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 89

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 89

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The surface is not quite level, but just about right in wave and swell to drain nicely ; and when covered with a luxurious growth of crops, dotted here and there by clumps of green trees, presents as rich and attractive a picture as can be desired. In 1874, Mr. Van Brunt began his improvement in building by erecting a horse barn, the front built of stone, being 40x48 feet, two stories high, the north rear attachment to the above being a frame building 36x120 feet, two stories, making this building 160 feet long. The interior front is divided into a carriage. room and office, and two box stalls sixteen feet square. The rear has a long passage-way through to. the center, and the sides are divided into box stalls from twelve to sixteen feet square, and all are ceiled and finished in the most approved manner. When this stable was built, Mr. Van Brunt expected to engage extensively in raising blooded horses, but finding that it does not pay, the stalls are to be converted into sheep pens. This barn is connected with the ashery and other buildings, before mentioned, by a long poultry house and apartments for brood mares and sheep, making the whole southern front from outside corner of chapel to outside corner of carriage and horse barn, 250 feet in length. Connected with the chapel, and running back south, is an ice house and wagon and machinery sheds, 16x110 feet; then directly south of this, and running east. and west, is a building containing granary, corn-crib, room for boiling feed, and a hog pen. The granary is 20x30 feet, two stories high, the outside walls being lined with brick. The corn-crib is 18x48 feet; the room for boiling feed is 18x24 feet ; the hog pen 18x48 feet, making a building 150 feet long. Besides these various buildings, there is also a cattle barn 46x48 feet, two stories high, with basement. It is estimated by the proprietor that there are ample accommodations for forty horses, fifty cattle, fifty hogs and five hundred sheep. It may be added that these various buildings are completely finished throughout and painted. The dwelling- house, which is approached from the south by graveled drive-ways, is built of Milwaukee brick, and gotten up throughout in a very elaborate manner. Mr. James Douglass, architect, planned, in this case, a model country residence, with a handsome exterior and convenient interior. About fifty or sixty yards southeast of the house, under a clump of fine trees, is a magnificent spring, the Ajalon, which supplies the house with water. This spring is ten or twelve feet in diameter, has a wonderful flow, and is extremely cold and very pure and healthful. A short dis- tance farther south, on the bank of Bark River, are two more springs bursting out of the ground within a few feet of each other, one being clear and pure, the other an iron mineral spring-such are nature's freaks. The flow from these springs is also very liberal. The analysis of the Ajalon Spring, by G. Bode, of Milwaukee, is as follows :

Total quantity of solid substances. 27.336 grains.

Bicarbonate of magnesia

9.1552 grains.

Chloride of sodium

0.2398

Bicarbonate of iron.

0.0877

Sulphate of soda.

0.4738

Alumina.

0.1462

Bicarbonate of soda. 1.1992

Silica.

0.9360

Bicarbonate of lime. 14.6484

Organic matter 0.4504

This farm, situated on the east half of Section 34, town of Summit, was awarded the pre- mium by the Commissioners first mentioned.

POPULATION OF THE COUNTY AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.

In comparing the population of Waukesha with other counties, it should be borne in mind that she has no large cities or centers of population, and only two places that really are entitled to consideration in computing the population of towns. And also, that she has but sixteen

582

HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

towns and a very large area of water. With these facts taken into consideration, the growth of her population has been steady, and as rapid as a healthy growth can be. In 1834, the county contained three persons, Morris D. and Alonzo R. Cutler and Henry Luther. In 1835, it was about fifteen, though whether more or less, it is difficult to determine, as several persons came for the summer and returned to the East during the winter. The census of 1838 may be found elsewhere ; that of 1840 shows the following numbers : Genesee, 238; Lisbon, 116; Menomonee, 59; Mukwonago, 172 ; Muskego, 130; New Berlin, 199; Pewaukee, 222; Prairieville, 450; Summit, 335; Vernon, 187; total, 2,108. This represents an influx of over 2,000 persons in less than five years, for there was not a single white person spent the winter of 1834-35 in Waukesha County, and the census of 1840 was taken early in the year. The amount of in- crease was therefore about 500 per year.

June 1, 1846, a census report was made as follows :

Males.

Females.

Total.

Prairieville

874

790

1,664

Vernon

346

293

639

Muskego

463

404

867

New Berlin

485

443

928

Brookfield

500

480

980

Lisbon

459

380

839

Menomonee

466

436

902

Merton

399

345

744

Pewaukee

563

455

1,018

Delafield

376

314

690

Genesee

512

397

909

Mukwonago

464

377

841

Eagle.

384

308

692

Ottawa

251

232

483

Summit.

420

371

791

Oconomowoc.

418

306

724

Total

7,380

6,331

13,733

The county contained 24 colored persons-14 in Prairieville, 7 in Brookfield and 3 in Lisbon. The greatest discrepancy between the male and female population was in Genesee, where there were 115 more males than females; and the least in Brookfield, where there were only 20 more men than women.

The United States census of 1850, showed that Waukesha County contained 19,258, of whom 75 adults could not read or write. Sixty-eight of those who were unable to read and write were foreigners; the balance were born in America. The report, more in detail, is as fol- lows :

Male.

Female.

Total.

Colored.

Total.

Brookfield

1,115

808

1,923

1,938

Delafield

606

528

1,134

Eagle.

440

374

814

816

Genesee

704

584

1,288

1,289

Lisbon.

555

481

1,036

Menomonee.

696

644

1,340

Merton

529

437

966

Muk wanago.

580

514

1,094

Muskego.

594

517

1,111

New Berlin

665

628

1,293

Oconomowoc.

657

557

1,214

1,216

Ottawa

415

378

793

Pewaukee.

589

517

1,106

Summit

481

443

924

Vernon

468

421

889

'889

Waukesha

1,202

1,086

2,288

2,313

Total

10,296

8,917

19,213

19,258

583

HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

In 1855, the population of the county was 24,012 ; in 1860, 26,831, and in 1865, 27,029. The following table shows the population by towns, as returned at the last three enumera- tions :

1870.

1875.

1880.

Gain in 5 years.

Loss in 5 years.

Brookfield

2,281

2,228

2,104

124

Delafield.

1,364

1,509

1,455

Eagle

1,256

1,224

1,158

Genesee

1,462

1,376

1,366

Lisbon

1,384

1,421

1,453 32

.....

Menomonee

2,350

2,348

2,248

100

Merton

1,612

1,522

1,578

.....

Mukwonago.

1,261

1,135

1,084

Muskego

1,409

1,450

1,423

New Berlin

1,809

1,707

1,620

Ottawa

923

893

838

Oconomowoc.

1,523

1,474

1,335

139

Oconomowoc City

1,408

2,121

2,174

.....

Pewaukee

1,818

2,080

2,193

113

.....

Summit

1,358

1,159

1,138

Vernon

1,180

1,247

1,175

Waukesha

1,244

1,735

1,644

Waukesha Village.

2,633

2,807

2,978

171

Totals

28,274 29,436 28,964

425

897

Thus, the total loss in the county during the last five years is the difference between 425, (the gains in towns of Lisbon, Merton, Pewaukee, village of Waukesha and city of Oconomowoc), and 897, the losses in the balance of the towns, which is 472. This loss is owing to the emi- gration of the younger portion of the population to the cities, and the unoccupied lands of the West. When, however, the West is more generally filled, the increase in population will go on again in Waukesha County.

SOME OF WAUKESHA COUNTY'S DISTINGUISHED DEAD.

Hardly a county in Wisconsin has a longer list of men distinguished in politics, war, the State and the nation, than Waukesha. The list is not here complete ; but as many sketches as the friends of the dead would furnish are inserted. The chapter is somewhat lengthy, but it will be both valuable and interesting. Any history is necessarily a narration of the achievements of men; for without men this book could not have been made, and Waukesha County would still have been a wilderness.

JACOB LINSLEY BEAN.

Jacob L. Bean was born in Williston, Vt., March 17, 1809. His childhood and youth, up to his sixteenth year, were spent in his native place. He was descended from a Scottish family bearing the name of McBean, the prefix to the name having been dropped by the branch of the family that came to America. He had the misfortune, while yet a child, to lose his father, an estimable man, respected and beloved in the community in which he lived, and was left to his own guidance and thrown upon his own resources. After completing an elementary education in the public school, he entered a mercantile house as a clerk. A short experience in this capacity, however, was all that he required. He soon became an expert in business methods, and ambitious to establish for himself an independent career. His first ven- ture as a business man was as a manufacturer of iron, in Clinton County, N. Y., being at the same time extensively interested in the lumber traffic. It was quite apparent from the first that he was destined to succeed, as he soon developed in his character and methods all of the elements of success. Untiring industry and an energy both of mind and body, seldom equaled, marked him as an exceptionally superior man of affairs. He brushed away obstacles that would have

584

HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

appalled other men, and, once having undertaken an enterprise, he knew no such word as fail. The great West offering, as it did, a boundless field for enterprise and pluck, lured him hither- ward. After disposing of his business interests in the State of New York, he came with his family to Milwaukee, in the spring of 1840, and became at once engaged in business as a merchant, and in various enterprises in the direction of laying the foundation for that beautiful city. Among them was the building of a large hotel known as the " American House." This commodious structure will be well and pleasantly remembered by all early settlers. It was burned in 1860, and superseded by the present " Plankinton House." Mr. Bean was prominent among that small band of sagacious and enterprising citizens of the State who first undertook the construction of a railway leading from Milwaukee westward ; and in connection with Byron Kilbourn, E. D. Holton and other pioneers, distinguished for their zeal and ability in developing the resources of this State, he was largely instrumental in setting on foot that great enterprise which resulted in the construction of a railway two hundred miles in length, from Milwaukee to Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River. Subsequently, he was even more intimately connected with the project of building the Milwaukee & La Crosse Railway. He was the first President of the company, and in that capacity, with marked ability and business tact, directed its affairs until the road was completed to the station known as Iron Ridge. The great deposit of iron ore in that locality attracted his attention, and surrendering the control of the railroad scheme into other hands, he purchased a large interest in this mine, and for a second time in his business career became engaged in the manufacture of iron. Here again he was successful, and in a short time established a flourishing and prosperous business. It was while thus engaged that his life was brought to a sudden close. He had been absent from home, and returning on the 5th of May, 1855, he complained of a severe pain in his head. This soon developed into congestion of the brain, and on the 8th day of the same month, and in the forty-sixth year of his age, he died. His untimely death was not alone an irreparable loss to his family-it was a loss as well to the community and State in which he lived, for he had been in a most conspicuous way a public-spirited man-helpful, zealous and capable. He was the father of a large family, and in his own home was a light and a blessing. To the world, he was justly known as a man of high character, of kindly impulses and of good deeds.

PITTS ELLIS.

Among the noted officials of Waukesha County, was Pitts Ellis, a native of Genesee County, N. Y., born February 29, 1808. He was educated and spent his early life in Cayuga County, N. Y .; was married in Cattaraugus County, in that State, to Lucia M. Balcom, a native of Ontario County. In 1841, Mr. Ellis settled at North Prairie, in this county, where he began farming that year. In 1843, he built the first frame house in Genesee Village, and engaged in the shoemaking business, in which he continued for a number of years. Mr. Ellis was a stanch and steadfast Democrat; was the first Justice of the Peace in Genesee ; was Register of Deeds two years during the war, and has held various town offices. He was a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1844; a member of the First Constitutional Convention and of the Legislature of 1850. While a resident of Genesee, he relinquished shoemaking and devoted his attention to farming and speculating in grain, associating with Tredway & Barker, well known merchants of that village. Mr. Ellis also operated as speculator in Milwaukee, for four or five years, in which business he lost every dollar of his property. The last few years of his event- ful life were spent in Genesce, where he died February 1, 1875. The frame house built by Mr. Ellis is still standing, and is occupied by the Lee family. Mrs. Ellis, a well-preserved and intelligent lady of sixty-six gave the above facts, and is prouder of nothing done by her husband than that he cast his vote for Horace Greeley in 1872. Whatever his faults, Pitts Ellis had the name of being an honorable man, and was respected most by those who had known him best and longest.

DENNISON WORTHINGTON

Few men have a greater claim to a distinguished position among the illustrious dead of Waukesha County than Dennison Worthington, though he gave but a comparatively

585

HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

small portion of his life to the public, and never obtained, or sought to obtain, many of the higher positions of honor and trust which were within his reach. In the absence of bet- ter and more specific data as to his life and career, extracts from several newspapers, printed where he was well known, will here be presented and preserved in his honor. The following is from the Madison (Wis.) State Journal of April 24, 1880 :

" The telegraph brings the sad and unlooked-for tidings of the death of Hon. Dennison Worthington. He died suddenly, at the home of his son, William C. Worthington, in Denver, Colo., Friday, April 23, 1880."

Mr. Worthington was born in Connecticut, but lived in Albany, N. Y., after he had grown to man's estate, for many years, and was a highly esteemed citizen of that place; he was the second President of the Albany Young Men's Association, and served as a member of the Com- mon Council some years. In 1847, he removed to Wisconsin, and bought a farm near Summit, Waukesha County. He was a member of the Assembly in 1852 and 1854, and a Senator from 1855 until 1861, taking part in the investigation of the La Crosse Land Grant scandal, as Chairman of the Investigating Committee. In 1861, he was elected Secretary of the Madison Mutual Insurance Company, and filled that position until 1874, when he was compelled to resign on account of poor health. Since that time his home has been in Chicago, but latterly he has been making trips to the West in pursuit of health, and has been living in Denver for some time.

"The deceased was a brother-in-law of Hon. Andrew Proudfit, of Madison City. He was an active and consistent member of the Episcopal Church, and while in that city was an earn- est communicant of Grace Church.

"Mr. Worthington was about seventy-four years of age at the time of his death. He was so well and so generally known, not only in Madison but throughout the State, that there is no need to recount his many virtues, or do more than state the fact of his decease. The bare mention will recall in many a heart the memory of his venerable appearance, of his gentle voice, of his win- ning, genial address. He was one of nature's noblemen, and all his natural gifts were height- ened and sanctified by Christian principle and a holy life. The world is better, not only for the life-work, but, for the memory of such a man, and many a soul to-day is nearer Heaven because of his example and influence. His removal from Madison and from the parish of Grace Church, of which he had been for fourteen years the Senior Warden, left a blank that has never been filled and never can be ; but the thought of what he would have said and would have coun- seled, had he been here, has been of greater influence than any of us can express. Of him we can one and all say, in the Spirit's words : ' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth, for they rest from their labors and their works do follow them.'"

The following appeared in the Oconomowoc Free Press of May 1, 1880 :

" Sorrowing relatives and sincere friends will alike mourn, with heartfelt grief, the death of the Hon. Dennison Worthington, who, it is learned from private advices, died at Denver, Colo., on Friday, April 23, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. Mr. Worthington was at one time a promi- nent character in legislative, political and commercial circles in Wisconsin, and was for many years a resident of Madison. He was one of the first settlers of Summit, this county, and owned the farm now owned by J. M. Putney, at Genesee Lake. In 1852, he was elected a member of the Legislature, and again in 1854. He was elected a member of the Senate in 1858-59 and 1860-61. In 1862, he removed to Madison, and took the position of Secretary of the Madison Mutual Insurance Company, and it was during his connection with this company that the brightest years of its existence are recorded. Some five or six years ago, he established his home in Chicago, and, surrounded by children, continued his residence there until in the summer of 1879 when, with his unmarried daughter, he removed to Denver. Since locating there, he enjoyed excellent health, and, despite his great age, his death had not been foreshadowed to his relatives and friends in Chicago and throughout the Northwest, and the announcement of his demise came with all the force of a surprise. Throughout his-life, Mr. Worthington gained the esteem

586

HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

of men of every grade, and nowhere in the world had he any enemies. His personal popularity rested upon a respect that was richly deserved, and a good will that was justly his due. He was an upright man in the truest and strongest sense of the word.

" His remains were forwarded from Denver to Chicago; thence to this city, where they arrived at 2 o'clock, Friday morning, whence they were conveyed to Nashotah, where the funeral services were held at 12 o'clock, and were conducted by Bishop Welles, assisted by resident and visiting clergy. Interment in Summit Cemetery."

The following is an extract from an article which appeared in the Waukesha Freeman in May, 1880 :

" Mr. Worthington was a legislator of more than usual ability, but his chief claim to dis- tinction here is the fact that he was

-' Faithful found Among the faithless-faithful only he,'-

in the midst of that amazing curruption in the year 1856, when substantially the whole State govern- ment, including the Legislature as well as the departments, and also including the editors of many of the principal newspapers then published, were bribed with La Crosse Railroad bonds to author- ize the issue of those swindling securities. Dennison Worthington was one of the few mem- bers of the Senate who escaped unsmirched in the investigation that followed a year or two after. That Waukesha County sent one of the few honest men in that memorable Legisla- ture is pleasant for us to contemplate when we remember the affair at all, and this pleasure is wholly owing to Senator Worthington. Such virtue should not be allowed to sink into oblivion in a quarter of a century, but we doubt whether more than a very small percentage of our readers would recollect, without this or some similar reminder of the fact, the claim which the late Senator had upon our gratitude. In 1861, Mr. Worthington left his humble residence in the town of Summit to become Secretary of the Madison Insurance Company, and occupied that position until 1874, when he resigned, on account of the weight of years, and removed to Chicago. He was a studious, thoughtful man, of more than ordinary intellectual powers, and an intimate knowledge of English literature, the old writers being his favorites, and furnishing him a vast fund of anecdote and quotation."

.MATTHIAS J. BOVEE.

Matthias J. Bovee was born in Amsterdam, Montgomery Co., N. Y., on the 24th day of July, 1793. His father dying when Matthias was but fourteen years of age, and being the eldest son, the care of a widowed mother and the younger children devolved upon him. He taught school during the winter seasons, and was employed on a farm during the summer months. At the age of twenty-two, he became a merchant, and, many years, and until a short time before his removal West, he was engaged in that occupation. In 1825, he was elected a member of the Assembly of New York, having previously represented his town for a number of times in the County Board of which he was several times Chairman. Mr. Bovee voted for the first railroad charter in the United States (1826) authorizing the construction of the Albany & Schenectady road. In 1834, Mr. Bovee was elected to Congress from the district composed of the counties of Montogmery, Fulton and Hamilton. He was elected as a Jackson Democrat, and represented his district two years in Congress. In 1843, Mr. Bovee, with his family, con- sisting of his wife, nine children, mother and other relatives, moved to Wisconsin, going around the lakes and landing in Milwaukee on the 8th day of June of that year. He resided in that city for two months, when he moved to the town of Eagle, where he resided until the time of his death, which occurred on the 12th day of September, 1872, being then in his eightieth year. In politics, Mr. Bovee was a Democrat ; in religion, a Universalist. His funeral occurred on the 15th of September, 1872, the ceremonies being in charge of the Masons, to which society he had belonged for over fifty years, and of which he was a Royal Arch member.

REV. JOHN ADAMS SAVAGE.

John A. Savage, for many years President of Carroll College, was born on the 9th of October, 1800, in Salem, Washington Co., N. Y. He was the son of Abraham and Mary

587

HISTORY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY.

Savage, substantial farmers in that county. His early life was passed in the discipline of farm duties. His literary tastes were soon noticed and encouraged. He fitted for college in Salem Academy, in his native town, and graduated in the classical course from Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1820. While teaching before entering college, he also pursued theological studies ; he completed his course under the tuition of the well-known Rev. Dr. Maxwell. of Delhi, N. Y. He was licensed to preach in May, 1825, and, after having supplied several destitute churches by appointment of the Presbytery, he was settled over his first charge, and was or- dained at Fort Covington, Franklin Co., N. Y., in 1827, and served that people five years. He was even in early life a successful educator. Prior to 1824, he was several years acceptable Princi- pal of Delaware Academy, at Delhi, N. Y. When at Covington five denominations worshiped in the church of which he was Pastor. He finished a room over his woodshed for a schoolroom, and gathered a little band of tuition pupils. One of them was a young man named Silver, in whose mind he aroused an ambition for the highest culture, and whose soul was awakened to a higher life. When Dr. Savage came to Waukesha, twenty-five years afterward, he found the said Silver as Pastor of the Baptist Church in this village. Verily he saw the fruit of his labors and was satisfied. He was married, April 21, 1828, to Miss Eliza Turner, of his native place. They had six children-Mary E., John A., Eliza T., Harriet F., dead ; Edward, born in 1840, now a minister in Minnesota ; William T., born in 1844, and now living in Waukesha. After leaving Covington, he served twenty years as Pastor of a large church at Ogdensburg, N. Y. In 1850, he resigned his pastorate to take the presidency of Carroll College, which then existed only on paper. A preparatory school had been previously established in the basement of the Presbyterian Church, and it was the nucleus of the proposed college. For some years, his duties were chiefly those of organizer and financial agent. Carroll College had been chartered by the Territorial Legislature in January, 1846, but until the advent of Dr. Savage, in 1850, nothing had been accomplished toward its organization, more than merely to secure the perpetuity of its charter privileges. By his tireless efforts, and the co-operation of Christian liberal men, a neat, commodious stone edifice, adapted to all the purposes of instruction, was completed in 1854 ; and in 1855 the college was equipped with a competent faculty and began its educational work under the presidency of Dr. Savage. On the 15th of July, 1857, was held the first commencement of Carroll College. The faith, skill and genius of Dr. Savage were rewarded by seeing a class of six able young men go forth to be and do what would have been impossible had they not borne the wise and loving impress of his inspiring soul. The col- lege never received the financial support expected ; yet the Doctor struggled on, teaching, preach- ing, and bearing the heavy burdens of the young enterprise. His health was impaired by oppressive labor and the lack of official support. Full collegiate work was not done after 1860. Dr. Savage died at his home in Waukesha, corner of East Division street and College ave- nue, December 13, 1864. He was an educator both from choice and special adaptation. Earnest, positive, tireless and magnetic, for him to live and move among men was to teach. Truths sec- ular and sacred were enforced by the strong truth of his character. Wise and loved in the schoolroom, logical and persuasive in the pulpit, affable and reliable, his was a well-balanced character and a well-rounded life.

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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 89

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