The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc., Part 93

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

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LAND TITLE LITIGATION.

In their haste to secure a village as a business and industrial center of the little commu- nity, the settlers at what is now Beloit acted in direct and apparently irremediable' contraven- tion of the law governing the occupation of public lands. The act of Congress approved May 29, 1830, amended by the act approved June 22, 1838, was specially designed to prevent speculation in village lots, and prohibited in express terms the pre-emption of public lands for any other than farming purposes. The people of Beloit, after deliberation, decided to pursue a way out of their difficulty and secure a legal title to their land, by selecting some settler in whom the entire community had confidence, and quit-claiming to him every foot of ground embraced in the village, and allowing him to pre empt it in his own name, and, after he had obtained title, receive from him a re-conveyance of their titles.

This plan was carried out to the letter. The various lots in the village were quit-claimed to R. P. Crane, and at the land office in Milwaukee, Crane made the affidavit required by the pre-emption law, and entered under his claim of pre-emption, on the 26th day of November, . 1838, Lots 6 and 7 in Section 35, Town 1, Range 12 cast, containing seventy-eight and fifty-seven one-hundredths acres, according to Government survey. He then, before receiving a patent from the General Government, deeded to the original owners, in accordance with a pri- vate survey made under the direction of Dr. White, for the New England Company and other land owners.

When the village was laid out, Rock River was navigable, and a piece of land was set apart for a public landing. After Crane pre-empted the above-mentioned lots and re-conveyed to the original owners, title to this piece of land had not been re-conveyed to the city, and it lay presumptively in Crane. In 1845, when the first bridge was built across the river, it became necessary to lay out a street as an approach. It was found desirable to run this street through a lot belonging to Benjamin Brown, and, in exchange for the land thus to be taken from Mr. Brown, the village authorities proposed to give him a portion of the "public landing.". This proposition Mr. Brown accepted, and the deeds necessary to carry out the exchange were

612

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

duly executed by Mr. Brown and the village authorities. Subsequently it was discovered that this " public landing" had not been re-conveyed by Crane to the city, and that, in considera- tion of $50, Crane had quit-claimed the ground to one Gardner. This gave rise to the case of Gardner vs. Tisdale, et al., in which Luther Tisdale and F. A. Tondro, tenants of Benjamin Brown, were made defendants in an action of ejectment brought by Gardner. The case was finally argued before the Supreme Court by Matthew H. Carpenter for the plaintiff and Joseph A. Sleeper for the defendants. The decision was that Brown's title was invalid, the corpora- tion or village authorities having no power to alienate land dedicated to the use of the public, and that Gardner's claim was valid because the dedication had been irregular and incomplete, and because of the quit-claim deed of Crane. This case was reported in 2 Wis. 153.

While engaged on this case, Mr. Carpenter discovered what was afterward the germ of no inconsiderable litigation. It was, that, after pre-empting Lots 6 and 7 as stated, on the 16th of November, 1838, in conformity to an act of Congress passed June 22, 1838, R. P. Crane had quit-claimed and re-conveyed to the original owners their several lots before patent was issued to him, the 9th of May, 1842. In pursuance of this theory that the presumptive title to Lots 6 and 7 was invalid, a conveyance by Crane to Samuel B. Cooper was procured, on the 22d of January, 1855. Cooper conveyed to Jared L. Demmon, of Waterbury, Vt., a law partner of Gov. Paul Dillingham, the father-in-law of Mr. Carpenter. On the 23d of April, 1855, Dem- mon conveyed to Paul Dillingham. These conveyances embraced the original Lots 6 and 7 which Crane pre-empted.

The title to the lots on the corner of Public avenue and Pleasant street, now the residence of E. P. King, and then of L. G. Fisher, was made the subject of the test case, on the fate of which title to a vast amount of property depended. Crane had conveyed the title to these lots to one Kearney before he received the patent, and Kearney had conveyed to Mr. Fisher. A claim was set up by Gov. Dillingham against these lots of Mr. Fisher's, and the case was first tried in the Circuit Court of Rock County, and a verdict given for the defendant. Gor. Dillingham then took the case to the Supreme Court on error. The array of eminent legal talent engaged was such as is rarely gathered together in the argument of a single case. Senator Matt. H. Carpenter and Chief Justice Edward G. Ryan were Gov. Dillingham's attorneys, and Rufus Choate prepared a brief supporting the claim. James R. Doolittle was Mr. Fisher's attorney, and Daniel Cady, of Johnstown, N. Y., for fifty years esteemed the best real-estate lawyer in New York, and Abraham Lincoln. prepared briefs for the defense. The Supreme Court sustained the decision of the court below, and Gov. Dillingham transferred his case to the Supreme Court of the United States. The decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is reported in 5 Wis. 475. A case coming up from Louisiana, involving the same questions, had preceded the case of Dillingham vs. Fisher on the docket, and was decided adversely to Mr. Carpenter's theory. The Wisconsin case was accordingly withdrawn, to the great satisfaction of the people of Beloit. This litigation made one of the most exciting periods in the history of Beloit. Some of the persons holding titles to lots derived from Crane before he received the United States patent, compromised by paying certain sums to the claimant ; others threatened to shoot Mr. Carpenter for discovering and urging his theory of the title.

ORIGIN OF THE NAME BELOIT.

Shortly after Blodgett settled here ho named the place New Albany, and it was so called until the fall of 1838, though the name had never been acceptable to the majority of the settlers. It was proposed to change the name to Waterloo, but this was also objected to. Finally, about the time above mentioned, a meeting of the settlers was called for the special purpose of deciding upon a name by which the village should thereafter be known. At this meeting, a good many names were suggested, none of which proved acceptable, and it was finally decided to appoint a committee of three of the oldest residents to report a name or names from which the meeting would make a selection by a majority vote. The committee consisted of Maj. Charles Johnson, Caleb Blodgett

615

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

and Mr. Allen. After a brief absence the committee returned, and, through its chairman, Maj. Johnson, reported to the meeting that a name had been agreed upon in committee which it was believed would prove acceptable to all present, for the reason that it was peculiar, distinct- ive and descriptive ; it had been obtained by compounding French words, and its signification in English was beautiful and the junction of two streams, and he presented for the consideration of the meeting the name Beloit. The report of the committee was enthusiastically adopted. A few days after this meeting, John Hackett encountered Maj. Johnson on the street and was asked how he liked the new name of the village. Mr. Hackett replied that he liked it amaz- ingly ; it was just what a village name should be, different from any other place and singularly and appropriately descriptive, whereupon Maj. Johnson laughed heartily. Being asked the cause of his merriment, he replied that it was because of the good joke they had on the two or three French scholars who were present when the name was proposed and adopted. He (Johnson) knew nothing whatever about French, but he had been thinking over this matter of a name for the settlement for a long time and finally puzzled out the word Beloit, which, so far as his knowl- edge went, was no more French than it was Hebrew, and was utterly devoid of any meaning whatever, except that it was now the name of a village in Wisconsin. Cercapt .... Freeband, in AT cinsi Pronto de lita .

FIRST EVENTS.

After this time (the fall of 1838), the village filled up so rapidly and increased so steadily in prosperity and importance that it may fairly be considered to have passed the period of its nonage. To continue an account of its growth would be to inflict upon the reader a tedious and uninteresting roll of arrivals. Before passing on to the consideration of the more mature stages of the city's history, the reader may find some entertainment and instruction from a record of the " first " events, doings or occurrences.

The first white woman in Beloit was Mrs. Caleb Blodgett, who was accompanied by her two daughters, aged, respectively, thirteen and fifteen years.

The first building of any kind erected was, after Thiebault's cabin, the double log house of Caleb Blodgett.

The first large building was the old Beloit House, constructed by the New England Com- pany, followed immediately (their erection and completion were, practically, simultaneous) by the Rock River House, built by Caleb Blodgett.

The first mill was the old red mill put up by Blodgett and finished by Goodhue.

The first brick building was put up by Ira Hersey, about 1842, near where the gas works now stand.

The first sermon was preached in the old Beloit House, September 10, 1837, by Prof. Whitney, from Belvidere, Ill.

The first school was taught by John Burroughs in the kitchen of the Rock River House, in the fall and winter of 1838. Mrs. Atwood taught a few boys at her own house prior to this date.

The first marriage was that of Harvey Bevedy and Miss Mary J. Moore, both now living in Virginia City, Nev. The ceremony was performed in the winter of 1839, by Squire S. G. Colley, then a Justice of the Peace.

The first death was that of Horace Clark, a brother-in-law of Deacon Henry Mears. The first child born was a daughter of Mr. Wadworth, who kept the Beloit House.

The first store was kept by John Hackett, in the fall of 1837. In 1838, Field & Lusk put up a large store on the corner of State and Race streets, which is generally regarded as the first actual store in the village.

The first schoolhouse was a frame building, put up in 1839 by the voluntary subscriptions of the settlers.

The first lawyer in the settlement was David Noggle, and Hazen Cheney was the second.

616

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

The first church was organized in the kitchen of the Rock River Hotel by Rev. William Adams, from Roekton.'

The first male child born in the town was Lucien D. Mears, sou of Deacon Henry Mears, born March 29, 1838. The first male child born in the village proper was the son of Seloy K. Blodgett. The first postal facilities were provided in 1838, and consisted of a horseback mail once a week between Beloit and Belvidere, Ill., distant twenty-four miles, and the first Postmaster was John Hackett.

The first banking business was carried on by A. B. Carpenter, in 1846. This was but s small exchange banking business, consisted in buying drafts of grain-dealers, cashing checks, etc. The first bank of issue was the Rock River Bank, owned in Pittsburgh, Penn., which had a circulation in notes of about $50,000. John M. Keep was the first President.

The first survey for a railroad was made by Mr. Hugh Lee, in 1849, of the Rock River Valley Union. R. R. from Chicago to Fond du Lac ; the first survey being through Beloit, though the route was subsequently changed to a more direct line, running eight miles east of the city through Shopiere and Jefferson Prairie to Janesville and Fond du Lac. This was the first survey for a railroad in Wisconsin.

The first highway was that from Beloit to Janesville.

The first bridge over Rock River was constructed in 1845, where the present bridge now is on Bridge street, by a corporation as a toll-bridge. This bridge was afterward douated to the village upon the condition that it should be kept in good repair and maintained a free bridge at the general expense.

The first election was held in the fall of 1838, for a Justice of the Peace and for Survey- ors of Highways, Horace Hobart being elected Justice.

A PIONEER'S RECOLLECTIONS.

" I came to Beloit in October, 1841; the settlement had then about three hundred; it was all on the east side of the river ; I held through the winter a line of singing-schools at White water, Fort Atkinson, Milton, Beloit and Rockford ; the winter was beautiful, from six to ten inches of snow ; the next winter was the hard winter; sleighing from the 9th of November, 1842, to the 10th of April, 1843; teams crossed Rock River on the ice the 11th of April. I was lost on Rock Prairie the 17th of November, 1842, in a snow-storm ; the snow was two feet deep and increased during the winter to four feet ; cattle, horses, hogs and sheep perished by cold and hunger ; the bridge was built at Beloit that summer; in April, 1844, I built and moved to the west side of the river, and from May 10, it rained almost continuously for fifty days. A steamboat came up the river from St. Louis, went up to Jefferson ; in the fall, the river dam was built by Hanchett & Lawrence; it was begun forty rods higher up the river, in May, by Ina Hersey, John Atchley and myself, who sold to H. & L .; Gaston's scale-factory was built in November ; I built the second, and now the oldest house on the West Side; it is of stone, on Third street, now owned by Charles Hanson ; winter wheat was the staple product, yielding from twenty to forty bushels per acre; soon it began to fail and spring wheat took its place; then followed the noted days of hedge-row-which, with basswood lumber furnished from Watertown by John Hackett, was next to legal tender; barter became the rule and cash the exception. Wheat sold at 25 cents; corn, 10 to 15 cents ; and oats the same. They would buy everything one didn't want and some things that we did want. Work in harvest was from $1.00 to $1.50 according to muscle: grain was cut with cradles ; a good man and team got from $1.25 to $1.50 per day (and board themselves) ; the Beloit & Madison Railroad was graded in 1854, to Footville; I put on the road 20,000 ties (from Beloit to Afton); Racine & Mississippi (now Western Union) was graded in 1856; I delivered 20,000 ties from Porter to Rockton. When the city was organized. Will- iam S. Yost, Green Bennett and D. Merrill were Supervisors of the town, as now organized. I have built twenty-five buildings ; broken up 1,200 acres of land ; made over twenty miles of fence, and had nothing to start with but brain and muscle."

617

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

BELOIT VILLAGE IN 1845.

" Beloit contains a male and female seminary and three well conducted schools; three churches, viz., Episcopal, Methodist and Congregational ; five lawyers, five physicians, one botanic physician, two watchmaker's shops, two good taverns, one clothing store, fifteen dry- goods stores, with a fall stock of goods amounting in the aggregate to about $120,000 ; a branch of the American Bible Society, two iron foundries, one scale and pump factory, one good drug store, two saw-mills, two extensive grist-mills, one fanning-mill factory, five milliners and dressmakers, one harness-makers' shop, one hatter's shop, thirty joiners, twenty masons, two millwrights, two wagon-maker's shops, two shoe-making shops, two stone-cutters' shops, five tailors' shops, two tinsmith shops, two groceries, two stove stores, one literary association, one carding mill, one gunsmith, one lime kiln, one brickyard, three paint shops, one oil mill, one barber's shop, two tinsmiths, one cooper, one cabinet maker.

" Number of houses in Beloit : Stone, 18 ; brick, 25; frame, 148; total, 191.

POPULATION OF BELOIT.

Male.

Female.

Total.

Under five years ...

127

217

Between five and ten years ..

142

Between ten and twenty years.

180

222

Between twenty and thirty years.

122

221

Between thirty and forty years.

114

198

Between forty and fifty years.

100

Between fitty and sixty years ..

Between sixty and seventy years

Total.

569

575

1144

" Of these, 340 are natives of New York State, 177 of Vermont, 194 of Wisconsin, 195 of New Hampshire, 75 of Ohio, 68 of England, 40 of Massachusetts, 27 of Lower Canada, 17 of Upper Canada, 24 of Connecticut, 20 of Scotland, 32 of Pennsylvania, 24 of Upper Canada, 21 of Illinois, 15 of Norway, 14 of Ireland, 18 of Michigan, 28 of Maine, 12 of Indiana, 8 of Virginia, 6 of Rhode Island, 6 of New Jersey, 1 of Maryland, 4 of Germany, 2 of Mexico, 1 of Florida and 1 of Missouri.

" A large proportion of the houses in Beloit are substantial stone and brick buildings, and reflect much credit on the taste of their builders.

"The Congregational Church is composed of hammered stone, has a well proportioned portico in front, supported by Ionic columns, and is crowned with a handsome steeple. The Episcopal Church is a modest-looking building, measuring 30x20 feet and capable of containing 120 persons. It cost about $700.

" Amongst the other buildings worthy of notice may be classed the new and beautiful residence of that enterprising citizen, Benjamin Brown, Esq. It stands on the corner of Turtle and School streets, and is the most delightful location in the village. It is built of brick, and measures forty-four feet in length, twenty-four feet in width, and is finished in front with a handsome portico supported by four Ionic columns. The whole reflects much credit on the taste of the worthy proprietor, and on the skill of the ingenious architect, Mr. George Golden.

" The Mechanics' and Workingman's Literary Institution, at this place, speaks volumes for the intelligence of that class.

" In the month of August, 1844, Mr. James H. Hanchett commenced the erection of the dam across Rock River, at this place, which is now nearly completed, and will afford an exten- sive water-power for manufacturing purposes. It is built on the same plan as the dam at Janes- ville already described. Mr. Hanchett has also erected an extensive saw-mill, which is capable of cutting 4,000 feet of hardwood in twenty-four hours.

618

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

" A tri-weekly line of mail stages, between Janesville and Chicago, passes through this village, and there is a semi-weekly mail stage running between this place and Southport.

" The hotels are well conducted. The Rock River House, which is kept by Messrs. Colley & Cator. Mr. Cator is one of the oldest citizens in Beloit, and one of the most obliging and worthy landlords in the western country. Messrs. Bicknells, the landlords of the Beloit House, are gentlemen who will not let the traveling community suffer at their hands."

BELOIT A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO.

The population of the village of Beloit in 1850 was 2,753; in 1853, it was 3,017; in 1855, it was 4,241. From the census of 1855, taken by James W. Strong, it is shown that there were east of Rock River 1.155 males and 1,080 females ; west of that stream, 1,052 males and 954 females. Of this population, 22 were colored persons, and 899 were of foreign birth. The dwelling-houses numbered 583, and were classified as, built of wood, 400; of brick, 55; of stone, 108; and of cobble-stone, 20. There were 6 churches, 2 college buildings, 5 hotels, 4 . banks, 1 female seminary, 3 flouring-mills, 2 foundries, 2 steam planing-mills, 1 steam-engine factory, 1 scale factory, 1 woolen factory, and 1 paper-mill. The value of manufactured wares for one year from June, 1854, to June, 1855, was $418,812.

There were in Beloit in 1856, 1 water-power company, 1 gas company and 1 coal company; 1 Masonic Lodge, 2 Odd Fellows' Lodges, 1 Lodge of the Sons of Temperance. Up to that year, the village had furnished the following county officers : Judges of Probate, Horace White, Israel C. Cheney, S. B. Cooper ; Registers of Deeds, C. C. Townsend, B. A. Kent; Clerk of the Circuit Court, E. P. King; Sheriffs, L. G. Fisher, H. W. Cator, W. H. Howard; District Attorneys, John M. Keep, W. S. Rockwell and M. H. Carpenter ; Delegates to First Constitu- tional Convention, David Noggle and John Hackett; to Second Constitutional Convention, Joseph Colley ; to the Assembly, John Hackett, John Hopkins, Jesse Moore, Jared G. Wins- ` low, Robert T. Cary, Nathaniel Strong, S. G. Colley, John R. Briggs, John Bannister.

Of banking institutions there were : The Rock River Bank, L. G. Fisher, President, and A. L. Field, Cashier ; Beloit Bank, George B. Sanderson, President, and Lewis Hyde, Cashier; Exchange Bank, Carpenter & Wright; Southern Wisconsin Bank, J. D. Skeene, President, and Isidore Talfair, Cashier. There was one fire company-A. J. Battin, Captain. Presbyte- rian and Congregational ministers were Dexter Clary, N. H. Brinsmade, A. L. Chapin, William Porter, J. J. Bushnell, H. Lyman, Joseph Emerson, M. Montague, F. W. Fiske, (licentiate) and L. D. Chapin ; Presbyterian ministers, L. Hawes, A. Montgomery, M. P. Squier, D. C. Lan- sing, R G. Thompson ; Catholic, J. W. Norris ; Congregational, B. E. Hale, B. B. Brown; Baptist, Henry Billings, Thomas Holman, Jacob Bailey ; Episcopal, J. E. C. Smeads, S. C. Millett, A. Humphrey ; Methodist, John Chamberlain, Stephen Adams, J. Tibbals and Mr. Scott.

The lawyers of Beloit at that date were S. J. Todd, R. H. Mills, N. D Parker, J. M. Keep, M. H. Carpenter, Hazen Cheney, D. W. Castle, W. S. Rockwell, M. V. Pasco, E. P. King and G. A. Gardiner. The physicians were: Allopathic-S. Spencer, G. W. Bicknell, G. A. Carey, C. J. Taggart, A. Clark, E. N. Clark, Jesse Moore, H. P. Strong, H. Smith, Dr. Richards, A. I. Bennett, Jesse Gage; Homoeopathic-J. W. Evans, J. M. Merriman; Botan- ical-Aaron Teale. Dentists, J. Craig, M. W. Sherwood, E. N. Clark and Mr. Pelton. There were in the village at that time eleven dry-goods stores, thirteen groceries, four eating-houses, two shoe stores, one saw-mill, three tin-shops, two meat markets, three hardware stores, two steam mills, one reaper factory, one blind and sash factory, three harness-shops, five wagon-shops. eight blacksmith-shops, and twelve other shops.

"It is interesting to trace," says a writer of 1856, "the relation between the present con- dition of the village of Beloit and the first acts of its first settlers. It is not more certain that the affluent beauty of our streets in June proceeds from the tastes of our ladies in the arrange ment of shrubbery than that the general prosperity of Beloit has its seminal principle in the events of the first years of its settlement.

619

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

"The voluntary self-assessment of the poor settlers, by which the means to build the old schoolhouse was realized, was a fit prelude to that zeal for the union school, which has since adorned both banks of the river with these convenient and costly structures within which it is still cherished.

"The persistence of laymen under difficulties in maintaining public religious services, was the germ whose ripe fruit now appears in these churches, material and spiritual, which adorn the village, and which has made itself a record upon the public morals and order.

"Maj. Johnson's romantic voyage down Rock River and up the Mississippi, when he obtained of the Territorial Legislature at Burlington a charter for a seminary, had a signifi- cance which, when we look upon the College and upon the Female Seminary, we can appreciate as he could not.

" Who can doubt that these acts, severally and conjoined, have determined the char- acter of the accretions which have since been made to this population? It is not an accident that educated parents, desiring to secure the highest educational advantages for their children, resort to Beloit and make there their homes.

"The moral prominently taught in the history of this village is, that a generous patronage for improvements of real utility, results in the production of material wealth ; and that the maintenance of religion and learning, while it also contributes to the same end, has this higher advantage, that it promotes the thrift and refinement of the population."

CITY GOVERNMENT.

By an act of the Legislature, passed and approved at the general session of the Assembly of the State of Wisconsin, in 1856, the village of Beloit was incorporated with municipal powers and privileges. The government of the city is vested in a Mayor and Common Council, consisting of twelve Aldermen, four of whom are elected annually, on the first Tuesday of April, and hold their office for a term of three years. At this charter election are elected also a City Treasurer, one Justice of the Peace for the First and Second Wards, and one Justice of the Peace for the Second and Third Wards, and one Police Justice, having jurisdiction within the city limits. The Justices of the Peace and Police Justice hold their offices for two years. A City Clerk, Mar- shal and four Constables, one from each ward, are chosen annually by the Council, at the meet- ing next succeeding the charter election. The municipal powers conferred upon the Council are such as conserve to the orderly government of the city, and it should be said that under the judicious provisions of its charter, Beloit has always been a well-governed city, securing to indi- viduals and property every due protection, and incurring an expense for city government much less than ordinary.

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The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc., Part 93

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