The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources; an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages etc, Part 63

Author: Western Historical Co., pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1050

USA > Wisconsin > Waukesha County > The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources; an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages etc > Part 63

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" One year later, in 1844, David Roberts, a Welshman, discovered in the towns of Dela- field and Genesee a country of hills and streams, which pleasantly reminded him of the old country, without presenting its more objectionable features. A Welsh immigration was the immediate and valuable result of Mr. Roberts' discovery, and the chapels of the new immi- grants were soon dotting the hills of the two towns.

" At about the same time, the German immigration, which had at first stopped in the neighborhood of Milwaukee, began to reach farther inland, and to become an important factor in our population, especially in what now constitutes our eastern tier of towns, Menomonee, Brookfield, New Berlin and Muskego. With these means of growth, besides the steady influx of Americans, from the Eastern States, it is not surprising that the census of 1845 should have shown a population, within our present county limits, of 13,733, of which number, 7,402 were

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HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

males and 6,331 females. The towns were then divided as at present. In the following year, those restless politicians, William A. Barstow, Elmore, Randall and Pratt, conceived the bright idea of forming a new county out of the sixteen western towns of Milwaukee County. The idea was no sooner brought out than it was acted upon and a brilliant fight began in the Legis- lature, where Milwaukee County was then represented by J. H. Kimball, of Prairieville, Curtis Reed, of Summit, and James Kneeland, of Milwaukee, in the Council, and S. H. Bar- stow, of Prairieville, Luther Parker of Muskego, W. H. Thomas, of Lisbon, and Crawford, Magoon and Mooers, of Milwaukee, in the House. Of the above, Reed and Thomas, with the Milwaukee members, were opposed to the bill giving the voters of these sixteen towns the right to decide the question of division, but it was finally carried and the matter thus relegated to the people.

"Several weeks intervened between the legislative session and the election, which were employed by the supporters and opponents of the movement in a newspaper warfare of the most personal and virulent character. The paper advocating division was printed at the office of the American Freeman, an Abolitionist journal established by C. C. Sholes, at Waukesha, in the fall of 1844, and the one which advocated a continued union with Milwaukee County was issued from the office of the Milwaukee Sentinel. The editors of the first-mentioned sheet were A. F. Pratt and A. W. Randall. The latter was managed by A. D. Smith but numbered Dr. Castleman, Leonard Martin, W. H. Thomas, Aaron Putnam and Curtis Reed among its con- tributors. Mr. Pratt, in his recollections, says that the first two or three numbers of these sheets, called the 'Waukesha Advocate,' and the ' Unionist,' were devoted to arguments, but that subsequently there was nothing in them but the bitterest personal abuse. The election which ended this contest must have been curious to strangers. At Prairieville and Summit, the headquarters of the opposing forces, travelers and children were brought to the polls and made to vote. It is quite probable that an emigrant who voted with his nine children, for division at Prairieville, may have cast ten votes for the opposite side of the question on reaching Summit, especially as voting was kept up at the latter town for two days subsequent to that set for elec- tion. The result of the whole matter was a division of Milwaukee County, the new county being named Waukesha at the suggestion of Joseph Bond, of Mukwonago, who has always been a consistent admirer and advocate of Indian names.

" In this year, 1846, the first constitutional convention was held for the purpose of organ- izing a State government. The constitution adopted by the convention was rejected by the people, and the next year another convention was held, whose labors were ratified by the people, and Wisconsin became a State in 1848. The political work of these two years was mostly con- fined to the matters here alluded to, which created great excitement among the voters. In the mean time, Waukesha County had become the hot-bed of Abolitionism in the Northwest, the American Freeman, published by Mr. Sholes, being the great exponent of that sentiment. Messrs. C. C. Olin and L. D. Plumb took the publication of the paper off from Mr. Sholes' hands in 1846, and in December of the same year Ichabod Codding, the great apostle of Aboli- tionism, bought out Mr. Plumb and became the editor of the paper. In July of 1847, Mr. Codding was ordained as a Congregational minister here, by Owen Lovejoy, and took charge of the Congregational Church of Waukesha. In 1848, Mr. S. M. Booth came on from the East to edit the Freeman, which was then removed to Milwaukee and became the Free Democrat.

" The educational interests of the county had not been neglected on account of the absorb- ing interest in politics. Schools had sprung up in every town, and Waukesha especially had become a seat of learning for the whole State. A young ladies' institute was established here in November, 1846, by E. Root and Rev. S. K. Miller, in which French, Latin, Greek, higher mathematics and music were attended to, and which was continued for many years afterward under different managements. In 1847, the endowment of Carroll College was a subject of as much attention and interest as it is to-day, although it had not, at that time, a faculty or students, and the Classical and Normal Institute began with the year 1848, under the management of Profs. Sterling and E. Enos, Jr .- the latter being to-day the presiding officer of our centennial

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HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

celebration, to say nothing of his other honorable positions. The Classical Institute was a pros- perous school, and received many students from abroad from among the better classes. Rev. A. Menæos, a Greek by birth, took charge of it with the beginning of 1849. Among the students here were Gov. Davis, of Minnesota, Gov. Fairchild, and his brother, Gen. Cassins Fairchild, and that soaring eagle of the late national Republican convention, Bob Ingersoll, of Illinois. The first class in Carroll College was started by Prof. Root, in a room over J. S. Bean's store, in December of 1849, and the contract for the building was let in 1853. I have neglected to note in its proper place the establishment of the county seat here, and the change of name from Prairieville to Waukesha, which must, therefore, be considered as accomplished facts without further circumlocution. I shall be obliged also to pass the growth of the Free-Soil party here, which affords many points of interest in the days of the fugitive-slave law. The feeling for and against the enforcement of the act was very strong, and Booth was at one time hung in effigy from the liberty pole in the public square, while some of our citizens were actively engaged . in helping this same Booth to secure the escape of fugitives from Southern slavery.

" On the 20th of July, 1848, the first permanent newspaper having in view the local interests of Waukesha, was issued by George Hyer, under the name of the Wankesha Democrat. From this time forward, the politics of Waukesha County became an unknown quantity and a source of continual amazement to the remainder of the State for many years. In fact it may be said that the remainder of the State derived its politics from Waukesha County, in one way or another, until 1860, and the manipulators of the various machines here were the most skillful and the most worthy of being followed of any from Lake Superior to Illinois. I have spoken of many of these gentlemen already, but, about 1850, the politicians received an accession in the person of Henry D. Barron, who was then hardly past boyhood, but took his position among the most expert, almost at the beginning gobbling up first a county office, and then the post office, without an apparent effort. In August, 1851, he established the Chronotype newspaper, which was continued from 1854 onward, by A. F. Pratt, as the Plaindealer. While acting as Postmaster, Mr. Barron was once surprised at receiving a notification that his resignation had been accepted and another person appointed in his place. It did not take him long to ascertain that somebody else had written a resignation for him in due form and forwarded it to the General Post Office Department. This was more of the true inwardness of Waukesha politics.

" The decade closing with 1860 was one of real and substantial progress for the county. Manufactures were started at various points. The farms throughout our whole extent assumed an air of neatness corresponding with those in the East. The State Industrial School was built and prepared for the reception of inmates, under the supervision principally of W. D. Bacon, who had previously done much for the industrial interests of the village, besides serving accept- ably as a member of the State Legislature and in other public capacities. Above all, the Milwaukee & Mississippi, and the Milwaukee, Watertown & Baraboo Valley railroads had been built through the county-the two roads being now branches of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. The first named was the first road commenced in Wisconsin, and the editor of the Mil- waukee Wisconsin boasted, on the 21st of November, 1850, of having traveled as far as Wauwa- tosa on the only railroad in the State. On the 4th of March, 1851, a celebration of the arrival of the railroad was held at Waukesha, at which nearly all of the noted men of the State were present. Mayor Upham, of Milwaukee, compared the taking of Waukesha by the iron horse to the taking of ancient Troy by the wooden horse; and A. W. Randall saw, with prophetic vision, the iron pathway extending to the Pacific, and the productions of China and the Indies passing by our doors. In 1852, the village of Waukesha was incorporated under a charter which its citizens still regard with jealous pride, and which they are unwilling to exchange for the empty name of a city.

"From 1860 to 1865, little advance was made in our material prosperity, but it was demonstrated that there was something for which our citizens cared more for than for money. In the vast torrent of blood that flowed in defense of the unity of the Republic whose centen- nial we are now celebrating, was mingled much of the purest and best that Waukesha County

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HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

could afford. Of our heroes who fell in the war for the preservation of the Union I speak with reverence. Their memories are still dear to us personally as well as in the abstract, and if I do not undertake to mention their names it is because it is impossible to enumerate all, and I feel that all should occupy a place in the roll of honor. Our dead are scattered over innumer- able battle-fields, but their deeds are monuments of patriotism, which shall, in their results, endure forever.

" With the close of the late civil war, the decade began which is this year completed. It has been a period whose importance is equal to that of any preceding ten years, in the light of its influence upon our local interests. It began with the establishment of a new and valuable industry to Waukesha in the shape of the manufacture of woolen goods, and it has progressed with the steady influx of wealth in search of health and pleasure on the shores of our beautiful lakes. It was in the year 1868 that the discovery was first made of the wonderful healing qualities of a water which had flowed from a spring near this village-cool, pure and sweet as the fabled nectar, for untold years before, and which might have continued the same even tenor of its way for ages to come had it not been for the remarkable enthusiasm and energy of Col. Richard Dunbar, to whom must be awarded the praise of making known to the world that the hope of the afflicted is here. Of the changes that have been wrought on account of this knowledge you are all aware. A new era seems to have been inaugurated which shall make the future progress of this county in wealth, as well as in culture and refinement, more wonderful than has been its progress for the past forty years, from a pleasant wilderness to a power in the midst of the powerful commonwealth of Wisconsin. So may it be."

"THE EENJUNS ARE COMING !"

In September, 1862, when everybody was thrilled with horror over the terrible Minnesota. massacre, and trembling with apprehension lest similar outbreaks should occur in other localities, the cry was raised, no one can tell where or by whom, that the "Indians were coming." Sev- eral parties had recently returned from the Minnesota massacre, and their stories of those bloody scenes had heen repeated, thought over and exaggerated by the people, until the very atmosphere. seemed to be filled with apprehensions. At brief intervals, reports had also been circulated that the rebels (the rebellion was then at its height) had passed through Canada, and were descend- ing on Wisconsin from the north. Taken altogether, everything was ripe for the ungovernable and memorable stampede that followed. The village of Waukesha was made the center of fright, with no particularly good reason, had the Indians been really on the war-path. On Thurs- day night, September 4, its sleeping but apprehensive inhabitants were startled by the entry of scores of teams driven at headlong speed, and loaded with men and women shouting, "The Eenjuns are coming !" The stream of rattling vehicles began to enter from the direction of Pewaukee ; but before midnight they were pouring in from all directions and in all conditions. It was a scene of the utmost fright, confusion, apprehension and downright fear. Reputable men, breathless and convulsed with fright, rushed in with blood-curdling stories of what they had seen. Those coming from one direction said Hartland was burned ; others saw mills in ashes ; others had seen the yelling savages setting fire to grain-stacks in the town of Lisbon, and Menomonee was swarming with red men who were hurning and butchering indiscriminately as they swept toward the city. Everybody was frightened, wild, crazy, foolish. No story was too unreasonable for credence-in fact, the more horrible and unreasonable the incoming reports were, the more eagerly the crazed populace seized upon them as true. There were in the village of Waukesha, on that wild, dusty September day, at least one thousand persons who had seen "Indians" in all the surrounding towns, and beheld grain-stacks, barns, houses and mills in ashes.

Business was entirely suspended, and all the fire-arms and ammunition to be had were taken eager possession of by the people, who were rushing wildly about with unfounded stories to increase each other's fears. Every hotel was crowded ; the streets were literally jammed

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HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

with teams, wagons, buggies and vehicles of every conceivable sort. Ox teams were goaded by hatless farmers over the roads at their utmost speed, entering the village with distended eyes and parched tongues lolling out. The men took turns at the whip to urge their frightened but exhausted horses at still greater speed, while half-dressed women and crying children clung to the bounding vehicles. The sick were hustled in their beds into the lumber wagons, and jolted in the most reckless manner to the city at the highest attainable speed. Some thrifty farmers loaded bureaus into their wagons ; some brought along the best cow, and some hurried away with parcels of worthless household furniture, leaving valuables behind. No one stopped to eat, and the bruised and jolted children were crying about the streets for food. One family left just as supper was spread, and did not return until tea-time the next day, when the table was found as it had been left, except the inroads made on the edibles by the cat and chickens, the latter having spent the night on the mantel. A Scotchman in the town of Pewaukee left a strong house and slept on the ground over night with his family in the neighboring forest. A heavy rain ensued, from the effects of which his wife and children were sick several days. Another man loaded an old-fashioned melodeon into a rattling lumber wagon, and ran his horses to-he probably has no idea where, to this day-leaving a tin box well filled with cash and val- uable papers behind. But, fortunately, his thirteen-year-old boy had been out for squirrels, and returning to the deserted house, cared for it and the box of valuables until the frightened family returned. One man, who afterward became a good soldier, never quailing in the fiercest battle, drove a team at the wildest speed to take his two children to Milwaukee ; but the demoralized fellow snatched up two other children and bore them screeching away, leaving his own behind in greater peace and safety, but not less astonishment. At Poplar Creek, a crowd of brave men started helterskelter for somewhere, leaving the horses attached to a thrashing machine, around which they had been working. The neighbors who crept back before morning aver that the poor horses were not released from the machine until the succeeding day ; but the fearless fel- lows who left off thrashing so precipitately maintain that every one of them "broke loose" before morning !

The bravest citizen of Lisbon, when there was talk of forming a company to protect the women and children, boldly sneaked out of the neighborhood and walked-when he did not creep -- to Milwaukee. He there dodged about through the city, completely evading all Indians, and, confiscating some white chief's boat, rowed far out into Lake Michigan, where, shivering and alone, he remained during the night in the soaking rain.

In Waukesha Village the court house and every public place was full. Private houses were kindly thrown open to such as had an apparently earnest desire to save their scalps ; but notwithstanding this, scores of men and some women were compelled to sleep on the ground, thoroughly exposed to all the horrors of Indian warfare-death by burning at the stake ; by having red-hot tobacco spittle squirted into their ears and eyes; by writhing under streams of scalding water ; by being skinned alive and having salt rubbed in; by having burning splinters shot into their quivering flesh, and by all the other methods for which skilled barbarity is noted. The people on the north side of Fox River at Waukesha, all flocked to the south side where most of them remained over night. This was thought to be the only place of safety. Elder Spooner declared in case any Indians should come, that the bridge could be blown up. Not till the seare had subsided-the honest historian must put upon record in unmistakable terms that it did subside-did any one seem to realize that in case the bridge were to be blown up the river could have been forded by a three-year-old child.

In Cutler's park the squawk of fowls in distress had been heard for some time, when, about midnight, several citizens banded together for the purpose of learning what was the matter, as an old lawyer had tremblingly suggested that he believed-he knew-the "Eenjuns" were skulking in that park, and being so terribly hungry, were eating Cutler's chickens alive. The citizens, after some searching, found a well-known farmer wedged between the ground and the fence at the back side of Mr. Cutler's yard. He was hatless, coatless and bootless. He wore stockings, however, and in each hand held a flapping, squawking game-fowl. He was quaking and

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puffing, and when found, was lying with his face thrust against the earth, wheezing, " Oh Lordy ! Oh Lordy !" in the most agonizing and ridiculous manner imaginable. He had caught two of his fowls and was trying to save them from the Indians !

It being finally determined that if any Indians were coming they would come from the northeast, a parcel of young bloods agreed to go out a few miles and form a skirmish line, send- ing back word of warning in case of danger. They marched up the railroad track bravely enough, but before reaching Brookfield Junction fully determined to take the next train for Mil- waukee, which they did. On reaching that city, which had also been thoroughly invested by the " Indian scare," they found an individual who was too drunk to be afraid of Indians, yet not so drunk as to have completely lost his knowledge of drawing beer ; they therefore went on a spree and did not return for several days.

Out in one of the towns two half-blood Indians were at work a short distance from the road gathering roots and herbs for a well-known Waukesha physician. They worked steadily on for an hour, but finally the headlong rush of teams and people toward the city wrought upon their imagination until they were as thoroughly frightened as their white brethren, and, with ax in hand, ran toward the road to beg for a ride to some place of safety. This was more than the fleeing pale-faces could bear. Here were real Indians-bare-headed, armed with axes and on the run ! The foaming steeds were more desperately lashed in the increased frenzy of fear, and the poor redskins, more thoroughly frightened than ever, got no ride.

Without having occult evidence to sustain them, the people of the village of Waukesha had as good reasons for their fears as those of any other locality. Before the rain, clouds of dust hung over the village, and over all the roads leading into it, and the smoke from several fallows were indubitable proof to the wild-eyed throngs that the savages were applying their torches as they advanced.

This " scare " was not as bad at Oconomowoc as at Waukesha.

Finally the "scare " died out, as it had nothing whatever but imagination to feed upon ; but the ludicrous incidents which transpired during that memorable day would make a book of respectable proportions. The hungry, dusty, exhausted crowds returned home, most of them declaring they had "just started " for the post office, or to buy snuff, or tea, or groceries, when they heard the Indians were coming! Everybody felt sheepish enough after the affair was all over, but gathered bravely on the corners and related how they never felt the least bit of appre- hension.

There was no foundation for the various rumors afloat at that time, and all rational theories utterly failed to account for the indescribable scene of confusion, fright and excitement that ensued, as it was well known to all that a thousand Indian warriors could not have been mus- tered in the whole State. At the same time, people from every direction reported that thousands of savages had fallen upon their particular neighborhoods. But Waukesha County was not alone the afflicted. The malaria of fright reached every town and village in the State, and even invaded the brave precincts of the capitol at Madison, the Governor ordering the Milwaukee militia to march to the rescue of surrounding villages, which was done, thereby affording mate- rial for many a gibe in the newspapers.

There are to this day scores of rusty guns and pistols hidden away in Waukesha County, which have not seen light since that memorable September day, and which will remain in their secure retreats until the men who bought them at ruinous figures have gone the way of all the earth.

WAUKESHA COUNTY AS A SUMMER RESORT.

There are many things in which Waukesha County excels, but in none more prominently than in the number, character, and fame of her summer resorts. Some localities have beautiful scenery ; some health-giving springs, and some delightful lakes. Waukesha has all of these ; not only all of them, but she has more lakes and springs than any other county of equal size in the Union. The last ten or fifteen years have witnessed summer idling and watering-place

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seeking grow to their present large proportions ; but the periodicals of the East contained glow- ing accounts of the natural beauties and healthfulness of Waukesha at least forty years ago. Although these manifold beauties were recognized and appreciated at that early period, pleasure- seeking had not then become a business ; nor had such a great mass of people the means to carry on that business had the desire to do so existed. When, however, it begun to be fashion- able to seek rest and health by lake and wood and spring, Waukesha County at once sprang into fame as a place where all might be found, where she has continued to occupy one of the front ranks, entertaining annually many thousands of visitors from all parts of the country.

Although the great Northwest, and particularly the State of Wisconsin, is full of summer resorts, the county of Waukesha leads all other localities. This is not a mere statement to gratify local pride, nor an advertisement to secure more customers, but such a truth as can easily be demonstrated by statistics. She has more .lakes and more springs than any other county ; the finest and largest* hotels in the State; beautiful scenery, good railway facilities, excellent fishing and as .many other attractions as other places.

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The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources; an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages etc, Part 63

Author: Western Historical Co., pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1050

Author: Western Historical Co., pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1050