The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc., Part 75

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

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Graded Schools .- The county being divided into two superintendent districts, the grade Jed schools of each district may be considered separately. In the First District, there are but two graded schools proper, aside from the Janesville city schools. One of these is located at Evans ville, and has a High School Department, which is organized under the free high school lat and is known as the Evansville High School. There are four departments, and five teache employed in the entire school. The school was established as a graded school in the year 1865. and continued in prosperity and healthy growth until 1877, when it was organized under the free high school law. The graded school at Edgerton is now a school of four departments. There is a school of two departments at Fulton Village, and another at Footville, neither of

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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

which has adopted any system of grading. The following are the graded schools in the Second District, arranged in the order of size: Clinton Junction, four departments, 1863; Milton Junction, two departments, graded, 1870; Shopiere, two departments, 1858; Milton (at first with three, 1876), two departments, 1868; Johnstown Center, two departments, 1870; Johns- town, two departments, 1858; Emerald Grove, two departments, 1866; Lima Center, two departments, 1871.

The Clinton Junction School registers about 175; Milton Junction, 143; Shopiere, 104; Milton, 118; Johnstown Center, 70; Johnstown. 53; Emerald Grove, 53; Lima Center, 49.

At Clinton, Shopiere, Milton and Emerald Grove, teachers have been employed for a term of years; others are making advancement in that respect.

Supervisors .- While the public schools were under the town superintendency, several gentlemen rendered excellent service in that capacity, among whom was Hon. Edward Searing, late State Superintendent.

The county superintendency went into operation January 1, 1862. . The first Superin- tendent elected for Rock County was the Rev. J. I. Foote, of Footeville. He was an energetic and efficient worker in the cause of common schools. Before the second election, the county wisely availed itself of the privilege granted by law to all counties having more than 15,000 inhabitants, of dividing the county into two districts and electing two Superintendents, and selecting H. A. Richards for the First District, embracing the western portion of the county, and A. Whitford for the Second District. The successors of Mr. Richards, in the First Dis- trict, were J. I. Foote, two terms (four years); J. W. Harris, two terms; E. A. Burdick, two terms, and J. W. West, now (1879) serving on the last year of a second term. In the Second or East District, the successors of Superintendent Whitford have been C. M. Treat, four terms, and J. B. Tracy, now closing his third term. It will thus be seen that it has been the policy not to change the incumbent often, which has contributed much to the usefulness of the office.

The whole number of school districts in the county is about 170; of teachers required (not including Beloit and Janesville), 185; number employed in course of the year, 325. The yearly expenditure is about $55,000. Of this amount, only about $2,500 comes from the income of the school fund, distributed by the State Superintendent.

Of Free High Schools, there is but one outside of the cities of Beloit and Janesville. This is at Evansville, and takes the place, in some measure, of the Evansville Seminary, for- merly in operation, as has been shown, in that flourishing village.

ROCK COUNTY PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION.

The organization of this society was effected on June 4, 1879, at Janesville, by Messrs. F. Prentice, F. L. Woodward, A. J. Roberts, C. R. Palmer, W. P. Clarke, W. M. Eldredge, E. B. Humsheet and H. C. Stearns, who were also the first charter members. They were speedily joined by a number of others, from Illinois, and other members of the profession, who, com- bined, swelled the membership up to about fifty members. The officers are: President, Dr. Smith, of Evansville ; Vice Presidents, F. S. Fenton, Beloit, Andrew Palmer, Janesville, Dr. H. W. Stillman, Edgerton ; Permanent Secretary, E. B. Humsheet, Janesville; Local Secre- tary, O. L. Woodward, Clinton Junction ; Treasurer, D. C. Griswold, Evansville.

The objects of the society are very praiseworthy, and are as follows: To unite reputable pharmacists who practice in the county, for mutual aid, encouragement and improvement ; to encourage scientific research ; to develop pharmaceutical talent ; to elevate the standard of pro- fessional thought, and ultimately to restrict the practice of pharmacy to properly qualified drug- gists and apothecaries.

As the association is the first of its kind in the State, the members are properly cheered by their success, and hope soon to increase their membership to two hundred or more.

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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

SOUTHERN WISCONSIN AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION.

The Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois Industrial Association was organized Octo- ber 25, 1873, at Beloit, with the following officers : J. N. Chamberlain, President ; Henry F. Hobart, Secretary, and S. C. Moody, Treasurer. The first fair was held on the 15th, 16th and and 17th days of September, 1874. The report of the Treasurer, made in October, showed that there was received from various sources the sum of $2,688.40, with disbursements to the amount of $2,645.39.

In 1875, the following were the officers : R. J. Burge, President ; M. S. Hinman, Secre- tary, and S. C. Moody, Treasurer. The fair was held the 14th to 16th of September, the receipts being $2,270.91, and disbursements, $2,010.13.

The officers elected for 1876 were : H. P. Strong, President; M. S. Hinman, Secretary. and George A. Houston, Treasurer. The fair was held September 18th to 20th, the amount of receipts being $3,102.66, and disbursements, $2,928.16, of which amount, $988.75 was paid in premiums.

In 1877, the fair was held September 3d to 6th. The officers for this year were : R. M. Benson, President ; M. S. Hinman, Secretary, and G. A. Hanston, Treasurer. Receipts, $2,584.00 ; premiums, $1,446.25; other expenses, $37.75.

The fair of 1878 was held September 2d to 6th. The officers were : H. Pentland, Presi- dent; H. L. Skavlen and J. D. Northrop, Vice Presidents; B. A. Chapman, Secretary, and T. B. Bailey, Treasurer. The receipts of the fair were $2,536.72, and expenses, $2,382.45; balance on hand, $154.27.

The fair of 1879, held September 2d to 5th inclusive, was a success, the receipts being about $2,500. The officers were : H. Pentland, President; H. F. Skavlen, First Vice Presi- dent; J. D. Northrop, Second Vice President : B. A. Chapman, Secretary ; T. B. Bailey, Treasurer ; E. N. Clark, Saber Gesley and S. K. Blodgett, Directors.

The grounds of the Association contain about fifty acres, located one mile north of the city. They are leased by the society, and are under their control only during the four or more days they actually occupy them. The buildings upon the grounds are good, and there is an excellent track. It is due, however, to the society to state that, were it not for the very uncertain tenure of the lease, they would erect more substantial and consequently handsomer buildings than those now in use.

The society now numbers about one hundred and fifty members, all of whom are deeply interested in the object for which the Association was formed, viz., the promotion of agriculture and the raising of fine stock.

THE MACK MURDER.

At an early hour on the morning of Sunday, July 14, 1878, Joseph Watsic, a farm hand in the employ of George Mack, a farmer in comfortable circumstances, residing near Shopiere in Rock County, was aroused from his slumbers by " Frank " Dickerson, his room-mate, and directed to go out to the barn and feed the stock. In accordance with such directions, he went to the barn, and as he opened the door, a spectacle greeted his gaze which caused him to shriek out with terror and beat a hasty retreat to the house, with the announcement that " Mr. Mack was dead and laid in the barn." The sight which greeted his affrighted vision was the body of his master prone on the stable-floor beneath the horses' feet, stiff and stark and still in death. The body lay lengthwise in the stall, the head toward the doorway, and presented an appear- ance so ghastly as to almost paralyze with fear the unwilling witness of one of the most terrible domestic tragedies the annals of crime record.

What, in the light of subsequent developments, proved to be a cold-blooded murder took place on the farm of the murdered man, about eleven miles from Janesville in Turtle Township. The place is pleasantly situated on the north bank of Turtle Creek, overlooking which is an unpretentious two-story frame, known as the "Mack Homestead " time out of mind, while

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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

about twenty rods to the rear and left of the house, stands a large barn wherein the body was found.

George Mack, the alleged victim of his wife's hatred and malice, was, as stated, a farmer in comfortable circumstances, respected by his neighbors, esteemed by the public, and without an enemy in the world (outside his own household), who would contribute to the " deep damnation of his taking-off." The family consisted of the deceased-his wife, three children, and two men, "Frank " Dickerson and Joseph Watsic, who were assisting on the farm.

Belinda Whitney Mack, the chief actor in this tragedy from real life, as charged in the indictment, was born at Honeoye Falls, N. Y., upward of thirty-five years ago. When quite young. she accompanied Ambrose Gates (her father) West, and settled at Beloit. She remained here with her family. attending and teaching school until she was twenty-two years of age, meanwhile receiving the addresses of George Mack, to whom she was married by the Rev. E. J. Goodspeed, on the 22d of October, 1863, at the Hyatt House, in Janesville, and who, from that date to the time of his tragic death, if reports current in that behalf are founded on fact, led a checkered experience under her direction. She is represented as a dignified, agreeable woman, whom the finger of Time and affliction had touched lightly, with prominent features, dark eyes and hair (the latter parted on the side), and in make-up, manners and conversation, indicating the possession of faculties, character and nerve, rarely to be found without the pages of romance; she appeared to the casual observer as a woman of power and will in a marked degree, yet, one susceptible to the influence of circumstances ; a woman of intellectual vigor. yet without the intellectual polish which fascinates and accomplishes where force often fails. On the trial, when testifying in her own behalf, it is said, she maintained a wonderful composure, and that a portion of her evidence, though confirmed by her daughter Etta, was denied specifically on the examination of her alleged accomplice and other witnesses.

Orrin, alias " Frank " Dickerson, indicted as an accessory. is of German parentage, born in McHenry County, Ill., and, though at the time of his arrest but twenty-three years old, was large for his age, and had acquired a reputation for "crookedness " and cunning that was general. In appearance. he is described as below medium height, florid complexion, red hair, short neck., of stocky build, and neither as a man of parts nor intelligence possesses one claim to the consideration of the opposite sex. How he could have been recognized by Belinda Mack in any other light than as a repulsive dependant was a mystery that has thus far escaped solution by the public. When arrested, and. as thought, in immediate danger of lynching, he admitted the murder but sought to palliate his crime. as did Adam in the garden, with the plea that the woman tempted him and he fell.

Thus was the tragedy, which startled the public on a Sabbath morning in July, 1878, cast ; these were the characters upon whose exit from the stage of active life, from mingling with the delights of home, and the pleasures which render an existence here. at best, only endurable, has the curtain been rung down forever.

When Joe Watsic returned and notified the occupants of the " Mack Homestead " of the husband and father's death, Dickerson made his way to the barn to "ascertain the truth of the report," and "Bin " Mack, with the exclamation, " My God, it ain't so. is it?" hurriedly dressed herself, and, descending the stairway, saw through the gray light of the morning the mangled body of her murdered husband being borne to the house, to await the offices of the cor- oner and undertaker.

Residents in the vicinity were notified of the fate of their neighbor, and visited the scene of the tragedy to, if possible, solve the seeming mystery which shrouded the occurrence. Watsic detailed the facts of his finding the body, and Dickerson proceeded to Beloit, where be published to the widow's relatives . that George Mack had been killed by "old Jen," one of the animals used on the farm.

While this story at first blush seemed to be supported by the appearance of the body, subsequent investigation, together with the knowledge of domestic infelicities said to have existed in decedent's family, and the alleged cause therefor, induced the conclusion that death had resulted from foul play.

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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

A careful examination of the remains disclosed wounds which experts asserted could not have been received from the kicks or trampling of " Old Jen." His chest was badly stove-in; his face scratched and pounded to a jelly ; there was an ugly gash upon the top of his head, as though made with a sharp instrument, and one shoulder and three ribs were badly fractured. There was a "hog wallow " opposite the stable that gave evidence of a struggle having taken place in it, and Mack's hands, together with his clothing, were smeared with mud, corresponding in appearance to that in the "hog wallow." In addition to these extrinsic evidences of the presence of an assassin's hand, it was common rumor that the life of deceased had been embit- tered by jealousy, occasioned by Mrs. Mack's familiarity with Dickerson. This jealousy pro- voked trouble between the latter and Mack, which resulted in Dickerson's discharge from service some time during the May previous. Soon after, Mack fell sick, and Mrs. Mack recalled Dick- erson and put him to work. To this the murdered man objected, but his opposition was smoothed over by his wife, and the prime cause of the trouble remained on the place until he was arrested on a charge of murder.

The inquest was held Sunday morning, July 14, as soon after the discovery of the crime as arrangements could be completed, Justice E. P. King, of Beloit, conducting the examination, the jury consisting of William Taylor, Lewis Shoemaker, E. J. Carpenter, George A. Houston, William Burton and S. Scrivens. Mrs. Mack stated that she slept up stairs with the children on the night of the homicide, her husband remaining down stairs; that she saw him previous to retiring, and from that time until found by Watsic in the morning, she knew nothing of his whereabouts. The testimony of Watsic was simply as to the finding of the body. The evidence adduced afforded a reasonable presumption to the minds of the jury that while decedent had come to his death from blows inflicted by some person or persons unknown, the arrest of Dicker- son would be fully justified. He was accordingly apprehended by officer Robinson, and taken to Beloit for safe-keeping. When arrested, Dickerson observed to Mrs. Mack : " My God, they have arrested me for killing George." " Well, you didn't do it, did you, Frank ?" she replied. "God knows I didn't," he responded, which was the last communication that passed between the suspected parties, until they occupied neighboring cells in the county jail at Janes- ville.

The murdered Mack was laid away in the country churchyard, his widow returning from the funeral to the house of a relative in Beloit, where she was arrested by the officers of the law and taken to the Goodwin House, to be held until a judicial examination should pass upon the sus- picious circumstances surrounding Dickerson and herself.

In the mean time, every means was employed to extort a confession from the former, and so successfully, that, after some delay and several contradictory statements, he made a clean breast of the " bloody business," charging the commission of the deed upon Mrs. Mack. He was igno- rant of her intentions, and only identified himself with the crime by assisting the murderess (in consequence of her threats) in conveying the body to the stable and placing it under the heels of " Old Jen."

At the preliminary examination held in Beloit, he repeated his confession with such varia- tions as suggested themselves, calculated to acquit himself of guilt, at the expense of his accomplice, and leave the impression that his acts at the date of the murder and subsequent thereto were committed under duress. He gave a history of his service at Mack's, of his rela- tions with Mrs. Mack, and all the features of his daily life while there, which only confirmed the impressions which had obtained among the neighbors prior to the tragedy, and stamped their author as a man wicked beyond comparison and utterly insensible to every moral obliga- tion. The examination resulted in the accused being held without bail to await their trial under the information filed, pending which they were confined in the County Jail and their every movement watched to prevent escape, as also to protect them from the threatened "assault uf the mob."

As the days came and went, interest in the crime. the parties implicated and all the facts connected therewith, increased rather than diminished. Mrs. Mack refused to be interviewed

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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

upon the murder, seemingly maintaining, outwardly, a semblance of indifference to the causes of her detention, as also to the ultimate result, but secretly endeavoring, by means of notes and personal admonitions, to strengthen Dickerson in a resolve to observe a rigid silence, or aid her in preparing a defense which should secure their acquittal.

Dickerson passed his hours in proposing new pleas in confession and avoidance, canvassing the murder with prisoners, whom he is reported to have assured that he would "bend all his energies, wits, etc., to get off as accessory after the fact." Indeed, a mind so fertile, as his is said to have been in his own defense, and so little restrained by conscientious scruples, would intuitively discover modes of relieving the tedium of prison life.

With the approach of the trial, some speculation was indulged by the public as to which of the defendants would be called upon to plead first. This question being finally disposed of, Mrs. Mack was produced in court on the 10th day of December, 1878, accompanied by her niece, Miss Chapin, and, taking her seat within the railing, the work of impaneling a jury was proceeded with at once. Two venires were exhausted and a third nearly disposed of before the panel was filled and the following jurors accepted : O. P. Gaarder, Spring Valley ; C. S. Crow, Center ; William Grimes, Avon ; Benjamin Bleasdale, Rock ; E. N. Haugen and Henry Phillips, Plymouth ; John McLean, Johnstown ; W. H. Weaver, Milton ; James Parmley, Center; Jack- son Vickerman, Lima ; Hulett Story, Harmony ; E. D. Barnard, Porter.

Judge Conger presided; the State was represented by District Attorney Sole and the Hon. J. R. Bennett ; the defense retaining as counsel Messrs. Winans & McElroy and Eldridge & Fethers, of Janesville, in conjunction with the Hon. S. J. Todd, of Beloit. Public interest in the proceedings was intense and sympathy pronounced adversely to the defendant. The crime was without a precedent in the State, almost without a parallel in the country ; the guilt of the defendant at the bar was conclusive upon the admissions made by her alleged paramour and accessory, and the majesty of the law could only be vindicated by conviction. The audience was such as has rarely excited the ambition of a Justice or " the fears and emulations " of an advocate. It lined the avenues of approach to the court-room, the auditoriumn of which, its aisles and galleries, were crowded to suffocation. On that day, age forgot its crutch, labor its task, and grace and female loveliness left her sex at the door in her anxiety to witness the race for conviction the defendant should run, and be in at the death.

.The District Attorney opened the case for the prosecution in a clear and concise statement of what he expected to prove, and was followed by S. J. Todd, in behalf of the defense. At the conclusion of his remarks, the State formally inaugurated the prosecution by calling Joseph Watsic, who discovered the body of Mack. His evidence was a repetition of that adduced at the Coronor's inquest, alluded to above. He was followed by Drs. Bell and Strong, who made an autopsy of the body ; by members of the Coroner's jury and neighbors, who testified as to the rumors regarding defendant's relations with Dickerson, and her conduct on the day when the murder was discovered. Their testimony tended to strengthen the guilt of Mrs. Mack, to confirm her as the murderess of her husband more effectively, even, than that of " Frank " Dickerson, who was called next and gave a detailed account of his intimacy with the prisoner at the bar, con- cluding with a statement of how the murder was committed.

He testified, substantially, that, on the night of the murder, the family were in the house. "Watsic went to bed about 8 o'clock ; Mrs. Mack and two children were in the kitchen. and George and one child were in the dining-room when I went to bed; I heard the three children go to bed half an hour after me in Mrs. Mack's room up-stairs ; Mrs. Mack came up with them. next saw her standing in my room door one-half or three-quarters of an hour later. I saw her at my room door one hour later, and heard George open his door and come up-stairs. She had a revolver in her hand, and went down-stairs. She called me down, and I put on my overalls, and heard them talking as I went down ; just as I went into the kitchen, she seized a club from the wood-box and struck him on the head; he fell down; she was by the door, and he was on the ground, or on some planks; I was in the door between the kitchen and the dining-room. I went out, and George lay with his head on

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HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

the sidewalk, perfectly still. I said I would go and tell Pooles' folks. She said, ' If you do' I will lay it all to you ; we will carry him to the barn, and tell that " old Jen " killed him.' She got some clothes and wrapped around his head ; I took his feet, and she took him around the body. We laid him down to open the gate; then, when most to the barn, we laid him down again, and I went and drove hogs back which had got into the yard. We laid the body behind the horse, and she took the horse by the halter and backed it over the body. I started for the house, and saw Jim Snell going home. I left Mrs. Mack in the barn and went to the house and went to bed. After a while, I got up and looked out of the window, and saw Mrs. Mack going toward the barn ; she was near the hog-pen, by the gate; had a revolver in her right hand, and picked up a sled stake. I waited awhile, sitting on a chest, and saw her coming around the north end of the tool-shed, and going southeast. There was a board off of the fence near the hog- pen, and, as she got over, she said, 'that's all right." She came to the house, and, quite awhile after, she came up-stairs to my room door, and then she went to her room. I went down stairs, and she came down and asked me where I was going, and I told her I was going to Snell's. . Don't make a fool of yourself,' she said, and 'you must help me put the clothes under the privy.' We raised the privy, and she put the clothes under with a barrel stave. I went back to the house and took off my shoes; I started up-stairs, and she said, 'hold on,' and went into Mack's room, and told me to come in and see if there was any blood on me. We went in; she put down the curtains and lit the lamp, and I could find no blood only on my shirt sleeve, where I had the bloody clothes on my arm. She got me a clean shirt and I put it on, and then she said, 'You will be true to me, won't you, Frank ?' I said I would, and then went to bed; she told me she would call Joe in the morning, and I must tell him to feed the horses."

He then left Mack's room and retired to his own, where he remained until morning. This was his story, and though subjected to the severest cross-examination, he did not falter once or vary in any material point from the facts as cited.

It should be observed here that the wound found on Mack's forehead, when his body was examined by the physicians, was claimed by Mrs. Mack to have been inflicted by herself during a quarrel, Friday night before the murder, for the possession of a revolver she had in her keep- ing. During this dispute, she struck him with a pitcher. Her daughter Etta, a young girl thirteen years of age, witnessed the altercation, the blow's effect and her mother's subsequent dressing of the wound, and so stated on the trial.

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The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc., Part 75

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