USA > Wisconsin > Racine County > Official record of the Old Settlers Society of Racine County, Wisconsin : with the historical address of Charles E. Dyer, delivered at Burlington, Wis., February 22, 1871 > Part 2
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By an act of the Legislature, passed January 2d, 1838, the three original towns in the present territory of Racine county were established, and their limits prescribed, namely : Racine, with the polls of election established at the hotel of John M. Myers, in the village of Racine; Mount Pleasant, with the polls of election at the house of George F. Robinson ; and Rochester with the polls of election established at the house of Stebbins & Duncan, in the village of Rochester, and also at Moses Smith's in Burlington.
In the imperfect narative I have prepared, I have thought it most methodical and satisfactory to take up the settlements of the different towns of the county, according to their present names and limits, beginning with
RACINE.
As already indicated, Captain Gilbert Knapp was the first white settler at Racine. He came in November, 1834, on horseback from Chicago. At Skunk Grove there was an Indian settlement and trading post, at the head of which was Jam- beau, the name of a French trader, with an Indian wife, and
-
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well remembered by many of the earliest settlers. The route from Chicago at that time, and for a considerable period there- after, was upon an Indian trail, via Grose Point, and thence to the trading post at Skunk Grove. Captain Knapp came by that route, accompanied by two men in his employ, one of whom, was William Luce. An Indian piloted him from the Grove to the mouth of Root river. With the assistance of his men, he built a log cabin on the south bank of the river, and at about the spot where the planing mill of Miner & McClurg now stands -- the river then flowing in its original channel, at the foot of what may yet, with close observation, be discovered to be its former bank, passed round to the southward at the point where Captain Knapp located his claim, and emptied into the lake between the pres- ent east terminus of Second and Third streets, but at rare in- tervals, on account of new and temporary formations of the beach, discharged its waters into the lake near the grounds of the old light house.
Captain Knapp, by virtue of his location, made claim to all the land comprised in the original plat of Racine, namely : the east fractional half of section nine, subsequently known as lots No.'s 1 and 2, on the north side of the river, comprising 74 acres, and lot No. 6, on the south side, comprising 66 98-100 acres. During the winter of 1834-35, Captain Knapp went away, returning again in March or April, 1835. He immediately interested Gurdon S. Hubbard of Chicago, and Jacob A. Barker, of Buffalo, in his claim at Port Gilbert, on Root river, and I have in my possession the letter written by him on the 30th of March, 1835, to Mr. Barker, setting forth the value of his claim, and soliciting his co-operation in the enterprise of founding and building up a settlement.
On the 2d day of January, 1835, Stephen Campbell, Wm. See, Paul Kingston and Edmund Weed came from Chicago to Racine. When these persons arrived, they found Wm. Luce and another man, in the employ of Captain Knapp, in charge of the Captain's cabin. Mr. Campbell immediately cleared
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RACINE COUNTY, WIS.
away a spot in the dense forest, at about the place where the homestead of Edwin Colvin is now located, and built a shanty. He soon found that he was within the limits of the claim of Knapp, Hubbard & Barker, and he thereupon removed far- ther west and built a log house, on what was, in early times, known as the Campbell fraction, and in later years, as the harbor addition to the village and city of Racine.
William See, meantime, had located at the Rapids ; Ed- mund Weed had made a claim where Nicholas D. Fratt now lives, and Paul Kingston had built a cabin and located on the south limits of the lands claimed by Captain Knapp. After some conflict he was obliged to yield his claim, and the prem- ises he occupied, became the homestead of Captain Knapp.
In April, 1835, Norman Clark, with five companions started from Chicago in an open yawl boat, rigged with sails, belonging to the Government, and which they procured at Fort Dearborn, for a cruise along the west shore of the lake. Upon reaching the mouth of Root river, with their canvass spread before a favoring breeze, they sailed into the river, " wing al.d wing." Alanson Sweet, now of Milwaukee, was captain of the craft, and quite bewildered by the wild and beautiful scenery around them, almost before they were aware of it, they had reached Captain Knapp's cabin on the bank, and """ hove to " with all the skill and pride of able and experienced navigators. Mr. Clark was prospecting: looking for town sites and corner lots, but he found the present site of Racine a dense forest, the banks of the river lined with cedar and most luxuriant foliage; and though, not quite pleased with the results of his adventure thus far, he and his fellow voyagers again spread their sails and went to Milwaukee, where there were two log houses, and where a white woman had never been. He looked over Solomon Juneau's muskrat skins and returned to Chicago.
In May, 1835, Joel Sage arrived. He came from Chicago on a pony belonging to Captain Knapp. A hoosier, whose
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name is unknown, had made a claim on the west side of Root river, in what was subsequently, (and is yet) known as Sage Town. Mr. Sage bought the hoosier's claim, and in the sum- mer of 1835, went into occupation of a log house which stood on the top of the bluff, at a point which is now in the center of State street. One day in the fall of 1835, he found his shanty torn down to the bottom log. With the perseverance and and courage of a pioneer, he immediately rebuilt it, and with renewed determination asserted his claim to the 107 acres of land which he afterward, as we shall see, successfully pre- empted, and which subsequently comprised that part of Racine known as Sage Town.
At this point in our history, we find Knapp, Hubbard & Barker the claimants of the original plat of Racine; Stephen Campbell in possession of the harbor addition, and Joel Sage settled upon the tract on the west side of the river. The warfare which they were obliged to wage in maintenance of their titles, are not an unimportant or uninteresting feature of those romantic times. Let me, therefore, give you a brief record of the fortunes of these pioneers in acquiring their rights to the lands, upon which to this day, valuable muni- ments of title are founded.
In 1836, Captain Knapp, not feeling entirely satisfied with his rights as a settler to the lands to which he made claim, procured from Jaques Vaux, a float title to lots one and two, section 9, which was the Receiver's receipt issued June 19th, 1834, under the pre-emption act of 1834, and on the 25th of July, 1836, procured its assignment to Gurdon S. Hubbard. At the same time, he also obtained from Lewis Vaux, a float upon lot 6, section 9, on the south side of the river, and on the 25th of July 1836, procured its assignment to Gurdon S. Hubbard.
In the winter of 1835 and 1836, the city of Racine was laid out in lots and blocks.
Subsequently, Congress passed the re-emption bill, by the
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terms of which, no right of pre-emption was granted to actual settlers upon lands within the location of any incorporated town, or to any portion of lands which had been actually selected as sites for cities or towns, or specially occupied or reserved for town lots.
The float title to the village was consequently decided to be invalid. But, by an act of Congress, approved May 26th, 1824, the right had been granted to counties, of pre-emption to quarter sections of land for seats of justice within the same. The seat of justice of Racine county had been, in 1836, located at Racine, and so on the 2nd day of January, 1838 an act was passed by the Territorial Legislature author- izing the county commissioners to sell and convey the right and title of the county, under the act of 1824, in and to the east fractional half of section 9 to Gilbert Knapp, his heirs and assigns, upon his paying to the board, within two years from the date of conveyance, at the rate of ten dollars per acre therefor, with ten per cent. interest ; and providing further, that the county commissioners' should immediately enter up and secure the pre-emption to which the county was entitled ; and the money arising from the sale by the county to Captain Knapp, to be disposed of in the erection of county buildings, for the county of Racine, according to said act of Congress.
The county officers refused to carry this law literally into effect, and the title remained uncertain until the winter of 1838 and 1839 when an arrangement was made between the original proprietors and the county officers, by which the for- mer should erect or procure to be erected, county buildings, consisting of court house and jail, and building for county offices, and the latter should release and convey their interest in the lands to the first claimants.
On the 9th day of February, 1839, Samuel Hale, jr., and John Bullen, as county commissioners, procured a duplicate of lot 6, east fractional half of section 9, under pre-emption act of 1834, which, on the 11th day of February, 1837 was,
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OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY,
assigned to Captain Knapp. On the same day, Captain Knapp gave to the commissioners his mortgage on the prop- erty, conditioned for the performance of the agreement that had been entered into. The county relinquished all of its in- terest in lots 1, 2, and 6, in section 9, and the contract for the construction of the county buildings was assigned to Ros- well Morris and Wm H. Waterman, who, in 1839, built your present court house. The jail was built in 1841, in connec- tion with and as part of the log jail built in 1837, and the brick building now occupied by the Clerk and Register was constructed in 1842. Thus, after adversities and sacrifices, the proprietors of the original plat, secured to themselves the rights which they originally supposed they had acquired by virtue of settlement and possession, and the county of Ra- cine secured the construction of county buildings, which it is high time were torn down, to give place to more commodious and modern structures.
In consequence of legislation by Congress, which I have al- ready alluded to, Mr. Campbell, who had settled on the har- bor addition, found himself dispossessed of the rights which he supposed he had acquired by virtue of original settlement. The village of Racine, by M. B. Mead, its President, on the 17th of October, 1843, obtained the title to this property, but made arrangements with Mr. Campbell, by means of which he retained a quarter interest, the village securing a three quar- ter interest. This three-quarters interest was disposed of by the village, and the proceeds were expended on the harbor, which fact gave to this tract of land its name as the harbor addi- tion.
Joel Sage, in retaining his claim and title to the 107 acres, upon which he located, was spared the trials and troubles which Congressional legislation had brought to other settlers. But he had a long and discouraging conflict with fraudulent float holders, who sought, by all means that were not honest, to oust him of his possessions. He journeyed to Green Bay, and there resisted their pretences ; he went to Chicago and
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RACINE COUNTY, WIS.
employed lawyers to assist him in his warfare, and with a just conception of the first great right and duty of an actual settler, he took good care to maintain the actual possession of the lands upon which he had located His theory was that his cabin was his castle ; that possession was nine points in the law, and adhering with courageous pertinacity to his posi- tion, fraudulent floats and bogus titles could not prevail against him, and his rights culminated in actual title in 1838, by virtue of pre-emption.
Having thus stated the manner and circumstances under which the first title to the lands embraced in the original plat of the city of Racine, and in the harbor addition, and Sage's addition to Racine was acquired and perfected, let us return to the history of the original settlement following oc- currences as near as may be in their chronological order. Up to May, 1835, we have found Capt. Gilbert Knapp, Stephen Campbell, Paul Kingston, William Luce and Joel Sage per- manently located at what was then called Port Gilbert. In the summer of that year, E. J. Glenn, Levi Mason and Jas. Beeson arrived. On the 1st of October, 1835, Alfred Cary came, and later in the fall Dr. Bushnell B. Cary, Amaziah Stebbins and John M. Myers, joined those settled here .- Dr. Cary was the first physician who came to the county for permanent settlement. In December, 1835, Dr. Elias Smith arrived, and found, in addition to the persons alread named, Samuel Mars, Eugene Gillespie, Joseph Knapp, Henry F. Cox, Mr. Stilwell, and Mr. William Saltonstall.
During this year, 1835, five or six frame build- ings were erected, one of which was a two story tavern. In January, 1836, Wm. H. Waterman arrived. On the 7t of February, 1836, Sidney A. and Stephen H. Sage, sons of Joel Sage, joined their father, and in August, 1836, Mrs. Bethiah Sage wife of Joel Sage came with Rev Cyrus Nichols and family. Before the arrival of Mrs Sage, Stephen H. Sage and his father kept bachelor's hall. They began housekeep- ing together with a barrel of flour and half a barrel of beef.
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OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY,
They lived on beef, bread and tea, without furniture, crockery, or beds, until after the opening of navigation in the spring of 1836.
Albert G. Knight came in the spring of 1836. He arrived at Southport on the 1st of April, 1836, and remained there one week. He traveled from Wayne county, N. Y., to Chicago on horseback, and from Chicago to Racine upon foot. He made a claim near Mygatt's Corners, and another adjoining the farm now owned by David Wiltsie, in Caledonia.
On the 1st of June, 1836, Marshall M. Strong arrived, and was the first lawyer who settled in Racine county.
During the same month, Norman Clark came. He walked from Southport along the beach of the lake. In the fall of that year (1836) his family removed to Racine. He tells me that on his arrival he found the following persons: Amaziah Stebbins, Capt Knapp, Alanson Filer, Dr. Cary, M. M. Strong, Alfred Cary, John M. Myers, Edmund Weed, Wm. H. Waterman, Jonathan M. Snow, Paul Kingston, Stephen Ives, Wm. H. Chamberlin, Albert G. Knight, Joel Sage, Eugene Gillespie, Wm. Saltonstall, Enoch Thompson, Dr. Elias Smith, Seth Parsons, and in all, about 25 or 30 persons.
Lorenzo Janes came to Racine in August, 1836, but did not permanently locate until July, 1837.
Samuel G. Knight came in August, 1836, on board the schooner Paul Jones from Oswego. His father, Timothy Knight, came with him. Mr. Samuel G. Knight took up his residence in a small frame house which was standing where the drug store of H. & W. Smieding is now situated.
James O. Bartlett came in November, 1836. He was ac- companied by Wm. H. Waterman, who had been after a stock of goods, and his conveyance was a horse and sulky. The next day after his arrival, Mr. Bartiett started for Fox River. He went first to Skunk Grove, thence to Rochester, following the Indian trail, from Rochester to Burlington, thence 7 miles below, to a place called Big Bend, where he made a claim. At
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RACINE COUNTY, WIS.
that time, there was not a house between Call's Grove, (now known as Ives' Grove) and Rochester. He staid at Roches- ter with Levi Godfrey, and at Burlington, with Lemuel Smith. Mr. Bartlett erected a log pen, about five feet high, and six feet square on his claim, and slept in it through a long and rainy night. He inscribed his name on his cabin and on a tree near by, when he left his claim, and though he has never since returned to it, he supposes it to be there still !
In 1837, David Wells came, and it is recollected of him, that while hunting along the Nippersink, in 1843, a fire was kindled in the tall grass of the prairie, and unable to escape, he perished in the flames.
On the 14th of May, 1838, Eli R. Cooley came to Racine, but remained only a short time, returning again in December, 1838, to make it a permanent residence.
In 1839, John A. Carswell arrived. He came on the steamboat New England, and thinks there were two hund- red. people at Racine and in its vicinity at the time. In this connection, I owe it to Mr. Carswell to say, that to his let- ters entitled "Early Sketches," published in the Racine Ar- gus a few years since, I am indebted for many facts which I here relate.
S. B. Peck settled in Racine on the 9th day of June, 1839. He had been here before, in 1837, and at that time in pass- ing over the prairie on horseback, at the head of Blue river, south west of what has long been known as the Wright farm, now owned by Mr. Francis Holborn, the water was so deep that his horse had to swim where now roads and streets have been opened and residences established. Charles Smith has speared musquelange weighing twenty pounds, on the same ground.
Among the other early settlers at Racine, were Benjamin Pratt who came in March, 1835, Charles Smith who arrived on the 2d day of June, 1836, coming with his father Lyman K. Smith, and with Marshall M. Strong and Stephen N. Ives,
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OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY,
on the steamboat Pennsylvania; Samuel Lane who came, also, in 1836: William and John Chamberlin, and Win. S. Derby, who came in '37; Truman G. Wright, and Charles Bunce, who came in 1838. Lucius S. Blake with his father and two broth- thers came out in Feb. 1835, but as we shall see, located in Caledonia In 1839, however, Mr. Blake adopted Racine as his home, and experienced as much of the adventure of pio- neer life, as any settler in the county. Samuel Hood was also one of the settlers of 1838.
I can not undertake to give you a statistical list of all the persons and their families who settled in Racine prior to 1840. It is quite impossible to do so. Emigration began actively in 1835, and through the memorable year 1836 it increased and continued beyond expectation. The people who came in 1835, probably suffered greater privations than any who came subsequently. Without the products of agriculture, without mechanics, and without roads or means of ready communication with other parts of the world, together with the absence of society and protection of law, the difficul- ties of obtaining residences, food and clothing, were almost insurmountable.
Nevertheless, the earliest settlers concur in saying, that with all their severe experiences they had much enjoyment. A common alliance naturally sprang up between them ; each was undoubtedly inspired by the thought that he was doing his part to develope and open up a wild and new country before untrodden by the foot of civilized man, but destined even in their lives, to greatness in civilization, growth and progress.
As early as 1835-36, the village of Racine, as I have al- ready stated, was laid out in lots and blocks. In January 1836, Root river post office was established at the Rapids, and A. B. Saxton was appointed postmaster. In May of the same year, however, this office was discontinued, and the Racine office established. Dr. B. B. Cary was appointed postmaster. The amount of the first quarterly returns to the P. M. General
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RACINE COUNTY, WIS.
was $37. At the time this office was established, the mail was carried from Chicago to Green Bay on horseback once a week.
The first survey of that part of the village north of the river, was made by Milo Jones, and of that part south of the river by Joshua Hathaway. The first established store was opened by Glen & Mason, though Capt. Knapp had previously sold goods to settlers to a limited extent. Eugene Gillespie engaged in the same pursuit, and on the arrival of Dr. Smith and Mr. Waterman, or soon after, they established a mercantile business, and it is said that in the temporary ab- sence of Dr. Smith, the location for their store was selected near the subsequent site of the store of Lee & Dickson. This was then a spot far away from the river and far up in the woods, and there are old settlers who distinctly remember the dissatisfaction with which Dr. Smith on his return, learned of the location of his store and said, they had "got so far up in woods that business wouldn't reach them in twenty years !"
Marshall M. Strong and Stephen N. Ives upon their arrival also opened a store under the name of Strong & Ives.
The first hotel was kept by Amaziah Stebbins and John M. Myers, and stood in the center of what is now Main Street just north of Smith & Waterman's store. It was built by John Pagan.
In 1837, the Racine House was erected at a cost of over ten thousand dollars. Alfred Cary built it, and Albert G. Knight hauled the lumber for its construction from the Rapids. A clearing was made in the woods of sufficient extent to en- able the frame work to be done and the raising to be made. It was an old fashioned raising. Everybody turned out, and everybody had a good time. Lucius S. Blake burned a por- tion of the lime for the new hotel on a log heap in the woods, and got fifty cents a bushel for it, which was more than pota- toes were worth. Tom O'Sprig, whose name may conjure up many incidents and traditions in the minds of old settlers, had the job of plastering the house. He was a man who always
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OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY,
put off until to-morrow what he could avoid doing to-day, but when he was fairly started in an enterprise, the vigor of his exertions was unsurpassed. He was a mason by trade, and had, as I have said, engaged to plaster the Racine House, but procrastinated his job until the patience of the people who were waiting for the " grand opening " was quite exhausted. He finally concluded that the better the day the better the deed, and so that Sunday was the day when the job should be done. Upon beginning his work he found materials were wanting ; they must be had; but for that purpose a conveyance was needed with which to bring them. He had none. It occurred to him, however, that Stephen Campbell and Paul Kingston each had a yoke of oxen ; they were probably grazing in the woods. He knew it would never do to seek the owners and ask their permission for the use of their oxen on that day, as both were Sabbath observing men, and at that moment were probably attending Divine service; and, therefore, Tom O'Sprig followed the inclinations of his nature, and set out in pursuit of the oxen without the leave or liberty of the owners. Wandering alone in the woods, to his joy he came upon them quietly grazing. They were docile and submissive, and he soon placed upon their stalwart necks the yoke he car- ried with him. He endeavored to drive them by persuasive "gee's" and " haw's," but to be driven as he would have them go, they would not. It is said that Tom woke the echoes of the forest with his demonstrations of rage, but had ultimately to abandon his adventure in despair. The Racine House re- mained over Sunday unplastered, and Tom was inconsolable, until he found that the unruliness of the oxen was attributable to the unfortunate fact that he had yoked up Stephen Camp- bell's off ox, and Paul Kingston's off ox, and, therefore, that they pulled a contrary way from that desired by Tom O'Sprig !
The Racine House was, however, in due time completed. A celebration was had, and in the dancing room which had been particularly prepared, from the close of day until early
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morn a happy crowd danced away the night under the in- spiration of music, furnished by a hod carrier, on a three stringed fiddle !
John M. Myers was the first landlord of the Racine House. He subsequently removed to Milwaukee, where he died, and the following obituary notice was published in a Milwaukee paper :
"DIED .- In this village, of pleurisy, Mr. John M. Myers, "aged about thirty. Mr. Myers was keeper of the Milwaukee "House. He was taken ill on Sunday, and died this morn- "ing at five o'clock. In him the wife had an affectionate hus- "band, the children an exemplary father, who live to mourn "his loss, and the community an enterprising and useful "man."
His son, Henry S. Myers, whose lamented death oc- curred nearly two years since, was the first white male child born in Racine, and his excellent mother who has ex- perienced all the adversities and hardships of a pioneer life, yet survives.
The first white child born in Racine was a daughter of Levi Mason.
During the spring and summer of 1836, common labor was from $1.50 to $2.00 per day; mechanics labor from $2.50 to $3.00 per day. Hardwood lumber from $20.00 to $30 per M. Flour $12.00 to $20.00, and pork $20.00 to $30.00 per barrel. In the fall of this year, Messrs. Strong & Ives sent to Chicago for two barrels of pork at a cost of thirty dollars per barrel. It arrived, and a crowd of hungry cus- tomers gathered for supplies. Alas for their appetites and hopes ! The first barrel opened contained nothing but brine and pig tails, and it was well written at the time, that "no Bashaw of ancient history ever had more tails than the won- derful hoosier hog that had been packed in that barrel!"
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