USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > Pioneer history of Milwaukee > Part 30
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REPUDIATED.
The disposition shown by certain members of the council to re- fuse to pay Judge Miller for drafting the new charter drawn by him at the request of several of the members resulted in a lengthy report from a committee consisting of Jas. H. Rogers, Ed. D. Holton and W. P. Lynde, which as a rejoinder to the recalcitrants was a scorcher. It was a very able report. The judge had made no charge but was subsequently paid $200. See proceedings of the common council of February 1, 1851.
THE CLAY CLUB.
A Clay club way organized in 1851, February 5th, at Belden's Old Home saloon, No. 1 Spring Street, Jonathan E. Arnold, presi- dent, John P. McGregor, William A. Walters, Clark S. Ross, (of Cowles & Ross) Samuel Chandler, S. W. Hall and Wm. A. Prentiss,
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vice presidents, Jas. B. Kellogg, secretary. This club, however, was short lived.
K. O. C., was the mystic heading of an organization known as Mizpah Lodge, who held their meetings Monday evening.
John C. Starkweather, grand sultan; Chas. H. Hurd, grand caliph (or calf, I don't know which) R. H. Smith, grand scribe. It was political in part.
ANTI-LAND MEETING.
A mass meeting was held in Gardiner's Hall in February, 1851, under a call signed by over 200 persons, for the purpose of defeat- ing the bill offered by Wm. K. Wilson, which bill provided that no person should own more than two lots in any village, or 320 acres of land, in the country, (see Milwaukee Sentinel of February ist and 15th). A meeting was also held at Johnson's Hall on the 17th, by the Irish, at which they anathematized Mr. Wilson and his little bill in true Celtic style. It was a bad day for Wm. K. Wilson, politically, and " kilt" him as a statesman intirely. Among the dif- ferent writers who opened fire upon Mr. Wilson and his bill, was one who signed himself " One-of-'Em," and from the way he slung ink, I think he must have been five or six of 'em. This gentleman wielded a sarcastic pen and cut Mr. Wilson up badly. It read like Dr. Jas. Johnson. As an illustration of how the people looked upon Mr. Wilson's Lycurgean scheme, I will insert the following, taken from the Sentinel and Gazette of February 17th, in relation to that and other legislative foolishness :
LEGISLATIVE TOM FOOLERY.
Ever since the election of senator, our lawmakers at Madison have been on a regular train. It seems quite impossible for them to sober down to the business of legislation. Their first frolic was to convert the assembly chamber into a lodge room for the Oriental, Evanic Order of One Thousand and One. Next came the annual monkey show of the sovereigns and their governor, which was redeemed on this occasion, by a clever and caustic political homily from the mock executive. And now, to play out the play, the assembly have passed Mr. Wilson's land limi- tation bill. Here is the vote by which this comical specimen of legislation was ordered to a reading ; the names of the members from this county in italics :
YEAS-Messrs. Barnet1, Bjornsen, Bradley, Cavney, Cole, Cone, Dick, Easton, Everly, Eastabrook, Gifford, Groot, IIale, Hemenway, Hurlburt, Jenkins, Julius, Kinney, Lessey, Lowth, Malmros, Murphy, Muzzy, Price, Ray, Seaver, Snover,
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Stock, Tinker, Toll, Tompkins, Tregaskis, Utley, Van Vliet, Vincent, Whitton and Wilson-39.
NAYS-Messrs. Biddlecome, Bird, Boyce, Briggs, Chase, Clothier, French, Fuller, H. Johnson, J. B. Johnson, Moore, Osborne, Perkins, Rogan, Smith, Spooner, Wing, Waldo and Horn, Speaker-19.
Mr. Doran and Mr. Walker were absent upon this vote; but in regard to the position of the latter, the following incident in the debate furnishes some light:
Mr. Horn moved that the committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again. He did this because his friend from Milwaukee (Mr. Walker) who owned about three hundred city lots, was absent, and he thought that Mr. Walker should have an opportunity to appear, and show cause, if any, why he should not be con- demned for owning so many city lots.
Mr. Jenkins remarked that Mr. Walker well knew that this bill was coming up at this time and did not intend to oppose. He thought that Mr. W. was pledged to favor its passage.
Mr. Horn withdrew his motion.
We don't so understand Col. Walker's position but perhaps, for fun's sake, he went in with the rest to put the bill through.
It is greatly to be regretted, we think, that the Assembly did not go the whole hog and pass the bill just as Mr. Wilson presented it. They deemed it necessary, it seems, to amend the bill by raising the limit to 640 acres and four city or village lots, and by striking out the seventh section, (the most comely feature of the act, ) which applies the screws to every man who should have the audacity to own more property than the bill allowed. This came very near spoiling the sport, as well as the bill. A whole section is altogether too much land for one man to own, and as to four city lots, that 's sheer extravagance. At this rate, the lots in Milwaukee won't begin to divide up, and some of us, who are now in happy expectation of getting a lot for nothing, under Mr. Wilson's clever Land-Press, will have to con- tent ourselves with wishing "we may get it." We hope the Senate will amend by reducing the limit to 80 acres and one city lot.
The best part of the joke, after all, is, that our simple friend, Mr. Wilson, sup- posed the Assembly to be in earnest, and delivered himself, after considerable effort and preparation, of the following profound argument in support of his bill:
Mr. Wilson said it was well known to his colleagne, (Mr. Chase,) that resolu- tions in favor of such a measure had been passed by the ward, town, county, congressional and state conventions. It was a prominent doctrine of the demo- cratic party, and even the whigs were squinting strongly towards it-with the exception of, perhaps, the Sentinel, which it was well known was controlled entirely by monied power and capitalists. If that paper was in favor of the bill, he then should suspect that there was something wrong in it. Before this day week he could present petitions signed by hundreds of the most prominent citizens of Milwaukee.
Sagacious Mr. Wilson! Such a light ought not to be hid under a bushel. Since
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the gas contract has fallen through, we suggest that Mr. Wilson be incorporated to illuminate the city instead. He could do it, and not half try. To be sure it would be a " monopoly," but then we would get gas so very cheap. We com- mend the proposition to the Madison jokers.
Two speeches were also made upon this subject by Mr. Biddle- cumb, of Grant County, and Hon. Horace Chase, of Milwaukee, that were able and right to the point, but as they both belong more properly to a state history than a local one, I shall omit them and only say that they gave good and sufficient reason why this ridicu- lous bill should not pass, but as both sides are entitled to a hearing I will insert the following resolutions passed at the meeting held February 19th, which speak for themselves, and show that Mr. Wil- son was not entirely alone in his insane attempts to get his bill passed :
THE "PROGRESSIVE" RESOLUTIONS.
The following are the resolutions reported to the meeting on Wednesday night, by a committee consisting of S. M. Booth, James Cammack, E. McKeeby, J. Paisley, and J. H. Paine. Though repudiated by the majority at the meeting, they doubtless speak the sentiments of the minority, and we therefore place them on record :
I. Resolved, That all men have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
2. Resolved, That the right to life necessarily implies the right to the means of a livelihood, and as men cannot live without food or shelter, or secure food without access to the earth, or a home without a spot of earth to build on, their right to the earth is as sacred as their right to live, and their need of it as imper. ative as their need of food, clothing and homes.
3. Resolved, That the earth being the common inheritance of all men, the right of one man to such a portion of it as may be necessary to the support of himself and family is as sacred as the right of another, and to deny this right is to deny the right of life itself.
4. Resolved, That no men or class of men, nor combination of men, corpor- ate or legislative, have a right to withhold from any man his proper share of this common inheritance.
5. Resolved, That the history of all nations has shown that the inevitable ten- dency of a free monopoly of the soil is to concentrate the lands of the many into the hands of a few, and that the evil results of land monopoly are strongly felt in this city and throughout the state.
6. Resolved, That to preserve to each man the right to his inheritance in the soil, it is essential that a limit should be set to the amount of land which any one may acquire and possess.
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7. Resolved, That the cardinal principles of land reform are homestead exemp- tions, free farms, on condition of occupancy and improvement, and land limit- ation.
8. Resolved, That it is absurd to limit purchasers in the acquisition of public and state lands, and to allow them to monopolize, without limit, the possession of private lands.
9. Resolved, That the land limitation bill now before the legislature, limiting the future acquisition of land for each individual to 640 acres of farming land, or four city or village lots, of one acre each, but allowing each landholder to retain for life, all lands now in his possession, violates no law, and no vested rights, is liberal in its provisions, humane and just in principle, and ought to become the law of the state.
10. Resolved, That the meeting recently gotten up in this city, by capitalist, landholders and their attorney, to condemn this bill, did not represent the sen- timents of the people of this city, and that we respectfully request our represen- tatives, as they regard the wishes and interest of this people, TO VOTE FOR THE BILL.
II. Resolved, That whether we succeed or fail at this session of the legislature, we pledge ourselves heartily to the doctrines of land reform, and we will never cease our efforts till land limitation becomes the law of this state.
FORMAL OPENING OF THE MILWAUKEE AND MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD TO WAUKESHA.
The formal opening of the Milwaukee & Mississippi railroad to Waukesha, was celebrated February 25th, 1851, at which time a public dinner was given by the citizens of that city, the proceed- ings of which are herewith given. The writer was present at this banquet. Speeches were made by A. W. Randall, Mayor Upham, Rev. Mr. Mathews, Mr. Goodrich of Milton, Jas. S. Brown, Major Rufus Cheney of Whitewater, Ed. D. Holton, and others, it was a proud day for Milwaukee.
PROGRAMME.
For the occasion of opening the railroad to Waukesha, on Tuesday the 25th inst.
The cars will leave the depot at Milwaukee, at 10 o'clock A. M. precisely. Fare for each passenger out and returning $1.50. All passengers by the train will receive a dinner tickets free of charge. Hess's band will accompany the train. Dinner will be served in the company's new and spacious car house, under the direction of the committee of arrangements, at I o'clock P. M. precisely. After the removal of the cloth, addresses will be made.
Among those who will address the company, it is expected will be Judge Hub- bell, Mayor Uphanı, and Gov. Tallmadge.
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Ladies are expected to participate in the festivities of the occasion. The return train will leave Waukesha at 4 o'clock P. M. precisely.
OFFICERS OF THE DAY.
Byron Kilbourn, President.
Joseph Turner, Waukesha ; Vice President.
Rufus King, Milwaukee ;
Joseph Goodrich, Milton ;
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Hans Crocker, Milwaukee ; 66 66
S. B. Grant, Milwaukee
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Rufus Cheney, Whitewater ;
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COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.
J. P. Story.
W. D. Bacon.
Isaac Lane. G. Smith.
L. H. Barstow.
Wm. Smith.
O. M. Hubbard.
An evening train will leave at 6 o'clock P. M. to take out those who wish to participate in the festivities in the evening.
Fare for single gentlemen the usual fare. For. a gentleman and lady, out and back, two dollars.
E. D. HOLTON, Superintendent.
ILLEGAL VOTING.
James McAboy, an Irish lawyer, was arraigned before Judge Hubbell for illegal voting, and let off upon the plea of ignorance of the law. James was a gay laddie, but more of this hereafter.
BROKE IN.
A man named Alfred Russell, while attempting to cross the river on the ice, March Ioth, opposite the Eagle Foundry, foot of Cedar Street, broke through and was rescued with much difficulty by the firemen, which were called out for that purpose.
IMPORTING A POST MASTER.
Jas. D. Merrill was imported from Buffalo for a post master, and entered upon his duties April Ist.
The old corner store goes April 5th.
OFF SHE GOES.
The Old Corner Store was fairly launched from the ways, yesterday morning, and is now prosecuting its journey up East Water Street. This building is one of the oldest in our city, having been erected in the fall of 1835, very nearly upon
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the site of Solomon Juneau's original shanty, and being then regarded as a · triumph of art and enterprise. 'T'he vacant site is to be occupied by a handsome brick block, while the old corner store itself is to grace a lot a few blocks farther north.
NATIONALITV.
Out of a population of 4,872 in the Second Ward, in 1851, 2,715 were born in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 424 in England, 272 in other European states, 208 in Holland, 1,471 Americans, of which 775 were born in Wisconsin.
Navigation opened between Milwaukee and Chicago, February 26th. Ice commenced to move March 12th, and the river was clear on the 13th.
CREATING A NUISANCE.
There were such a quantity of fish (suckers) caught in a hole* on the Menomonee marsh this spring where they died, as to create a nuisance.
WEATHER.
March was a beautiful month this year, more like May than March.
THE LEAHY RIOT.
We come now to an episode in the history that brought a stigma upon us for a long time. I mean the disturbance known as the Leahy Riot, and as it was by far the most disgraceful affair that ever occurred in Milwaukee, and one which every American whether native or foreign born, would do well to remember, I have con- cluded to insert it here as a part of the history proper. It is taken partly from the Sentinel and Gazette of April 8, 1851, and partly from memory. This disgraceful affair grew out of the attempt of Rev. E. Leahy, styling himself a Monk of La Trappe, who had re- nounced Romanism, to deliver a series of lectures upon the sins of the Catholic church in one of which it was expected some awful dis- closures would be made on the subject of the confessional. This particular lecture, however, was to have been delivered on Monday
*Suckers are often caught in a hole (i. e.) rum holes to-day, neither is it neces- sary for them to die in order to become a nuisance.
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evening and then (as the notice stated) to male adults only, when it was apprehended that perhaps there might be some disturbance, but as he was simply going to preach a regular sermon on that Sun- day evening no trouble was anticipated, consequently the Methodist. Church, (old Spring Street) northwest corner of Spring and West Water was filled at the usual time, a large number of whom were women and children. The services were opened by the reverend gentleman in the usual manner, during which no noise or disturb- ance of any kind occurred, but when he commenced his discourse, which was prefaced with a few remarks relating to the excitement among the Catholics on account of his contemplated lecture on Monday, stating among other things that his life had been threat- ened that very day, voices were heard near the door to exclaim, " That's right, kill him !" upon which a tumult commenced that lasted for over two hours, during which many were badly hurt in the attempt to eject the rioters (all of whom were armed with clubs) and several, mostly females, made their escape from the windows* which were some 12 feet from the ground. At length an express was dis- patched after the mayor, Hon. D. A. J. Upham, who soon appeared upon the scene accompanied by Sheriff John White, when after a promise from the former that if they (the rioters) who paid not the slightest attention to the order requiring them to disperse, would leave, that Mr. Leahy should also leave the city, and should not be permitted to deliver his lecture. Upon which they withdrew, and the object of their wrath was escorted to his lodgings at the U. S. Hotel, under a strong guard headed by Sheriff White, followed by rioters, who on finding themselves foiled in their murderous intent i closed the entertainment by hurling a volley of stones through the windows of the hotel after which they dispersed. This outrage upon free speech caused a feeling of the deepest indignation among the
*The writer assisted nine woman to escape by one of those windows, after which he took his aged mother who had she supposed that there was going to be any trouble, or any disclosures made not fit for any one to hear, would certainly not have gone there, and passed out at the door.
+They no doubt hoped to be able to get hold of and kill him, while on his way to the hotel, which they had been prevented from doing by the resolute manner in which he had been defended by Dr. Waldo W. Lake and Geo. J. Fowler, at the church (the doctor being, as they supposed, armed with a revolver,) but were also foiled in this latter case.
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Protestants, and steps were at once taken to protect Mr. Leahy in his attempt to lecture. A large crowd collected on the morning of the seventh, in front of the post office and upon the street corners, and a call was at once made for all who were in favor of law and order to attend a mass meeting that afternoon (which was held at the church) to give expression to their views upon this outrage. It is proper to state that the following card signed by all the Catholic clergy and some of the laity, appeared in the Wisconsin of the 7th, in which as can be seen, they expressed their entire disapprobation of the outrage : -
A CARD.
We, the subscribers, clergy and laity of the Catholic Church in Milwaukee, hav- ing observed with sincere sorrow and disapprobation, the riotous and outrageous conduct of a few misguided Catholics, on Sunday night, at the Methodist Church, in interrupting by violence the lecture of Mr. Leahy, the anti-Catholic lecturer, by taking this means do express our unqualified condemnation and abhorrence of the acts of these men, and we hereby pledge our best efforts for the support of law and order in our midst, and engage that the injury to the property of our Methodist brethren shall be made good to them.
J. M. IVES, Pastor of St. Peter's Church.
P. BRADLEY, Assistant Pastor
M. E. SMITH, Pastor of St. Gall's Church. J. SALZMAN, D. D. Pastor of St. Mary's. ARTUR URBANACH, Assistant
J. TIERMAN, Pastor of Oak Creek Church. JOSHUA HATHAWAY,
GARRETT BARRY,
T. O'BRIEN,
JAMES JOHNSON, JESSE S. HEWITT,
M. BODDEN, JOHN EIGNER, Trustees of St. Mary's.
J. ZANDER,
D. G. POWER, JOHN FURLONG,
R. HACKETT, J. McMANMAN, MARTIN J, BURKE, JOHN WHITE.
Milwaukee, April 7, 1851.
The Germans of St. Mary's church, Rev. Dr. Salzman, pastor, also held a meeting on the 7th, at which August Greulich was chairman, and Michael Bodden secretary, and at which they passed the follow- ing resolution :
Resolved, That we most earnestly disapprove of the occurrence at the Methodist church on last evening, not only as citizens of this state, but also from the princi- ples of our church, which does not believe in resort to arms as a defence, but
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which always takes part for good order and peace, and to which we are resolved to adhere and therefore disapprove and condemn all disorderly and riotous pro- ceedings.
A. GREULICH, chairman. M. BODDEN, secretary.
In commenting upon this affair the Sentinel of the 8th had the following from the pen of Rufus King :
We have always been among the most liberal in our religious views, believing that true virtue consists not in forms or profession, but in the exercise of that golden rule of scripture, in all the relations of life. We believe that all sects and denominations have their virtues and their excellencies, their vices and their faults. We consider the proposed revelations of Mr. Leahy, addressed not to the moral sense of the comunity, but to their most prurient and grossest passions We have an unqualified contempt for all such measures, and all such men. But if the city authorities condemn him on the ground of obscenity, they have the right, in a legal way, to forbid his lecturing, but if on the ground of his religious views, they have no right to prevent him. But the truth is that the rioters of last night as- sailed him not on the ground of his obscenity, but because of his opposition to their peculiar religious views. Should the lecture libel any individual, he can have his legal redress, but such a proceeding as that of last evening arouses in the hearts of all men of education and republicanism, a feeling of unmixed indignation, and we trust that stringent measures will be taken to secure to all who may visit our city, the liberty of opinion and speech guaranteed by the constitution of the United States and of Wisconsin. The ringleaders in this affair should be ferreted out and visited with the utmost rigor of the law. The property and lives of our citizens demand it. The fair name of the chief city of our state demands it, and the outraged feelings of every free-born citizen demand that the constitution shall be sustained.
This meeting at the church was organized by the appointment of Dr. E. B. Wolcott, president; and Herbert Reed, secretary ; when after some remarks by Rev. Mr. Ives and Peter Yates, Esq., a com- mittee consisting of Dr. Thomas Spencer, from the First ward ; John B. Vliet, from the Second ward'; Peter Yates, from the Third ward ; Robert Harper, from the Fourth ward ; and Martin Delaney, from the Fifth ward ; to report resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting at the disgraceful outrage that had been committed against free speech in the person of Mr. Leahy.
During the absence of the committee, the meeting was addressed by Myron H. Orton and James C. Paine Esq., whose fiery words almost drove those present to frenzy, particularly when informed
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by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Miller, that Mr. Leahy did not intend to lecture against Romanism as was supposed, but simply to preach. The committee reported the following resolutions, which, after be- ing discussed by Messrs. Spencer, Holliday, McGarry, Fuller, Blos- som and Messenger, were unanimously adopted :
Resolved, That it is the right of every citizen of the United States to speak, or spread his written thoughts before the community, responsible only to his country or his God that they are both lawful and truthful.
Resolved, As the sense of this meeting, that while it by no means stoops to indorse or applaud that sort of valor which points to the public discussion of an excitable subject, in the midst of a sensible population, yet the liberty of speech is one that must be maintained at all hazards.
Resolved, That it is the duty of the sheriff and other public officers to bring to justice all such as were engaged in the riotous proceedings of last night.
Mr. Yates offered the following resolution :
Resolved, That in view of the disgraceful proceedings of last evening, it is expedient, as a measure of precaution against the repetition of these scenes, that the chairman of this meeting call to his aid a committee of 100 prudent and dis- creet men to protect Mr. Leahy, and all others disposed to speak to the public, in the peaceful and free exercise of the glorious and never to be surrendered liberty of speech.
Which, on motion of Levi Blossom, Esq., was amended so as to read, " every citizen of Milwaukee," instead of " a commitee of 100." Which was adopted.
On motion of Mr. A. J. Fuller, the following resolutions, after being discussed by Messrs. Holliday, Paine, Mccullough, Booth, Hunt, and Fuller, were unanimously adopted :
Resolved, That as American freemen we are the advocates of unlimited freedom of speech, in the broadest sense, and to secure this right we are ready to stake our sacred honor and our lives.
Resolved, That we invite the Rev. Mr. Leahy, in whose person this right has been violated, to deliver such lectures and on such subjects as to him may appear advisable, and we do hereby pledge him perfect safety in so doing, and guarantee to him a fair hearing without molestation from any one.
Resolved, That we, the citizens of Milwaukee, are determined to protect the Rev. Mr. Leahy, or any other citizen of the United States who may be in our city, in the free exercise of his religious and political rights as guaranteed to him by the Constitution of the United States and of Wisconsin.
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