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 84
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Years afterward, Salmon Portland Chase, Chief Justice of the United States, spent a summer at Waukesha, with Judge Andrew J. Miller, of the United States District Court ( who, after the escape of Glover, was very severe in dealing with S. M. Booth, Edward Daniels and others, for aiding in the " rescue,") visited the room in the Mansion House in which the noted fugitive remained during his first night in Waukesha, and where his wounds were dressed and food given him.
The rescue of Joshua Glover resulted in the arrest of Sherman M. Booth, Edward Daniels and others, for violating the "fugitive-slave act," and the matter was in the courts, as well as some of the men in prison, for various periods during the next sixteen or seventeen years.
On the 15th of March, four days after Glover was brought to Waukesha, those who espoused the cause of slavery got together in Waukesha and hung Booth in effigy, and in other parts of the county all who had anything to do with the rescue were burned or hung in effigy.
SEVEN MURDERS.
The county of Waukesha had got a reputation abroad for having had but one murder, and a large number of her inhabitants thought the reputation a just one, as the only life-taking remembered, except the shooting of Henry Keene by David Bonham, was the stabbing of Peschke by Dr. Bigelow, which was not generally considered murder. But Waukesha County has had her full share of murders, as shown by the public records, and there have been two or three mysterious deaths within her limits which smell strongly of foul play, but no was ever arrested for any of these, nor could any clew as to the perpetrators be obtained.
The first murder in the county is remembered by all the old settlers ; and its story, with all the variations which time and personal enmity or friendship inevitably add, has been repeated scores of times to the younger generations. Some of the others, however, have nearly passed from the public mind, except the severing of the head of Christiana Werner, and the escape of her assassin from punishment.
First Murder in the County .- The highest /crime known to the law, that of life-taking, was wholly unthought of in Waukesha County up to 1845, when not only the people of this county, but of the whole State, were thrown into the wildest excitement by the report that David Bonham, a prominent politician here, and afterward in Missouri, had shot and killed Henry Keene, in Menomonee.
Very briefly stated, without touching upon the details or merits of the case, the facts are these : Thomas Phippin and one Nottingham had built a saw-mill in the southwest portion of the town of Menomonee, before the canal lands, on which it stood, had been sold. Soon after Mr. Phippin sold his interest in the property to Henry Keene, the firm thus becoming Notting- ham & Keene. According to sworn testimony, Mr. Nottingham soon after went to the land office at Milwaukee, without Mr. Keene's knowledge, and took a deed of the entire mill prop- erty in his own name, instead of allowing the title to rest in the firm name of Nottingham & Keene. Mr. Keene, after going to the land office and finding that he had no redress there, went to his partner and asked for some sort of an equitable and amicable settlement of the affair. Mr. Nottingham replied that he had no settlement to make, and refused to listen to any further propositions. Mr. Keene then went to the mill, determined to get some value for his investment, if possible, and began to displace and carry to Phippin's house, which was near by, such machinery and tools as he could, without help. This was discovered by David Bonham, who was laboring by the month for Mr. Nottingham, and who ordered Mr. Keene to leave the mill. His orders were disobeyed, Mr. Keene having, as he said, purchased an interest in the property, and expressed the opinion that he had a right to perfect freedom upon his own premises. Finding that he could not prevent the dismantling of the mill by such means as he had at hand, Bonham sent his brother to fetch a loaded gun. The simple appearance of the gun failing to have the desired effect, Mr. Bonham took deliberate aim and shot, the result being the death of Henry Keene. The horrible tragedy was witnessed by several persons, whose testimony furnishes the facts for the story of the murder. Other testimony, however, was to the effect
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that Mr. Nottingham wrote from Milwaukee to Bonham, that Mr. Keene was on his way to take possession of the mill, and to "be ready for him." The letter, so far as testimony shows, did not counsel violence. Testimony at this date is as conflicting as it was when Mr. Bonham was on trial for the murder of his neighbor, and some of those who have furnished information to the historian concerning this initial tragedy, have evidently forgotten some of the statements they swore to as facts during the trial at Racine ; so that little discrepancies in this account are unavoidable. Three things, however, are undisputed: This was the first murder in the county ; James Keene was so dead that he was buried, and he was perfectly alive and well before David Bonham shot him, in May, 1845.
Mr. Bonham was arrested without resistance, by Barzilea Douglass, and had his preliminary examination before William P. Sloan, Justice of the Peace, at Waukesha. Alexander W. Randall, afterward Governor of Wisconsin, and Postmaster General of the United States, was Bonham's attorney, and no man ever worked more persistently for his client than he did to clear the man charged with the first murder in the county. Mr. Sloan, "in spite of hard swearing and eloquent pleas," held Bonham for the murder, and committed him to the jail at Milwaukee, Waukesha County not then having been set apart and organized.
A change of venue was secured to Racine County, because the excitement was so great and the feeling was so bitter against Bonham that his advisers thought a fair trial and impartial justice could not be had at Milwaukee. The details of the long and well-contested trial will be of no value here ; suffice it to say he was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to the gallows, as hanging for capital crime had not then been abolished in this State. On being sentenced, Mr. Bonham, who was physically a very strong man, and who had borne up bravely until the sentence was pronounced, lost courage; but not so his attorney and friends, who at once set about securing intercession from the Governor. Every effort that could be made by shrewd attorneys and tireless friends was made in Bonham's behalf, the Governor's office being in a continual state of siege. Finally, several long temperance petitions which had, at the cost of several months of labor, been secured by Rev. Mr. Powers, and which contained the names of a large number of the prominent citizens of Waukesha and vicinity, fell into the hands of Bonham's friends, who cut the temperance petitions from the lists of names, and pasted in their stead a petition praying the Governor to grant the condemned man full and free pardon. On the strength of this petition the pardon was granted at the very last. Before this pardon, which was obtained in a manner not indorsed by the community, Gov. Dodge reprieved Bonham for one month. A large concourse of people had gathered at Racine to see the hanging (in December, 1847), but were disappointed, as Bonham was reprieved in the morning of the day set for his execution. The reprieve was taken by A. F. Pratt, who, with "old Whitey," a horse famous in those days for tireless speed, reached Racine with several hours to spare. The crowd, largely from Waukesha County, was very angry on learning what had been done, and one man made a speech in which he declared they " never could have a better opportunity for a first-class hanging, or a more deserving subject." No violence was attempted, however.
After this reprieve, and before the final day set for the execution, the emasculated petition above mentioned was sent to the Governor ; and not knowing its character, probably, he signed a full and free pardon. If possible, this caused greater excitement than the murder : but once done there was no remedy-Bonham was forever free. He had an opportunity, however, to attend two or three indignation meetings, held to denounce Gov. Dodge and the means used to induce that official to undo the work of the court, as well as those who had a hand in making fraudu- lent use of a temperance petition. Among those who composed the loads of people who went from Summit, Waukesha, Menomonee, Lisbon, and nearly every town in the county, to Racine, when Bonham was to be hung, were some who openly threatened to take the law from the hands of the Territorial officials, even after his return to this county, but fortunately these threats never were carried out.
Mr. Bonham, it should certainly be added, soon after went to Missouri, where he redeemed his past life, as far as possible, and held offices of trust and emolument with honor to his friends
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and credit to himself. As every man, woman and child in Waukesha County knows of him, and his name is always mentioned as though an interesting history clung about it, which is the case, the following sketch of his life, taken from the St. Joseph (Mo.) Union, of May 26, 1870, is here inserted for the benefit of those who only knew David Bonham as "the murderer of Henry Keene: "
" Col. David Bonham, one of the most remarkable men of the Northwest, died at his home on Empire Prairie, Andrew County, Mo., on Saturday last, at 7 P. M., after a long and painful illness, and his remains were interred at 1 P. M., on Monday, by his brother Odd Fellows. The · old hero is at rest. Let us learn a lesson from his life.
" David Bonham was the son of Robert and Jane Bonham, and was born in the town of Road, Northamptonshire, England, in 1809. His parents were poor, and the only educational advantages -so called-which he ever received, was three months' attendance at Sabbath school. Never in his life did he attend common school for a single day; yet, such was the energy of the man, that in his later years he acquired a comparatively thorough education. He embraced every oppor- tunity of obtaining information, and at length became, in the true sense of the term, self-educated. " At the early age of thirteen he left his home, and for eight years thereafter worked upon a farm. When twenty-one years old, he bade farewell to England, and emigrated to America, landing in New York. One year after his arrival, he was married to Miss Rebecca Weaver, a most estimable lady, who has shared his misfortunes for nearly forty years, and now mourns his loss. For six years he was in the employ of Stebbins & McEntee, on the Erie Canal, during most of which he occupied responsible positions.
" In 1836, deceased moved to Wisconsin, then a Territory, and resided in Milwaukee County for twenty years. He was an officer in the Legislature during the winters of 1840, 1841, 1842 and 1845, and discharged his duties to the satisfaction of all. For three years he was Justice of the Peace, and held the office of Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Town Clerk, etc., in the town of Lisbon, Milwaukee County. His fidelity in the discharge of his duties, together with his native talent, made him at all times a most efficient officer.
" In the spring of 1856, deceased came to Missouri, and purchased a large tract of land in Andrew County. In the fall of that year, he brought his family to his new location, and per- manently settled upon the farm where he died. It is a beautiful place, in the heart of one of the richest prairies of the West ; and here David Bonham spent most of his time for fourteen years. When the war broke out, and the country needed the aid of every man, David Bonham was among the first in the Northwest to come boldly forward to its defense. He sought no rank, but, shouldering his musket, enlisted as a private in the State militia. But talents such as his could be of more service in higher and more responsible positions, and he was shortly promoted. He remained at his post until failing health compelled him to resign.
" In 1865, he was chosen a member of the State Constitutional Convention, and our new constitution is stamped with the impress of his foresight and originality, several of the provisions having been drafted by him. In 1866, he was elected to the State Senate from Andrew County, and soon became one of the leading members, not so much by reason of his brilliant oratory, as by his strong practical common sense and heroic devotion to principle. The writer remembers conversing with a lobby member, during Col. Bonham's terms, who had some wild-cat railroad project to log-roll through the Legislature. 'I have got the House,' he said, "and would be sure of the Senate, but for Bonham. The old Spartan, suspecting something, has set himself dead against me, and all h-I can't make him budge an inch.
" In 1868, Col. Bonham was a candidate before the Republican State Convention for Lieuten ant Governor, but failed to get the nomination. Shortly afterward he sailed for England to visit his brothers and sisters, whom he had left thirty-nine years before. Finding some of their children and grandchildren wearing their lives away in drudgery, he organized an emigration scheme, on an extensive scale, corresponded with leading British journals, returned to America, engaged passage for a colony, arranged for their reception in New York, secured transportation for them to Missouri, and had the satisfaction of seeing all comfortably located and prosperous before his death.
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" Deceased had seven children-five of whom are now living-Robert, David, and William, and Mrs. Jane Brown, of Empire Prairie, and John Bonham, in St. Joseph. They are in every respect worthy of their sire.
" David Bonham is dead ! Republicanism in Missouri has lost a pillar. Deceased had his faults-like the rest of us-but he was ever true to principle. His nature was akin to the rough granite, which admits of no polish. He was of such stuff as constitutes heroes, and, like a primeval bowlder, has engraven his record upon the historic columns of the nineteenth century. No man had a better friend, or a more generous foe, than David Bonham."
Other Murders .- The second murder in the county was committed in the town of Merton on the 25th of June, 1850, when William Flanagan shot Francis Horel with a "horse-pistol." The shot did not result fatally at once, Horel lingering until July 5 following, or ten days, during which time he appeared before Vernon Tichenor and made a sworn ante-mortem state- ment, charging the murder upon Flanagan and reciting all the details of the shooting. The grand jury, at the November term of court, 1850, found a true bill of indictment against Flanagan for murder in the second degree, and Judge Hubbell, March 20, 1851, sentenced him to hard labor in the State Prison for five years. The case was thoroughly contested by the defense at Flanagan's trial, and after the sentence, which was a light one, a great effort was made to secure his pardon. This was impossible, as the murder was generally believed to have been cold-blooded and unprovoked, and none but near friends would sign the petition. Horel had been ordered to leave the place, and was obeying; but because he did not move as rapidly as was possible for him to have done, Flanagan shot him while he was mounting the stile ; according to the testimony, therefore, there was no cause whatever for the murder. The light sentence which Flanagan received was owing to the influence of his church and friends, who labored assiduously in his behalf.
The Waukesha County murder that was committed with the least provocation was the killing of John W. Craft, at Brookfield, by Francis H. Stevens, in 1857. The murder was committed in the true banditti style, for money, by the use of a heavy club, with which the victim's head was beaten almost to a jelly. The murderer, Francis H. Stevens, was only twenty years of age. He was convicted and sentenced June 20, 1857, to the State Prison for life ; but his attorney, Vernon Tichenor, never for a moment relaxed his labors in behalf of the con- viet, who, at the end of fifteen years, was pardoned by the Governor. The murder, for such it was in the fullest sense of the term, was committed January 19, 1857, for about $100 in gold, silver and bank bills. The instrument of death was a maple sapling four feet in length, taken from a pile of wood belonging to the school house near Brookfield Plank-road Junction. Craft, who was married, and twenty-eight years of age, had started, after dusk, to visit the residence of F. B. Ward, and was waylaid by his young friend, who was unmarried. At his capture $70, in such denom- inations as Craft was known to have shown, were found on Stevens' person. It was fortunate for the young criminal that he was convicted and sent to prison, for had he been acquitted there is little doubt that he would have been hung by a posse of men who had watched the trial from the beginning, with that purpose in view, and declared that no matter what the verdict might be, justice would certainly be administered by some one. This feeling was shared by a large portion of the community, because the manner in which Craft's life had been taken was so extremely brutal ; and the sum of money for which the deed was planned and executed so insig- nificant, being less than $100. To show how determined this spirit of vengeance was during the trial of young Stevens, it is only necessary to mention that a rope had been secured and a tree selected for the lynching, in case the jury should acquit him.
The town of Vernon is charged with one murder, but the man who committed it never was punished, except by the lashes which his own conscience has administered. The trouble which resulted in this murder grew out of a dispute about a pair of bars, between Lazarus Whipple and James Nolan. After bandying words for some time, and abusing each other according to respective ability, Whipple, who was a sharp pettifogger and very quick-tempered man, seized a heavy club and killed his companion then and there. Mr. Whipple was arrested by Romanto
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Peck, a Constable, who failed to hold his prisoner. The escape caused as great excitement as the murder, and Peck was then arrested for aiding Whipple to escape, and examined before Vernon Tichenor, Justice of the Peace, who held him for trial ; he was sentenced to the county jail for four months by the circuit court. Lazarus Whipple, who was one of the very first settlers in the town of Vernon, escaped to Texas; but whether he is now living is not known. The crime was committed August 21, 1852, and Peck was tried in December of that year. Mr. Nolan lived a few hours, long enough to make a dying statement which charged that the murder was committed by Lazarus Whipple without provocation. Whipple never was followed to Texas, because in those early days Texas was a long distance from Wisconsin, and thought to be a worse place to live in than the State Prison. He wrote to friends several times, saying he would return for a visit if such a course was considered safe; but the answers of his friends were such that he never came, so far as is known. By some of his friends it is claimed Mr. Whipple killed Nolan in self-defense.
Another murder must be charged against the town of Menomonee, the pioneer in the awful crime of taking human life. On the 25th of April, 1853, Hugh Drum, a young man still "in his teens," shot and killed his mother, Margaret Sullivan. Hugh's father was dead and his mother had married a second husband, named Sullivan. The shooting grew out of family dif- ficulties brought about by the second marriage. The examination of young Drum, which was before Vernon Tichenor, at Waukesha, occupied more than a week's time, and resulted in hold- ing him for trial. The trial was a peculiar one, the interference with witnesses by outsiders who interested themselves in Drum's behalf, causing some trouble, and finally resulting in his acquittal. It might easily be considered strange that a person charged with murder should be acquitted when neither self-defense nor insanity was set up as a defense. It was the result of the labors of numerous friends in his behalf.
The bloodiest and most shocking murder ever committed in this county was the killing of Christiana Werner, in the town of Genesee, by Eli Moyer, January 30, 1858. He threw her to the floor, and with an ax completely severed the head from the body. The indictment, which was very elaborate otherwise, did not state particularly the residence of Christiana Werner, and on that ground Moyer's counsel was only prevented from quashing the indictment by a prompt continuance of the case. The county was put to a large amount of costs in the preliminary work of the attempt to bring the murderer to justice, but everything turned to naught, except the efforts of J. P. Walker, Moyer's attorney, who finally secured the discharge of his client without even a trial, District Attorney Edwin Hurlbut moving that a nolle prosequi be entered, having concluded a conviction was impossible, which was done. This raised a storm of indignation, especially among the Germans ; but that was all there was of the matter. In Wau- kesha County, in January, 1858, Eli Moyer severed the head from the body of Christiana Werner, according to the testimony and indictment, and was discharged with only a partial trial !
The history of Muskego is also stained with human blood, and the stain is comparatively fresh. Dr. P. C. Bigelow, Joseph Peschke and others had, on the 25th of February, 1874, been drinking ; and, before the fun was over, a quarrel was begun by the two persons just mentioned. This altercation became very spirited, and Peschke followed Dr. Bigelow with a club, threat- ening violence. The threats and demonstrations being repeated several times, the Doctor turned and stabbed Peschke with a pocket-knife, fatally. Dr. Bigelow was arrested, tried for murder, convicted of manslaughter in the second degree, and sentenced to the State Prison for a short period-four years. Before the end of his term, in consideration that Peschke was killed partly in self-defense, the Doctor was pardoned, to have his freedom so long as he refrained from drinking. This proviso was broken and he was sent back, where he served his full term. He has not since been a resident of the county. He was considered an excellent physician and was for some years quite prominent as a politician, being a man of considerable ability.
EARLY MANUFACTURING.
The county of Waukesha lays claim to the honor of having had built within her borders the first thrashing machines, first mowing machines, and first railway cars erected in Wisconsin.
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In 1839, Hamilton Nelson, now a resident of Beloit, Wis., began the erection of thrash- ing machines. They were rightly named, for they did nothing more than to beat the grain out, then scattered grain, chaff and straw in a heap behind the machine, where one man stood with a fork to shake the loose kernels from the straw, which he then pitched farther to the rear, and another stood with a rake to push the grain and chaff into a pile at one side, to be afterward cleaned by a fanning-mill. Mr. Nelson's first inachine was built in his little log house, for his brother, John Nelson. When any stick of timber was too long to be handled in the house, the door was thrown open and one end allowed to protrude. Having nothing with which to pierce a hole lengthwise through the cylinder for the iron axle, Mr. Nelson, after find- ing a sound oak log, sawed it to the proper length, split it into halves, and, with a gouge cut grooves in eachı half at the heart, so that, when the log was again put together it had a hole through the centre. The axle was then inserted and the rifted block of wood banded together with iron. For teeth, Mr. Nelson drove round bars of iron into the oaken cylinder. For such iron work as he could not manufacture himself, he sent East, where he had been a thrashing- machine manufacturer. Mr. Nelson made several of these primitive thrashers, horse-powers and all, and they ran for many years without repairs.
These, so far as known, were the first thrashing machines built in Wisconsin. A small portion of one of them is still to be seen under an old shed in the town of Pewankee.
The first mowing machine built in the county, and doubtless in the State, was the work of Andrew McCormick, one of the very earliest settlers of the county. It would be considered a very ungainly piece of machinery to-day, if put by the side of a solid iron " Walter A. Wood mower," for instance. One old settler says it " resembled a large barn after the boards had all been blown from its frame." The first trial of the capabilities of this wonderful machine was made on Nathaniel Walton's land, near the present site of the State Industrial School for Boys. It actually cut some grass ; pulled up a great deal, and beat the balance down most admirably. Although of but little practical value, this awkward piece of mechanism was the foundation on which Mr. McCormick afterward built a machine which operated successfully ; but of his subse- quent success little can be said here, as he left Waukesha County soon after building his first machine.
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