The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc., Part 62

Author: Wesern historical company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 899

USA > Wisconsin > Rock County > The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc. > Part 62

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 soil of Rock County is alluvial loam and sand loam. The alluvial is very limited, being only found in dried-up marshes, which are, no doubt, the beds of vanished lakes. The soil of the open prairie is rich loam, with occasional sections of sand loam, especially in the southeast and northwestern portions of the county. The soil is everywhere very deep and pro- ductive, yielding abundantly of every farm product intrusted to its keeping.

In the year 1845, it was reported that 700,000 bushels of wheat were raised-the land yielding, on an average, 30 bushels of wheat, 20 bushels of corn, 50 bushels of oats, or 200 bushels of potatoes per acre. The crops, in the early history of the county, were abundant, but, unfortunately, not remunerative. The years 1855 and 1856, were very gloomy ones in the agricultural history of the county. Most of the farmers came to the West to raise wheat- very little attention being paid to other crops. This was the great staple on which they relied. Debts were contracted for improving their farms, relying upon the wheat crops to pay. But there soon came a succession of partial failures of the wheat crop throughout the county that, added to the extreme low prices of produce of all kinds, well-nigh produced the most disastrous consequence.

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

The wheat crop of 1845 had been profitable and as sure as any other, but that year ced the blight-the grain rotting while standing in the field. Wheat during some of those rs was sold as low as 20 cents in Janesville, or carted to Milwaukee through the mud, and sold

37} cents. The price of corn was from 12 to 15 cents; oats, so low as to hardly y tbe expense of threshing. J. M. Burgess, in his report as Secretary of the Rock ounty Agricultural Society for 1851, gave as a reason for the poor success of farmers : First, they have attempted to cultivate too much land, with very limited means; second, they ave been deluded with the notion that wheat could be successfully grown for an indefinite period of time, and that manuring, rotating crops and seeding with timothy, clover and other grasses were entirely unnecessary.

This state of things, however, is incident to the settlement of all new countries. A better system of husbandry succeeded, and with the improvements designed for the benefit of cultiva- tors of the soil, in the way of agricultural implements and the opening of communication to the lakes by railroads, a more remunerative price was obtained. At the present time, no better farms or more intelligent farmers can be found in Wisconsin.

While wheat is the great staple of production, corn, barley, oats and all coarse grains grow in rich abundance, amply rewarding the husbandman for his toil ; and, while the county is better adapted to grain-growing than stock-raising, farmers are giving much attention to the . breeding of stock, and the exhibitions of blooded stock at the county fairs compare favorably with those of other sections of the State.

Rock County is one of the principal dairy regions of the State. In the Dairymen's Associ- ation meeting, in 1877, it ranked fourth in the State in this industry. The dairy statistics of the county for the year ending September 31, 1878, showed the product of the cheese factories to be 694,346 pounds. The making of butter is also carried on largely; a considerable quantity is shipped to Eastern markets.

Another important industry that has grown up within a few years past is the culture of tobacco, which promises to be of profit to those who pursue it. From reports made by the Town Assessors of the products of the county for the year 1879, it appears that 3,476} acres were devoted to tobacco culture, and in the year 1878, from the Assessor's reports, 2,269. 188 pounds were raised in the county.

The statistics of the various products of the soil for 1879 will be found in the accompany- ing table :

TOWNS.

Wheat.

Corn.

Oats. Barley. Rye.

Pota- tors.

Bear'g

Roots. Apples. Trees.

Flax.

Hops.

To- bacco.

Grasses Timber Cows. Value_

Avon ..

557

3321

1867

3944

2514

338

1462

11%

991.4

2.20

7392

304

1 6940

215

4660

4572

122

4865

1832

146

7501

177

4038

4493

292

138

5382

183

6251

221

6529

4625

Porter.

910

Rock ..

13544

Spring Valley.

1.3158

Turtle.

183200

Union ..

417

4574

3464

198

103

169

217

8460

250

311,

1432

1143%

3511;

417

8435

24508

73149

51920

23:306

778416 2520

7316 35551 118272

345

: 34761 58013

58331

.14560

284165)

3281

1012

2626

446

413

7092

Brauford

2789

3125

1816

4434

141

327

1908

1233

267

3341.

973:

10816

3249

246

775

1666

3855

101

335

154

180

159

671% 72

1138

155

132 5-6

2.45

120

139

4486

929

2323

2566

1479

3815

2910

3251

1218

21437

Beloit City.

46913

405

118

139

Janesville City

707

323

120

1926

4704

Plymouth

61914. 3312

4750

1344

4962

1017

3425

2634

810

3720

2632

1086

701

126

258

10870

137

4589

1563/

5362

:229

402

17%

38x

743

1331

2073

2360

558

2488

704

1937

616

Magnolia

259

Milton

1289

Newark

63:2

2421

LaPrairie ...

2913

391:

26(10)

4151

4106

1001

1512

: 1224

690

147

1918

3748

553

9:20

3700

3230

636

10220

555

11676

Lima ...

1534

2452

1558

881

235

1090

1949

315112

10016

1/2

3972

291

3187

3232

Clinton.

1451

Fulton

1060

Harmony.

2198

3190

3277

2896

560

11200

4582

343

10015

Janesville

957

3427

Johnstown

2371

3863

1751

4383

3156

2563

Center

49614 476714 441714

485414: 1:33

2663'

2868

4995

594

| 1331

974

1189

4132

2015

844

1×008

783

1:2231

16558

2974

2192

2574

22957

220

120

163

20%

204

13716

11075

....

~~ of the principal crops-wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye and tobacco-since * is as follows : ·07 1 1878.

.192,340

Beloft.

795

1516

2075

4134

113

756

7:37

268

1315

142

31.5

47637

3260

3246

11933

19120

756

13189

13010

3962

6223

249

17635

282

925

411

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

A law was enacted in 1878, requiring Assessors to carefully collect information regarding the quantity of grain, roots and fruit raised in their respective towns in the year previous to the time of gathering the statistics. Last year the first official gathering under the law of 1878 was made, and the result was satisfactory. We now give comparative figures concerning the crops of 1877 and 1878 :

1878

Wheat, bushels

179,462

311,889

Corn,

1,950,976

2,231,066

Oats,

1,919,810

1,751,849

Barley, "

898,446

378,578

Rye,

193,982

157,591

Potatoes, "

179,324

122,349

Root crops, bushels

40,076

21 438

Apples, bushels

7,310

49,146

In addition to these crops, the Assessors returned the following for 1877 and 1878:

1877.

1878.

Flax, pounds.

1,854

Hops.

8,425

1,628

Tobacco, "

2,269,188

2,286,141

Butter,

1,268,085

1,197,200

Cheese, “

482,031

1,023,028

HORTICULTURE AND THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

In matters pertaining to horticulture, the inhabitants of Rock County are not behind those of other counties of this State. Considerable progress has been made in the past few years in these pursuits, and an improved taste is being manifested by the people generally in beautifying and adorning their homesteads, by the liberal planting of fruit and ornamental trees, vines and shrubs. Time and experience have demonstrated, that, with care and attention, certain varieties of apples, as well as pears and plums, can be successfully and profitably grown. The time has arrived when many of the " country seats" take pride and pleasure in fine grounds and tasteful gardens; and in the cities, nearly every house has its garden-spot, tastefully arranged with choice flowers. vines and evergreens, and kept in the neatest order. In addition to the flower garden, many have conservatories stocked with choice winter-flowering plants, while others, with less conveniences, keep them in the parlor, and the effect is a wide diffusion of a taste for flowers, and a corresponding taste and order throughout the whole household, making home more pleasant and attractive.

The Rock County Horticultural Society was organized at a meeting on September 24, 1866, by the following gentlemen, who were also the first charter members : F. S. Lawrence, J. D. Rexford, S. G. Williams, E. L. Dimock, H. N. Comstock, A. Hoskins, I. C. Sloan, L. F. Patten, J. B. Whiting, A. M. Thompson, Levi Alden, S. A. Hudson, O. P. Robinson, S. W. Smith, A. D. Wickham, J. M. Burgess, M. B. Johnson, Hiram Bowen, J. J. R. Pease, George J. Kellogg, S. J. M. Putnam, J. W. Allen, H. Richardson, William Payne, D. E. Fifield, G. H. Williston, Anson Rogers and B. Spence. The first officers were : President, Hon. I. C. Sloan ; Vice President, S. G. Williams; Secretary, F. S. Lawrence ; Treasurer, S. W. Smith. The present officers are: President, F. S. Lawrence ; Vice President, George J. Kellogg ; Secretary, E. B. Hiemsheet ; Treasurer, D. E. Fifield. The present membership is forty-two, and the entrance fee is $5, so that they are fairly flourishing.

ROCK COUNTY POOR FARM.

On the 22d day of March, 1854, the Board of Supervisors of Rock County purchased of Wright Newhall and E. G. Newhall, for the county, the property now known as the Rock County Poor Farm, situated in the town of Johnstown, on Sections No. 22 and 27, and con- taining at present 199 acres of land, about 124 acres of which are under cultivation, and the balance is in growing timber, chiefly second-growth oak.

1877.

412

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

At the time of the purchase, the county paid the sum of $5,000 for the farm as follows, by issuing five bonds $1,000 each, with interest at 10 per cent per annum, one of the bonds payable annually thereafter until all were paid.

The buildings on the farm at the time of its purchase by the county consisted of a house and barn built by Luke Belden for the purpose of keeping hotel. The house consisted of a large main building, three stories in front, with an extensive wing, and answered the purpose for which it was bought for several years, with but little expense to the county for repairs. The building being large and built for hotel accommodations, there was ample room for the paupers of the county. The barn also being large answered the purpose of the farm with but little expense for repairs until 1878, when the county built a barn at an expense of about $1,000.

In 1854, at the time of purchase of this farm, the distinction between town and county poor was in force, and the cost of caring for the town poor at the County House was charged to the towns of which the paupers were resident, and the county poor at the expense of the county at large. This system of supporting the poor continued until 1856.

Previous to the purchase of this property in 1854, by the county, the poor were cared for by the towns in which they were residents, and the non-resident poor were also cared for by the towns in which they were, and the cost charged to the county, the claims being audited by the County Board.

But, on the 9th day of January, 1856, the Board of Supervisors, by resolution, abolished the distinction between town and county poor, and, since that time, all paupers and needy poor have been cared for as a county charge.

The Board of Supervisors elect three Superintendents of the Poor who hold their office three years, subject to the County Board, who have charge of assisting the poor and also of the Poor House and Farm, one of the Superintendents being also Overseer of the Poor Farm and living in the Poor House, having full management thereof, subject to the County Board. There have been but two Overseers of the Poor Farm since its purchase by the county-Allan Holmes and W. A. Pickett.

The Overseer of the Poor Farm was paid for his services as agreed upon by the Superin- tendents of the Poor, until the Supervisors fixed his salary, on November 21, 1862. The Overseer living in the Poor House is furnished by the county with house and table expenses for himself and family, and his annual salary is fixed by the Board of Supervisors.

W. A. Pickett, the present Overseer, has filled the office of Superintendent and been Over- seer of the Poor Farm since 1862. The following named gentlemen have held the office of Superintendent of the Poor in the order named : George H. Williston, Alfred Hoskins, John Minton, E. A. Howland, S. S. Blackman, S. G. Colley, Allan Holmes, Charles H. Parker. Volney Atwood. A. W. Root, Charles Peck, F. P. King, H. A. Northrop, W. A. Pickett and C. F. North. The present Superintendents are Volney Atwood, W. A. Pickett and C. F. North.

The principal cost for repairs at the Poor Farm can best be ascertained by the following : The Board of Supervisors appropriated for repairs in 1860, $600; in 1866. $1,500, and, in 1867, $500. In 1875, there was an addition erected to the main building (the wing having been previously removed) at a cost to the county of $3.765, and the building has since been painted at an expense of about $150.

In 1871, the county erected a building known as the County Asylum for the care of the incurable insane, near the Poor House, but being a separate building, at a cost of $1,578.28, the contract price, which is also under the immediate charge of the Overseer at the Poor Farm.

But as the number of the incurable insane were on the increase, the building was insuffi- cient to meet the demands of the county, and, in 1876, an addition was built to the main build- ing at a cost to the county of $1,244. The building is now very convenient and safe, and there were thirteen occupants on the 31st day of December, 1878. The general appropriation by the county to the poor fund was, in 1855, $2,000; in 1856, $2,500; in 1857, $2,500; in 1858.

413

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

$4,000; in 1859, 85,000; in 1860, 84,000; in 1861, 84,500; in 1862, 84.600; in 1863, $5,600; in 1864, $6,000; in 1865, $7,000 ; in 1866, $6,000; in 1867, $6,000; in 1868, $9,000; in 1869, $10,000; in 1870, $8,000 ; in 1871, 1872, 1873, $9,000 each year ; in 1874 and 1875, $8,000 each, and in 1876, 1877, 1878 and 1879, 89,000 each year. A little more than one-half of these sums have been expended on an average at the Poor House, and the remainder for the relief of indigent persons in the county.

The number of paupers supported at the Poor House vary in number from year to year, and at different seasons of the year ; for instance, on the 1st day of March, 1856. there were in the Poor House eighteen, and on November 15, 1859, there were sixty-three: on November 16, 1860, there were twenty-four ; November 13, 1862, twenty-seven ; and again in 1874 (December 31), there were sixty-eight ; December 31, 1875, sixty-four; December 31, 1876, seventy ; Decem- ber 31, 1877, fifty-three. In the cost per week, per capita, for their support there is but little variation. For instance, in 1875, the cost, per capita, was about $1.73 per week : in 1876, =$1.62; in 1877, $1.90, and, in 1878, 81.76. The salaries of the Superintendents of the Poor zare not included in the above appropriations, nor considered in computing the cost per capita for the support of the paupers.

A MEMORABLE TRAGEDY.

" Blood hath strange organs to discourse withal ; It is a clamorous orator, and then Even Nature will exceed herself, to mark A crime so thwarting nature."

The pages of the criminal record of Janesville are remarkably free from blood-stain. Man- slaughter is a thing of rare occurrence, while revolting assassinations are matters of a quarter of a century ago. A terrible double tragedy occurred in 1855, without an allusion to which the " History of Rock County," would be incomplete. The tragedy was that of the murder of Andrew Alger by David F. Mayberry, and the subsequent lynching of the assassin by a mob of infuriated lumbermen. Mayberry was a Mormon desperado who belonged to the tribe of Joseph Smith, whose headquarters were at Nauvoo, Ill. He had served eight years in the State Prison at Alton for the crime of horse-stealing. At the expiration of his sentence, May- berry openly asserted that some one would have to recompense him for the time he had lost in prison, meaning that he would be avenged, and make that vengeance profitable. From Alton, he went to Rockford, where he was engaged for a few weeks in a cooper-shop. He had an acquaintance with the family of John G. McComb, a farmer living near Rockford, and paid them frequent visits. On the 14th of June, 1855, Mayberry left McComb's house, saying he was going to Janesville. While passing through Beloit, he met and made the acquaintance of Andrew Alger, a man fifty years of age, who was engaged in the lumber business. Alger had but recently arrived in Beloit from the lumber regions on Rock River, about 20 miles north of Janesville, where he had employed a large number of men cutting and rafting logs. He had sold a raft of logs in Beloit to S. W. Peck, receiving in pay therefor a horse and buggy, a watch and a check on the bank for $558. It is evident that Mayberry became aware of the fact that Alger was the possessor of a considerable amount of money, and that he also learned it was Alger's intention to leave for the lumber region within a few days, for the purpose of paying off his men. At any rate, he preceded Alger out of Beloit on foot, and, coming to Janesville, awaited the arrival of his intended victim.

On Saturday afternoon, June 16, Alger drove into Janesville with the horse and buggy he had received from Mr. Peck in part payment for his logs, and, after resting for an hour or so, proceeded on his way, taking the road toward Milton. In the mean time, Mayberry had pur- chased some few articles of clothing from various dealers in town, and also a hatchet of Pixley & Kimball. He left town a short time before Alger did, also by way of the Milton road. Of what transpired afterward there is no other evidence than that of Mayberry himself, as related by John G. McComb, to whom the assassin detailed the circuinstances of the murder following the day of its occurrence. The substance of McComb's testimony during the trial is about as

414

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

follows : On Sunday, June 17, Mayberry arrived at McComb's place driving a horse and buggy, and having on several articles of new clothing. He also exhibited various sums of money, including five $20 gold pieces. He told McComb that he had killed and robbed " a pinery bug" the day before, between Janesville and Milton. He related how he had awaited Alger's arrival in Janesville; told of purchasing a hatchet ; how he had preceded Alger out of town and loitered along the road waiting for him to come up; and how, when he was overtaken, the unsuspecting victim asked him to ride. It seems that Alger did not recognize Mayberry as the man whose acquaintance he had made in Beloit, but supposed him to be an entire stranger. After proceeding a short distance, and soon after leaving the prairie and entering the grove on the Spaulding farm, Mayberry, who was in his shirt-sleeves, having his coat on his arm, made an excuse to step back of the buggy seat where he could have room to put his coat on. It was then that he dealt the first murderous blow with the hatchet, striking Alger over the right tem- ple with the pole of the weapon. Mayberry then stopped the horse and kicked the prostrate man from the buggy. Dismounting himself, he took his bleeding victim by the heels and dragged him from the roadside to a thicket of shrubs and grass, where he stripped him of his clothing, and, taking from the pocket of Alger's pantaloons a large dirk knife, cut his throat from ear to ear, and then stabbed him in the back and sides, after which he returned to the buggy with Alger's clothing and money, placed them beneath the seat of the vehicle, got in, and taking the reins, still warm from the hands of his victim, drove back through Janesville on his way to McComb's.

The witness (McComb) stated that while Mayberry was absent from the house for a few moments, and during the interrupted recital of this tale of blood, he (the witness) dispatched a neighbor to Rockford for Sheriff John F. Taylor, and when Mayberry returned he entertained him the best he knew how without arousing his suspicions until between 11 and 12 o'clock, when, greatly to the assassin's surprise, Sheriff Taylor, State's Attorney William Brown and several others from Rockford, stepped into the room. Mayberry was ironed at once, and taken to Rockford the next morning and confined in jail.

Mr. McComb, Mr. Brown, and a Mr. Miller came to Janesville the next day, and informing Sheriff Hoskins of what had occurred, repaired to the spot described by May- berry as the scene of the murder, and, after half an hour's search, the body was found. Mr. . Spaulding, at the request of Sheriff Hoskins, brought the remains into town, where an inquest was held, resulting in Mayberry's commitment on a charge of murder. A requisition was procured, and the prisoner transferred to the Rock County Jail. The grand jury had but just convened, and the case was laid before that body at once, with instructions to give it immediate consideration.

As the detailed facts of the horrible deed became known, popular feeling against Mayberry rose to the very highest pitch. The excitement spread throughout the Rock River Valley, and, when the news reached the lumber regions, where Mr. Alger was well and favorably known, work was entirely suspended, and, as if by previous understanding, preparations were made by several hundred of the hardiest and most stalwart " loggers " on the river, including the rough element, to attend the trial. Mayberry was indicted by the grand jury, and on Tuesday, July 10, he was brought before James R. Doolittle, Judge of the Rock County Circuit Court, for trial. The jury impaneled on that occasion were as follows: Levi St. John, Uriah Schutt, George Patchin, Ira Fish, S. C. Randall, Daniel O. Rayner, John Alexander, George H. Stafford, C. M. Messer, George Sherman, F. A. Humphrey and Samuel Cadwallader.

As the trial progressed, the number of strangers arriving in town became noticeably larger, until Wednesday morning, June 11, when the public square in the vicinity of the jail and Court House fairly swarmed with people, most of them being lumbermen, whose wages had depended upon the money for which Mr. Alger was murdered. As Mayberry was led from the jail on the way to trial, a slight demonstration was made toward him, but the assault, which was greatly lacking in vigor, was repelled by the officers, a large force of extra police having been appointed for the occasion.

John Winaus -

JANESVILLE

417

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

The evidence was concluded during the day, and the case given to the jury at 6 o'clock, P. M., after the following very able

CHARGE OF THE JUDGE.

GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY : The prisoner at the bar stands charged with the highest crime known to our laws- with the deliberate murder of Andrew Alger, from a premeditated design, or, in the language of the common law, " with malice aforethought ;" and, if the defendant is guilty, as charged, and as the evidence in the case tends to show, justice compels me to say that he is guilty of murder in the first degree, committed under circumstances of buch cold-blooded atrocity that we can hardly find a parallel in the history of crime. But, gentlemen, however atro- cious the deed by which this county has been shocked and electrified, and however desirous every good citizen may be to bring the real offender to justice, yet, courts and juries should not for a moment lose sight of the rules of law which are established to govern the administration of criminal law, and which are the safeguards of the rights and liberties of every individual. It will be borne in mind that the accused, when put upon trial, charged with any offense, is presumed to be innocent, until proved to be guilty. The burden of the proof is upon the prosecution, and the State must convince you, beyond any reasonable doubt, of the defendant's guilt before you are authorized to convict. You are to start with the presumption of innocence, and step by step, and inch by inch, the public prose- cutor must lead your minds by the force of the testimony given by him, until every other supposition or reasonable hypothesis is excluded, except the hypothesis of the defendant's guilt.

To establish the guilt of the prisoner, three things are necessary : 1. To show that a murder has been com- mitted by somebody. The corpus deiicti, or body of the crime, must be clearly established, and by a weight of testimony which is, in a moral sense, irresistible-that is to say, it must be shown to a moral certainty. To establish that fact, the prosecution rely upon the situation of the body at the time when found, with the throat cut from ear to ear, with the skull broken through to the brain, with a mortal wound in the side, another in the back-wounds which, it is insisted, could by no possibility have been inflicted by his own hands, or any other than a human hand. The testimony of the medical witnesses is relied upon to show that, from the coagulated blood found about the wounds in the back, those wounds must have been received before the arteries of the neck were severed, and that, therefore, those wounds were the cause of death, and not wounds wantonly made by some person after he came to his death. Upon these facts the prosecution insist that, beyond all possibility of doubt, a murder has been committed by some human being upon the person of another.

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The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc., Part 62

Author: Wesern historical company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 899

Author: Wesern historical company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 899