The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 52

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 774

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COUNTY POOR-FARM.

" I'm old, and helpless, and feeble ; The days of my youth have gone by. So it's over the hill to the Poorhouse I wander alone there to die."

No nation upon the earth is more magnanimous in its laws relating to the care of the poor than is the United States of America. Especially is this true of that portion of the country known as the great Northwest, and particularly of the section within the province of this work. It is not strange that the early settler so readily discovered the necessities of the poor, and was so prompt to take action in inaugurating measures for their relief and comfort, when we consider that his own condition was one of poverty ; thus he was enabled to realize the situation of his neighbor, who perhaps, had been less fortunate in his efforts to provide against the attacks of those twin monsters, cold and hunger. There is no record of the many private acts of charity known to have been performed by affluent citizens toward their needy neighbors. The halo of an eloquent silence surrounds them ; but, deeply graven, in letters more pure than gold, doth shine the deeds of many noble men and women, whose Christianity is not alone expressed in their devotion to the church.

The first organized effort on the part of the citizens of Dodge County for the alleviation of their fellow-beings whose misfortunes had brought them to the threshold of want, was made in 1855, when a quarter-section of land was purchased in Hyland Prairie and devoted to the pur- pose of a Poor-Farm. In 1859, a more suitable and convenient site was obtained near Juneau, containing one hundred and forty acres, for which the county paid $3,500. In the mean time, the paupers were removed to Waupun, where they temporarily occupied the old Carrington House until the completion, in 1861, of the main building near Juneau, when they were trans- ferred to permanent quarters. Additional buildings have been put up from time to time, over

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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

$20,000 having been expended in improvements, upon which there is an insurance of $12,300 in the most substantial guilds. The buildings are of brick, of the most modern design, well ventilated in summer and heated by steam in the winter. A thorough inspection of the prem- ises, from cellar to garret, by the writer, justifies the assertion that no institution of a similar nature, in point of cleanliness and systematic management generally, presents more superior advantages or facilities. The institution is supported from county and town funds, $1.75 per week for each pauper being charged for board, clothing, tobacco, etc. The average aggregate cost per year is about $5,000. The highest number of inmates cared for at any one time (including the county's insane, who, by the way, should belong to a separate institution) was seventy-eight ; the present number is sixty-two. The cost of maintaining the twenty-one insane persons, at present confined there, is quite as great as is the amount required for twice that number of paupers. For the past three years the annual productions of the Poor-Farm have amounted to $2,200. The superintendence and management of the Poorhouse has, a greater portion of the time since its establishment, been vested in a Board of Trustees, composed of three members of the Board of Supervisors, one of whom acted as resident Superintendent. In 1854, the non-resident members of the Board were A. Ackerman and Lorenzo Merrill ; in 1855, William Giles became the resident Superintendent, and remained as such until 1861. During this time, Lorenzo Merrill, Silas Hemstreet and James H. Warren were on the Board of non- resident managers. From 1861 to 1876, A. B. Hitchcock was the Superintendent, with the exception of one year, when Aaron Potter was substituted, but retired in favor of Mr. Hitch- cock, who was re-instated. In January, 1876, J. W. Perry became Superintendent, and has remained in office to the present time. The employed help is very small, considering the great amount of work to be performed, and consists of two men and four girls, whose salaries, together with those paid the Superintendent and his wife-the latter of whom acts in the capacity of matron-aggregate $1,855 per annum. Those of the inmates whose disabilities are not too great make themselves useful about the farm. Superintendent Perry commands the respect and obedience of his wards, as well as the confidence of the people.

HONORABLE MENTION.

Dodge County has been exceptionally prolific of men who have gone before the world charged by intelligent constituencies with the duties pertaining to honorable and responsible public positions. Foremost among these may be mentioned the Honorable Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz, who for some years made the Fifth Ward of Watertown his permanent residence.

Second in the list of honorable mention is Gov. William E. Smith, who settled at Fox Lake in 1849, and resided there until 1871. During that time he served three terms as State Senator, and two as Assemblyman ; was afterward elected State Treasurer two terms, and is now filling the office of Governor of the State of Wisconsin for the second time.

The gentlemen resident in Dodge County whose voices have been heard in the halls of Con- gress are Charles Billinghurst, C. H. Larrabee, A. Scott Sloan and S. D. Burchard. Mr. Bill- inghurst was chosen to represent his district in the Lower House of the first State Legislature, and was twice elected to Congress. Charles H. Larrabee was a member of the Second Constitu- tional Convention, and was on the bench as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from August, 1848, to June, 1853. He was elected to the XXXVIth Congress, and, when the war broke out, entered the service in defense of the Union as Major of the Fifth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers. Resigning that position, he was appointed Colonel of the Twenty- fourth Wisconsin Volunteers, and served till the close of the bloody conflict. Col. Larrabee is now practicing law at Seattle, Washington Territory. A. Scott Sloan has been a member of the Assembly, Attorney General two terms, member of Congress, and Judge of the County and Cir- cuit Courts. Mr. Burchard, the last member of Congress, resident and representative of Dodge County, has served four years as State Senator.

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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

Gen. Henry Bertram became famous during the war against secession. He enlisted from the Fifth Ward of Watertown, as First Lieutenant of Company A, Third Regiment, com- manded at the historical battle of Prairie Grove, and rose rapidly from the rank of a Lieutenant to that of Brevet Brigadier General. Returning from the front after the fall of Richmond, he was appointed Postmaster of Watertown, by President Johnson, and, in 1870, was elected to the Assembly from that city, and afterward served one term as Sheriff of Dodge County. He died September 3, 1878, and fills an honored grave in the public cemetery at Juneau.

Hiram Barber, Jr., came to Dodge County with his father, Judge Barber, of Horicon, at quite an early age; received a common-school education at Juneau, and graduated at the Wisconsin University ; practiced law at Juneau, in partnership with Billinghurst & Lewis; afterward removed to Watertown, where he became associated in his profession with Gill & Friebert; took up his residence in Chicago some years ago, and was elected to Congress from Cook County in 1878.

William Huntington, once a resident of Dodge County, held an important position in the Treasury Department under Mr. Spinner, afterward became Jay Cook's confidential man in his Washington banking business, and was cashier of the first National Bank established in the United States. Mr. Huntington enjoyed the possession of wonderful business faculties, and was a sumptuous sort of individual, who entertained without stint. He once gave a dinner to the Japanese Embassy, and his mahogany was frequently surrounded by Senators, diplomats, etc. He died some five or six years ago.

Dodge County also has its representative in the Navy, in the person of Albert Mertz. He was appointed as cadet midshipman in 1867, and graduated at Annapolis, Md., in 1872. He is now in command of the Coast Survey Steamer Hitchcock, employed in making triangulation surveys on the Lower Mississippi River, his rank being that of Master in the Navy, equivalent to First Lieutenant in the Army. His longest cruise lasted about forty months, during which time he visited most of the important seaports in the world, and traveled over 54,000 miles.

Among those who have held appointive positions in the National House of Representatives, may be mentioned C. B. Beebe, Assistant Postmaster under W. S. King; S. P. Doolittle, clerk in one of the departments ; J. A. Barney (ex-State Senator), clerk of the Committee on Claims ; D. C. Gowdey (editor Beaver Dam Argus), messenger in the Clerk's document room ; H. W. Finch, clerk in one of the departments ; Hugh Lewis, Doorkeeper's messenger, distinguished for rearing a Democratic " eagle " (in rivalry of the celebrated war eagle " Old Abe"), which developed into a common hen-hawk, whereupon Hugh abandoned the calling of a naturalist and went into politics.

ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. Dead, but not forgotten.

It is the prerogative of every American citizen, no matter what his station in life may be to win for himself a name and fame, and have his life revealed upon the pages of his country's history. It is not pre-ordained that all men shall become great in the sense that Alexander was illustrious ; but there are illimitable opportunities for every human being to earn distinction within the little sphere he or she may occupy. It is not the superior knowledge of the law, of theology, or other branch of philosophy, one man may possess over another that makes him greater in the estimation of his fellows; it is the sincerity of his nature, the candor, the honesty of purpose-the integrity -- that animates his every impulse and impresses itself upon the escutcheon of his deeds.

This work would be incomplete without a reference to the lives and services of those who founded the grand institutions of civilization and progress in " Old Dodge," and were called away, many of them, before the ripening of the fruits of their early labors. No more fitting caption than the "Illustrious Dead " could be chosen to surmount this common tribute to the memories of such men as Jacob P. Brower, Charles Billinghurst, Stoddard Judd, John J. Miter, William M. Larrabee, Abram Ackerman, Charles Burchard, Leonard Mertz, Ingraham Gould, Moses Ordway and William H. Lander.

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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

CHIARLES BILLINGHURST

was born in Brighton, Monroe Co., N. Y .. in 1818. His father, William Billinghurst, came from England at an early day and settled in Monroe County, the township of Brighton being named for his native place in the land of his birth. William Billinghurst was a man of great prominence in the county of his adoption, and was for several terms a member of the Legis- lature of the Empire State. He died in 1834. Charles Billinghurst, the subject of this sketch, was the seventh son. His earlier years were passed upon his father's farm. After receiving the ordinary education of the day (but not the benefit of a collegiate course), he was certified as a student at law, and commenced reading for his profession in the office of the late Horace Gay, of Rochester. On his admission to the bar of that city he formed a partnership with the Hon. Henry R. Selden, now one of the Judges of the Court of Appeals. While in the practice of his profession, and with every promise of honorable success, in the year 1845 he was prostrated by an alarming hemorrhage of the lungs, and by his physician's advice gave up practice, and made an equestrian tour of the States of Kentucky and Indiana. On his return, finding him-

self greatly improved in health, he resumed and continued practice until new symptoms of his old difficulty compelled him to seek, in change of climate, that health and vigor so necessary to a successful career. He accordingly removed to and settled in the then Territory of Wisconsin in the fall of 1847. In 1848, he was chosen a member of the first State Legislature. Between that time and 1854 he was appointed to various offices of trust within the county, and, in 1854, was elected to represent his district (then the largest in the Union) in the Congress of the United States. He was elected as the candidate of the newly organized Republican party, he having been a Democrat of the Silas Wright school, and one of the principal leaders in its organization in this State. His course in Congress was such as to evoke the unqualified approval of his constituents, especially his fearless conduct in opposing the repeal of the Mis- souri Compromise. At the expiration of his Congressional term he was returned by his con- stituency, and served out his second term with the same ability that had characterized the first. On the breaking-out of the war, Mr. Billinghurst took instant and uncompromising ground in favor of the Government, and through all that bloody struggle maintained the position of a true and loyal citizen, never despairing in the darkest hour or faltering in that support which was the duty of every patriotic heart. He expended his time, means and energies in raising troops, and nothing but his precarious health kept him from the field. Such was his course as a public man and patriot. Uncompromisingly opposed to the great wrong of slavery and the usurpation of its supporters, his voice and vote were ever on the side of humanity and justice. Equally useful was he in his capacity as a private citizen. The history of the county, especially that of its agricultural interests, bears ample evidence to his energies and devotion to its welfare. This unquestioned desire to promote the general good of the community, and his labors in that direction, together with his wonderful faculty for winning friends, made Mr. Billinghurst, beyond all doubt, the most popular man in the county. His genial nature, the warmth of his friendship, the thousand nameless qualities that made up the perfection of his character, seemed to win men to him and disarm opposition. No man in the county knew so many others personally and inti- mately. He so interested himself in the affairs of each, and ingratiated himself in their affection, that when he died they mourned for him as for a brother dead, and gathered by thousands to pay their last respects at his obsequies. As a lawyer, his business was extensive and important-his abilities of the first order ; he was learned, astute and eloquent. In the hottest fight of the forum he never forgot the courtesies of a gentleman. His brethren of the bar lamented the loss of an acknowledged leader-one whose assistance was always welcome, whose opposition sum- moned forth their best resources and strongest power of resistance. To the younger members of the profession he was a willing adviser and safe counselor, presuming nothing by reason of his age or learning, but treating them with the same respect as his equals in years and experience.

Mr. Billinghurst was married in 1853 to Hannah, a daughter of the Hon. Hiram Barber, of Horicon. He was a kind and indulgent husband and father; with his nature and disposition

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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

he could not be otherwise. The interests of his family and their happiness were with him a para- mount object, to which all other engagements were made subservient. He died August 18, 1865, leaving a wife and two sons-Charles Bryan and Scelye. He has left to them the priceless memory of an honorable reputation, an upright life and a loving heart. Such was Charles Billinghurst, in public or private, in the political arena, or the struggle of the forum, at home or abroad. Patient, forbearing, courteous, able, and ever bearing, above reproach, " the grand old name of gentleman."

DR. STODDARD JUDD

was born in the town of Sharon, in the State of Connecticut, May 18, 1797. He gradu- ated at the Albany Medical College, and received a diploma from the Medical Society of Dutchess County, N. Y., in 1819. In the years 1829, 1835 and 1836, he was a member of the Legisla- ture of the State of New York. He practiced his profession in Dutchess County until 1841, when he came to this State and became Receiver of the Green Bay Land District, in which capacity he resided at Green Bay until 1845. He was a member, in 1846, of the first Constitu- tional Convention of this State, and also, in 1848, of the second convention which framed the Constitution which is still in force. He also represented, in 1860, the Assembly District, and, in 1866 and 1867, the Senatorial District in which his residence was included. He was one of the pioneers in the settlement of Fox Lake, going there from Green Bay in 1845, and having continued to reside there from that time until the time of his decease. Dr. Judd took a promi- nent part in the organization of the railroad system of the State, and was one of the first Directors, and for some years President of the La Crosse & Milwaukee R. R. Co. He was during many years an active member of the Order of Odd Fellows. He was initiated in the Waushara Lodge, of Fox Lake, in 1850, and retained his connection with it until his death. In 1859, he became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of this State. In 1863, he was elected Grand Representa- tive of the Grand Lodge of this State for two years, and, in 1869, Grand Representative for two years of the Wisconsin Grand Encampment in the Grand Lodge of the United States. His attendance upon the meetings of both subordinate and Grand Lodges was always regular.

Dr. Judd was married on the 9th day of January, 1822, to Elizabeth Emigh, daughter of Henry and Phobe Emigh, of Dutchess County. Their union was blessed with five children, all of whom are still living, viz., Mary Louisa, Maria Theresa, Randall S., Phoebe Ann and Eliza- beth. His widow still lives on the old homestead in the village of Fox Lake, in the enjoyment of good health. Dr. Judd reached the close of a long and useful life at Fox Lake on the morn- ing of March 2, 1873. The funeral services were held at the Baptist Church, and were so largely attended as to show very impressively the estimation in which he was held by his neigh- bors, who feel that in his death they have lost a prominent and respected citizen, and an honor- able friend. He may be said to have been not only one of the founders of the village, in whose prosperity he always took a warm and active interest, but one of the pioneers of the State. Few men were so prominent in its early history, and so closely identified with many of its enter- prises for development and progress.

REV. JOHN J. MITER,

son of Thomas and Eleanor Miter, was born in Lansingburg, N. Y., March 20, 1809. Thomas Miter, the father, died December 16, 1822, and, two years later, the mother was also removed. On the death of the father, it was deemed best for the boy, then at the age of thirteen, to begin doing something for himself. He was accordingly taken to Troy, to the home of an elder brother, who commanded a vessel running on the Hudson River, and, under his charge, he was engaged for five years as a sailor. During the winter of 1826-27, the young man was, by some physical ailment, kept in Troy. It was the season of a remarkable revival of religion under the preaching of the eloquent Pastor, Beman, aided by the evangelists Kirk and Finney. His natural enthusiasm of temperament then and there took a positive and abiding religious direc- tion, and he began at once to exercise his gifts. His ability thus developed, especially in prayer, attracted the attention of a wealthy physician, Dr. Robbins, a convert in the same

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revival, who became so much interested in the young man that he induced him to commence at once a course of study for the ministry, offering to render the pecuniary help he might need. Accordingly, Mr. Miter, in the fall of 1827, commenced his academic studies in the Oneida Institute at Whitesboro, N. Y., and, at the end of four years, he went to Lane Seminary for his theological instruction, with that first notable class numbering forty-three young men of more than ordinary intellectual vigor and spiritual devotion. Under the elder Beecher (then at the height of his fame and influence, and Stowe, a good beginning was made. Impaired health obliged him to leave at the end of the first year. Soon after, the class was scattered on account of the issue made between the students and Faculty on the matter of anti-slavery discussions. The young men, quicker than their elders to catch the spirit of the Gospel as opposed to all oppression, gave their sympathy to the rising movement against the system of American slavery, and, when their instructors abridged their freedom in debate, withdrew from the Seminary. Mr. Miter had imbibed the views of his fellow-students, and, through all his life, remained true to the principles then adopted. Not being able consistently to return to the Seminary, he joined a little class gathered in Troy, under the tuition of Beman and Kirk, for the last two years of his theological education, upon the completion of which, he received, from the Presby- bytery of Troy, license to preach. After the usual period of unsettled life experienced by most young theologians, Mr. Miter found himself Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Ill. In June, 1840, he was married to Miss Elizabeth D. Ayers, of Glenville, N. Y., and, a year later, declined a call from Plymouth Church, Milwaukee; but, at the urgent and earnest solicitations of the members of that organization, he finally consented to be their shepherd and friend. So, as he has told the story, "The next day, all my personal estate was loaded on one wagon, and my invalid wife was lying on a bed in another, and by her side her first-born; and this was the commencement of a journey of 233 miles over the broad, uncultivated prairies of Illinois and Wisconsin, in the face of the cold winds of November. But, instead of periling the lives of the young mother and her child, it was God's wise though strange method of pro- longing them."

July 20, 1864, he was installed over the First Presbyterian Church of Beaver Dam, and, on the 5th of May, 1875, his earthly career was closed. A warm personal friend-and he had many-of the lamented divine, pays the following tribute to his memory : "Mr. Miter was a marked man wherever he went, and with whomsoever he associated. He was one of the few men who have proved themselves equal to every emergency in which they have been called upon to act. That he possessed commanding talents is everywhere admitted. Simple, vigorous and correct in language and manner, he was a powerful and convincing reasoner. He possessed a true as well as a large and powerful mind. His presence produced a magnetism, and the talis- manic touch of his kindly hand, the gentle amenities of his domestic life, bound all to him by a tie of friendship which death has no power to break. His style was so plain, his words so aptly chosen, that, unknown to himself, there gleamed forth evidences of his genial nature, his gener- osity, his great energy of character, and his wisdom and social worth. No one was ever in his company without being conscious of the presence of a man of the deepest religious convictions and opinions, which were, on all proper occasions, promptly and openly avowed yet never offen- sively obtruded. His expressions never hurt the feelings of others nor offended their taste -- but were guided by a sense of gentlemanly courtesy.

JACOB P. BROWER

was born in Clarkstown, Rockland Co., N. Y., September 14, 1802. He was the son of Paul and Rachel Brower. Came to Wisconsin at an early day and settled in Sheboygan, where he engaged in the business of keeping a hotel. In March, 1838, he settled in what is now Dodge County, making a joint claim of land with Henry Merrill, a short distance north of Fox Lake. He was the first permanent settler in the county, and, to his energy and perseverance were largely due the rapid building-up and early growth of Fox Lake, the parent settlement of Dodge. Mr. Brower was a man of very small stature, but active and industrious, the embodiment

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of all the qualities that go to make up the perfect pioneer ; a prominent Roman nose, deep blue eyes, a very high forehead and a well-developed head, covered with light auburn hair. He was for several years in the employ of the Government as a surveyor, and was the first County Surveyor elected in Dodge. Rain or shine, snow or blow, he was to be found in the field with compass and chain, and a great many of the original surveys made by him are, and doubtless will be for all time to come, accepted as matter of record. Mr. Brower was married in New York State, on the 16th of September, 1820, by the Rev. James Demorest Hempstead, to Miss Martha Mackie, sister of Thomas Mackie, the patriarch of Beaver Dam. Nine children, two of whom died in New York, were the result of this union. At the fall election of 1845, Mr. Brower was chosen to fill the office of Register of Deeds, was re-elected in November, 1846, and died a few days later, at the age of forty-four years.

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The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 52

Author: Western Historical Co Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 774

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 774