USA > Wisconsin > Dodge County > The history of Dodge county, Wisconsin, containing its early settlement, growth an extensive and minute sketch of its cities war record, biographical sketches > Part 49
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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
LETTER FROM AN OLD SETTLER.
The following very interesting chapter of reminiscenees is from the pen of James H. War- ren, now a resident of Swan Lake City, Emmet County, Iowa, who was the first settler in the town of Hubbard, Dodge County. Mr. Warren once wrote an extended history of this county, but, unfortunately, his manuscript was destroyed by fire, together with other valuables. Appre- ciating the importance of a work of this character, Mr. W. kindly and willingly consented to draw upon his memory for a few facts relative to pioneer days in Wisconsin. By a perusal of his letter, many of Mr. Warren's old Dodge County acquaintances will discover that he has been more successful than they in county seat matters :
ALGONA, Iowa, November 8, 1879.
II. C. HANSBROUGH, EsQ .- Dear Sir : Yours of October 29 is received. My time is very much occupied at present, but feeling a lively interest in the work in which you are now engaged, I will endeavor to call up some reminiscences of the past, and hope the substance thereof may find a place in your valuable work, so as to live in the future. As I was not the first settler in the county, and my MS. record of the early days is lost, I can speak posi- tively only of such matters as came under my own observation. Of matters pertaining to the settlement previous to May, 1845, you will be obliged to seek information from others. Not having visited Dodge County for many years past, I know not who, among the old pioneers, may now be living, or, if living, where now located. 1 will name a few who, if living, could give you much valuable information : Ilon. Hiram Barber, A. II. Atwater, Ethan Owen, Waldo and Durkie Lyon, George and Ranslow Smith, Morris Grout, E. C. Lewis, Silas Grover, Silas Hemstreet, Garry Taylor, James Rogers, Dr. Stoddard Judd, Alvin and William Foster, Amasa Hyland, Chester May, Solomon, Narcisse and Paul Juneau, Lucas S. Van Orden, HI. D. Patch, Robert Whittaker, Lathrop Horton, Martin Rich, Sr., Alfred Wheelock, and many others whose names I do not now recall. Those above named are such as I call to mind, irre- spective of locality, as being among the old pioneers.
Dodge County was organized in 1844, under the Territorial Government. It was thirty miles square, contain- ing, in round numbers, 900 square miles, and it was provided that it could never be subdivided so as to reduce its area below 900 square miles. Efforts have since been made to divide the county, but have invariably been met by the Constitutional barrier above referred to ; hence its boundaries still remain unchanged.
The first white settlers located in the county about the year 1838, or perhaps a year later. But I desire to go back of this date and relate an incident or two, given me by Narcisse Juneau, at the time I was collecting matter for the history which I prepared in 1859 and 1860. There are two towns in the county bearing the names of two daring frontiersmen, viz., Burnett and Clyman. In 1837, these men started from Milwaukee on a hunting and trapping expedition into the then unsettled part of the Territory now known as Dodge County, which at this period contains a white population considerably in excess of forty thousand. Before leaving Milwaukee, they agreed with Solomon Juneau that his son, Narcisse, then a lad of ten or twelve years, should accompany them to act in the capacity of interpreter with the Indians, After the departure of the party, Mrs. Juneau was so troubled with forehodings of evil that she persuaded Solomon to send a friendly Indian on the trail. He overtook the party on the old Milwaukee and Fond du Lac trail, about twenty miles out from Milwaukee, and returned the lad in safety to his anxious mother. Burnett and Clyman proceeded on their journey to the point where the trail crossed the Ossian or East Fork of Rock River, and where the picturesque little village of Theresa now stands. Ilere they purchased a canoe from the Indians, intending to make their way down the Fork to the Great Winnebago Marsh, afterward known as Lake Horicon. A little before sunset, they had reached a point in the river, called the ". Ox Bow," in what is now the town of Theresa. The men had hauled up their canoe, started a fire, and Burnett had stepped a short distance away to gether some dry branches for fuel, when both men were fired upon by Indians. Burnett was shot dead on the spot, and Clyman was wounded. By this time it was nearly dark, and Clyman, seeing no safety except in instant flight, ran at his best speed, hotly pursued by one of the Indians. The darkness increased as he fled from his pursuer. until it was with the greatest difficulty that he avoided injury to himself from coming in contact with trees. lle finally came to a large tree that had fallen and lay directly in his way. Leaping over, he dropped behind and par- tially under it (the Indian jumping over him and passing on), where he lay concealed till about midnight, when he resumed his flight and after several days' wandering made his way back to Milwaukee. The two Indians who pur- sued the white men and killed Burnett, afterward told Mr. Juneau the story, fully corroborating the statement as given by Clyman.
About this time, the Indians held a great council, to take into consideration a project for the utter extermina- tion of all the white settlers then in the Territory. This great council was held on the high mound on Rolling Prairie, a little distance north of the old George Smith farm. Solomon Juneau, then at. Milwaukee, knowing of the council and its object, made his way to the spot. After quietly listening to the " talk " of the red meo, he then addressed the council, telling them of the great power and resources of the white men; that, though their plan might be temporarily successful, the final end could be none other than disastrous to the Indians. Mr. Juneau was regarded as a great and good man by the Indians, and, after mature deliberation, his advice was followed, the council dispersed, and the early settlements in the Territory were saved from the horrors of a terrible Indian mas- sacre. The descendants of the early pioneers of Wisconsin owe to Solomon Juneau a debt of gratitude, the magni- rude of which few have any idea.
I come now to speak of the first settlement of a few towns which came under my own observation, and of which I can speak positively. Among the first settlers in Fairfield (now Oak Grove, I think) were Ethan Owen, Morris Grout, William Pratt, B. Snow, Richard F. Rising, James Riley, Allen H. Atwater, John Warren, Martin
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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
Rich. Sr .. Garry Taylor, Hiram Barber, - Harrison, Silas Hemstreet, Amasa Hyland, Durkie and Waldo Lyon. The date of settlement was about 1813 or 1844. The county seat is located at Juneau in this township.
The first whites that settled in the town of Hubbard were Mrs. Delight Warren, Elwin Warren, C. F. Warren, wife and one child, J. H. Warren, Mrs. Louisa H. Cornell (widow) and daughter, Elwin Giddings, wife and one child, and James Broughton. This little colony located on Section 5, Town No. 11 north, Range 16 east, the date of settlement being May 19, 1845. During the summer and fall of that year, quite a colony of Germans made choice of the southern portion of this township, so that at the first town meeting, held at my house on the 7th day of April, 1846. something over thirty votes were polled. During the winter of 1846-47, William M. Larrabee, who had pur- chased from Gov. Hubbard, of New Hampshire, a large traet of land on Section 6, commenced building the dam at Horicon, at about the same time laying out the village of that name. He also built a large house of tamarack logs, one part of which was used for a store and the other for a dwelling-housc. H. B. Marsh opened the first blacksmith- shop. The waiter-power an I unfinished dam soon passed into the hands of Martin Rich & Sons, who completed the improvement, and, for many years afterward, did a profitable business. The dam was built by Joel R. Doolittle, myself and brother furnishing all the plank for the flumes.
The town of Williamstown, of which Mayville is the principal village, was first opened up to white settlers in May, 1815, by Alvin and William Foster, and Chester May. These gentlemen selected the site for their mills. com- meucell the dam and huilt the saw-mill in the summer of 1>45. The saw-mill frame was raised in the fall of that year, the running-gear put in and the work of sawing lumber commenced some time in November or December. The flouring-mill was put up by the same company a year later. In January, 1818, John Orr, James White and Skilmore E. Lefferts, from the Mishawaka Iron Works purchase l the extensive iron-ore bels located in Hubbard and Herman Townships and commencel the erection of the iron furnace at Mayville. Nearly a whole year was eon- sumed in building it. As soon as the furnace was well at work, a plank-road was projected and built from Mayville to Oconomowoc. The year previous to making the improvements just referred to, Samuel Jewett built a large saw. mill in this township, at a place now ealled Kekoskee. The water-power at Kekoskee was first selected in the sum- mer of 1815, by Stephen Walkley, who sold his claim to Jewett.
late in the fall of 1845, two men called at the house of the writer hereof and stated that they were looking for lanl. One of the men appeared to be an Englishiuan, stout built, and seemingly in possession of considerable money. His traveling companion had every appearance of a hard character. They remainel a short time and then resumed their course, following the old trail northward. As such occurrences were very frequent. nothing was thought of it and the fact was nearly forgotten. But the next summer there transpired an event that called all those circumstances fresh into remembrance. James Fletcher and another man were making hay on the borders of the Great Winnebago Marsh near the place where the East Fork enters the marsh. In passing to and from their work. they had to cross a small creek near where the old trail crossed. Here, hidden under the banks, they discovered the holy of a man in the last stages of decomposition. As soon as it could be done, a post-mortem examination was had. with the usual result in such cases. It was evilent that the deceased came to his death by violenec, the skull having been fractured by a heavy blow, but by whom no one knew. The clothing found around the remains, also the height as appeared by the skeleton, answeredl the description of the Englishman before alluded to. I do not remember that any inquiry was ever made for the man.
Lathrop Horton, with his wife, one son and two daughters, was the first white man who settled in the town of Herman. The date of his settlement was March, 1846. The first couple married in Herman were the writer hereof and Miss Augusta B. Horton, daughter of the above-named pioneer. The event took place on the 16th day of Sep- tember. 1846. James Broughton, Esq., officiating, and every family then living in the two towns-Herman and Hub- bard-being witnesses of the ceremony. In the course of the summer of 1846, quite a large number of Germans enme and settled in this township, and a little later the " Cole Settlement " was begun, in the southeastern corner of the township. at a place now known as Woodland Station, on the Milwaukee & La Crosse Railroad. The township filled up very rapidly with a good class of German farmers who have developed the hidden riches of the soil and made it in agricultural importance one of the first towns in the county.
In the spring of 1845, a gentleman by the name of Cotton commenced the erection of a dam on the Ruhicon, at what is now the village of 'Neosho. But before the mill was far advanced. the whole property passed into the hands of Lucus S Van Orden, who finished the work and laid ont the village. By his business energy and steady perseverance, Mr. Van Orden succeeded in building up a lively place and a prosperous business.
Late in the fall of 1844, or early in the winter of 1844-45, John Hustis, formerly of Milwaukee, began erect- ing a dam on Rock River, at Hustis' Rapids, now Ilustisford. Mr. Hustis not being a practical mill man, the work progressed rather tardily, but was finally finished, the mills being built and operated with good profit to the propri- etor. Some dithiculty arose between the proprietors of Hustisford and those at lloricon, during the spring of 1846, on account of the back-water from the Hustisford dam, and, if my memory is not at fault, the dam was cut down a little so as to prevent its flowing baek into the Horicon mills.
Among the early pioneers of Dodge County, it frequently happened that two or three men fell desperately in love with the same piece of land. In all such cases, it turned out that the fellow who could get to the Land Office with his morey first was the lucky one. These little contests were known as " Green Bay raees," the U. S. Land Office then being at Green Bay. I have a distinet recollection of some of those trials of speed and endurance. In 1844, there were, at Oak Grove, three or four individuals who each wanted a certain tract of land. I cannot now call to mind the names of all the interested parties, but will relate the circumstance, and undoubtedly some " old settler " can supply the names. Two men. each believing that no one but himself knew his errand, had started for Green Bay, to enter the aforesaid tract of land. About dark on that same day, it having become known that two men were on the road to the Land Offiee, and both after the same piece of land, Richard F. Rising said to one James Riley, that he (Rising) would furnish the money, and pay a very liberal sum besides, to any man who would get to Green Bay and enter that land ahead of those who had already been several hours on the road, and well mounted. The reply of Mr.
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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
Riley was, "Give me the money to pay for the land, and if I fail it shan't cost you a cent." The money was forth- coming, and Riley, after laying in a full supply of crackers and cheese, started within fifteen minutes after the words were spoken, Taking a kind of "dog-trot," as he expressed it, he struck out in the darkness of night, and before the next day dawned had passed both the mounted men. Never halting, except to drink from some cool spring or clear brook that came in his way, he made the distance (ninety miles), entered the land in question, and the next day, while on his way back, met the two horsemen, crowding their horses to the full extent of their powers. Mr. Riley is still living, near Rochester, Minn. Mr. Rising passed to his final rest many years ago.
One more incident of this nature, in which the writer of this article cut a somewhat conspicuous figure. In the beginning of February, 1848, with my young wife and infant daughter, one week old, I was sitting at the breakfast table, when suddenly the door opened, and in walked, or rather leaped, my friend Charles Taylor. lle was not long in stating his business. He said that three men -to wit, Garwood Green, Rufus Allen and George Varnumn, had already gone on their way to the Land Office, to jump his claim, an eighty acres of choice land that he had held as a pre-emption for a year or more. Each of the men wanted the land for himself, and fondly believed that he was the only man living who knew aught of his errand. But their departure, as well as their business, became known very early in the day, and Mr. Taylor set out for me, knowing that James White, a member of the Wisconsin Iron Company, had left money with me to purchase for the Company some choice timber-land. The eighty acres in question was just what the Company wanted, and Mr. Taylor deeming the chance for getting his right from the Company better than from speculators of the kind to which Mr. Green belonged, desired me to go to Green Bay and cater the land. In just fifteen minutes after Taylor came into the house, I departed on my errand of justice. Taking a lunch for dinner, I struck out on the oldl ladian trail for Fond du Lac, and reached that hamlet about sun- set, without having seen any one on the way. Putting up at the " Badger llouse," then the largest hotel in the place, I there fouud all my competitors : and not only slept in the room, but actually slept in the same bed with one of them, without exciting the least suspicion of my business. Next morning, I started for Green Bay, which point 1 reached, entered the land, and made several miles on my way back before meeting Mr. Green. He never guessed what was my business until he laid upon the counter of the receiver (Elisha Morrow) the numbers of land he desired to enter. when he was modestly informed that the particular fract had been entered by Mr. Warren on the previous day. The Iron Company was glad enough to get the land, it being covered with a heavy growth of hard maple timber, which the Company wanted for making charcoal. They did the square thing by Mr. Taylor, paying him handsomely for his clain.
The first marriage ceremony performed in the town of Hubbard took place at my house, and was of a very primitive character. Joseph ITall, Esq., of Walworth County, and Miss Lydia MI. Warren, of llubbard, were to be united in the bonds of matrimony. The time was set for January 26, 1846, the guests all present and waiting for the appearance of the magistrate. The nearest officer, clothedl with authority to perform such ceremony, was Barnabas Snow, Esq., of Oak Grove, thirteen miles distant. Mr. Snow had been called upon, and had promised to be on hand. But, as frequently happens in the course of " true love " affairs, a big snow-storm set in on the morning of the 26th, and Mr. Snow being somewhat advanced in years, the result was, no officer of the law was there present to unite two loving hearts and make them beat as one. After waiting till late in the evening, and it then appearing certain that Mr. Snow would not come, and Mr. Hall's business rendering it necessary for him to return as soon as possible, and not liking the thought of returning without his bride, Collins Bishop came to the relief of the anxiously waiting party with a proposition that the couple marry themselves. Mr. Hall, himself a Justice of the Peace, and knowing that such marriage would be in all respects legal and binding, took the bride elect hy the hand and called the party to witness that "1 take this woman to be my lawfully wedded wife," etc. The lady then declared in the presence of the witnesses there assembled, " I take this man to be my lawfully wedded husband," etc. The union proved to be a happy one, neither of the contracting parties ever having occasion to regret the steps then taken.
In the pioneer days, it was not always the case that the best men were selected to fill posts of honor. In truth, it was not always that good material was at hand with which to fill all offices of trust. Men were frequently elected Justices of the Peace, whose aptness to judge of the qualities of whisky far exceeded their ability to judge of law or to determine questions of right and wrong. One instance of this kind 1 now remember having recorded in my manuscript history of Dodge County. In the town of Neosho, near where the village of that name now stands, was a certain Justice of the l'eace by the name of Bickford. In the trial of his first case, His Honor became sadly " mixed up." Between bis frequent potations of raw whisky and the fearful wrangling of two pettifoggers who slaughtered the law with relentless tongues, and whose knowledge of Blackstone was confined to hearsay, the said Bickford became so muddled before the close of the trial that he determined to dispose of the case in a new and unheard-of fashion. First, he ordered the Constable to pay all the costs. Then in a solemn and impressive manner he burned his docket and closed the performance by deliberately swallowing the contents of his ink-horn.
In 1844-45, the Winnebago Indians were somewhat troublesome, though not in open hostility. The settle- ments then in infancy, scattered over an extensive area, the men poorly supplied with arms and in no condition for defensive warfare, rendered the red men hold and aggressive. In the early part of 1845, llon. Hiram Barber, who had entered a large tract of land on Rock River, about two miles east of the present county seat. had commenced making improvements upon his lands. The body of a log-house had been put up, and Mr. Barber was then keeping " bach," as many of the early settlers were obliged to do. One day a large party of "reds" of both sexes, but with a preponderance of " bucks," came to Mr. Barher's cabin. After asking for and receiving a considerable quan- tity of " cocushigan " (commonly pronounced by the whites. " quashkin." meaning bread), they began a system of appropriations quite inconsistent with the legal ideas of the proprietor of the goods, When the Judge remonstrated against their unlawful proceedings, two of the old " bucks" attacked him with the manifest intent to " lay him out," and take whatever they pleased. One of the " bneks " had got possession of a new pitchfork that had been left standing outside the building, and with that instrument he made an attempt to slaughter his intended victim. The Judge, then nearly forty years younger than now. instantly comprehending the situation, seized the pitchfork, and,
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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
wrenching it from the hands of his foe, dealt the red devil a blow on the head that felled him to the ground, broke the fork-handle in twain, and, for the moment, so far intimidated his assailants as to give him time to jump into his cabin and bar the door before any of the party came to the relief of their fallen champion. Once inside the cabin, he seized his trusty rifle, and when the whole crowd, male and female, resumed the attack, they soon ascertained that the tables werc fairly turned on them, and that it was "puckachee " or die. None of them being just then anxious for a peep into the "happy hunting-grounds," very wisely and suddenly concluded to puckachee. Thus ended what might have proved to be a bloody tragedy but for the pluck displayed by Judge Barber. I might relate other inci- dents of a like character, in which myself and young wife were conspicuous actors, but fearing that it might be deemed egotistical, prefer to drop the subject.
Social gatherings, where they " tripped the light fantastic toe" from early candle-light till next day's dawn, became quite common as soon as the population was sufficient to admit of such gatherings, by taking in the whole county for fifteen or twenty miles around. For several years, there were no violinists nearer than Watertown, except the writer and Lathrop Horton. These two gentlemen did all the "cat-gut scraping" for the country round about for several years, and until better players came to take their places. Yet it is a notable fact, and we often hear it alluded to by those who took part in the associations of those days, that the dance was much more enjoyable than the uew-fangled dances and stiff manners of what is commonly termed the "refined etiquette" of the ballroom of the present day. Then there was a union of purpose for mutual protection and enjoyment. All occupied one commou level, and no such thing as coste was known among us. Every man and woman stood on his or her good behavior.
As has been the case in the opening-up of all this Western country for settlement, designing speculators- " land-sharks "-made a business of informing themselves as to the choicest tracts of land pre-empted by honest and industrious, but poor men, and then quietly stepping up to the land office, enter the claim. This system had been carried on to such an extent, in the early settlement of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and the southern part of Wis- consin, that it came to be looked upon as little better than " piracy on the high seas." Some of the early settlers in Dodge having already experienced some of the ruinous results of such proceedings, determined to bar the doors, if possible, against a recurrence of the evil. Accordingly, in some towns, particularly in Hubbard and Herman, the people formed themselves into " Protection Societies" for mutual aid in cases such as are above alluded to. The Con- stitution, By-Laws, Rules and Regulations of these societies, constituting the written portion of the work, were all carefully drawn, so that if they should, by any chance, fall into the hands of our enemies, there would be nothing that could be construed to mean intended violence, or any attempt to resist the peaceful operations of the law. But it was the unwritten portion of our work where the " fun came in." Each regular member was provided with a hideous- looking mask made of unbleached cotton cloth, and trimmed with red around the mouth and black around the eyes. Each member was likewise provided with a " frock" of the same material. The idea of this kind of uniform was borrowed from the " Anti-Renters," some of whom were members of our order, and had but recently come from the exciting scenes in the anti-rent district of Eastern New York. One of these men once told the writer that he wit- nessed the " taking-off" of " Bub" Steele, a Sheriff who was shot and killed by the Anti-Renters. When attired in full uniform, the " Protectionists " were a terror to evil-doers ; hence it is not surprising that one fellow in Herman, who had been guilty of a little crookedness in the matter of a neighbor's pre-emption, when visited by a dozen or more of these vigilantes, ran as for dear life, and afterward, in trying to describe the affair, denominated theni as " white devils." The existence of these societies had a wholesome effect in Dodge County, and the class of land- sharks before alluded to very soon came to know that the east side of Rock River, in Dodge County, was a very unhealthy locality for fellows of that ilk.
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