The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 74

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 74

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FIRST SETTLEMENT.

In the early fall of 1838, Seymour Wilcox, then engaged on the Government works near Green Bay, came to what is now the city of Waupun to locate land for a home. He did so at the suggestion of John Bannister, who had surveyed in the vicinity, and who described the Rock River Valley as the most beautiful and fertile he had ever seen. He determined to make himself a home where he afterward settled and resided, about twenty rods east of what is now Marhle & Harris' flouring-mill, on Rock River. Therefore, in February, 1839, with John N. Ackerman, Hiram Walker (and another man who remained but a few days), he arrived at the spot previously visited, driving from Green Bay a yoke of oxen laden with a few boards and some provisions. Four burr-oaks were found, to which the boards were nailed for shelter. In this small shanty they lived, or stayed, until a log house was nearly finished, when Mr. Wilcox returned to Green Bay for his family. Ackerman and Walker finished the house, which was occupied by Mr. Wilcox and his family for the first time on the 20th of March, 1839. Acker- man and Walker were single men, and boarded with Mr. Wilcox, helping him to break land and raise a few oats, some corn and potatoes and a little " garden truck," but no wheat. Pork and flour came from Green Bay, and, occasionally, $20 was paid for a barrel of the latter, which was so hard and sour that it would stand alone after the hoops and staves had been removed.

From this time up to 1841, no other persons were added to the settlement. Living in that rude hut, the days came and went without registering any very strange event. They heard no startling news to disturb their serenity ; no rise or fall of stocks broke in upon their equanimity ; there was no crash in business, no downfall of dynasties, no new fashions to attract their atten- tion. The gray of each morning was heralded by an old, pompous-looking rooster that had been imported, who blew his clarion trumpet at 4 in the morning, one blast following another with great rapidity. Around Mr. Wilcox's home were beautiful openings; beyond these were blooming prairies, extending he hardly knew where. These natural meadows were interlaced with silver rivulets that danced to their own music. Amid these openings-nature's mighty parks-roamed the noble deer; and over those prairies, which were like so many gorgeous pearls in richest settings, the soft wind played.

The first day of that pioneer family can well be pictured. It was in the season of the year when frosty nights were succeeded by sunny days; when the crows crept into the woods, as if they felt approaching May. The kittens ran round the cabin, and chased each other up the trees; and the dog wandered along the river-side, for reasons best known to himself. The woodpecker tapped his drowsy music on the decayed trunks; the turkey peered from behind the roots of the upturned trees, where she had been waiting so long to hail the blessed warmth, and inquired, " What business have you here ?" The squirrel pushed his nose out of the door of his castle, and, after looking cautiously upon the intruders, threw his tail over his back, and,

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with an angry chirrup, trotted to the nearest stump; and then, as the sunbeams pierced through the tangled woods, the bluebird broke forth into a note of song, tuned the strings of her harp for the coming summer, and inquired when gentle May was coming, with her music and her flowers.

In after years, the daughters ot Mr. Wilcox would tell how they learned to get breakfast and wash dishes; how, one night, they heard a wolf howl in the woods; and how a dirty old Indian poked his head in at the door, and asked for fire-water. They would tell how they used to thrust their little bare feet into the faces of the violets, with a dainty sauciness; how they went down to the river, of a morning, to wash, and arranged their locks with a wooden comb ; how, when they milked the cows for the first time, the white current went fizz into their eyes, and shot over into a cluster of wild roses that were blushing at the performance.

There are threads of beauty that pervade every household, wherever it may be, and what- ever may be its lot. There are always pleasant thoughts, kind words and happy remembrances flying to and fro. How must the hearts of this family have rejoiced when, as the long shadows of evening were stretching over the landscape, some traveler, in his Kentucky-jeans coat and stoga boots, alighted from his shaggy old horse, and asked entertainment for the night. They looked upon it as a sort of angel-visit ; each one strived to outstrip others in acts of hospitality ; and though they could not offer him the luxuries of life, he soon felt that he was welcome to anything they had. The old fireplace, if it was winter, was soon piled with logs up to the very throat, and shook its shadows around the room in defiance of the winds that roared without. If the traveler happened to have a paper a month old, their joy was at its height, and the younger members of the family ransacked its columns with the greatest delight.

This little band had, as it were, severed all connection between themselves and the past. True to their purpose, they went to work in their new home as if they were going to tear down the whole forest and pile it into boards. Amid wind and storm and suffering and privation, they helped to lay the foundation of Wisconsin's greatness. Morn's early dawn, and evening's gentle hush, bore witness to their industry ; and the happiness now enjoyed by the citizens of the city of Waupun is, in a degree, the product of their labor. They were firm to their pur- pose as flints, and the sparks struck from them are transfigured into images of beauty and romance. Their memory will ever be necessary to the loveliness of the city.

The family of Mr. Wilcox was relieved from the monotony of such complete isolation, in 1841. In that year, the settlement received an accession in the persons of C. Carrington, Mr. Town and others, who heroically entered upon the hardships of a pioneer life, in a section of country where everything was new. But to work they went, girdling the trees, fencing the land, raising log houses, and making the old "openings" echo with the din of their industry. From morn till night, they toiled in their new homes, and sent the breaking-plow, drawn by yokes of sturdy oxen, through the native sod. Then came the green grass, the corn and the wheat, some bearing sixty-fold and some an hundred-fold. There were no arbitrary lines drawn amongst them; no memorable fictions in the way of their progress; society, habit and custom hung no dead-weight on their ambitious minds. It was thus the first settlement began, in what is now the city of Waupun.

MEANING OF THE WORD WAUPUN.

The Indian word Waubun (meaning "the early day," or, perhaps, strictly speaking, " the early light or dawn"), which was intended to have been given to the town organized in 1842, in the western portion of Fond du Lac County, was, upon its first use by the early settlers, written incorrectly ; and its orthography was not fully settled until some years after, when " Waupun " came into general use. The town in Fond du Lac County being called " Waupun," the name was also given to the village, although the latter was located both in Fond du Lac and Dodge Counties ; and, of course, when the place grew into a city, and was incorporated, it was still called "Waupun," which name has the merit, at least, of being unlike any other in the United States. Although the place was first called Madrid, after the native place of Seymour Wilcox,

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yet, when the commission of the first Postmaster arrived, it was found that the name had been changed to Waupun ; this was done by James Duane Doty, who was then a delegate in Con- gress ; so that to Doty belongs the honor of the name.

FIRST EVENTS.

The first store in Waupun was opened by Thomas C. Snow, in John N. Ackerman's house, in Upper Town, in 1845. He kept a limited stock of dry goods, groceries, crockery and a few medicines.

The first Postmaster was Seymour Wilcox, commissioned in the winter of 1840 and 1841. The first sermon was by Rev. S. Smith, a Methodist, who then lived at Calumet, in the little schoolhouse erected near where the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway crosses Main street, in 1844. He had presided at informal prayer or class meetings, at the house of Seymour Wilcox, as early as 1840.

At the first election held at the house of Seymour Wilcox, in the spring of 1842, eleven votes were cast.

The first hotel was the log residence of Seymour Wilcox, who entertained travelers as soon as he moved into it, in 1839. The next hotel was J. N. Ackerman's, opened in 1845.

The first grist-mill was built by Forest & Smith in 1846, where Markle & Harris' stone mill now stands. The same firm built a saw-mill a few rods distant a year earlier.

The first newspaper was the Times, in 1857, by J. H. Brinkerhoff.

The first school was opened in 1844, by Charles Cleveland, in a small frame building situ- ated near where the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway crosses Washington or Main streets.

The first marriage in Waupun was that of William G. McElroy to Miss Lucinda Collis, in 1841, at Seymour Wilcox's house, by Mason C. Darling, of Fond du Lac. An enthusiastic pioneer, writing in 1857, thus describes the wedding :

" The wedding day came; the woods were a frozen poem written by invisible fingers. The earth was wrapt in its winding-sheet of snow, but in our little cabin the light flickered gro- tesquely from the fireplace on the unhewn rafters. There was no useless array among the bridal party, no satin dresses dotted with stars, no jewels spangled in the bosom of the bride, no bracelets encircled her arm, nor did any veil fall from the back of her head to hide the simple evergreen that shone in her hair. There were no dandified, white-gloved, scented, feline-look- ing, empty-headed scions of codfish aristocracy present; no fashionable birds with beautiful plumage and sickly looks ; no pale pets of the parlor who had vegetated in unhealthy shades until their complexions had assumed a greenish color like a potato in a dark cellar. The cere- mony throughout was characterized by Quaker-like simplicity. The building was humble. The ceremony over, I can see the white cloth placed on the table, and on it a plate or two of biscuits almost as white. Then I see a big gobbler, fattened for the occasion, and almost smell the sage with which the stuffing was sprinkled. Then came a bowl of pickled cabbage, a dish of baked beans, a plate of boiled beets fantastically decorated with cloves, and after that the crown- ing dish of all-a glorious jelly-cake, well seasoned with ginger and molasses plentifully spread between the layers for jelly.

X The day following the wedding the bridal party proposed a journey to Lake Emily, where the bride's parents resided, and which lay twelve miles distant through roadless woods and prairies. And what was their chariot ? a mag- nificent sled. By what was it drawn ? a magnificent yoke of oxen. With what was it enshrined ? a magnificent bundle of clean straw, and on this the beautiful bride and her attend- ant sat as dignified as did Cleopatra when surrounded with all that wealth could purchase."

The second marriage ceremony, performed October 11, 1842, although not performed in · Waupun, snatched from single blessedness one of its earliest settlers, John N. Ackerman. Mr. Ackerman, with two small Indian ponies, went. to Fond du Lac and secured the services of Alonzo Raymond, a Justice of the Peace, and the two proceeded by Indian trail to Oshkosh, where the bride, Miss Hannah A. Ford, was stopping. After the ceremony, the young couple

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mounted the ponies and made the journey to Waupun. The trail was exceedingly rough in many places, making it impossible for the riders to stick to their ponies unless they sat astride, which they occasionally did. Just imagine a modern belle making her bridal tour astride of a shaggy little Indian pony !

The first birth was that of a son, Ira, to Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Wilcox, April 17, 1841. The second was that of J. N. Ackerman's daughter, Marian A., in October, 1843.

The first death was that of a boy named Town, which occurred at his father's house. At Mr. Town's " barn-raising " a pail of whisky was set out for the men, and the boy, unnoticed, drank so freely of it that he soon after died.

The first frame building was a barn built by John N. Ackerman in 1843. The next two were Mr. Ackerman's residence and a building erected by Seymour Wilcox, where the Exchange Hotel stands.

The first railroad train reached Waupun February 15, 1856.

The first church building was erected by the Baptists in 1849.

GROWTH OF WAUPUN. 1

The first settlement in what is now the city of Waupun was made, as we have seen, in 1839, at which time Seymour Wilcox, perceiving that here was a water-power on the west branch of Rock River-then a stream of considerable size-combined with other natural advantages, determined to locate at this point, and, in that year, removed with his family from Green Bay and became the first settler and founder of what has since become a beautiful and flourishing young city. At the same time, Hiram Walker and John N. Ackerman, attracted by the reports brought to Green Bay by Mr. Wilcox, were induced to accompany him and settle at this place, where Mr. Ackerman still resides on the farm originally entered by him, having lived to see the silence of the prairie where he had chosen to build his home give place to a community of happy settlers, again changing to a thriving village, and, again touched by the wand of progress, trans- formed into a busy and ambitious little city, of which he had the honor of becoming the first Mayor.

In these early days, the location of but a few families in one locality was necessary to form a nucleus for others, and, in this case, but few years had passed before a small store was opened, a mill erected, and it became evident that a village must eventually grow up. To facilitate that result, Mr. Ackerman, in 1846, laid out into village lots, platted and recorded as the village of Waupun, about ten acres of land on the southeast corner of Section 31, in the town of Wau- pun, Fond du Lac County, since known as the " upper town." The year following, Mr. Wil- cox, whose farm lay about three-quarters of a mile to the eastward, unwilling to see the pros- pective village grow up without sharing in its benefits, proceeded, with others, to lay out and plat into village lots about fifty acres of land, lying across the county line, partly in Dodge and partly in Fond du Lac County, and called their village East Waupun. Then commenced a lively but friendly contest between the rival villages, to determine which should be the future city. This rivalry continued until the location of the Wisconsin State Prison, adjoining East Waupun, in 1851, and the completion, to this point, of the Milwaukee & Horicon, now the Northern Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, in the year 1856. These events practically settled the question, and the " upper town " reluctantly submitted to the inev- itable, and, in 1857, the rival villages were united, under the name of the village of Waupun, by a special charter, granted by the Legislature, and approved March 6, 1857. By this act, the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 4, the north half of Section 5, and the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 6, taken from the town of Chester, in Dodge County, and the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 31, the south half of Section 32, and the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 33, taken from the town of Waupun, in Fond du Lac County, was incorporated. The village lying thus in two counties, special provisions were required and granted in the charter, among which, jurisdiction in both Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties was conferred upon Justices of the Peace, and the Village Marshal was given authority to serve process in both counties.

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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY ..

The growth of the place had been so rapid, that at the first charter election in April, 1857, three hundred and twenty-three votes were cast, indicating a population of over sixteen hundred.

In 1858, and again in 1865, the charter was amended to provide more fully for laying out and opening new streets. In 1871, the original charter, with its amendments, was revised and consolidated by an act of the Legislature, approved March 21, 1871.

The steady growth of the place was such, that in 1878 it was considered advisable to incor- porate as a city, with a charter entirely re-written, adapted to the peculiar geographical situation of the place. A city charter was accordingly granted March 5, 1878, including within the city limits additional territory, the residents of which, having observed the economy and good judg- ment displayed in the management of the affairs of the village, desired the advantages to be derived ed from a city rather than a town government. This additional territory was taken partly from each county. The southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 4, and the north half of the south half of Section 5, a total of 200 acres taken from the town of Chester, and the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 23, from the town of Waupun.

The growth of Waupun has been steady and constant from the beginning. Very few com- mercial failures have intervened, to retard its general prosperity. Its business men have, as a. rule, been honorable and enterprising tradesmen. Its professional men and other citizens have generally been public spirited and liberal in everything tending to build up the place. The tone of its society and government was originally imparted, and has since been maintained, by the sound judgment and strict integrity of its earlier citizens, many of whom still remain promi- nent and influential in social and business affairs, among whom W. H. Taylor, who came in 1846, Dr. H. L. Butterfield, Eli Hooker, Edwin Hillyer and B. B. Baldwin, in 1847, John Bryce, M. K. Dahl and R. L. Graham, in 1849, and M. J. Althouse, about 1853, have done much in giving direction to the management of affairs, and making the city what it now is, while many other useful and valuable citizens, who were among the first to come, having per- formed their full share of the builders' work, have crossed the river to their homes upon the other shore.

The prudent and conservative policy pursued by its earlier citizens has produced its natural result. No municipal debt has ever been created, and while Waupun possesses superior railroad facilities-both the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Chicago & North-Western Railways competing for its trade-and has a thoroughly equipped fire department, and all necessary build- ings for a city of its size, it is entirely free from debt, and by the terms of its charter must ever remain so. Its numerous churches, schools, fine business establishments, elegant private resi- dences, and valuable public library of about 3,000 volumes, together with its general healthful- ness and the natural beauty ofits situation, are constantly attracting new- residents to aid in its further development. The name is in itself suggestive. The Indian word " Waubun". signi- fying " light," being changed but slightly, is emblematically represented by a device on the seal of the city, showing the sun just rising over a low range of hills, which may well be taken to represent the well-known "ledge" which lies a few miles to the eastward.

VILLAGE AND CITY OFFICERS, 1857-1879.

1857-J. Look, President; Ira Hill, Treasurer; Cromwell Laithe, Marshal; W. H. Tay- lor, Clerk; A. P. Phelps, Street Commissioner.

1858-L. P. Preston, President; T. B. Moore, Treasurer; Phelps Moore, Marshal ; Eli Hooker, Clerk; William Ware, Street Commissioner.

1859-T. Carpenter, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer; F. Hamilton, Marshal; Eli Hooker, Clerk; D. E. Dingman, Street Commissioner.

1860-J. N. Ackerman, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer; A. A. Greenman, Marshal ; W. H. Taylor, Clerk; D. E. Dingman, Street Commissioner.

1861-A. H. Rounseville, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; A. A. Greenman, Mar- shal; Eli Hooker, Clerk; George V. Ackerman, Street Commissioner.

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1862-George Wirt, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer; J. T. Bennett, Marshal ; W. H. Taylor, Clerk; D. E. Dingman, Street Commissioner.

1863-T. W. Markle, President; R. W. Wells. Treasurer ; A. J. Spear, Marshal; W. H. Taylor, Clerk ; A. A. Greenman, Street Commissioner.

1864-D. P. Norton, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer; A. J. Spear, Marshal; W. H. Taylor, Clerk; A. A. Greenman, Street Commissioner.

1865-John Ware, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer; A. B. Kimball, Marshal ; L. B. Hills, Clerk ; A. A. Greenman, Street Commissioner.

1866-George W. Bly, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer; A. B. Kimball, Marshal ; John Ware, Clerk ; F. W. Stewart, Street Commissioner.

1867-G. W. Stanton, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; Simon Heath, Marshal ; J. B. C. Drew, Clerk ; T. W. Markle, Street Commissioner.

1868-A. Robinson, President ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; Simon Heath, Marshal; W. H. Taylor, Clerk ; J. L. Sargent, Street Commissioner.

1869-Charles Jones, President ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; Simon Heath, Marshal ; W. H. Taylor, Clerk ; D. C. Brooks, Street Commissioner.

1870-George W. Bly, President ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; Simon Heath, Marshal ; W. H. Taylor, Clerk ; D. C. Brooks, Street Commissioner.

1871-D. P. Norton, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer; S. Heath, Marshal; W. H. Taylor, Clerk ; J. L. Sargent, Street Commissioner.

1872-J. N. Ackerman, President ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; S. Heath, Marshal ; C. W. Henning, Clerk ; D. C. Brooks, Street Commissioner.

1873-M. J. Althouse, President ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; S. Heath, Marshal; C. W. Henning, Clerk ; D. P. Norton, Street Commissioner.

1874-M. K. Dahl, President; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; Simon Heath, Marshal; C. W. Henning. Clerk ; A. G. Pierce, Street Commissioner.

1875-George W. Stanton, President ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; Simon Heath, Marshal ; C. W. Henning, Clerk ; D. C. Brooks, Street Commissioner.

1876-M. K. Dahl, President ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; S. Heath, Marshal; C. W. Henning, Clerk ; D. C. Brooks, Street Commissioner.

1877-George W. Stanton, President ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer; Simon Heath, Marshal ; W. H. Taylor, Clerk; Charles Graves, Street Commissioner.

1878-Under the city government-John N. Ackerman, Mayor ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; Simon Heath, Marshal ; S. J. Sumner, Clerk ; A. Colborn, Street Commissioner.

1879-George Jess, Mayor ; R. W. Wells, Treasurer ; Simon Heath, Marshal ; S. J. Sumner, Clerk ; Charles Graves, Street Commissioner.

A REMINISCENCE. [BY A PIONEER, 1878.]

- " It was in the summer of 1844 that I, for the first time, set my eyes on the broad prairies and pleasant openings of Waupun. Beautiful indeed was the panorama which greeted my sight. The landscape was then covered with a luxuriant growth of vegetation, the greater part of which was new and strange to me. Wild flowers of every shade and color that fancy could paint or imagination conceive were blooming on every hand, richly contrasted by the tall prairie grass, which in wild luxuriance was waving in the gentle breezes of that balmy summer after- noon. You may imagine, but can scarcely realize, with what rapture and delight I gazed on the lovely scene. Coming as I did from the bleak and rugged hills of the Empire State, it seemed to me more like a vision of fairy-land than it did a reality before me.

" The road on which I came from Watertown led past Oak Grove to Waupun. The scene as I came upon Rolling Prairie was beautiful indeed. Far away before me stretched the prairie, rolling in gentle undulations until the outlines were lost against the dark green forest. The prairie grass was broken into billows by the breeze and it looked like a sea of emerald.

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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

" No habitation was in sight ; but once or twice I caught a glimpse of a settler's cabin nestled far away on the borders of the prairie, or the blue smoke ascending heavenward marked the home of the pioneer. As I entered the openings on the Waupun road, no sound disturbed the scene, save now and then the whir of the prairie-hen as she arose into the air, or the shrill whistle of the plover, or the more harsh notes of the sand-hill crane might be heard in the distance. The first house I passed was on the farm now owned by Mr. Cole, then owned by a man by the name of Mickle. I called at the door for a drink of water and to inquire the distance to Wau- pun. He sat playing on his flute, reminding one of the Arkansas traveler. I was told it was five miles to Waupun.

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The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 74

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