The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 64

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

USA > Wisconsin > Dodge County > The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc > Part 64

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

THE FIRST MINISTER.

"Mr. Miter, in his manuscript, says : 'In this connection, it should be mentioned that. Rev. Moses Ordway was among the first who surveyed with his personal eye the grounds on which our city stands. In the winter of 1840-41, on his way from Green Bay, he visited this region and discovered its natural advantages. In the spring of 1842, he made a second visit here, and it was during this visit that he held meetings in some of the cabins of the first settlers. To him, therefore, belongs the distinction of being the pioneer missionary of the Presbyterian denomination of Beaver Dam. He removed here with his family in the spring of 1843, and died suddenly at Cambria January 24, 1870, and was buried at Milwaukee, where his only son,

425

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

David S. Ordway, now resides. He had left the border of civilization thirty-five years ago to pen- etrate the wilderness, bearing his life in one hand and the symbol of the Christian religion in the other. In the fall of 1842, he purchased of David Drake the water-power (now owned by Dr. Hoyt) and the saw-mill which Drake had built the preceding summer. On this visit he also held religious meetings in the settlement and thus prepared the way for the organization of the Church.' From these historical reminiscences, it will be seen that the city is mainly indebted to the same venerable pioneer for the improvement of its water-power, and the founding of the Chris- tian Church.

" The First Presbyterian Church was organized on the 1st day of June, 1843, in the cabin of Thomas Mackie. It was a bright and beautiful summer day. The windows of the cabin were raised, the unmolested birds were warbling their wild carols in the overhanging branches of native trees, clothed in their tender foliage, and the air was freighted with the fragrance of innu- merable wild flowers. At its organization, the Church consisted of but eight members. You will be interested to hear their names. I will repeat them in the order in which they stand on the records. Thomas Mackie and Ann his wife, Hanna Maria Goetchius, Rufus Lounsberry and Mary Ann his wife, Julia A. Arms, Lucy Ordway and Lucy Finch. It thus appears that thename of venerable Thomas Mackie occupies the first place among the living founders of the town, and our stands first on the records of the first church organized in the county of Dodge, or in the region north of Milwaukee and west of Green Bay. He is justly entitled to the distinction of being recognized by the generations to come as the Patriarch of the city."

THE FIRST CHURCH EDIFICE.

" Mr. Ordway supplied the infant Church with preaching for two years. At the close of his labors, the Church numbered but twenty-three members. But there was work done which neither appears on the surface nor in the records. Mr. Ordway was mainly instrumental in securing for the Church its first house of worship. That building was improvised after that off-hand fashion which characterized the pioneers of the West. Thomas Mackie went to the woods, selected the timber and hauled it on the ground. This was in the spring of 1844. On the Monday or Tuesday following, the settlers were called together to build the meeting-house. All responded to the call. The timber was hewed, the frame raised, the floor laid, the windows put in, tempo- rary seats made, and the building ready for occupancy on the next Sabbath. Such was the pro- cess of building the first house of worship. All the materials were furnished by Mr. Ordway, except the timber for the frame, and four pounds of nails. These nails have a history which must not be lost. Mr. John Manahan, and the first Irishman who settled here, and a pioneer ' Catholic,' was the proprietor of the second store that was opened in the town. Observing this general stir about the new building going up, he inquired of the minister the meaning of all this enthusiasm. 'We are building a meeting-house,' replied Mr. Ordway. 'Then,' responded the Catholic neighbor, 'I must have a nail in it,' and presented the four pounds of nails. That pioneer sanctuary stood on the east side of Spring street, directly on the town line and nearly in front of Mr. Loomis'. In 1847, it was purchased by Christopher Bogart. who removed it to the corner of Spring and Third streets. The building now stands on the north side of Madison street, near Beaver street bridge."

OTHER CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.

· " In 1846, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized with the Rev. H. P. Allen as Pastor. Reuben Dexter and wife and Mary A. Baldwin were among the first members ; its first place of worship was in the cabinet shop of your President, L. H. Marvin, near the mill of Dr. Hoyt; which building is removed to the north end of Beaver street bridge, and is now used for a basket factory. L. H. Marvin was its first class leader.

" St. Mark's Episcopal Church was also organized in the same building in 1846, and held services there for several years ; its present church was built in 1856.

426

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

" The Baptist Church was organized November 27, 1844, Rev. T. S. Pillsbury was the first Pastor, and Israel Root, Truman Parker, James M. How and wife were among its first members. Their first church building was built in 1847, and was located at the corner of Second and Third streets, and is now standing, and is the present residence of Dr. Hitchcock. In 1852, they erected a new edifice on the site of the present church, which was destroyed by fire in 1866, and replaced the next year by the present brick building.

" St. Peter's Church was organized in the fall of 1853; up to that time the Catholics had no fixed place of worship; a priest from Columbus and Watertown came here occasionally and held religious services.

" In 1860, the Lutheran Church was organized, with the Rev. Carl F. Boehner as officiat- ing minister."

HISTORICAL EVENTS.

" The four leading events of the first three years of the new settlement are the following : The first was the death of Mr. Goetschius' son John, the first death of a white person in the · town. It occurred March 6, 1842. The second was the birth of George Stultz. This memor- able event in the early history of Beaver Dam transpired on the 5th of May. 1842. This was the first white child born in the town. The third was the organization of the First Presbyterian Church, by Rev. Mr. Ordway, in the cabin of Thomas Mackie, June 1, 1843. The fourth nota- ble event was the Christian baptism of Ann Amelia, infant daughter of Joseph and Hannah M. Goetschius. This first sacred rite was performed by Rev. Mr. Ordway February 25, 1844.

" Of the original pioneers who entered some portions of the land on which the finest parts of the city stand, three are still living. I will name them : Thomas Mackie, Henry Stultz and Morris Furmin. To this record of the living must be added the sad records of the dead. These are Joseph Goetschius, who died September 30, 1846, in his cabin, which stood a few rods north of the Mackie cabin ; Jacob P. Brower, died November 28, 1846; Paul Brower, died in September, 1855; David Drake, died July 16, 1865, and Abraham Ackerman, on the 9th of March, 1867, just fifteen days over a quarter of a century from the time he moved into his cabin by the side of the little brook. To this list must be added Moses Ordway and Ann Mackie.

"It is an historical fact, that of all the courageous women who followed the adventurous pio- neers into the wilderness, none are living except Mrs. William Holt, Mrs. Ackerman and Mrs. Stultz. Perhaps to this record I should add the name of Mrs. James Madison How, who came in the spring of 1842, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Drake.

" The commencement of our large German population was in 1847 ; the first who came was Gotlieb Gunther, now of Calamus, his brother, Leonard Gunther, now of Marathon County, and George Hieleg, who died in the western part of the State four or five years ago."

THE SCHOOLS.

" Our present valuable common schools had a small beginning, and all who realize the fact of their importance and the favorable maturity they have attained cannot fail to be interested while I trace for a few minutes their early history. On the 23d day of July, 1842, a meeting was called by the citizens at the house of J. P. Brower for the purpose of selecting a site for a schoolhouse. At that meeting there were twelve persons, and it appears from the minutes of that meeting that there was a diversity of opinion as to the location-there were five points insisted upon by the different persons present ; finally, after several ballots, it was decided that the schoolhouse be located ' east of J. P. Brower's house, within twenty rods east of Spring Creek, on the south side of the road,' which point is upon the lot now owned by Mrs. John C. Hall. In a few months after, another meeting was held, and the officers were elected, with Morris Furmin, Clerk, and it appears that the duties of the office were so burdensome, or from some other cause, that on the 6th day of February, 1843, he resigned his office. By a census taken March 6, 1843, it appears there were twenty-four scholars in the district.

" Nothing further appears to have been accomplished until the meeting of 10th of March, 1845, when, on motion of J. P. Brower, it was resolved that the schoolhouse 'be commenced

427

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

and progress as far as funds can be collected.' And now the work commenced in earnest ; a subscription paper is circulated to obtain lumber, labor and the material for a frame schoolhouse, the 'paper' says the house not to be less than 23 feet by 30, and 'for exclusive literary pur- poses.' Moses Ordway gave all the lath; Abram Ackerman $5 worth of timber; Rufus Lounsberry, $1 worth of lumber; Joseph Goetschius, two days' work; Thomas Mackie, 500 feet of lumber and four days' work with team ; J. M. How, six days' work; Dr. Bradley Noyes, three days' work ; John Craig, $3 in joiner work ; David L. Booth, three days' work ; Henry W. Finch, five days' work ; Henry Stultz, ten days' work ; J. P. Brower, the lot, 1,000 feet of lumber and ten days' work ; John Van Eps, $2 in lumber ; L. H. Marvin, two days' work, and C. S. Bristol, cash $3, he being the only lawyer then here, and gave the only money ; perhaps some may think he was too lazy to work, and had rather deal out the hard cash. On the 4th day of October, 1845, a tax or rate bill was issued under the hand and seal of L. A. Donald- son, John Craig and Joseph Goetschius, for the collection from the inhabitants of the sum of $13.44, to pay the wages of Miss Adaline W. Ladd for teaching nine weeks' school, and the Collector was in the name of the ' United States' commanded to collect the same.

" In October, 1846, another subscription paper was circulated to raise means for the ‘pur- pose of furnishing the inside and painting the outside of the schoolhouse.' Upon this list, the only persons who paid cash were the lawyer Bristol and Dr. Kimball. They, probably, were the only idle ones in the settlement, and how they got the money wherewith to pay was then, and will always remain a mystery. In September, 1844, a rate bill was also issued to collect $18 to pay Mrs. Margaret J. Buck for twelve weeks 'tuition ' at $1.50 per week, as appears from her school register. From this it will be seen that the early settler was fully imbued with the spirit of education, and that the small beginning of those years has grown to be a power in the land."

POPULATION IN 1843.

" We find from the census taken January 1, 1843, there were the following persons and families on that day in the town of Beaver Dam :

Males. Females.

Abram Ackerman

J. M. How

George W. Arms

Thomas Mackie

J. P. Brower

Israel Root

Paul Brower ..

Henry Stultz.

William J. Bidwell.

Eldridge Smith

James Conner

Charles Smith

David Drake.

David Snyder

Morris Furmin.

Joseph Goetschius.

Totals

Grand Total.

THE FIRST MAIL.

" Prior to 1844, the mails reached this place once in two weeks, and about 1846, the people were supplied with a tri-weekly mail, and brought here in a four-horse stage. I am informed that the first arrival of that stage occasioned great rejoicing, men tossed their hats in triumph, women waved their handkerchiefs (those that had any) in delight, the dogs barked in anger, and chil- dren hid in fear and amazement. I have no time to follow further the first settlement and growth of this city ; a volume might be written and then the story be but half told.

" Some of those old pioneers are with us this evening, and many are here who soon followed them, and whose settlement dates back to 1845-46-47. That they were a noble type of man- kind will ever be conceded. Those wanting in energy and perseverance never seek new coun- tries-for the work of the pioneer is always laborious, often perplexing and never remunerative. He spends the winter in felling forest-trees, and the spring in plowing among green stumps and tough roots. When autumn comes, he is satisfied if the product of his labors is sufficient to keep his family from starvation. The pioneers are mostly gone; the harvest has ripened with them ; their days are numbered, and soon the remaining ones will be gathered with those who

428

HISTORY OF DODGĘ COUNTY.

have preceded them ; but while they live, let each of us extend a kindly hand, a gentle and cheering word, and an earnest wish for God's blessing to follow them."

INTERESTING REMINISCENCES.

A't the conclusion of Mr. Lander's address, the members of the Club, with their families, repaired to the Boylan House, where a banquet was held. The feast finished, President Marvin called up the next order of business-" Reminiscences "-which met with apt and interesting responses from the following : Judge S. L. Rose, of Fort Dodge, Iowa (now of Beaver Dam) ; Hon. Q. H. Barron, of Fox Lake; N. E. Allen, Esq., of Trenton; S. Thomas, Esq., of Beaver Dam ; Hon. Charles Burchard, Beaver Dam ; James F. McCollum, Esq., of Trenton ; Eldridge Smith, Esq., of Rolling Prairie. But one of these interesting papers has been preserved-that of Mr. Allen. It is as follows :

" In taking a retrospect of the past thirty-two or thirty-three years, since the early settle- ment of Beaver Dam and vicinity, how many thoughts come crowding upon the memory. Scarcely a home or heart into which has not come the messenger of Death. In my own, a brother and our three oldest children lie in yonder cemetery. With almost every one, in a greater or less degree, the same experiences. In recalling the names of thirty-two and thirty-three years ago of the early settlers of Beaver Dam and vicinity, I ask, where are they ? Nearly all gone ! DEAD. But yet not dead, for they live in the memories of the people. They live in the monuments erected by their skill and industry ; they live in the highways, the public roads ; they live in every living tree and shrub, planted by their hands ; they live in the great moral influences they exerted to lay the foundations of good society, and, most of all, they live in the generations that have followed them. Here a most pleasing and gratifying reflec- tion. In my effort to recall the names of the inhabitants of that early time and their children, I cannot think of any who have disgraced themselves. Honored and honorable members of society, whether still among us, or some other chosen location is now their home. Here, too, a reflection. The necessities of those early times compelled industry in order to live ; they learned to earn a living, instead of simply learning to get a living. There is a vast difference in the future of boys or girls, whether they are taught to earn a living, or simply learn to get it."

WHERE THEY LIVED.

"It is not my purpose to moralize on this occasion, but to give some of the personal inci- dents of those early times. My first coming to Beaver Dam was October 8, 1842, thirty-two years ago last October. There were here, at the time of my coming, Mr. Thomas Mackie, wife and danghter ; Mr. Henry Goetschius and wife, daughter of Mr. Mackie, who lived near the spring that forms Spring Brook, that runs through your city. Mr. Abraham Ackerman, who lived near what is known as the Ackerman Spring, together with his wife and five children. Mr. Henry Stultz, who lived near where Mr. F. Hempel now lives, his wife and three children. Mr. Jacob P. Brower, who lived on the ground now occupied by the Williams Block, in your city, wife, and, I think, seven children; his father and mother, I think, also lived with him. Mr. David Drake and his wife, who lived nearly opposite Hoyt's mill, or where the old store now used for a blacksmith shop. Mr. Madison Howe, who lived on the northeast side of the river, about twenty-five rods above the dam, his wife and three children. Mr. Morris Furmin, who lived near where Mr. Trask lives, together with his wife and two children. These consti- tuted all the people in what is now the city of Beaver Dam. Mr. Israel Root, wife and nine children, lived about one mile northeast of the depot, on the place now owned by Mr. Rose. Mr. David Snyder lived on the farm owned by Mr. Reuben Dexter, together with his wife and one child. Mr. Eldridge Smith came in the fall and settled on the land now owned by Mr. J. C. Hunt ; he had a wife and one child. Mr. Amasa Hyland, the first settler in Dodge County, lived about four miles east of your city, on the farm now owned by his nephew, George Hyland, and Stanton on the place owned by the late Thomas Marshal. Hyland and Stanton lived together and kept bachelors' hall. William Griffin had a claim on the south end of the prairie,

429

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

now owned by Mr. Phillips; Mr. Isaac Noyes lived on the farm now owned by Mr. Burgit, and Maj. Pratt at Oak Grove. Mr. James and Timothy Williams came in the fall and settled on what is now known as H. B. Sherman's Spring Brook Farm. These, with their families, con- stituted all the inhabitants of Dodge County at the time of my coming, except a casual stopper, among whom I remember Mr. D. Blauvelt."

PRIVATIONS.

" Communication with the outside world was expensive and inconvenient. The only post office in Dodge County was at Fox Lake, and the postage on a letter was 25 cents. There was a sub post office at Beaver Dam, and the inhabitants took turns in going after the mail once a week. I well remember when my turn came; it was one of those cold days in January, and you know we have some cold days in Wisconsin. Well, on one of those cold days, with the snow a foot deep or more, and no track, I went, through the woods, or openings, near where the ' openings road' now runs to Fox Lake, and back again and brought the mail-not a house, but only now and then a friendly blazed tree to guide mẹ.

" In the early winter came a company from Waukesha, or Prairieville, as it was then called, for the purpose of forming a colony and establishing a college school. During the winter, the population was much increased, but, passing that, I will confine my remarks to the general inci- dents and events of that first winter and spring. The fall of 1842 was one of those remarkable Indian summer, smoky times, so common in Wisconsin in the fall, until near the middle of November, when about six inches of snow fell and continued with increasing quantity till Janu- ary, when there was a thaw, and the ground was nearly bare for ten days, when it snowed again, and the snow continued on the ground until the middle of April, making the most remarkable winter in the history of Wisconsin, equaled only by the past, but very much more severely felt, because the inhabitants were so poorly prepared for such weather, either in their dwellings or feed and shelter for their stock. So terribly cold and long-continued was the winter that, by the middle of March, everything eatable for stock was consumed, and, as the only means to keep their stock alive, the inhabitants clubbed together and hired a man (Mr. Harrison Root), to go down into the woods, south of the lower woolen-factory, and so along the river for a mile on the east side, and chop down basswood trees for the cattle to browse, and continued it for fully five weeks, when the cattle could pick a scanty living on the marsh with only one browsing a day.

" In the fall, pork was very cheap, from the wild hogs that had been allowed to run wild and breed in the woods, and living on acorns. I well remember seeing a man buy some very good dressed pork for $1.75 per hundred. But oh ! such poor, starved creatures as they became in the winter, so very hungry as to devour each other, and, although hogs were plenty in the fall, I think they have not been so scarce since as they were the next spring, literally starved to death, or killed to keep them from starving. The great effort of the inhabitants was to procure fencing to secure the crops the coming season, and every available man and team was brought into requisition, and although labor was in great demand money was scarce, not only in Wisconsin but in the United States. It will be remembered it was during the great financial crisis of 1830 to 1844 of the 'wild-cat ' bank speculation."

SPLITTING RAILS.

" Provisions were scarce and high, as well as money, as a few incidents will show. I well remember Mr. John Putnam taking a job of Mr. Abraham Ackerman to cut and split for him 10,000 rails, at 50 cents per hundred, and he did it, too ; he cut the timber on the ground now occupied as Oak Wood Cemetery, and further south on the same ridge. He boarded with Mr, David Snyder, and paid $1.50 per week for board. (I also boarded at the same place most of the time that winter.) He received $50 in gold for the job. In April, the Root boys and myself took a job of Uncle Seymour Wilcox, at Waupun, to split for him 5,000 rails and 10,000 stakes, at 31 cents per hundred for the rails and 20 cents per hundred for the stakes, and took our pay in potatoes, at $1 per bushel, he furnishing us board. The timber was cut and drawn out on

430

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

the ground where the city of Waupun now stands. After the potatoes were earned the next thing was to get them. Mr. Root had two teams of horses, but they were so very poor they could hardly draw an empty wagon, and nothing to feed them on excepting browse, so, in an emergency like this, something must be done. Mrs. Root took the marsh hay from the bed on which the family had slept all winter, to make feed for the team, so they could go and get the potatoes. While gone, Mr. Root traded the poor creatures to Mr. Wilcox for a pair of old oxen and a pair of three-year-old steers, and managed with both pair of cattle to get home with the load of potatoes."

MAKING A LAKE.

"The pond-well, that was the absorbing subject of conversation during that winter. The people wanted lumber, and they could get none until the mill started, and the mill could not start until the pond would fill. So the history of the pond will be in order. The water was stopped in July, and the pond did not fill to run over until June, or nearly one year, and to Eastern chaps brought up among the mountains, where a mill-pond would fill in one night, and generally in an hour or two, it was incomprehensible. All sorts of conjectures were indulged in, some believed it filled so as to run into Lost Lake, others still believed it set back into Fox Lake, others that there was some subterranean passage where the water went off. So, to satisfy the curiosity and anxiety of the people, they employed Mr. J. P. Brower, who was a surveyor, to make an examination and report, which he did: that there was no other outlet, but the pond was going to cover more surface than first supposed, as it would set back almost to Fox Lake, but he owned a water-power at Fox Lake, and it had not affected that yet, so we waited for the pond to fill. But to make the matter more certain, Madison How set a gauge in the water and watched it for a month, and at last reported the water had raised an inch, thus settling our doubts."

THE FIRST DEATH.

"The first death occurring in Beaver Dam, or the first one buried, as my recollection serves me, was a stranger by the name of Soddy, who died in my shanty on the farm where I now live. He came along traveling, and was taken sick with colic, and before a doctor could be obtained he died, or was so far gone as to be impossible to help him. The next was my own brother, Edwin C. Allen, who died on the 27th of August, 1845. That was a terribly sickly fall, and many persons died. Among the number were Mrs. Henry Goetschius, Mr. Jacob P. Brower, and others, all with the same fever.

"Another incident in which I was an interested party. Mr. Thomas Mackie and myself (I was working for Mr. Mackie), went one of those cold days, about two miles on the Columbus road, to cut saw-logs ; after cutting until noon, we stopped to eat our dinner, which was frozen as hard as stone, almost. While standing, my feet became terribly cold, as I only had on boots and Mr. Mackie had on moccasins. It seemed certain that I must freeze my feet, and told him so. "Says he, Pull off your boots and stick your feet in the snow. It seemed a poor rem- edy for freezing feet, but something must be done; so off with my boots and took a run of twenty or thirty rods, came and sat down, and Mr. Mackie helped rub my feet for a short time, when I pulled on my boots and went to work, and in a short time my feet were burning hot and continued so through the day. I mention this that others may be benefited in a like emergency."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 64

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