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 38
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At the annual meeting, held in December, 1856, the following officers were elected : C. Loftus Martin, president; Ira C. Jenks,
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recording secretary; J. A. Blount, corresponding secretary, and W. Hughes, treasurer. At this meeting it was reported that the receipts of the society during the year were $1,496.49, which, with the balance remaining on hand of $141.75, amounted to $1,638.24.
The county fair was held on October 10, 1857. The society had, during the year, purchased additional ground, making nearly twenty acres in all. There was a large attendance and the grounds were filled.
The next annual fair was held September 28 to 30, 1858. From the report of the secretary, Winfield S. Chase, there were re- ceived $1,526.16, and expended $1,517.10, leaving a small balance of $9.06 on hand. The premiums of the previous fair were paid this year.
The society during the year 1859 held a festival on the Fourth of July, and a regular annual fair on the 20th, 21st and 22d days of September. The former was largely attended, but resulted in small profit. The fair was a success, proving, notwithstanding the hard times and other influences and circumstances, that the farmers of the county had the ability to give the society a front rank among those in the state. The total receipts were $1,403, and the expenditures, including $629.10 paid toward indebted- ness of the society, $1,381.73. The balance in the treasury October 26, 1859, was $21.96.
A special meeting of the executive committee was called on October 22, 1859, to take into consideration the indebtedness of the society and to provide means for its extinguishment. At this meeting the financial affairs of the society were reported as fol- lows :
Amount of purchase money for additional grounds in 1857, $1,875 ; paid on the same, $963; balance due on the same, $912.82. The other debts were for fitting up the grounds and necessary improvements, making the total indebtedness $3,326.82. The committees recommended the issue of three hundred ten-dollar promissory notes, payable in three years, to be sold to members of the society and its friends. This plan was adopted by the executive committee.
The officers of the society who served during the year 1859, elected in December, 1858, were: J. F. Willard, president ; Charles R. Gibbs, recording secretary ; J. A. Blount, correspond- ing secretary ; W. Hughes, treasurer. The officers of the society
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for 1860, elected in December previous, were the same as for 1859, except D. McLay, who was elected treasurer in place of Mr. Hughes. The county fair was held September 18 to 20, 1860. The report of the treasurer, subsequently made, showed, receipts, $1,248.53; expenditures, $1,241.53; balance, $7. The annual address was delivered by James H. Howe.
The officers elected at the annual meeting, in December, 1860, were: Joseph Spaulding, president; G. S. Strasberger, recording secretary ; W. S. Chase, corresponding secretary, and W. Lester, treasurer. The fair was held September 17, 18 and 19, 1861. The receipts were $841.44 and expenditures $783.17. Of the latter amount $506.50 was paid in premiums. Balance on hand, $58.27. The address before the society was delivered by J. R. Doolittle and was in reference to the state of public affairs.
At this date the society ceased to exist. During the years 1862, 1863 and 1864 the people of the county were so much en- grossed in war matters that no new society was formed and no fairs were held. Finally, in the latter part of 1864, another organization was perfected, with the election in December of that year, of H. P. Fales, president; Jacob Fowle, secretary, and R. T. Pember, treasurer. The fair was held September 12, 13 and 14, 1865. The attendance was large. The receipts were $2,675.17; the expenditures $2,588.03, of which $576.50 was paid out in premiums, leaving a balance of $88.14. The officers of the society for 1866 were: H. P. Fales, president; Guy Wheeler, secretary ; R. T. Pember, treasurer. The fair was held September 12 to 15, the receipts being $887.45, and the expenditures $746.47, of which amount $480.75 was paid in premiums, leaving the balance on hand of $122.98. The annual address was delivered by Hon. T. O. Howe. The same officers were elected for the year of 1867. The fair this year was held on September 10 and closed on the 13th. It was a good year for the society. The receipts were double the amount of the preceding one. The annual address was delivered by Halbert E. Paine. The total receipts were $2,202.01; the ex- penses $2,142.17, of which amount $1,550.50 was for premiums, leaving a balance of $59.14.
The officers of 1868 were: Lewis Clark, president; R. J. Rich- ardson, secretary, and A. Hoskins, treasurer. The fair was held September 15 to 17, inclusive. The receipts were increased from the preceding year. Whole amount received, $2,914.29. The ex-
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penses were $2,534.67, $866 of which was for the premiums, and and unexpended balance of $379.62.
The annual fair for the year 1869 was held September 14 to 17, showing an increased interest from the last year. A baby show was added to the ordinary attractions. The treasurer's re- port showed that there was received from all sources the sum of $4,244.05 ; expenses, $3,142.87 ; paid in premiums, $1,205.45. The officers for the year were: Seth Fisher, president ; R. J. Richard- son, secretary, and A. Hoskins, treasurer.
The same officers were elected for the year 1870, and the fair was held on September 21, and continued for three days. An address was delivered by Hon. Charles G. Williams. The receipts were $9,063.25 ; the expenses, $10,865.02; paid for premiums, $1,- 585.83.
In 1871 the same officers were elected, except that Mr. C. Miner was chosen treasurer in place of Mr. Hoskins. The annual fair was held from September 12 to 15. There was not as much interest taken this year as in the former one, and the receipts were much reduced. The treasurer reported, receipts, $3,706.85 ; expenditures, $3,687.43; premiums, $1,935.65; leaving a balance of $95.60 on hand.
In 1872 the same officers were elected. The display this year at the county fair, held September 12 to 15, was fine, particularly that of horses, said to have been the best exposition ever held in the county. There was received from all sources $3,989.48, and expended $2,394.49, of which last amount $1,596.14 was paid in premiums.
The same officers were elected for the year 1873. The fair was held September 9 to 12, with a very creditable display and a good attendance ; perhaps not as large as on the preceding year. Re- ceipts, $3,879.38; expenses in all, $3,381.60, of which amount $1,- 461.60 was paid in premiums, with a balance of $487.88 to next year's account.
In 1874 the same officers were re-elected. The fair was held September 29, and continued to October 2. The fair was a suc- cessful one. Some eight to ten thousand persons were present on the last day. An address was delivered by Congressman Charles G. Williams. The receipts were $6,280.01; the expendi- tures, $4,690.27, and there was paid in premiums $1,589.74, with a balance of $95.85 remaining.
W
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The officers elected for 1875 were: George Sherman, presi- dent; R. J. Richardson, secretary, and Cyrus Miner, treasurer. The attendance at the county fair was not as large as in 1874. It was held October 5 to 9. Receipts, $3,249.51; expenses, $1,- 483.88; for premiums, $1,795.63.
For the year 1876 the same officers were elected. Prepara- tions were made for a fair that would be more than usually attrac- tive, it being the Centennial year. The exhibits of relics and articles of interest were fine. The time appointed for the fair was from the 5th to the 8th of September. Unfortunately, the weather was unfavorable, with rain most of the time. The finan- cial report. however, was more favorable than was expected from these adverse circumstances. The receipts were $2,586.23; paid for premiums, $909.59; other expenses, $1,676.63.
On account of the state fair being held at Janesville in the fall of 1877 the county fair of this year was omitted.
In the year 1879 the executive committee of the Agricultural Society made an arrangement with the citizens of Janesville for the celebration of the fourth day of July, and a county fair in connection therewith. The result was not a satisfactory one for the society, the holding of the fair in the month of July proving a signal failure. A number of guests from abroad were present. Addresses by Governor W. E. Smith, Hon. C. G. Williams, Hon. W. C. Whitford and General E. E. Bryant were delivered. Con- nected with the exercises was a soldier's drill, a gathering of old settlers of the county, and a programme of games and athletic sports, in the grove near the fair grounds. The following pioneers were in attendance, and registered their names as having settled in the years mentioned : 1835-Virgil Pope; 1836-J. P. Dickson, Jeremiah Roberts, Mrs. Volney Atwood, M. T. Walker, Alford Walker, Mrs. H. H. Bailey, J. W. Inman, S. C. Carr; 1837-G. H. Williston, Helen M. Bailey, Henry Tuttle, Cornelius Van Tassel, Volney Atwood, Charles Tuttle, E. G. Newhall; 1838-James Mc- Ewen, Mrs. Wood, William McEwen, George W. Lawrence, C. B. Inman, Cyrus Teetshorn, H. J. Warren, Mrs. H. J. Griggs, A. L. Walker; 1839-T. Gullack Graydell, Mrs. G. H. Williston, Mrs. R. T. Powell, Ezra Goodrich, George B. Mackey, H. R. Waterman, H. Wood, S. P. Harriman ; 1840-Thomas E. Stevens, P. E. Stillman, Jacob West, Margaret West, Royal Wood. Mrs. M. S. Pritchard,
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M. E. Bump. A. Morris Pratt, Mrs. Almeda E. Allen, J. G. Carr (born here). E. C. Dickinson, Alfred Dewey.
The grounds of the society were situated wholly within the city limits of Janesville and contained, exclusive of streets, forty- seven acres of land. The buildings were well arranged and of a substantial and convenient character. The object of the society was to encourage and promote agriculture, horticulture, domestic manufactures, the mechanic arts, and the breeding and raising of useful animals.
State Fairs in Rock County.
The first fair of the Wisconsin State Agriculture Society was held at Janesville, commencing October 1, 1851. On the second day of the fair the first annual address was delivered by J. H. Lathrop, LL.D., chancellor of the University of Wisconsin. By an arrangement entered into with the Rock County Agricultural Society the proceeds of the sale of tickets of admission to the show grounds were applied. under the direction of that society, first. to the payment of the expenses of the grounds, and after that, the balance was to be divided equally between the two societies. By this arrangement each society received $127 as its share of the receipts.
The next state fair held at Janesville began September 28, 1857, and closed October 2. The annual address was delivered by Professor J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, Ill. The income of the society for the year was $8.804.63, of which amount $2,853.21 was from the receipts of the state fair; the expenditures, for all pur- poses, were $8,302.10, leaving a balance of $502.53.
In 1864 Janesville was again selected for the state fair, which was held the last week in September. Addresses were made by B. R. Hinkley, president, and ex-Governor J. A. Wright, of Indiana. The treasurer of the society reported that the receipts for the year were $7,759.19, of which amount $4,103.38 was from the sale of tickets at the fair, and the expenditures $5,587.35, with a balance in the treasury of $2,171.84.
For the fourth time Janesville was selected for the state fair, for the year of 1865, which was held in September. Addresses were made by the president, David Williams; by Major General W. T. Sherman, ex-Governor Alexander W. Randall, James R. Doolittle, T. O. Howe and ex-Governor J. T. Lewis. The total
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receipts of the society for the year were $11,404.90, of which $7,187.50 was from the sale of the tickets at the fair. The ex- penditures were $8,330.52, and there was a balance remaining of $3,074.38.
In September, 1866, the state fair was held, for the fifth time, at Janesville. The receipts were nearly $15,000, and the ex- penses $9,600, with a balance of $5,400 on hand.
In September, 1877, the state fair was held, for the sixth time, at Janesville. The annual address was delivered by the presi- dent, Eli Stilson. The gate fees were $10,428.83, and the whole receipts of the society for the year were $20,524.30. The expen- ditures were $19,363.28, of which $10,561 were paid for premiums.
Rock County and Tobacco.
Rock county, Wisconsin, contains at Edgerton, it is claimed, the largest cigar-leaf tobacco market in the world. This claim and the conditions which have led up to it make that plant and its cultivation a subject of especial interest here.
The first introduction of tobacco to the knowledge of Euro- peans occurred during Columbus' first voyage into the unknown West. After his memorable discovery of land (Watling island) October 11, 1492, he sailed promptly southward from island to island and during that same month landed on the northeast coast of Cuba at a place now called Neuvitas del Principe. Supposing himself on the shore of Cathay, or China, he sent into the near interior two of his most learned Christian men, one of whom could speak Hebrew, Chaldee and Arabic, hoping that they would be able to talk with such educated subjects of the grand khan as they might meet. On their way inland these two unexpectedly discovered for all the white races that product which was there- after to become not only an unfailing source of pleasure to a large section of the male part of mankind from the lowest to the highest, but also a commodity for revenue which would be the delight of statesmen and which, while producing innumerable private fortunes, would also become, what it still is, one of the great financial resources of all modern nations. The priest-his- torian, Bartholomew de Las Casas, son of Columbus' shipmate, An- tonio, and himself a young acquaintance and friend of the great navigator, thus ten years afterwards records that discovery : "The two Christians met on the road many people, men and women,
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passing to their villages, the men always with a half-burnt brand in their hands and certain herbs for smoking. These herbs are dry and are placed in a dry leaf, formed in the shape of those paper tubes which the boys make at Easter. Lighted at one end, at the other the smoke is sucked or drawn in with the breath; the effect of this (smoke) is to make them feel sleepy and as it were intoxicated, and they say that using it relieves the feeling of fatigue. These rolls they call 'tobacos.' I knew Span- iards in Espanola (San Domingo) who were accustomed to use it, and, being reprehended and told that it was a vice, said that they could not leave it off. I do not know what pleasure or bene- fit they found in them" (the tobacos). That which we call a cigar, therefore (Spanish, cigarro, from cigarra, a cicada, because the small roll of dark tobacco resembled the cylindrical body of that insect), was evidently called by the natives a 'tobaco.' We have simply made their name of the single roll a general name for the plant itself.
For the introduction of tobacco among English-speaking people we are indebted primarily to Sir Walter Raleigh, whose name is preserved in that of the capital of North Carolina. His captains having in the year 1584 discovered and explored the Carolina coast, during the next year he sent out and established an English colony of 108 persons on the island of Roanoke in Pamlico sound. One of those first colonists, Thomas Hariot, ob- served among the natives of that island the culture of tobacco, accustomed himself, as did most of the colonists, to its use, and was a firm believer in its healing virtues. He also noted and re- ported their cultivation of corn, and that vegetable, then new to Europe, the potato; but omitted to tell us, what we would like to know, the native methods of raising and curing those prod- nets. When, after only one year's exile, those colonists were all carried by Sir Francis Drake back to England, through their patron, Sir Walter Raleigh, they introduced there both the knowl- edge of tobacco and also the custom of smoking it. There is a familiar story, how true I know not, that when Sir Walter's servant first saw him smoking, that faithful retainer promptly got a bucket of water and threw it over him, thinking that he was on fire. That introduction of tobacco occurred in 1586, the year when the young play-actor, William Shakespeare, first went up to London. The "weed" must have been well known in
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Shakespeare's day, for he lived until 1616, and yet it is a curious fact that in all his voluminous works that author nowhere makes any mention of tobacco or even so much as an allusion to it. The regular English trade in tobacco, however, was not started until 1612. Jamestown, Va., was settled in 1607. There one of its colonists, that John Rolfe who married the Indian princess, Po- cahontas, began the systematic culture of tobacco in the year 1612. That first Virginia product, though considered quite in- ferior to the Spanish West Indies article, sold at 3 shillings (equal to three-quarters of a dollar) per pound. Being so profitable, it was raised for several years instead of corn, and so generally that the colony came to be in actual danger of having nothing to eat. Even the vessels engaged in the Newfoundland fisheries were used to transport emigrants to Virginia so that new to- bacco plantations might be established. Tobacco became their regular standard of value, and colonial fines were levied and paid and salaries of officials reckoned in that commodity. This money-making quality of tobacco shaped the society of the col- ony, influenced its laws and was an important element in all its political and religious disturbances, while the plantation's ever- increasing demand for field laborers was one of the direct causes which brought in and built up in America the curse of African slavery. Yet it is equally true that the culture of tobacco laid the first foundation for the present unrivaled prosperity of the United States and that this staple is even now one of the most practical and helpful factors in the revenue and so the material support of our general government.
That the world's largest market of cigar-leaf tobacco should be found in this state, so far from its original home, and in this comparatively small county of Rock, is therefore a matter which deserves careful inquiry and explanation. How did we come to raise tobacco here? What is the history of the progress of this industry in our country, what methods of cultivation have been followed, and what other circumstances have helped to develop and hold this market ?
(Supplement by F. W. Coon, Publisher of the "Wisconsin To- bacco Reporter.")
Some of the reasons conspiring to make Edgerton the largest cigar-leaf tobacco market in the world are, first, the location
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there of the headquarters of many of the large manufacturing firms, from whose offices their business in Wisconsin leaf is di- rected.
The "Wisconsin Tobacco Reporter" has there its publica- tion office, whose market reports are quoted the world over as standard authority.
Edgerton has forty-nine large tobacco warehouses where is handled and stored from a third to a half of the whole crop grown each year. Its location, being central to the growing dis- tricts of the state, and the concentration rates granted by the railways, make it convenient for buyers to purchase leaf in the outside sections and ship into Edgerton in less than carload lots for concentration.
During the busy season the warehouses there employ fully 2,500 hands, carrying weekly pay rolls amounting to from $15,- 000 to $25.000.
The tobacco crop in recent years has reached about 40,000 acres, of which Rock county produces hardly one-fifth.
There is expended in handling the crop after it comes from the farmer and before it reaches the manufacturer very close to a million dollars annually ; that contributes to the support of the tobacco-handling centers.
The rail shipments of tobacco out of Edgerton reach about a trainload per week the year around.
XVIII.
SCANDINAVIANS IN THE EARLY DAYS OF ROCK COUNTY.
By
H. L. Skavlem.
Boast not the fame thy dead sire's gain'd- Each hath his own, no more.
-Fridthjofs Saga.
In the limited space allotted to me for a sketch of the Scan- dinavian element of Rock county's population-their early colo- nies and present status, a brief mention of the prime causes, political and religious, which led up to the "Exodus of the early 40's," is absolutely necessary to a proper understanding of the remarkably rapid evolution of the lonely and isolated little group of foreigners, who built their cabins and broke the virgin sod in the early pioneer days of Rock county. In less than the ordinary life's span of three score years and ten, the foreigner is almost entirely eliminated; with the exception of a few late arrivals, the Norwegian, the Dane, and the Swede have dis- appeared and we have the American. Perhaps yet a little eccen- tric and emotional, a little slower and not quite the bundle of bare nerves that his Yankee neighbor exhibits, but nevertheless an American, through and through. Most emigrations can be traced to religious intolerance and persecution. The French Huguenots shifted from Switzerland, Holland, England, and fin- ally found a home in free America. Persecution drove the Pil- grim Fathers to New England. And it was but the repetition of the old, old story-ecclesiastical intolerance and religious big- otry-that, in the early days of the last century caused the little group of Norwegian quakers to purchase a small sloop, which they named "Restaurationen" (The Restoration).
Embarking with their families, consisting of fifty-two souls this little Norwegian Mayflower sailed out of the harbor of Stav-
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GEORGE WESLEY DOTY.
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SCANDINAVIANS IN ROCK COUNTY
anger on the 4th of July, 1825, seeking the land where they "could worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience."
The political and economic conditions of Norway had for years, become more and more irksome and unbearable to the sturdy independent peasantry. Encroachment of the office- holding classes was gradually contracting the sphere of the farmer and laborer, and it required but the returning messages of good cheer and hopeful anticipations from the pilgrims to awaken the dormant spirit of the old Vikings, to again seek fortunes in foreign lands.
Two honored and respected pioneers of Rock county, the bro- thers Ole and Ansten Natesta, (1) are entitled to a conspicuous page in the annals of Scandinavian immigration. Not only are they the founders of the first Scandinavian settlement in Wis- consin, located in Rock county in 1838, but the return of Ansten Natesta to his native parish in that year and the distribution of needed information about America by him through publication of his brother Ole's "Journal," printed in Drammen, 1838, led other colonies here.
Ole Rynning's little book (2) of forty pages of information about America, which he had printed at Christiania the same year, also helped. These pamphlets were sent broadcast throughout fjord and valley, distributing reliable information regarding the new land of promise. Ansten Natesta states that during the win- ter months of 1838-9 he was literally swamped with letters, and it was impossible to reply to all the inquiries received. People gath- ered from near and far to hear and see the man that had beeu to America. Some coming on skees over mountains and through forests twenty or more Norwegian miles, cqual to 140 English miles. There is no question but that those timely, sensible and well-directed advertisements of American opportunities, open to the Norwegian immigrant, were the main factors in promoting the remarkable migration of the late thirties and early forties. Could the hundreds of thousands of Norse-Americans that today are enjoying the full mature life of American citizenship, but partly realize the debt they owe to Ole and Ansten Natesta for their successful efforts in guiding their countrymen to pleasant homes and broad and well rounded lives at the topmost round of the twentieth century civilization, they would erect a monument to their memory which would make Rock county a Mecca to gen-
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erations of Americans who trace their lineage back to viking blood.
In that valuable work of Prof. R. B. Anderson, "Norwegian Immigration 1825-1840," published at Madison, Wis., 1896, the Rock county colony on Jefferson Prairie, initiated by Ole Natesta in 1838, is described as "the fourth Norwegian settlement in America and the first in Wisconsin." Copious translations of interviews with Ole and Ansten Natesta written down by Prof. Sven Nilsen and published in "Billed Magazine," 1869, will be found in the same work. In the neighborly visits between the Natesta families and my father's in the early days, I, then a mere youngster, heard these same narratives by word of mouth and, although the limits of this article preclude extensive citation, I shall endeavor to give in substance the most important parts thereof.
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