USA > Wisconsin > Rock County > Rock County, Wisconsin; a new history of its cities, villages, towns, citizens and varied interests, from the earliest times, up to date, Vol. I > Part 22
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The captain made up a crew by hiring whoever he could get. Only one of our crew left-that was Hagerman, our ex-soldier.
Among the new crew was a young man from Kentucky, who came to St. Louis with a running horse and considerable money. He made a race and bet all his money and his horse. He was too large to ride and hired a town rider of some notoriety. The race was run and his horse was beaten, and he could not help himself, and tried to get at the boy that threw the race, but he was kept out of his way and this was his first chance to make a meal, so he shipped.
Another of our crew was a man that came back from the plains on the boat we saw when it came in.
It took him about one week to get rid of the wages for his three years' work, and as he had been on the river a good deal, he shipped at the first opportunity.
He was born and raised at Green Bay, Wis. His name was Maximilian Jarvey. He had a fair education and had been in the employ of different traders on the Mississippi; at one time for Joseph Ronlette, of Prairie du Chien.
I was much interested in what he told me about the life of a hunter and trapper and his experience when on the headwaters of the South Platte.
He said when trapping in the fall four men camped together, two went down the stream and two up, but came to camp at night. When the beaver became scarce, they moved on further up the stream until the weather or time induced them to turn and work down.
They had worked up the South Platte as far as advisable, and instead of going down the one they had come up, they found another stream that they supposed was a branch of the Platte and concluded to trap down that rather than to go over
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their old ground. The streams were but a short distance apart, running parallel or nearly so.
They continued on down until they found Indians that they could not understand, and the Indians showed them to a village where there was a Catholic priest. Jarvey and the priest could both speak French. The priest told him that he was on the Arkansas instead of the Platte, and four trappers had made the same mistake before and were now washing placer gold at the river and showed them the way to the placer washing.
They found the men, who were making good wages, and wanted Jarvey and his comrades to stop and join them, and at first he thought he would. On reflection, however, he concluded to return and draw his pay and raise a company of men sufficient in numbers to protect themselves from the Indians or other parties.
As this was the fall for them to return, or loose three years wages, they concluded to strike across to the Platte and come home, which he did. He told us what he proposed to do, and several of the crew said they would join the company.
I never heard from any of them after I left the boat, but I went to Colorado in 1873, and in 1874 went to the San Luis park or valley. When there I often heard men speak of a party of prospectors who were killed by Indians, but I cannot now tell just where it was-and I don't know in just what year it was done.
One man told me that he had seen the bones of men and horses where it was, but I cannot tell where. His story was that a party of white men were prospecting and had an Indian boy with them. This boy belonged to a tribe that was hostile toward this mountain tribe. The mountain Indians wanted the boy, to torture him, but the miners would not give him up, although told if they would they would not be molested, but that this tribe must have the young Indian.
They were in a narrow gulch when attacked, and fought to the last man. One man assured me he had been at the place and had seen relics of the men and horses.
From the number and time of occurrence, I have always thought they might have been Jarvey's company.
Our progress up the river was slow, as the days were short and but few of the men were good water men.
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One snowstorm made us lie by one day, and we landed on an island where we saw tracks of many deer and turkeys. As I had to cook and have the breakfast early so the men would pull out as soon as they could see the channel and pole along as it could be followed, I tired out, became too unwell to work, and had to quit and go ashore.
I stopped with a man named Free, who was deputy sheriff of Pike county, Illinois, and lived close to the river a half mile below Phillips Ferry.
The owner of the house was named Free, and was deputy sheriff of Pike county. Some of their ways were so new to me, and would be to others, that I will make note of them. The house was of round logs without any window, as the wife would not have one, as she would often be alone, as her husband was away on business, and she would be more secure without one. When she was sewing she took a chink out of the crack between the logs near the fire, if the weather was cold, and at other times would open the door and sit near it.
She told me that one night she heard two men talking, and she watched them, as she had no light, and she could see them but they could not see her. They came near the house and sat on the fence near the chimney, and were consulting about break- into the house, as they knew that Free was away. She would have surprised them, as she had a gun in her hands and knew how to use it and had the courage to do so. Free had a tenant in a small house near by. One night we heard a noise at the stable, and Free said it was some thief trying to break the pad- lock so he could steal his horse. He had a shotgun and loaded it with buckshot, and I had a rifle that he loaded with ball.
Then Mrs. Free and myself held up a blanket at the door so the firelight would not shine through when the door was opened. Free took both guns and went out carefully and to his tenant's eabin and aroused him, and he came out and took one gun and they looked for the thieves, who had left the stable, as they had heard the men when the cabin door was opened. After watch- ing and waiting for some time they saw the men sitting on a log in a chopping near by, and Free pulled trigger with the shotgun. The cap exploded, but the powder failed to burn, and most likely that saved the life of one or both thieves.
Free insisted that he had never known the gun to miss before,
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and often spoke of it. But he admitted it might be well, but still he wished he had hit them.
At that time there were a great many hard characters in that vicinity and he was kept busy with his official duties. He was not a large man, but seemed fearless and self-reliant, and went for any one that his papers called for, however desperate he was. One day he arrested two men and took them to the court, and then went to serve some papers for witnesses. When he returned to court he missed the prisoners and on inquiring was told they were gone. They just walked away and defied all the crowd to stop them if they dared.
Free started after them, as they took the road to Phillips Ferry, and when he got there the ferry-boat was just getting started to cross the river. He called a halt and then talked to the men, and they promised to go back and stand trial.
They started back, and Free went home to get something, and when he got back to court the men were there-had come by themselves and stood trial. At that time there were hogs on the river bottom, in the timber, that were so wild they had to be shot to get them. As soon as I gained sufficient strength I started for home. The first day I made but seven miles, and stayed with a southern family. The woman got supper for me alone, as they had already eaten theirs. In the morning I ate breakfast with the family, and my bill was only eighteen and three-fourths cents. This was forcibly impressed on my mind by paying a bill to an eastern man a few days after. I stopped with a New Eng- land man Saturday night, and he was very pious and prayed for the siek traveler, etc. I ate with the family, so they had no extra work, and when I asked how much my bill was it was seventy- five cents. I had a half dollar in change, but that would not satisfy him, and he could not change a bill, so he came along with me to get the bill changed. As it was Sunday, the people slept late, and some were not up, and none could change the bill until we came several miles, and he was in a great hurry, as he wanted to go to a wedding that day. The contrast between the southern man and the very pious eastern one made an impression on me that I have never forgotten.
A team passed me about six miles before I arrived at Canton, the county-seat of Fulton county.
The team was loaded with salt, as the low water in the river
LEONARD H. WHEELER.
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would not permit a steamboat to come. When I got to Canton I was told the salt had been sold in small parcels to families and not half of the houses had salt. I was told that one pound of salt was worth two of pork. A man was started for Chicago with a team to load back with salt. I had a chance to ride in his wagon, but the roads were frozen and very rough, as there was but little travel on them in any direction, as the river was closed, and never mueh up or down the river. It had been a sickly season and the farmers just began to erib their corn.
Two young men from Pittsburg joined me at Canton and tried riding in the wagon, but very soon tired of that and went afoot. They each had a satchel which they left in the wagon, but I had only a gun, and I kept that with me, as I sometimes saw a turkey or pheasant. These men seemed well educated, and one was much interested in every rock we passed, and often stopped to examine it. We outwalked the team and stayed all night together at a farmhouse, and as the team had not over- taken us, they went back to see about their baggage, and I never saw them after.
Their name was MeCormick, and I often wondered if they were the reaper manufacturers.
It was said that salt could be bought in Chicago for five dol- lars a barrel, but one man named Dole bought up the whole in market and made the price fifteen dollars, and we thought that was what stopped our teamster.
I cannot vouch for the correctness of this, but such was the report, and I think it was so.
Settlers were quite scattered and the houses generally on the west side of the road, as my road was on the west side of the river and close to the bluffs or highlands where they came to the river bottoms.
In many places there was corn on the bottoms, as some were prairie and some were cleared'of timber.
The bottoms were claimed by settlers in some places, sinee they had not been surveyed, as at the time the lands were sur- veyed the river was high and these bottoms covered with water were returned "inundated." I understood that the government afterward had them surveyed and sold as other land was.
In traveling along the road I often saw floeks of parokeets, and sometimes a deer or turkey would cross the road in sight.
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I once met a man in Colorado who must have been born as early as 1845 or 1850 and raised in Pike county, and he told me that he never saw a parokeet. I have noticed since that some birds become extinct from localities where they were plentiful a few years before. As there was so little travel on the river road, there were no taverns, and I invariably stopped at farmhouses, and I don't remember of being refused a meal or a lodging. As I came north my health improved and my daily travels increased in miles until I could make thirty-five miles without extra time or exertion.
In coming up the Fox river I stopped with a man named Harrington, who told me of his living in Chicago in 1833 at the time of the Indian treaty, when much land was treated for. Harrington told me that the Indians were sullen and not much inclined to treat, and that Governor Porter of Michigan, who was at the head of the commissions, was not popular with the Indians and many were apprehensive that the Indians would not treat but would break out in a real war.
Most of the residents were fearful of that result and some of them took their families into the fort. but others said: "That is useless, as, if they break out, they will take the fort, for the men in the garrison are not able to defend it."
The governor was reported as unfit to manage the treaty and cross toward the Indians, threatening them that unless they would treat he would make them do as Black Hawk was made to do the year before.
Porter would not allow any of the traders to let the Indians have whisky, but the commission kept full of it. After some days the fears of the people were greater and the Indians seemed more inclined to break out into open war. One of the half-breeds told the Indians this: "I am half Indian and half white, and shall go into the forest, and if you kill the soldiers you may kill me and my family." Then the traders rolled out some barrels of whisky and set the barrels on the end and broke in the upper end and put out lots of cups for them to use.
They also put out tobacco and eatables for the Indians. Although it was against the governor's orders and the customs at treaties, it had the effect to pacify the Indians, and the next day a treaty was made.
Harrington told me that he was standing beside a wagon,
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talking with a young Indian, and was suspicious that he meant mischief and watched him closely. Soon the young Indian struck at him with a large butcher knife, but, as he was on his guard, he dodged the knife and it went into the sideboard of the wagon and stuck there, and the Indian ran for the crowd, and he care- fully withdrew the knife and sent it east to his mother, as a keepsake.
As he felt he would not be much safer in the forest than his own house, he concluded to stay at home. He went to some of the leading traders and asked them to station a guard at his house to protect him in case of an outbreak. The traders told him that he would and he might give the guard plenty to eat, but not give him whisky to drink.
That evening an Indian came and stood beside the door all night and until the family were up in the morning, when he fed him and gave him such presents as he thought best. Harrington said that he did not sleep at all, but his wife seemed to sleep as much as usual, and the danger did not keep her awake.
From Ottawa I followed the valley of the Fox river up through the small towns until my road diverged to the northwest toward Lake Koshkonong. At Bigfoot Prairie I was overtaken by William Hammond, who drove one horse and had some gun- barrels and tools for making guns. I kept with him until we got to Comstocks on Turtle creek, when he went on alone, as he was anxious to get to his brothers at Johnstown.
Hammond made some guns with a cylinder containing six or seven loads, and these were the first breech-loading guns that I ever heard of.
He made a revolving pistol for a present to Governor Dodge from the people of this county.
We met at Janesville the fourth of the next July and the pistol was presented to the governor.
I was at Milton recently and one man called my attention to this celebration and told me he was there and repeated the remarks made by the governor on receipt of the present.
This closes my account of the trip.
IX
COUNTY GOVERNMENT. By
F. F. Livermore, Beloit.
Under this head comes the treatment of official county affairs. By the laws of Wisconsin the county government is vested in a board of supervisors, comprising one member from each town- ship, one from each incorporated village and one from each ward of each city in the county and the board now numbers thirty- nine. There are twenty townships, four incorporated cities and three incorporated villages, and present population is 53,641; in 1840 it was 1,701. This body has charge of all affairs pertain- ing to the county. It is not a legislative body, but executive. It levies all state and county taxes, holds in trust all lands and properties belonging to the county, provides for support of county schools and officers and courts, provides for the care and maintenance of the insane and dependent poor, has direct super- vision of all county officers from county judge to coroner, fixes all salaries of county officers and deputies and all officers of the county are required to report once a year to the board of super- visors. Among the important duties of the board is the carc and supervision of the county insane asylum and poor farm. This institution represents an investment in lands (400 acres), build- ings and equipment of a value of nearly $200,000, and is under the direct care and charge of a board of three trustees, appointed by the county board. These trustees appoint a superintendent and necessary assistants. This county farm is a community of itself, there being nearly 200 residents and we are pleased to also add that the county farm is nearly self-sustaining.
The county officials, aside from the county board, are as fol- lows :
Circuit judge-George Grimm.
County judge-J. W. Sale.
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COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Register in probate-George H. Sale.
Reporter of county court-Lillian E. Schottle.
Clerk of circuit court-Jesse Earlc.
Deputy clerk-Jessie M. McCrea.
County clerk, ex-officio clerk of board-Howard W. Lee. Deputy clerk-Mabel C. Lee.
Judge of municipal court, Janesville-C. L. Fifield.
Clerk of same-A. C. Thorpe.
Judge of Municipal court, Beloit-C. D. Rosa.
Clerk of same-A. D. Roadhouse.
Sheriff-I. U. Fisher.
District attorney-J. L. Fisher.
County treasurer-O. P. Smith. (Lately deceased.)
Coroner-(Vacant.)
County surveyor-C. V. Kerch.
Supervisor of assessments-F. P. Starr.
Superintendent of schools, First district-C. H. Hemingway.
Superintendent of schools, Second district-O. D. Antisdell.
Supervisor of county highways-H. L. Skavlem.
Chairman of county board-S. S. Jones, Clinton.
Register of deeds-C. H. Weirick.
First deputy register of deeds-Frances A. Ryckman.
Second deputy register of deeds-Julia Belle Stoddard.
Retrospective and Historical.
The records of Rock county begin April 1, 1839. Rock county was organized in 1839. The first commissioners were Enos I. Hazard, William S. Murray and William Spaulding, and their first act was to elect W. H. H. Bailey clerk of the board.
The Board of Commissioners began active business by estab- lishing four election precincts and appointing judges of election, to-wit :
Jefferson Prairie precinct-At the dwelling house of Charles Tuttle. Judges, Lucius B. Allyn, Denis T. Miles and Milton S. Warner.
Prairie du Sac precinct-At the residence of Joseph Good- rich. Judges, Nathan G. Storrs, Farnham Chickering and Ezra Hazzard.
Janesville precinct-Judges Daniel F. Kimball, W. H. H. Bailey and Volney Atwood.
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY
Beloit precinct-Judges, John Hackett, Charles Johnson and Horace White.
The business of the first meeting was confined exclusively to election matters and arranging for payment of election expenses.
The second meeting of the county commissioners was held June 28, 1839. At this meeting Rock county was divided into two road districts. The clerk of the board was authorized to borrow in behalf of the county the sum of $1,050 at twelve per cent interest, said money to be used to purchase the site on which the court house now stands, of Joseph Goodrich. At this June meeting Hiram Brown was appointed assessor for the county, to begin his work at once.
On July 1, 1839, the commissioners were again in session and the main questions under discussion were the defects in the assess- ment roll and it was finally ordered returned to the assessor, with orders to "correct and complete forthwith," the board ad- journed for two weeks to give the assessor time to do his work, and on July 15 the board was in session again and the assessment roll was accepted. The commissioners at this meeting ordered a tax levy of five mills on the dollar, on all property in the county subject to taxation. The assessed value of Rock county in 1839 was $21,792.45 (the assessed value of Rock county in 1907 was $47,494,980.) On a basis of eighty per cent of true value, which would make the true value of Rock county at present time $66,- 291,722.
At the meeting July 15, 1839, the following resolution was passed: "Ordered, that Hans Crocker, of Milwaukee, be ap- pointed attorney for the board of commissioners for the purpose of procuring the right of preemption for said county, in con- formity with the act of congress passed May 26, 1824, allowing preemptions of quarter sections to counties and parishes for the erection of county buildings, with authority to sign the names of said commissioners to any application or receipt or other papers that may be necessary to carry into effect the objects of this order."
The next meeting of the 'commissioners was held October 7, 1839, at Janesville, and organized by electing William S. Murray, chairman, and E. J. Hazzard, secretary. At this meeting a bounty of $3 on wolves was ordered. Numerous roads were laid out
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COUNTY GOVERNMENT
and established, running east, south and northwest from Beloit. At this time the Beloit and Madison road was established.
October 12, 1839, the commissioners met again and the school question was the foremost thought and the county was divided into two school distriets and the following named gentlemen were appointed "inspectors":
District No. 1-Hariman Raymond, George W. Brittan, James Heath, A. L. Field and Hazen Cheney.
District No. 2-Joseph Goodrich, William B. Sheldon, Solo- mon Head, George H. Wellington and Ansel Dickenson.
The next meeting of the commissioners was held January 6, 1840. At this meeting the "license" question came to the front, and David J. Bundy was licensed to "keep a tavern" at Beloit and Charles Steven was licensed to "keep a tavern" at Janes- ville. John Hopkin's name appears at this time in the records as surveyor, having laid out several roads in the county under orders from the commissioners.
In 1840 the county was divided into three assessment distriets and Samuel B. Cooper was appointed assessor for the first dis- trict, George Williston for the second district and A. S. Walker for the third distriet. Israel Cheney was appointed the first county treasurer and his first report shows collections $1,270 and expenditures $1,278. During the year 1840 the Beloit & Milwau- kee highway was established and laid out. In January, 1841, Israel Cheney, county treasurer, reported collections for previous year as $3,462.99 and expenditures of $2,523.34. The total taxes collected in the county for 1906 was $513,432.18.
In June, 1842, was held the first meeting of the county Board of Supervisors, which body has continued from year to year since. This first meeting was composed of six members, viz .: William E. Holmes, Nathan G. Storrs, D. I. Bundy, W. H. H. Bailey, G. W. Brittan and Israel Jones. Nathan G. Storrs was elected first chairman of the county board and George H. Williston, clerk.
The records are too incomplete to give the names of all the chairmen for past sixty-five years, but with one or two excep- tions no man has held the office of chairman for more than two years consecutively, and an "unwritten law" rotates the office from city to township alternately, thereby producing great harmony and avoiding "ruts" by long continued control by any faction or party or individual.
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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY
Another noticeable feature regarding the county board work is the fact that for the past quarter of a century there has been "no politics" in the board; every man stands or falls on his merits as a citizen and not as regards the party he may belong to. Some of the best and most efficient members of the board have often been entirely out of harmony politically with the ma- jority.
In 1870 the present court house was built at an expense of $100,000, and the contractor who superintended its construction was E. Ratheram, a present member of the board and has been for about twenty-five years, one of the most highly esteemed men on the board and is now a member of the building commit- tee. His experience as a builder makes him a valuable member on that body.
Hon. Simon Smith holds the next record for long service, hav- ing served twenty years. A number of valuable members liter- ally "died in the harness," notably S. T. Merrill, of Beloit; T. B. Bailey, of Beloit; C. E. Bowles, of Janesville, and Hon. Almeron Eager, of Evansville.
X.
ROCK COUNTY SCHOOLS.
During the first year of our organization as a county, its commissioners, at a meeting held in Janesville, October 12, 1839, divided Rock county into two school districts and appointed as inspectors tor the first Hariman Raymond, George W. Brittan and James Heath, of Janesville, and A. L. Field and Hazen Cheney, of Beloit. For the second district: Joseph Goodrich, William B. Sheldon, Solomon Head, George H. Willington and Ansel Dickinson.
Among those inspectors in later years was Hon. Edward Searing, who afterwards became state superintendent of schools of Wisconsin. The county superintendency began January 1, 1862, with Rev. J. I. Foote, of Footeville, as superintendent. At the next election, the county, having then over 15,000 inhabitants, and therefore the legal privilege of two districts, availed itself of that privilege. For the first distriet, embracing the western part of the county, H. A. Richards was made superintendent; for the second district, A. Whitford, the term of service being two years. For that first district the successive superintendents up to 1879 were J. I. Foote, J. W. Harris, E. A. Burdick and J. W. West, each serving two terms. In the second or east district, Superintendent Whitford was followed by C. M. Treat, four terms, and J. B. Traey, three terms up to 1879. At that time the number of school districts in the county was about 170; of teach- ers (outside of Beloit and Janesville), 185. Whole number em- ployed during the year, 325. Annual expenditure, about $55,000. Of this amount $2,500 came from the state school fund.
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