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 58
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Stoddard Judd.
$5 00
John Clifford.
SI 00
James Casey.
$1 00
Lawrence Wallace
5 00
James Cullan.
1 00
John D. Griffin
75
Judson Prentice.
3 00
James McCaffrey
1 00
C. S. Bristol
5 00
James Brannan.
3 00
Bart. McCaffry
65
Patrick Morgan.
1 00
Francis Manahan
1 00
Stephen Tobin
1 00
James Hanrahan
2 00
John H. Manahan.
5 00
Edward McGovern.
1 00
Daniel Ryan ...
1 00
William M. Dennis.
5 00
Conner Dempsey.
1 00
Michael O'Connor.
1 00
Michael Kelloy.
1 00
Patrick Egan ..
1 00
Timothy Driscoll.
3 00
William M. Morse.
1 00
Patrick Canty,
94
Hiram Barber
1 25
Huglı Dervin ..
1 00
Patrick O'Mara.
94
C. Billinghurst
1 00
Thomas Dervin
1 00
John Lowth.
1 00
E. C. Lewis.
1 00
Michael Carroll.
1 00
Samuel Noyes
94
Owen MeAnnlty
1 00
Patrick Duffy.
1 00
Total contributions.
$63 53
So much for oppressed Ireland thirty years ago. But, as we write, a wail of agony comes across the sea from the same people. In a measure, they have turned upon their perscentors ; the anti-renters' war is being relentlessly waged ; an occasional murder of some lordly land- owner is announced ; the poor are starving; the distress is terrible. America has heard the moans of the dying and the pleading- of the hungered ; meetings are being held from Maine to California, and aid is again lavishly extended to unfortunate Ireland.
On the same page of this first copy of the Badger, we find a brief report of the proceedings of a Free-Soil meeting held at Clason Prairie August 28, 1848, at which over forty voters were present. The mecting was organized by calling David Moulton to the Chair and appointing D. M. Woolley Secretary. After the reading of the proceedings of the Buffalo Convention, the assemblage was addressed by A. G. Hoag. of Beaver Dam, and Messrs. Bingham and Giddings, of Oak Grove. Great enthusiasm prevailed in regard to the Free-Soil cause, and, after the
387
HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
appointment of Messrs. Woolley, Giddings and Bingham as a Committee to form a Free-Soil Club, the meeting adjourned.
We are constrained to depart still farther from the subject of " The Press " in order that we may give an outline of other matters contained in the first issue of the first newspaper pub- lished in Dodge County. For instance, we are informed that "Mr. Stimpson, of this village, is running for Sheriff; see his card." "Senator Dodge spent the Sabbath in this village, on his way home from Washington," and " Alcan Walker, whose arrest for horse-stealing we mentioned some weeks ago, escaped from the jail in this county on the 4th instant, and has not yet, as we hear, been retaken. The Sheriff offers a reward of $25 for his apprehension." Now these items, while they are not very fresh, are exceedingly interesting, but a little investigation discloses the fact that they do not pertain to Beaver Dam or any other part of Dodge County. Fortunately for us, Brother Hoag has left an explanation of their appearance in the Badger, as follows :
Our press has not yet come to hand, and we have, through the politeness of Watertown publishers, been enabled to issue this number of our paper. Its appearance is not what we eould desire it to be, nor what we intend making it in the future. This will account for the appearance of much matter iu the Badger that is to be found in the Watertown Chronicle and Pilot of yesterday.
So we are enabled to establish the locality to which belong the items relative to the aspir- ing Mr. Stimpson, the Hon. Senator Dodge, and Mr. Alcan Walker, the filcher of equine property and subsequent jail-breaker.
" The Death of a Pioneer " is the sad caption of an item in the sixth column of the Badger's second page, conveying the intelligence that " Mr. James Clason, the pioneer settler on Clason's Prairie, Dodge County, has been ' gathered to his fathers.' He died on the 29th ult. [August,, 1848], at the advanced age of seventy-three years. Mr. C. settled on the prairie to which his name has been given early in the spring of 1841. At that time, his nearest neighbors were Amasa Hyland and William Stanton, on Hyland Prairie, four miles distant, and bis next nearest at Beaver Dam, then a hamlet of two or three shanties, five miles distant. Between Watertown (at that time rejoicing in some. half-a-dozen buildings) and the spot which Mr. Clason had selected for his future home, there were but two buildings-J. G. De Koy's, in Emmet, and Maj. Pratt's at Oak Grove. The first Presbyterian meeting ever held in Dodge County was at the house of Mr. Clason, and he was mainly instrumental in organizing the first society of the same order in the county. He had been an active and consistent member of that Church for the last fifty years of his life."
We find upon the third page of the Badger, besides other reading matter, about one and a half columns of advertisements, mostly of Watertown and Milwaukee firms and individuals. Head- ing the list is the card of C. B. TRIPP, who informs the public that he has opened a shop in Beaver Dam, and is " prepared to make and repair GUNS upon short notice, reasonable terms and on the most approved style." Then comes " GEORGE W. GREEN, Attorney and Counselor at Law and Solicitor in Chancery." Mr. Green made a specialty of the cases of claimants of estates in Europe, having made arrangements with an American agency established in the city of London, " a leading object of which is to attend to business of this kind." And here is where the stranger was " taken in :"
To the Traveling Public ! WARD'S COTTAGE!
At Beaver Dam, Wis.
TilE Proprietor of this House would respectfully inform his old Patrons, and the Traveling community at large, that he has taken a new House, (which has lately been rebuilt, and furnished throughont, ) a few rods East of his Old Stand, whose [where] he will be in readiness at all times to attend to the wants of those who may favor him with their patronage. No effort will be spared to render the " Cottage" a desirable stopping-place. The TABLE will be supplied with the best the market atfords. The BARN well stocked, and the Servants attentive and obliging. He won't return his thanks to those who patronize[d] him while occupying his old stand, and would solicit a continu- ance of their patronage. STAGES leave this Ilouse for all Parts of the State. The Stage office is located at this House.
Beaver Dam, Sept. 12, 1848.
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HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
Classified under the heading of " Business and Professional Cards," we find the announce- ments of
C. S. BRISTOL, Attorney-at-Law-General Land Agent and Commissioner to take Acknowledgments of Deeds for the State of New York. Beaver Dam.
M. R. MANCHESTER, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, Beaver Dam.
O. G. W. BINGHAM, Physician, Surgeon and Dentist, Oak Grove.
BRADLEY NOYES, M D., Physician and Surgeon, Beaver Dam.
C. BILLINGHURST, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, Oak Grove, Dodge County.
VICTOR M. ADAMS, District Surveyor for the County of Dodge, will attend to all business entrusted to his care. Address, Beaver Dam P. O.
JUDSON PRENTICE, Trenton, Deputy District Surveyor for Dodge County. All business entrusted to his care promptly and correctly attended to. Address, Fox Lake P. O.
STERLING M. CONE, Justice of the Peace, Portland, Dodge County. The acknowledgment of Deeds and Mort- gages taken, Chattel Mortgages and Bills of Sale executed, Marriage Licenses granted, &c.
Brother Hoag has something to say regarding the appearance of this small, though select, number of advertisements in the Badger. He says :
The terms of our paper are one dollar and fifty cents-invariably in advance. No paper that dep ends almost wholly upon its weekly issue for a support can depart far from these terms and avoid pecuniary embarrassment. Were we to admit twelve or fifteen columns of advertisements into our paper, each paying from forty to sixty dollars [beautiful dream ! ], circumstances would be widely different; it might then be an object to circulate them upon almost any terms.
We feel proud of Brother Hoag. He resolutely maintained his determination not to print " twelve or fifteen columns of advertisements at $50 or $60 each," when he could fill his paper with interesting reading matter and furnish it to subscribers at " $1.50 per annum, invariably in advance."
After the suspension of the Badger, nearly five years elapsed before another attempt was made to publish a newspaper in Beaver Dam. On the 18th of March, 1853, Edgar C. Hull issued the first number of the Beaver Dam Republican, a seven-column weekly, wedded to the Democratic cause. In October, 1854, an organ of the then new (Republican) party was estab- lished in Beaver Dam, by N. V. Chandler, called the Sentinel. It is fair to presume that the Sentinel grew out of a political exigency, as we find that a public meeting was held by the friends of the enterprise to give pecuniary aid and encouragement. Mr. Chandler published it till the 7th of December, when he relinquished his interest to George C. Haddock, after meeting with many vexatious disappointments and embarrassments. Mr. Haddock continued the publication of the Sentinel under the direction of a joint-stock company. J. R. Swallow, afterward editor of the Fox Lake Journal, also took some part in the management, while A. Scott Sloan contrib- uted to its editorial columns. In February, 1855, owing to some misunderstanding between Mr. Haddock and the Sentinel's immediate supporters in regard to policy, the enterprise was aban- doned and the materials sold to Mr. Hull, of the Republican, who immediately enlarged his paper to an eight-column quarto, and changed its name to the Republican and Sentinel. Dur- ing the next two years after the consolidation, changes in the management became frequent, Mr. Hull, however, remaining and exerting a controlling influence. At one time, it was Hull & Swallow, and afterward E. C. Hull alone ; then Hull & Co. (E. C. Hull, Thomas Merfield and Robert Farbon composing the firm), with Mr. Hull and S. C. Chandler as editors. Finally, E. C. Hull again, with J. R. Swallow as associate editor.
On the 17th of March, 1856, the Daily Republican and Sentinel was issued, a six-column sheet, which continued about a year. Also July 1, 1856, a tri-weekly of the same name. The career of the latter closed in about six months. Mr. Hull finally disposed of the property to Charles S. Phelps, who changed the name of the paper to the Democratic Post, under the editor- ial control of H. B. Phelps, his brother. May 26, 1857, witnessed the obsequies of The Post, the mechanical effects being purchased by M. Cullaton. Mr. Hull went to Staten Island, N.Y., where he engaged in the practice of law, and afterward became the publisher of the Staten Islander. Mr. Swallow turned clergyman, and also removed to the Empire State, where he died. Mr. Merfield established a paper in Ogle County, Ill. C. S. Phelps purchased a farm, and is now
389
HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
1
living in Aurelia, Iowa ; his brother, H. B., was appointed Assistant United States Assessor, in 1866. Mr. Chandler went to Reedsburg and started a paper, while Mr. Haddock, after assisting at the birth of the first newspaper in Sparta, Wis., became a elergyman, and located at Oshkosh.
While Messrs. Hull & Swallow were in partnership they published, for about one year, the Western World, a monthly literary sheet. The first number was issued in July, 1855. It was a four column folio, mainly a reprint of the Republican and Sentinel.
Upon the ruins of the Republican, Sentinel, the Western World, etc., was founded, by M. Cullaton, April 18, 1856, the Dodge County Citizen, in the interest of the Republican party. It was the intention of the proprietor to run a job office only, but the persuasion of friends turned him from his original course, and he issued a seven-column paper, meeting with imme- diate success. In the fall of 1856, the Daily Citizen, a five-column quarto, made its appear- ance as a campaign sheet, and, after lending its little mite toward the futile attempt to defeat James Buchanan for the Presidency, turned up its little toes and died. In May, 1857, Mr. Cullaton added to his stock of material that formerly used in the publication of the Democratic Post, and then enlarged the Citizen to an eight-column paper. By this consolidation, a large surplus of material was on the hands of the proprietor, and a portion of it was disposed of to J. H. Brinkenhorff, who started the Wanpun Times, and still another portion to John A. Far- rell, who removed it to Waupaca. About a year after the Citizen was enlarged, it was reduced to seven columns again, and, in the fall and winter of 1857-58, a morning daily was issued. In November, 1858, the Citizen office was purchased by G. H. Wells, who conducted the paper till the spring of 1861. Its publication then ceased till October 8, 1862, when it was revived by Shaw & Hughes, who issued three numbers. It then went into the hands of Reid & Hughes, who published it together until October 22, 1868, Mr. Reid retiring. A year later (October 14, 1869), S. B. Allen purchased a half-interest. In 1872, the Citizen again became an eight-column paper, its present size. Mr. Hughes purchased Mr. Allen's interest October 5, 1876, and to the present time has remained the sole proprietor and editor. The Citizen is an excellent local paper ; uncompromisingly Republican; the earnest champion of all the righteous measures of its party. Mr. Cullaton, its founder, is one of the publishers of the Richmond (Ind.) Palladium. Hiram A. Reid, who was for six years the senior editor of the Citizen, has taken the lecture field. His home is Des Moines, Iowa.
The Beaver Dam Democrat was the next journalistic venture following the establishment of the Citizen. The first number was issued in November, 1858, by Carr Huntington. Its politics were Democratic, of the Breckenridge stamp, but when, in 1860, its candidate received but forty votes in Dodge County, the editor concluded that Douglas Democracy was good enough for him. In June, 1861, the Democrat office was destroyed by fire, but the publication of the paper was not interrupted. Soon afterward, the name was changed to the Whig of Seventy-Six, and, January 17. 1863, another visitation of the fire-fiend caused the suspension of the ill-starred journal in Beaver Dam. In March of the same year, Mr. Huntington, having obtained new material, located the Whig of Seventy-Six at Juneau.
September 5, 1860, a Democratic paper, called the Dodge County Excelsior, made its appearance, with John A. Farrell as editor and proprietor. It was a six-column quarto, and was published about six months.
In the Beaver Dam Aryus, the Democratic party of Dodge County have an able represent- ative, and the people generally a good newspaper. The Argus was first published in Beaver Damn by B. W. Curtis, December 7, 1860, The material from which it was printed was for- merly used in the publication of the Horicon Argus and the Dodge County Excelsior. J. C. Bruner was its first editor. In February, 1863, Mr. Curtis disposed of the property to B. F. Sherman and D. C. Gowdey, who, for the past seventeen years, have guided its course and shaped its policy. The Argus occupies the very important position of official organ of both its party and the county. Its editors have been frequently called to fill offices of responsibility. Mr. Gowdey has represented his district in the State Legislature, and, at the date of the
390
HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
publieation of this work, his partner, Mr. Sherman, is at Madison in the capacity of an Assembly- man, having been elected to that office at the last State election by a majority of about 500. The Argus was originally a seven-column paper, but has been enlarged to an eight-column.
JUNEAU.
The Dodge County Gazette was the first paper published in Juneau. The initial number bears date of June 16, 1852, Robert B. Wentworth, editor and proprietor. In polities, the Gazette was decidedly Whiggish. The last number was issued September 23, 1853, the material being purchased by Charles Billinghurst, who, within the next fortnight, ushered into the journalistic world the first number of a new paper ealled the Burr Oak, with Democratic proelivities. In May, 1854, when the Missouri compromise Bill was repealed, Mr. Billinghurst left the Democratic party and espoused the Republican cause. The defeat of Gen. Scott in the Presidential raee, and the subsequent birth at Ripon, Wis., of the now powerful Republican party, made the Burr Ouk, while edited by Mr. Billinghurst, a popular journal. But on account of the absence of its editor (who was elected to Congress in November, 1854), the paper suspended publieation, and the material was purchased by Edwin O. Wentworth, who removed it to West Bend, and started the Washington County Organ. R. B. Wentworth went to Portage City, where he established the Wisconsin State Register.
In March, 1863, Carr Huntington came from Beaver Dam to Juneau with the remains of the Whig of Seventy-Six, and continued its publication until September 15 of the same year, when he removed to Blue Earth City, Minn., taking with him his unappreciated or, at least, unprofitable journalistic enterprise.
The Dodge County Democrat was the next newspaper venture at the county seat. It was established in 1869, by E. B. Bolens, its name indieating its politics, and published by him until September, 1874, when Frank Lowth purchased the property and occupied the cditorial tripod until February, 1879. About this time, C. A. Pettibone, editor and proprietor of the Mayville Telephone, purchased the Democrat office and good will, and, removing the Telephone to Juneau, consolidated the two papers, and continues the issue of the latter with commendable regularity. " The amalgam works to a charm, and to-day the quandam proprietor issues his weekly dietum to twelve hundred anxious and expectant patrons." The Telephone is a five- column folio, Democratic in polities, and is surrounded by everything, ineluding a good head of brains, to nurture its youth and make it one of the best newspaper properties in the county of Dodge.
FOX LAKE.
There is a conflict of opinion in regard to the newspaper history of Fox Lake. Mr. Hotchkiss, editor of the Representative, in his centennial sketch of that village, says: "The first paper was the Journal, published by Norton & George, in 1855 ; the next was the Times, by Corbett & Golliday; the Gazette, by Swallow & Fitch ; the Record, by George & Stevens; then the Representative. So far as we can learn, none of these gentlemen retired from their labors to ease and affluence, and the indieations are that the present proprietors are not likely to prove an exception. Nevertheless, they have faith in Fox Lake, and came here designing to stay."
Mr. Thomas Hughes, to whom we are indebted for most of the facts contained in this artiele, in his " History of the Newspaper Enterprises of Dodge County," asserts that the Fox Lake Times was started in December, 1854, by H. C. George & Co., a Mr. Norton being asso- eiated with Mr. George. The Times, he says, was a seven-column quarto, neutral in polities. Messrs. George & Norton published it till the spring of 1855, when J. R. Swallow became their successor, changing its name to the Fox Lake Journal. Either Charles Corbett or Mr. Galloway took it off his hands, and published it till the fall of 1857, when J. V. Fitch secured an interest in it, and changed its name to the Fox Lake Gazette, Republican in polities. Mr. Fitch presided over the destinies of the Gazette until its suspension in 1865. Stevens & George then purchased the effects, and on the 14th of May, 1865, issued the Fox Lake Record,
391
HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
a seven-column paper, with party shackles. Mr. Stevens retired in March, 1866, and in Angust of the same year, the Record " climbed the golden stair." A few weeks before it suspended publication, it was redneed in size, and, at the same time, espoused the cause of the Demo- cratic party.
The absence of files, and the inability of old residents to remember dates, names and other circumstances connected with the early history of the Fox Lake press, makes pardonable the lack of accurate knowledge in this regard. The Representative, still in existence, may be said to have been founded upon the ruins of the Record. It was established in September, 1866. by John Ilotchkiss, and was enlarged from a six to a seven column quarto the first year of its existence. In 1875, Il. L. Stafford purchased an interest, and retained it until April, 1879, when the management became and has remained to the present time Hotchkiss & Son. The Representative is a stanch Republican paper, and is in every way deserving of the patronage and respect due the local newspaper from an intelligent community.
HORICON.
In August, 1854, William E. Croft purchased and took to Iloricon the material formerly used in the publication of the Ozaukee County Times, and in September following issued the first number of the Horicon Argus, with W. IF. Butterfield as editor. It was a seven-column weekly, Democratic in polities. Mr. Croft conducted the Argus until April 3, 1857, when M. M. Pomeroy purchased it, and for the next year and a half attempted to make his strange Democracy understood, failing in which, he turned his attention to the work of belittling the prospective advantages of neighboring villages and cities. Following is a specimen : Concerning Beaver Dam, he said, "Three beavers built a dam there; a horse came along and drank all the water, since which time the inhabitants have been running the mills with a syringe." The Beaver Dam journals naturally resented this vile imputation, and, in doing so, twitted "Brick " of the small population of Horicon : whereupon the Greenback Achilles replied in his next number, "We have 3,000 inhabitants and 12,000 rakes." The rake-factory being destroyed by fire soon afterward. Pomeroy's population was sadly dimin- ished. The Argus was purchased by B. W. Curtis December 17, 1858, and removed to Beaver Dam. "Brick " Pomeroy is established at La Crosse, and so are his Democrat and Greenback party.
The Horicon Gazette, a Republican paper, was established in Horicon in 1861, by Henry W. and Alta C. Phelps. It continued, however, only about three months, when the office was removed to Berlin, Green Lake County, and merged with the Green Lake Spectator.
MAYVILLE.
The Dodge County Pioneer was established at Mayville in March, 1876, by Henry Spiering, who, for two and a half years, continued its publication, retiring in favor of B. R. Bogisch, the present editor and proprietor. The Pioneer is printed in the German language, and is uncompromisingly Democratic. It is an eight-column folio, subscription price $2 per annum, with a circulation of 1,300 copies, among an intelligent and appreciative class of citizens.
The Mayville Telephone was started by Capt. Charles A. Pettibone and John A. Barney. in July, 1877. It was a six-column quarto, " Democratic in politics, lightning in locals, and as good as an old maid for gossip." The Telephone was designed to fill a long-felt want, and answered the purpose so well that within the first year the names of 1.000 subscribers graced the subscription-book. The management remained in the same hands until February, 1879. when Capt. Pettibone purchased Mr. Barney's interest in the paper, and also the interest of Frank Lowth in the Dodge County Democrat, and consolidated the two at Juneau. The name Telephone is suggestive of the little electric instrument over which there was such a furor about the time of Messrs. Pettibone & Barney's newspaper venture.
392
HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.
WAUPUN.
The first printing material ever brought to Waupun was that on which the Whig had been printed in the village of Fond du Lac, and was bought by Eli Hooker in the winter of 1847-48. Immediately afterward, George Howe came from Angelica, N. Y., with the old Ramage press, on which the first edition of Morgan's "Exposition of Masonry " was printed, and Mr. Hooker entered into partnership with him in the job-printing business. This old press, made of wood, and on which two impressions with a screw were required to print one side of a sheet, was soon after sold to a man in Calumet County, and Mr. Hooker (Mr. Howe having returned to New York) purchased material for another job office, with which he continued in business for several years, with Edward Beeson, of Fond du Lac. Eli Hooker, who still resides in Waupun, is the oldest editor in Fond du Lac County.
The Waupun Times, the oldest paper in Waupun, now in its twenty-third year, is an eight- column folio. The first number was issued September 14, 1857, by J. H. Brinkerhoff (the present Postmaster of the city), editor and proprietor. It was a seven-column folio, and a neat- looking, spicy sheet. The merchants of the place gave him a liberal advertising patronage, and the Times started with a good list of subscribers, many of whom have stuck by it during the nearly twenty-three years it has been published. In his first editorial, Mr. Brinkerhoff says :
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