The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 109

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1082

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*Adapted from an address delivered June 15, 1879, before the old settlers of Waupun and vicinity, by W. H. Taylor.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

sometimes done, with not a board either in floor, door or casing from foundation to ridge, and it was a good, warm and cleanly kept house, and in it hospitality was extended in a regal manner.

Between the old settlers, as they came in and became acquainted (and they did not wait for an introduction), there existed a bond of sympathy, a bond of love. There was a bond of friendship formed which continued for years, and which still exists.

What with all their poverty, their inconvenience, and, in many cases, their entire igno- rance of life in a new country, by their determined perseverance and energy they accomplished more than many in more affluent circumstances would.

In those days manual labor, real backbone, was the great desideratum.

Agricultural and domestic implements were very crude. Contrast the difference between the appliances now used in husbandry and housekeeping with those used thirty-five years ago -- those were the days of the bull-plow and erotch-drag, with wooden teeth : then bone and sinew was the motive power. From earliest morning until late at night the watchword and reply was work, work.

As soon as the land was taken and occupied, so as to have a population sufficient to form a town government, towns were laid out and organized ; roads were laid out and opened ; school- houses, however rude, were built, and schools, the great precursor of all good society, were opened.

Those rude schoolhonses served a double purpose : a place where the old settlers held religious service, as well as for schools. Contrast the difference between those attending service and the style and manner of that service, at that time and now.

Thirty-five years ago, those who desired to attend religious service in the style of the day, their conveyance would have been a lumber wagon, drawn by a yoke of oxen, and happy was he who could indulge in that luxury.

Think of a man at this day loading his good wife and family into a lumber wagon, and driving to either of our churches ! No matter how devout ; no matter what the circumstances ; no matter if he had no mortgage upon his farm, and determined to have none, the nniversal expression would be, that man is a boor, his wife a slave, and both unfit for society.

As the years rolled on, the settler, by his industry and frugality, was enabled to exchange his cabin for a home more commodious. The farms were improved and soon began to return to the husbandman a surplus.

Milwaukee was then the only market. Men, to-day, complain of the prices paid for their produce. Thirty years ago, many a load of wheat was drawn by ox teams to Milwaukee, often requiring ten or twelve days to make the trip, and sold for four shillings per bushel.

Those were times that tried men's perseverance. Some fell by the wayside ; others, with that determination characteristic of the brave man, met with that signal success born of valor and zeal. Mechancis began to come in, and, in almost every department of mechanism, the arti- san had something to do. Mills were built, thereby relieving many of the terrible inconven- jences the old settlers had to contend with.

As soon as the farms began to produce more than required for the family, thereby having something to exchange for merchandise, stocks of merchandise were brought in and opened.

From the earliest settlement up to twenty-five years ago, the settlers had kept on in the even tenor of their ways ; contentment and thrift, peace and good will, among and with all were kindred associates. Our own beautiful village (now city-mark the change !) was being built up. Men of the different professions found a place where to lay the foundation for reputation and wealth. Most signally have many of them failed to reach the mark aimed at, while others, more successful, are enjoying the fruit of their labors, and wear their honors well.

About that time that memorable enterprise so well remembered by most of you, to wit, the building of a railroad from Milwaukee northwest, to run through our section, was started.

Many still living have a recollection of the ease with which they could mortgage their homes to aid in that enterprise. Many, who had so mortgaged their farms, will remember the hardships and difficulties encountered in redeeming their homes.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

Up to this time there had been no marked distinctions in society, no graded classes. The honest poor man was a peer with the more affluent. Then poverty was no crime, there was that fraternal feeling existing between all the people, which characterized them, and which left an indelible impression upon the mind that can only be eradicated by death.

From twenty-five down to twenty years ago, there had been no very marked change; the industry and frugality that had characterized the lives of very many of the first settlers were then prominent, and I can truthfully say is a marked feature with them to-day. As industry and fru- gality were with them the cynosure to success, so it will be with any and all people.

Railroads opened into the county, new branches of enterprise started, an influx of men who had nothing to lose, but everything to gain, bent upon getting a living and wealth by their wits, and too often at the expense of every moral principle. Teachers of almost every creed known, either social, political or moral, setting forth their peculiar dogmas, teaching a new order of things, the influence of which was then deeply felt, and in some instances to-day lamentably deplored ; all these with many other influences brought to bear. it is not strange that a radical change should have been produced upon society.

From the earliest settlement to twenty-five and even down to twenty years ago, the wants of the settler were few and easily supplied. That which they could not buy and pay for they went without, but now a change was approaching, and, indeed, we may say a change had come.

The county being settled up, the farms better improved, society of a grade said to be more refined introduced ; the children, growing to manhood and womanhood, anxious to adopt the advanc- ing style of the day : schools of a higher grade established; fine churches built, whose pulpits were occupied by salaried ministers ; the means of communication being supplied : agricultural and domestic implements of a higher and more costly grade being introduced in place of those

now worn out. The consequent attendants of an additional and heavy expense in supporting all these, it is not strange that a change should come. Under the rigid economy of the old set- tler, with his determination to be free and untrammeled from debt, too many of them were seem- ingly compelled to succumb to the influences, the demand and seeming necessities of the times, and, as Adam yielded to the importuning of Eve, to eat the apple, and thereby fell from his high estate, so, in some instances, we find the old settler who had a home free and unincumbered, a fireside around which he could rally his family and say, this is my possession, listened to the siren song sung by all these influences, and, listening, fell, a slave to style, a slave to things external and perishable, a slave to his own folly.

The people felt the effects of that change then, and it is felt to-day.

The query arises, Are the people to-day more happy, more prosperous ? Is society better ? Is the standard of morals higher under the enhanced cost of living and supporting caste and style than were the old settlers in their honest industry and frugality ? In short, are the people more happy ? Are they more contented ? Do they enjoy themselves better with a " plaster " on their farms and homes, though they dress in style and ride in a coach, than did the old settlers with homes free and unincumbered, though they dressed in homespun and rode in lumber wagons ?

One thing is certain, and that is that manual labor and the demand for it is the measure of a people's prosperity. In the earlier days, the farmers' sons were educated for farm work, the noblest of all professions ; to-day they are educated for all other professions, and, in every other kind of business, there is an over-supply of labor. The farms are deserted by the farmers' sons, and machinery takes their place, the result is the country is filled with idlers and tramps.

When, by the introduction of any of the appliances, the demand for labor is cut short ; when we see honest labor go begging for work and none to be had, then we may readily conclude that our country, in its financial condition. is not prosperous.

No country can be prosperous in all its enterprises where the masses have only employment and wages sufficient to enable a man to support his family and educate his children.

No country can be prosperous where labor does not receive its just reward, or where the expense of living is greater than the income.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

That there are errors in our system of living is a foregone conclusion. The question for old settlers to consider is, What is the remedy ? It is suggested that a strict adherence to those habits of a rigid economy, industry and punctuality that so characterized the fathers; a striet adherence to honesty and sobriety ; a fraternal regard for all : a strict observance of these rules will place us on a higher plane. and mark our distinction among our fellow-men.

WAUPUN SCHOOLS.

District Number 1 .- The first school opened in Waupun was taught in 1844, by Charles Cleveland, in a small wooden building, situated on the line between Fond du Lae and Dodge Counties, near where the railway crosses Washington street. The schoolhouse was large enough to seat thirty scholars, but there were by no means thirty school children in Waupun at that time. The district was No. 1, and composed the territory of the present city of Waupun, a portion of the town of Waupun in Fond du Lac, and a portion of the town of Chester. in Dodge County.

In 1847, the original school building having become inadequate to satisfy the demands made upon it by the rapidly inereasing numbers of school children, a new frame building was erected on the corner of Madison and Jefferson streets, where the Episcopal Church edifice now stands, in the South Ward. This served for District No. 1 until 1853, when the building now used by Utter as a warehouse, on Washington street, was built. On the 23d of September, 1853, $1,000 was pledged for the erection of a schoolhouse, and A. K. Starkweather, E. Mun- ger, John Ware, Charles Smith and B. B. Baldwin, were appointed a building committee, with instructions to purchase not less than one aere of land for a site. They purchased the land on which the present South Ward building now stands, and erected the buikling now owned by Mr. Utter.

On the 22d of October. 1860, by a resolution offered by Eli Hooker, Distriet No. 1 was divided into two districts, the line between Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties separating them. The Clerks of District No. 1 were W. II. Taylor, Eli Hooker, S. K. Vaughn, B. Hink- ley. B. B. Baldwin, A. K. Starkweather, Jesse Hooker, Charles Smith, Cromwell Laithe and William Euen.

The South Ward School .- After the division, in 1860, of District No. 1, that portion lying in Dodge County was called the South Ward School and continued to use the school build- ing that had served the undivided district. The number of school children continued to inerease, and, in 1872, $10,000 was voted for a new building of brick and stone. Thomas II. Green, of Fond du Lac, furnished the plans, and the contract for constructing the edifiee was let to A. Wisnom, of the same city. The building is a handsome two-story structure of brick, with basement and cupola, and contains four commodious schoolrooms, capable to accommodate 400 scholars. It was finished in 1872, and the old school building was sold to Graves & Nor- ton. In 1877, a high school department was organized, and money for its support is obtained annually from the State. The average in the South Ward is 220, divided in four departments- the high school, grammar, intermediate and primary, requiring five teachers. In the high school department, all the higher branches and languages are taught. The average wages paid to male teachers is $80 per month, and to female teachers $31.25 per month.

The Secretaries of the South Ward Distriet have been William Euen, John Ware, hra Hill and L. D. Hinkley.

The North Ward School .- The North Ward, after being set off as a separate district in October, 1860, had no schoolhouse. A lot on Franklin street containing three-fourths of an aere of land was therefore purchased of Seymour Wilcox for $450, and early in 1861, the erection of the present plain but substantial brick and stone structure began. The plan was furnished by Mr. Whiting, who also had the contraet for the wood-work. Eli Hooker was overseer of the work of construction. The building eost something over $6,000, and was finished for oeeupancy in the fall of 1861. It contains four large rooms, which accommodate 250 pupils. The school is divided into four graded departments, the same as the South Ward

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

School, and gives employment to five teachers. The high school department has quite a num- ber of foreign scholars, and the room is crowded.

In 1868, all the records and papers of the North Ward School were burned. The clerks have been Eli Ifooker, M. J. Althouse, A. Nudd, W. J. Oliver and Emil Haucisen.

THE POST OFFICE.

The first Postmaster to serve the inhabitants of Waupun and vicinity was Seymour Wilcox, who was appointed in the winter of 1840 and 1841, and kept the office in his log house near where the old family residence now is. He received no stated salary. and the revenue of the office at first was very little, indeed, only a few letters coming into his hands during the first year. There were neither envelopes nor postage-stamps in use then, and the Postmaster col- lected 25 cents for an ordinary letter from the person to whom it was directed. Even at that exorbitant rate the settlers were thankful enough to get a letter, and whenever one arrived the whole neighborhood knew it, and sooner or later learned the contents of the precious missive. Mr. Wilcox was succeeded as Postmaster by B. Hinkley.

In 1848, John N. Ackerman secured the appointment of Postmaster, and moved its office to his residence in " Upper Town," or the western portion of the village. As there had been a spirited rivalry between Upper and Lower Towns for some time, the inhabitants of the latter naturally rebelled at having the office moved a half-mile to the west. They could do but little, however, but complain, until the ingenuity of William Euen brought both revenge and a return of the post office. He drafted a general order demanding that the Postmaster deliver to him whatever mail might be in the office for persons whose names were signed to the document. As all the people of " Lower Town " signed this order, Mr. Ackerman was obliged to deliver the mail to Mr. Euen, who thereafter was compelled to take a horse to transport the large quantities of letters and papers directed to people living in "Lower Town." Finally, early in 1849, L. B. Hills received a commission as Postmaster, and the post office was moved back to " Lower Town." Mr. IFills served nearly four years.

In 1853, Artimadorus Ingersoll was appointed Postmaster by Franklin Pierce to succeed Mr. Hills, but was removed before the end of the year for refusing to obey the orders of the politicians in appointing a deputy, and Cromwell Laithe was appointed to take his place. Mr. Laithe served the balance of the term, and soon after Buchanan took his seat as President in 1857, Thomas Stoddart was appointed Postmaster. He served four years, until June, 1861, when J. II. Brinkerhoff, the present incumbent, was appointed by Abraham Lincoln. The Waupun post office became a money-order office in August, 1866.

During several years after the office was first established, mail was sent and received only once each week, and when the mail carrier arrived twice a week, the inhabitants thought there could be nothing like modern mail facilities. Now, mail is received and sent out six times each twenty-four hours, and the revenue of the office amounts to nearly $1,000 per quarter. When the Dodge County Mutual Insurance Company was doing business, the Waupun post office paid out through its money-order department as much as any office in the State, with two or three exceptions.

When Mr. Hinkley was Postmaster, he carried the letters remaining in the office to all great occasions in the crown of his hat. When, therefore, any one asked whether there was any mail in the office, he took the office from his head and looked over the little package of begrimmed missives in short order, handing out whatever he found for parties present. The inhabitants regarded this as a great convenience, and were not backward in praising Mr. Hink- ley for establishing the post office on the top of his head.

WAUPUN AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL ASSOCIATION.

This society was organized in 1868, holding its first fair in the fall of that year, at Wau- pun. There were seven annual exhibitions by the society. The organization wound up its affairs

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

in 1875. Except financially, its fairs were always a success ; they had a material influence for good upon the agricultural interests of the vicinity.

CEMETERIES.

The First Burial Place .- A knoll of dry land near the railroad store where the C., M. & St. P. Railroad crosses Washington street, was first used as a burial place by the inhabitants of Waupun. When the railroad was built, the graves were all defaced and dug over, and no one knows now precisely where the first graves were located.

Waupun Cemetery .- In 1853, a tract of one and one-half acres of land was purchased of John N. Ackerman, on the west side of the Beaver Dam road in Dodge County, in Section 5, and named Waupun Cemetery. This was used mostly by the people of Upper Town and vicin- ity during several years, but in 1862, when Forest Mound Cemetery was opened, it nearly fell into desuetude.

Forest Mound Cemetery .- In 1860. Thomas Stoddart made a visit to the cemetery at Alton, Ill., and was then impressed with the idea that Waupun had no such burial place as the inhabitants and the beautiful surroundings entitled her to. "Go back to Waupun," said Mrs. Brown to Mr. Stoddart, " and open a beautiful cemetery, and do make it large enough, for there is plenty of room in this country for the dead to have eternal sleep undisturbed." Mrs. Brown was a Seotch lady, and made such a remark because in Scotland the want of room is so great in cemeteries that corpses are buried one upon another, and seven years is about as long as the dead can be allowed to rest without being dug up to make room for others. The subject was thereafter agitated in Waupun, and resulted in a meeting at the office of W. H. Tay- lor, when the statutes concerning cemeteries were consulted. On the 16th of November, 1862, W. H. Taylor, George W. Bly, Thomas Oliver, Thomas Stoddart, Charles Jones, T. W. Markle, H. L. Butterfield, A. W. McNaughton and William Hobkirk were chosen Directors or Trustees of Forest Mound Cemetery, and these nine, with Edwin Hillyer, subscribed $75 cach for twelve acres of shaded; hilly, dry land, on Section 32, in Fond du Lac County. Thomas Stoddart platted the grounds into lots and laid out the carriage ways. The lots are all of uniform size, each lot and walk being one rod in width. The grounds had many oak shade trees, just as nature planted them, and evergreens and maples have been added since, until Forest Mound Cemetery is an attractive spot.

W. 11. Taylor was Secretary until 1867, and Thomas Stoddart has occupied that position ever since. There has been no change in the Board of Trustees, although some of them are dead and others permanently absent.

PUBLIC HALLS.

Dodge's Hall .- The first public hall in Waupnn was called Dodge's Hall. It is now owned by Thomas Stoddart, and known as Grange Hall. It was finished in 1856, and was the pride of the village in those days.

Opera Hall .- The principal hall of Wanpun is Opera Hall, built by Thomas Oliver, in 1868. It is light and high, capable of accommodating 500 persons, and well appointed as to stage property and scenery. It is owned by Luther Butts, and situated in the second story of the large brick block on the corner of Mill and Washington streets.

Other Halls .- Utter's Ilall, in the second story of the old South Ward School-house, is a large room frequently used for balls and other public entertainments and meetings. It is on Washington street, opposite the Simpson House. O'Donovan's Hall, in the fine brick block belong- ing to Patrick O'Donovan, is used mostly for dances, balls and festivals. The Good Templars' and Odd Fellows' Societies have halls, but they are little used except for lodge meetings.

HOTELS.

Simpson House .- This hotel, of which Mrs. M. A. Simpson is proprietor, is a well-kept house, and consists of two buildings situated on the north side of Washington street, east of the railroad. Mrs. Simpson makes a success of hotel keeping.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

Fisher House .- This hotel, by the Fisher Brothers, is on the site of the old Exchange, built by Seymour Wilcox, now the corner of Fond du Lac and Washington streets. It is well patronized.

Other Hotels .- The Western Hotel and Hanisch's Gast-Haus are the other hotels of Wanpun.

FUN IN YE OLDEN TIME.

Along in the forties, Waupun was notorious for practical jokes, lively social gatherings, wide-awake old folks and tricky young ones. A few illustrations will be given to convey an idea of what was constantly kept up by the fun-lovers for nearly twenty years.

By invitations, and other modes of advertising, David Bruce once gathered a large crowd at his place for a dance, but the fiddlers failed to appear. Dennis Morse and a companion were present, and being a good whistler, Dennis was requested to whistle for the dance while Mr. Bruce drove five miles. for a fiddler. Dennis complied, and his friend thumped a sonorous dishpan, to enable the dancers to keep time. Bruce found no musician, and, on returning, requested Dennis to keep on with the whistle and dishpan while he went for yet another fiddler. Both journeys were unsuccessful, but the dance went off merry enough, and Mr. Bruce collected the usual fec to " pay the fiddlers." When the crowd had gone, Mr. Morse inquired of Mr. Bruce if he was still agent for the Moline plows-if so, he would take one, provided credit could be extended until spring. Credit was offered, and Mr. Morse took the plow. When spring came, Mr. Bruce dunned Mr. Morse for pay for the plow. "Pay!" exclaimed Dennis ; "I paid you well enough when I whistled for your dance." Mr. Bruce was indignant, and sued for the value of the plow. Mr. Morse, as a good joke, put in a counterclaim for whistling and pounding on the dishpan, and won the suit! From that day, David Bruce never engaged a whistler until he had agreed upon terms.

When Dr. H. L. Butterfield first came to Waupun, he had neither money nor clothes, and as people were very backward about getting sick enough to require a physician's serv- ices, his condition grew worse instead of better. Finally, the wife of Mr. N., one of their prominent citizens, fell ill, and the husband sent for Dr. Butterfield. The Doctor did not appear as ordered, and a few hours later, Mr. N. called at his office and personally requested Dr. Butterfield to go and attend to his wife. Mr. N. returned home, but no Doctor appeared that day. Next morning, he called at the Doctor's office, and again demanded "why in christendom his wife was not attended to ?" " I'll tell you," meekly replied Dr. Butterfield, who now smokes rich Ilavanas in a luxurious home; "I am too ragged to go anywhere-I can't even leave my chair when anybody is around." "I can fix you out," said Mr. N .; "you just put on my pantaloons and visit the woman. I can stay here till you return." The Doctor pulled off his dilapidated trousers, consisting of nothing but short legs and a weak waistband, donned his customer's suit and left. Ile paid a visit to the patient, and spent a half-day in making other visits and calls, and attending to business that he had neglected a fortnight for want of pantaloons. When he returned to his office, he found Mr. N. nearly insane. People had called on him in numbers, and as he couldn't possibly get into the ragged, short-legged unmentionables left by the Doctor, he had to receive in his bare legs or shin down the streets in the same ludicrous condition. No little merriment has been had over this laughable circum- stance.

Joseph Hobkirk was at one time Justice of the Peace. As such, a certain young man was brought before him to be tried for stealing a turkey. The prosecution had a shrewd lawyer ; the case was well presented and the evidence of guilt was overwhelming. However, to the great astonishment of all-even the prisoner -- and the disgust of the plaintiff and his attorney, Justice IIobkirk decided "Not guilty."" Shortly afterward, he was taken to task by the angry plaintiff for rendering such an unjust verdict. "You see," replied the sly Justice, " I couldn't find the boy guilty, for he didn't steal the turkey, and knew nothing about it. You just come along with me to dinner, for my wife is an expert at roasting turkeys, and then tell me if you don't think the old bird was worth catching." Thus the joke leaked out.

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The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 109

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 1082

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1082