USA > Wisconsin > Racine County > Racine > Racine, belle city of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 5
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A large part of the ceded territory was claimed by the Colony of Virginia, which was one of the thirteen that rebelled against British oppression. Early in 1778 the Virginia Legislature au- thorized General George Rogers Clark to lead an expedition against the British posts of the Northwest, and voted a sum of money to defray the expenses. Clark rendezvoused his little force on an island in the Ohio River near Louisville, from which he started on his campaign. Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes surrendered without serious opposition, and by the reduction of these posts the western boundary of the United States was fixed at the Mississippi River by the Treaty of 1783, which ended the Revolution and established the independence of the American Republic. The territory now comprising the State of Wisconsin was therefore added to the domain of the United States through Clark's conquest of the Northwest.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY
Although the British did not evacnate the last of their posts in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys and about the Great Lakes until in 1796, Congress induced Virginia and all other claimants to cede to the United States their rights, such as they were, to the country north and west of the Ohio River, and in 1787 was passed the famous ordinance for the establishment of a goverment "over the territory of the United States, northwest of the River Ohio." The boundaries of the Northwest Territory, as defined by this ordinance, included the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, though provision was made for its divi- sion into territories or states, "whenever Congress shall deem it expedient."
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MAIN STREET, RACINE, LOOKING SOUTH FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE BLOCK BETWEEN FOURTH AND FIFTH STREETS, DURING THE EARLY 'GOS
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
General Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor of the Northwest Territory. On August 15, 1796, after the last of the British posts was evacuated, the governor issued a proclamation establishing Wayne County, which included the following terri- tory: "Beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, where it flows into Lake Erie; thence up that river for a distance of forty miles; thence west to the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's Rivers (where Fort Wayne, Indiana, now stands); thence in a northwesterly direction to the southernmost point of Lake Michi- gan; thence northwest to the divide between the streams that flow into Lake Michigan and those flowing into the Mississippi, and northward along said divide to the northern boundary of the ter- ritory of the United States."
Wayne County, as thus created, included the present Racine County, as well as all that part of Wisconsin in which the streams flow toward Lake Michigan. Hence, the first political subdivision of which Racine County formed a part was "Wayne County, Northwest Territory," though at that time there was not a single white man living within its limits, except the straggling settle- ment near the head of the Green Bay. South of Wayne County was the County of St. Clair, which embraced the greater portions of the present States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
WISCONSIN UNDER VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS
By an act of Congress, which took effect on July 4, 1800, the Territory of Indiana was created. It included all the present States of Indiana. Illinois and Wisconsin, nearly all of Michigan, and a portion of Minnesota. The seat of government was fixed at Vincennes, on the Wabash River, and General William H. Harri- son was appointed governor. There were now two settlements in Wisconsin - Green Bay and Prairie du Chien - and the terri- torial authorities of Indiana appointed a justice of the peace for each.
On the last day of June, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was set off from Indiana by an act of Congress, but its western bound- ary was defined as "a line drawn from the most southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan through the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the territory of the United States." The establish- ment of Michigan Territory did not affect Wisconsin in any way.
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It remained a part of Indiana until the Territory of Illinois was erected by the act of March 2, 1809.
The new Territory of Illinois included "all that part of the Territory of Indiana lying west of the Wabash River and a line drawn due north from Post Vincennes to the territorial boundary between the United States and Canada." By this act of March 2, 1809, Wisconsin became a part of the Territory of Illinois. When Illinois was admitted into the Union as a state in 1818, "all the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio, north of the States of Indiana and Illinois, and west of Lake Michigan," was attached to and made a part of Michigan Territory. Here was another change in jurisdiction for Wiscon- sin, which remained a part of Michigan for nearly twenty years. During this period the first Wisconsin counties were organized. Soon after the admission of Illinois, Lewis Cass, then governor of Michigan Territory, issued a proclamation establishing three counties in the newly attached territory - Michilimackinac, Brown and Crawford. This proclamation was issued on October 26, 1818.
The County of Michilimackinac included all that part of the present State of Wisconsin north of a line passing through the head of Little Noquet Bay, extending castward to Lake Huron and westward to the Mississippi River. Michilimackinac was named as the county seat. South of the County of Michilimack- inae, the remainder of the state was divided into two counties. Brown County extended from Lake Michigan westward to a north and south line passing through the middle of the portage between the Fox River of Green Bay and the Wisconsin River. Green Bay was designated the county seat. West of Brown and extend- ing to the Mississippi River was the County of Crawford, with Prairie du Chien as the county seat. By this proclamation of Governor Cass, the territory now embraced in Racine County formed a part of Brown County.
The new counties were organized, officers being appointed by Governor Cass, county courts were established, consisting of one chief and two associate justices, any one of whom might hear and decide eases in the absence of the other two. This was the beginning of civil government in Wisconsin.
The Black Hawk War of 1832 culminated in a treaty by which the Sae and Fox Indians ceded to the United States a large tract
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
of land in what is now the State of Iowa, where no civil govern- ment existed. On June 28, 1834, President Andrew Jackson approved an act of Congress extending the jurisdiction of Michi- gan over a large expanse of country west of the Mississippi, from the northern boundary of Missouri on the south to the line divid- ing the United States from the British possessions on the north. and extending westward to the Missouri River. Two counties west of the Mississippi - Dubuque and Des Moines - were cre- ated by the Michigan Legislature in September, 1834, and about the same time Milwaukee County was set off from Brown and Iowa County from Crawford. The territory now included in Racine County formed a part of the County of Milwaukee.
WISCONSIN TERRITORY
About the close of the year 1835, the people living in that part of Michigan Territory lying between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan started a movement for admission into the Union as a state. This influenced those living in the country west of Lake Michigan to consider the question of asking Congress to establish a new territory. On January 9, 1836, the members of the Michi- gan Legislature representing the districts west of Lake Michigan met in a sort of informal session at Green Bay and prepared a memorial asking Congress to organize a new territory west of that lake. The memorial was unanimously adopted and for- warded to Congress, where it received prompt consideration.
George W. Jones, or "General" Jones, as he was familiarly known in Michigan, was then the territorial delegate. He was interested in the development of the country west of Lake Michi- gan and the Mississippi and worked early and late for the erection of the new territory. The following story has been told of some of his political tactics to secure the passage of the bill: John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. had freely expressed his opposition to the measure, and JJones decided to procure the absence of Cal- houn when the bill was called up for final action. To this end he cultivated the acquaintance of a lady who was a friend of Mr. Calhoun and showed her so many attentions and courtesies that she expressed the hope some opportunity might arise for her to reciprocate. This was just what the General had been scheming for and replied: "You can, if you will, do me the greatest favor in the world." He then explained his territorial bill and the
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
opposition of Mr. Calhoun to its becoming a law. "Now," said lie, "this bill will come up on such a day. When I send you my card, call out Mr. Calhoun and on some pretext keep him out for an hour or two." The lady was equal to the emergency. She called Mr. Calhoun from the house just at the right time and the bill was passed while he was absent.
On April 20, 1836, President Jackson affixed his signature to the bill establishing the Territory of Wisconsin, with the fol- lowing boundaries: "Commencing at the northeast corner of the State of Illinois; thence through the middle of Lake Michigan to a point opposite the main channel of Green Bay; thence through that channel and the bay to a point opposite the mouth of the Menominee River; thence up that river to its head, which is near- est the Lake of the Desert; thence to the middle of said lake; thence down the Montreal River to its mouth; thence with a direct line across Lake Superior to where the territorial line of the United States last touches the lake northwest; thence on the north, with the territorial line, to the White Earth River; thence by a line drawn down the middle of the main channel of that stream to the Missouri River: thence down the middle of the main channel of the last mentioned stream to the northwest corner of the State of Missouri; and thence with the boundaries of the States of Missouri and Illinois, as already fixed by act of Congress, to the place of beginning."
As thus created, the new territory included all of the present States of Wisconsin, Towa and Minnesota, and a large part of North and South Dakota, but the organic act contained the pro- vision that the territory might be divided into two or more, should Congress so determine.
On April 30, 1836, Henry Dodge was commissioned governor of the new territory by President Jackson; John S. Horner, sec- retary; Charles Dunn, chief justice; William C. Frazer and David Irwin, associate justices; W. W. Chapman, attorney, and Francis Gehon, marshal. Pursuant to the provisions of the organic act, Governor Dodge ordered a census taken, which showed a popu- lation of 22,214, nearly one-half of whom lived west of the Mis- sissippi River. After the census was taken, the governor appor- tioned the members of the Territorial Legislature, which con- sisted of thirteen councilmen and twenty-six representatives. Milwaukee County (of which Racine was then a part) showed a
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
population of 2,893, and to this county were apportioned two councilmen and three representatives. At the election for mem- bers of the Legislature on October 10, 1836, Gilbert Knapp and Alanson Sweet were chosen councilmen, and Charles Durkee, William B. Sheldon and Madison W. Cornwall, representatives. The first session of the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin was convened at Belmont on October 25, 1836. During this session fifteen new counties in the present State of Wisconsin were created, viz .: Calumet, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Jefferson, Manitowoc, Marquette, Portage, Racine, Rock, She- boygan, Walworth and Washington.
WISCONSIN AS A STATE
On August 6, 1846, President Polk approved "An art to enable the people of Wisconsin Territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union." Under the provisions of this act 124 delegates to a constitutional convention were elected in September. Racine County was represented in the convention by James H. Hall, Edward G. Ryan, Marshall M. Strong, James B. Carter, Victor M. Willard, Frederick S. Lovell, Elijah Steele, Chatfield H. Par- sons, Haynes Finch, Stephen O. Bennett, Daniel Harkin, Chaun- cey Kellogg and Nathaniel Dickinson. The convention met on October 5, 1846, and continued in session until December 16, 1846, but the constitution was rejected by the people.
A second constitutional convention assembled on December 15, 1847, and completed its work on February 1, 1848. Racine County's delegates to this convention were: Theodore Secor, S. R. MeClellan. James D. Reymert, A. G. Cole, Horace T. Saunders, Frederick S. Lovell, A. B. Jackson and S. A. Davenport. The con- stitution was submitted to the people at a special election on the second Monday of March, 1848, and was adopted by a substantial majority. In Racine County the vote was 1,363 for the constitu- tion and 2,474 against it. Under this constitution Wisconsin he- came one of the sovereign states of the American Union.
RECAPITULATION
To the casual reader, much of the matter in this chapter may seem irrelevant and not directly affecting the State of Wisconsin and Racine County. But every event is a cause that produces
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
some effect, and the three and a half centuries following the dis- covery of America present an unbroken chain of such events, without any one of which the history of Wisconsin might have been entirely different. Under the papal grant of 1493, to the King and Queen of Spain, the territory now comprising the State of Wisconsin became subject to Spanish authority. True, that authority was never exercised over the region, but had Spain been as active in the matter of explorations as France, what might have followed can only be conjectured. By the discoveries of Marquette and Joliet and La Salle, Wisconsin was subject to France from April, 1682, to February, 1763. From that time to the close of the Revolutionary War, it was a dependency of Great Britain. It then became the territory of the United States, and in 1787 was made part of the Northwest Territory. From 1800 to 1809 it formed a part of the Territory of Indiana. For the next nine years it was part of the Territory of Illinois, and in 1818 was made a part of the Michigan Territory, where it remained until ereeted into the Territory of Wisconsin in 1836. Twelve years later it was admitted to statehood. Thus, step by step, event followed event, until Wisconsin's star was added to the American constellation of states.
CHAPTER IV
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY
THE FIRST WHITE MEN IN RACINE COUNTY -ST. COSME'S ACCOUNT OF THE ROOT RIVER -JAMBEAU'S TRADING POST -CAPTAIN GILBERT KNAPP -THE FIRST DWELLING - LIST OF EARLY SETTLERS - PIONEER LIFE AND CUSTOMS -THE HOUSE-RAISING -THE FURNI- TURE - SWAPPING WORK - OBTAINING SUPPLIES - PASTIMES - CHARACTER OF THE PIONEER -THE OLD TRAPPER'S SOLILOQUY.
No doubt the first white men who ever beheld the shores of what is now Racine County were Marquette and Joliet and their five voyageurs, as they returned from their discovery of the Mis- sissippi River in the late summer or early autunm of 1673. It is possible that La Salle and his companions saw this part of the Wisconsin coast in 1679, though no mention of such fact is made in the Jesuit Relations for that year.
About the middle of September, 1699, Francois Joliet de Montigny, Jean Francois Buisson de St. Cosme, Antoine Davisson and Thaumer de la Source, accompanied by a munber of voyag- eurs and guided by Henri de Tonti. left Michilimackinac to seek a shorter passage to the Mississippi River. In their canoes they passed up the west shore of Lake Michigan and on the 7th of October arrived at the Indian village where Milwaukee now stands. They were told by the Indians that by ascending the Root River, and then making a portage of some nine leagues to the Fox River of the Illinois, they could reach the Illinois. On the 10th they came to the mouth of the Root River, where they found Francois Morgan de Vincennes, a French officer, with a small detachment of troops and Indian guides, on his way to the country of the Miami Indians. After a few days the two parties separated. Vincennes pursuing his journey and the others at- tempting to ascend the Root River. In a letter written by St. Cosme, the writer stated that they found the river skirted with pleasant praries, but so seant of water and filled with obstructions that they feared the Fox would be equally troublesome and aban- doned the attempt to reach the Illinois by that route. This letter is the only account of the expedition, but it is almost certain that these Frenchmen were the first white persons to set foot upon the soil of Racine County, though no settlement was formed there until more than a century and a quarter later.
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
JACQUES JAMBEAU
Prior to 1832 the country between Lake Michigan and the Rock River contained no white settlers, except here and there a trading post kept by some half-breed Frenchman or an agent of one of the great fur companies. These posts could hardly be called settlements, as neither the trader nor the fur company which he might represent owned the land upon which the post was sit- nated. All he and his few white associates wanted was the priv- ilege of cultivating a few vegetables, and this privilege the Indians cheerfully granted, withont relinquishing their title. One of these trading posts was established at Skunk Grove, in the northwest- ern part of the present Mount Pleasant Township, by a French- man named Jacques Jambeau. Just when he located there is not certain, but he was there at the time of the Black Hawk War in 1832, and may have been there for three or four years before that time. He married an Indian woman (as did many of the fur traders) and was still located at Skunk Grove when the first actual white settlers came to the county. His establishment, like all those trading posts, was not intended as a permanent settle- ment, though his cabin and trading house were doubtless the first structures of any character erected by civilized man in what is now Racine County.
CAPTAIN GILBERT KNAPP
On December 3, 1798, there was born at Chatham, Massachu- setts, a boy that was destined to play a conspicuous part in the early history of Racine County and city. That boy was named Gilbert Knapp. His parents, John and Sarah (Smith) Knapp, came from England in the early part of the Eighteenth Century and settled at Horseneck, Connecticut. When the Revolutionary War broke out, John Knapp entered the Continental army and remained in the service until the independence of his country was assured. He was then master of a merchant vessel, which traded with European ports, and upon retiring from the sea engaged in the mercantile business at Poughkeepsie, New York.
Gilbert Knapp attended the schools of his native borough until he was about fourteen years of age, when he shipped as a sailor before the mast on a vessel commanded by Captain Childs, an unele by marriage. His first voyage lasted nine months, and upon his return home he found the United States at war with
1. Gilbert Knapp. Founder of Racine. 1795-1887.
2. Sarah Milligan. First white woman in Racine, 1835. 1791-1877.
3. B. B. Cary. First postmaster and first physician. 1501-1×60.
4. M. M. Strong. The first lawyer in Racine.
1. John Bangs. First Dane in Racine. Preacher.
2. Anthony Hanson. Early Danish settler, Grocer.
3. Frederick Nelson. Danish settler. Killed in Rebellion.
1. Peter C. Lutkin. Pioneer Dane.
43,9
1. Catharine Davis. Welsh settler of 1841.
2. Margaret Lewis. Welsh settler of 1>41.
3. James Pugh. Welsh settler of Is11.
4. Jeanette Pugh. Welsh settler of 1-41.
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
Great Britain. He immediately shipped as master's mate on board the Leo, commanded by Captain Besonne. The Leo had been chartered by the United States Government to carry despatches to France; carried seventeen guns and a erew of 150 men, and was provided with letters of marque, which enabled her to prey upon the enemy's commerce. To enter the French ports it was necessary to run the English blockade, and in this young Knapp found all the excitement that an adventurous lad of fifteen could desire. He made three successful voyages with the Leo and was several times engaged with British cruisers and armed mer- chantmen.
Toward the close of the war, Captain Knapp formed the acquaintance of some naval officers who had served with the . commodore, Perry, on Lake Erie, and through their influence he transferred his marine operations to the Great Lakes. In 1818 he went upon a government cutter and for over a year was em- ployed in visiting and studying the harbors and tributary rivers of the lakes. He was then placed in command of the cutter A. J. Dallas and at the same time was promoted to captain. For ten months he was stationed at Detroit. At the end of that time he was sent to break up a smuggling trade in furs that was going on about Mackinac, in which he was eminently successful. Just before retiring from the government service in 1828, while on one of his cruises up the west shore of Lake Michigan, he dropped anchor off the mouth of the Root River and went ashore "to take a look at the country." Then and there he made up his mind to make a more extended examination, with a view to establishing a settlement, but the land was still in the hands of the Indians, and this faet, with other circumstances, prevented him from car- rying out his intention until several years later.
Not long after his visit to the mouth of the Root River, Cap- tain Knapp quit the lakes and went to a small town on the shore of Lake Erie, in Western New York, where he engaged in the forwarding and commission business. When he learned of the treaty of September 26, 1833, by which the Indian tribes claiming the lands in Southeastern Wisconsin had relinquished their title, the old desire to found a settlement at the mouth of the Root River was revived. The treaty gave to the Indians the right to remain upon the ceded lands for three years, but Captain Knapp con- eluded that he would rather take his chances in going upon for-
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
bidden ground than to lose the coveted site through the activity of some other claimant. Accordingly, early in the summer of 1834, he sold his interests in the State of New York and went to Chicago. There he succeeded in interesting Gurdon S. Hubbard in the project and secured his co-operation. Leaving Chicago on horseback, with no companion but an Indian guide, he made an uneventful journey to Jambean's trading post at Skunk Groye. There he obtained the services of another guide and spent two days in examining the shores of the lake and the river, to ascer- tain the possibility of establishing a harbor.
Returning to Chicago, Captain Knapp made a report to Mr. Hubbard which was evidently satisfactory, as that gentleman agreed to bear his share of the expense in locating a claim and starting a settlement. In November, 1834, Knapp returned to the Root River, bringing with him from Chicago the materials for a cabin and three men to assist him in building it. Those men were A. J. and William Luce and a man named Welch. Soon after the cabin was erected, Knapp left the Luce brothers as his agents to hold the claim and went back to Chicago. After a consultation with Mr. Hubbard he went to Buffalo, New York, where one of his friends, Jacob A. Barker, expressed a desire to become a part- ner in the enterprise. Captain Knapp returned to Chicago and submitted the proposition to Mr. Hubbard. Under date of March 30, 1835, he wrote to Mr. Barker, offering him a one-third interest for $1,200. The offer was accepted and the three men - Knapp, Hubbard and Barker - laid claim to the cast fractional half of Section 9 (the government survey had not then been made), con- taining 140.98 acres, of which seventy-four acres were on the north side of the river and the remainder on the south side. Upon this claim the proprietors established the Town of "Port Gil- bert." the first white settlement in Southeastern Wisconsin.
EARLY SETTLERS
Rumors of the great fertility of the soil in the new "Indian Purchase" spread rapidly through the older states and started a tide of immigration to the Northwest. From New England, from New York, from the Ohio Valley, came home seekers, singly or in little bands, and before a year from the time Captain Knapp and his associates built their little cabin at the mouth of the Root River, there were a hundred or more actual settlers in what is
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