created Walworth county, in extent of territory, exactly as it is today. Townships numbered one, two, three and four north, of ranges nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two and twenty-
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three, east, were constituted a separate county and called Racine. This included what is now Racine and Kenosha counties. Town- ships numbered five, six, seven and eight north, of ranges thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen east, were constituted a separate coun- ty and called Jefferson, and this erected Jefferson county exactly as it stands today. Dane county was formed with its present limits as to territorial extent, and all of the present Columbia county, which was then a part of Milwaukee, was taken from the latter and made a part of Portage county. Dodge and Rock counties were erected in limits the same as they are at present, and Washington county was created with the territory now embraced in the coun- ties of Washington and Ozaukee.
Thus shorn of a great portion of its original territory, Mil- waukee was reduced in size to what is now embraced in the coun- ties of Milwaukee and Waukesha. This arrangement existed until 1846, when, at the fourth annual session of the fourth legislative assembly, which convened at Madison on Jan. 5, the county . of Waukesha was formed, comprising all the territory in Mil- waukee county west of range 21. It was provided that the act creating Waukesha county should not become effective unless ap- proved by a majority of the voters of the proposed new county. The requisite majority of votes was cast, however, Waukesha county was organized and Milwaukee county was thus finally re- duced in extent of territory to its present limits. At the time of their creation the counties of Washington, Dodge and Jefferson were attached to Milwaukee county for judicial purposes and re- mained so attached until they were organized at a subsequent ses- sion of the territorial legislature.
The year 1836 was a memorable one for Milwaukee. Says James S. Buck in his "Pioneer History of Milwaukee": "The tide of immigration had now commenced to flow into the embryo city like a river, speculation was rife, every man's pocket was full of money, lots were selling with a rapidity and for prices that made those who bought or sold them feel like a Vanderbilt. Buildings went up like magic, three days being all that was wanted, if the occupant was in a hurry, in which to erect one. Stocks of goods would be sold out in many instances before they were fairly opened. and at an enormous profit. Every one was sure his fortune was made and a stiffer-necked people, as far as prospective wealth was concerned, could not be found in America. Nothing like it was ever seen before; no western city ever had such a birth. People were dazed at the rapidity of its growth; all felt good. The won-
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derful go-ahead-itiveness of the American people was in full blast. neither was it checked for the entire season. Some sixty buildings were erected, many of them of goodly dimensions. Streets were graded, ferries established, officers of the law appointed, medical and agricultural societies formed, a court house and jail erected, and all in five short months."
YThe number of claims entered in the towns of Lake, Greenfield, Wauwatosa and Milwaukee, as appears from the old claim record. up to January, 1838, were as follows: Lake, 119; Greenfield, 148; Wauwatosa, 154, and Milwaukee, 8. This fact, taken in connection with the number of settlers that were actually "on the ground." might seem incredible; but the explanation is that many of these parties had made from one to four claims, selling out to others, and then making new ones, while the fact that so few claims were in the town of Milwaukee was in consequence of the land there hav- ing nearly all been purchased at the Green Bay land sale in Septem- ber, 1835, or entered after the sale, leaving none upon which claims could be made. The population of the village of Milwaukee at the close of 1836 is estimated to have been about 700, and this estimate would not be greatly increased by taking in those who resided in other portions of the county. The floaters had left with the close of navigation for their homes in the then distant East, leaving as a permanent population only a comparatively small band of earnest pioneers, by whom the foundations of the queenly city and sur- rounding country were laid. No doubt existed in the minds of these pioneers that the growth of the community during the com- ing year would be equal to or greater than that of the one just closed. But a great financial embarrassment (the panic of 1837) convulsed the whole country, putting an end to all improvements, particularly in the West, and leaving Milwaukee, for a season, upon the rocks of commercial bankruptcy and despair. The spring brought no relief, and the speculators and capitalists remained in the East, the immigrants were few and far between, and a wave of disappointment rolled over the pioneer settlement and blasted completely their extravagant hopes. The wealth that many sup- posed they possessed took to itself wings and flew away. James S. Buck is authority for the statement that "lots and lands for which fabulous prices had been paid in 1836 were now of no com- mercial value whatever." But notwithstanding the stagnation all over the country a number of immigrants arrived, and with the passing away of the lowering clouds in the financial world, the city and county took a new start and improvements were visible on every side.
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An important event in the early settlement of Milwaukee coun- ty and those attached to it took place in the early part of 1837, and it is deemed appropriate to give the facts here somewhat in detail, as it resulted without doubt in the most perfect organization for mutual protection that ever existed in any country under like cir- cumstances. By the second section of an act of Congress, ap- proved May 29, 1830, it was provided that when two or more per- sons were settled on the same quarter section it was to be equally divided between the first two actual settlers, and each should be entitled to a pre-emption of eighty acres of land elsewhere in the same land district, so as not to interfere with other settlers having a right or preference. Such rights of pre-emption "elsewhere" were called "floats," and were in very great demand by speculators in lands, for the purpose of securing desirable locations in advance of the public sales. The pre-emption laws in force at the time of the land sales in August and September, 1835, required that the settler, to entitle him to a pre-emption right, should have cultivated some part of his land in the year 1833. In a great many instances settlers had gone upon lands with their families, in good faith, to make homes for themselves and their children, in the hope that the pre- emption laws would be extended to them. But as the bill for this purpose had failed they were without protection of any pre-emption law, and a serious and widespread fear existed that they would be deprived of their hard-earned possessions by the greed of heartless speculators. However, at the Green Bay land sales, a spirit of justice and honorable dealing proved to be paramount to the de- mands of grasping rapacity, and by a mutual understanding the claims of settlers were respected by the speculators, and the former were allowed to purchase their "claims" at the minimum price. But the settlers did not care to depend upon the chance of similar good fortune at the future land sales. They asked to have the pre- emption laws extended or renewed, but their efforts in that direc- tion were fruitles, as a bill for this purpose, after passing the Sen- ate, was defeated in the House. But even this bill required oc- cupancy of and residence on the tract before Dec. 1, 1836. and cultivation within the year 1836, so that if it had passed it would have been practically valueless to the great mass of those who had made "claims" in this district of lands subject to sale at Milwaukee.
On Feb. 27, 1837, an anonymous notice was published in the Milwaukee Advertiser and in hand-bills, that a meeting of the people of Milwaukee, Washington, Jefferson and Dodge counties would be held in the court house at Milwaukee on March 13, "for
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the purpose of adopting such rules as will secure to actual settlers their claims on principles of justice and equity," and stating that in the absence of pre-emption laws it was the duty of the settlers "to unite for their own protection when the lands shall be brought into market." Before noon of the appointed day the number of settlers assembled in response to this notice astonished every one present, and no one more than the settlers themselves. The most reliable estimates placed the number at not less than 1,000, while many thought it was much greater. It was not a rabble of lawless "squatters," but earnest and patriotic pioneers, who assembled on this occasion to protect their "claims" and improvements against the rapacious greed of avaricious speculators. The meeting was organized by the election of Samuel Hinman, president; Samuel Sanborn and Sylvester Pettibone, vice presidents; and A. O. T. Breed and I. A. Lapham, secretaries. A committee of twenty-one was appointed to report rules and regulations for the consideration of the meeting.
After a recess of two hours the committee reported with a preface or preamble, which recited that the settlers of Milwaukee county and the several counties thereto attached had removed to and settled in this section of country for the purpose of bettering their condition by agricultural pursuits. That the Congress of the United States, by the repeated passing of pre-emption laws, had impressed them with a reasonable belief that the same policy would continue to be pursued for their benefit. That in order to secure the fruits of their labors in a peaceable and equitable manner it was necessary that certain fixed rules and regulations should be adopted by the settlers, whereby the right of occupancy should be determined. Therefore it was resolved that they adopt and would to the best of their ability sustain in full force of obligation the rules and regulations adopted.
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