USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin > Part 51
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* shall be and hereby are constituted a separate county and be called Marquette, and the seat of justice of said county is hereby established at the town of Marquette.
The territory thus set off as Fond du Lac, included all the present county, except the towns of Osceola, Forest and Marshfield, and so much of Calumet as lies in Townships 17 north, of Ranges 18 and 19 east ; also, nearly all the south half of what is now the county of Winnebago.
By an act of the Territorial Legislature. approved January 6, 1840, all that territory included in Fond du Lac County north of Townships 16, in Ranges 14, 15, 16 and 17 east, was taken from it to form a portion of Winnebago County.
The same act took from Calumet County fractional Townships 17, in Ranges 18 and 19 east. and added them to Fond du Lac County, constituting nearly the whole of the present town of Calumet.
By the provisions of an act approved January 22, 1844, " all that portion of Lake Winnebago lying south of a direct line drawn from the point where the southern boundary of the Brothertown Reservation enters said lake on the east, to the town[ship] line between towns[hips] sixteen and seventeen on the west side of said lake," was made a part of the county of Fond du Lac.
By an oversight of the Legislature in the act approved December 7, 1836, constituting, among others, the counties of Fond du Lac and Marquette, already mentioned, five townships in Fond du Lac-Townships 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 north, of Range 14 east-were also included in the county of Marquette. By the erection of Winnebago County, two of these townships- Townships 17 and 18 north, of Range 14 east-were assigned to that county, still leaving three -Townships 14, 15 and 16 north, of Range 14 east-as belonging both to Fond du Lac County and Marquette. To cure this defect, an act was passed, which was approved March 6, 1848, and which brought Fond du Lac County to its present limits, as follows :
" An Act to Define the Boundaries of Fond du Lac County, and the Jurisdiction of Counties to Lake Winnebago; also to legalize the acts of said county as to certain towns therein organ- ized."
Be it enucted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wisconsin :
SECTION 1. That township number thirteen north, of range number eighteen east, and townships number thir- teen, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen north, of range number nineteen east; and also all that part of Lake Winnebago lying south of a line extending due west from the south line of the late Brothertown Reservation, to a north and south line corresponding to the division line between ranges number seventeen and eighteen, and all that part of the same lake lying sontb of an east and west line extending from the intersection of the town line between towns six- teen and seventeen with said lake, and running east to the range line hereinbefore mentioned, are hereby made and declared to be a part of the county of Fond du Lac.
SEC. 2. That townships number fourteen, fifteen and sixteeu north, of range number fourteen east, embracing the organized towns of Ceresco, Alto and Metomen, and included by the act of the seventh day of December, 1836, in both the counties of Fond du Lac and Marquette, are hereby declared to be a part of the county of Fond du Lac, as recited by the several acts organizing said towns.
*That Township 13 north, of Ranges 18 and 19 east (now the towns of Ashford and Auburn), were the ones intended to be described in the first clause of Section 9 of this act, is made certain by the act of March 6, 1848, hereafter mentioned.
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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.
SEC. 3. The acts of the county of Fond du Lac exercising jurisdiction over either of the before-mentioned town- ships, or the aets of the towns organized therein, shall not be deemed invalid or illegal in consequence of either of said townships having been included in any other county, or for not having been included in the said county of Fond du Lac.
SEC. 4. That all that part of Lake Winnebago lying north of the north line of the county of Fond du Lac, as hereinbefore described, and west of the range line separating ranges number seventeen and eighteen, as extending through said lake, is hereby declared to be a part of the county of Winnebago; and all that part of said lake lying east of said range line and north of the north line of Fond du Lac, as hereinbefore described, is hereby declared to be a part of the county of Calumet. All process issuing to officers of either of the counties bordering upon Lake Winnebago, may be served upon the waters of said lake by the officer or person charged with the service thereof; and the said counties shall, for all the purposes of civil and criminal process, have concurrent jurisdiction on the said TIMOTHY BURNS, Speaker of the House of Representatives. waters.
HORATIO N. WELLS, President of the Council.
Approved March 6, 1848.
HENRY DODGE.
The above-mentioned act brought into the county of Fond du Lac the territory constitut- ing the present towns of Osceola, Forest and Marshfield, and made certain what was left doubt- ful by the act of December 7, 1836, as to the territory now included in the towns of Ashford and Auburn, by making it unmistakably a part of Fond du Lac County.
By the revised statutes of Wisconsin of 1849, the boundaries of the county were established, as at present constituted, as follows :
SECTION 10. The district of country inelnded within the following boundaries shall form and constitute the county of Fond du Lac, to wit : Beginning at the southeast corner of township thirteen north, of range nineteen east of the meridian line aforesaid ; running thence north, on the range line between ranges nineteen and twenty, to the south line of the Indian reservation : thence west on said south line to a point in Lake Winnebago in the range line between seventeen and eighteen east ; thence south on said range line to the range of the township line between town- ships sixteen and seventeen north ; thence west to the northwest corner of township sixteen north, of range fourteen east ; thence south on the range line, to the southwest corner of township fourteen north, of range fourteen east ; thence east on the township line to the northwest corner of township thirteen north, of range eighteen east ; thence south to the southwest corner of the last-named township : thence east on the township line to the place of beginning.
These boundaries have since been affirmed by the revised statutes of 1858, and a second time by the revised statutes of 1878; they are, therefore, the legal boundaries of the county at the present time.
EARLY POLITICAL HISTORY.
Fond du Lac County is bounded on the north by the counties of Calumet and Winnebago ; on the east by Calumet and Sheboygan ; south by Washington and Dodge, and west by the county of Green Lake. Its eastern boundary is about twenty-four miles west of Lake Michigan : its western boundary, about one hundred and twenty miles east of the Mississippi. It has an area, including what is covered by Winnebago Lake, of about seven hundred and eighty square miles. This territory, with all the Northwest, was claimed by France from 1671 to 1763, when it was surrendered to the British. By the " Quebec Act" of 1774, the whole was placed under the local administration of Canada. It was, however, practically put under a despotic military rule, and so continued until possession passed to the United States. Before the last-mentioned event, and during and after the Revolution, the conflicting claims of Virginia, New York, Massachu- setts and Connecticut to portions of the country were relinquished to the General Government. All the claims were based upon chartered rights, and Virginia added to hers the right of con- quest of the " Illinois country " during the Revolution. As early as October, 1778, she declared, by an act of her General Assembly, that all the citizens of that commonwealth who were then settled, or should thereafter settle, on the western side of the Ohio, should be included in a dis- tinct county, which should be called Illinois. No Virginians were then settled so far north as what is now Wisconsin; and, as none thereafter located so far north before she relinquished all her rights to the United States, it follows that no part of our State was included in Illinois County, and that she never exercised any jurisdiction over any portion of Wisconsin ; nor did she make claim to any portion of it by right of conquest.
Notwithstanding the passage of the ordinance of 1787, establishing a government over the territory northwest of the Ohio River, which territory was acquired by the treaty of 1783 from
348
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.
Great Britain, possession only was obtained by the United States of the southern portion, the northern part being held by the British Government until 1796. Arthur St. Clair, in February, 1790, exercising the functions of Governor, and having previously organized a government for the country under the ordinance above mentioned, established in what is now the State of Illi- nois, a county which was named St. Clair. But, as this county only extended north "to the month of the Little Mackinaw Creek on the Illinois," it did not include, of course, any part of the present Wisconsin, although being the nearest approach thereto of any organized county up to that date.
The next county organized was that of Wayne, in 1796, which was made to include, besides much other territory, all of the present State of Wisconsin, watered by streams flowing into Lake Michigan. The present limits of Fond du Lac County were thus brought into Wayne County, except so much as is drained by the head streams of Rock River. From 1800 to 1809, what is now included within its boundaries was within the Territory of Indiana, and in the last, mentioned year, passed into the Territory of Illinois. It is probable that Indiana Territory exercised jurisdiction over what is now Wisconsin to the extent of appointing two Justices of Peace-one for Green Bay and one for Prairie du Chien. In the year 1809, the Illinois Terri -. torial Government commissioned three Justices of the Peace and two militia officers at Prairie du Chien, St. Clair County having been extended so as to include that point and, probably, Green Bay. In the course of time, other Illinois counties subsequently had jurisdiction, until 1818, when what is now Wisconsin became a portion of the Territory of Michigan. Under the government of the latter, the district of country now forming Fond du Lac County, was first included within the limits of the county of Brown, and so continued until it became itself a county.
FOND DU LAC COUNTY ON EARLY MAPS.
In John Farmer's " Map of the Territories of Michigan and Onisconsin," of 1830, Win- nebago Lake, with surrounding country, is delineated with considerable accuracy. Indian villages are plentiful but none of white men. At the " head of the lake " is White Bosom's village, and, not very far to the northwest, is another representation of an Indian town, but the name of the latter is not given. It is on the east side of the lake. Farther to the north, on the west side, is Smoker's Village. and still farther on, the village of the Black Wolf. Across the lake, in a northeast direction from Black Wolf's town, is seen the Menomonee village of Calumet. Upon this map, Fond du Lac River appears very much confused. Its west branch is called Martin's Creek, its eastern branch Crockodile River. Then there is another west branch hav- ing no name. "Doty's Route" is distinctly marked, traversing the country along the east side of Winnebago Lake, in a southerly direction ; then, after crossing " Crocodile River " it takes a southwesterly course to an Indian village on "Doty's Creek," beyond what are the present boundaries of Fond du Lac County. Brown County, including beside much other territory all of what is now Fond du Lac, has on this map, for its northern boundary, a line running from a point between the Great and Little Bays de Noquet west to " Lac Vieux Desert ; " for its southern boundary, the Illinois line.
On a map by the same author, of the date of 1836, the county of Brown is shown, but deprived of a large part of its southern territory where "Milwalky Co." appears, extending from the Illinois line north sixty-six miles, and from Lake Michigan west about. seventy-five miles. All of Brown County south and east of Green Bay and Fox River, is represented as surveyed into townships, including, of course, what is now Fond du Lac County. Between the "Stockbridge & Brothertown In. Reserve " and the " head of the lake," there is represented an Indian village called " Pope's Village," a misprint for " Pipe Village," (Calumet). The " Crockodile River " now empties into the lake between the mouth of Fond du Lac River and " Pope's Village."
The first map of " Wiskonsin Territory, Compiled from Public Surveys," gives Fond du Lac as one of the surveyed counties of the Territory, noting thereon the village of Fond du Lac in its proper position at the "head of the lake," but the river upon which it is located has the
349
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.
name " Soochera." The " U. S. Military Road," from Green Bay to Fort Winnebago (now Portage, Columbia Co.), passes through the county, first in a southwesterly direction, then nearly west. From this road branches off another, running southwest to " Waushara," on the south side of " Fox Lake," in what is now the northwest part of Dodge County, thence to " Dekorra," on the east side of the Wisconsin River, below the " portage," in what was then Portage (now Columbia) County. On this map, Fond du Lac County is represented as containing, besides its present limits, the whole of what is now Winnebago County, south of the Fox River. "Osh- kosh," is a small village in this county, wholly on the south side of Fox River, at the point where it flows into Winnebago Lake. In the northwest part of the county is " Rush Lake." A road or trail crosses the Fox River at the outlet of the "Great Butte Des Morts Lake," run- ning in a southwest direction to " Ida," on the north side of "Swan Lake," in " Portage County ;" thence in a northwest course to " Fort Winnebago," traversing first the northwest portion of what is represented as Fond du Lac County, then the southeast part of what was Marquette County at that date and the northeast corner of Portage County as then constituted. This was a very direet route, going northeast from Fort Winnebago to Green Bay.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
When in December, 1836, a certain portion of the territory of Brown County was desig- nated as a new county, and called Fond du Lac, no provision was made for its organization. It had not a sufficient population. There was, indeed, but one family residing within its designated boundaries. All that could be done was to say where its county-seat should be, and that the county should be attached to some other county for judicial purposes. The county seat was "established at the town of Fond du Lac," and the county was " attached to the county of Brown for judicial purposes." Finally, by an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved March 11, 1839, the county was to be organized, but "for the purposes of county government only ;" it was still to remain a part of Brown County for all judicial purposes. The act of organization says :
SECTION 5. The county of Fond du Lac shall be organized for the purposes of county government only from and after the first Monday in April next, at which time the election for county officers shall be held at the places and in the manner provided by law, and the candidate for County Commissioner having the highest number of votes shall serve two years from and after the first Monday in August next ; the candidate having the next highest shall serve for one year from the time aforesaid, and the candidate being third on the list shall serve until the first. Monday of August next, or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The returns of the first election shall be made to the Clerk of the County Commissioners of Brown County, who shall canvass the votes and certify the result of the election in the manner provided in other cases.
SEC. 6. The said county shall remain attached to the county of Brown for judicial purposes, and shall pay annually into the county treasury of Brown County 5 per cent of all taxes levied and collected in said county of Fond du Lac, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of courts ; and the qualified voters of said county shall have power, on the first Monday of April next, to elect a collector to discharge the duties incident to that office in place of the Sheriff ; and such Collector shall continue in office until the first Monday of August next and until his successor shall be elected and qualified, and thereafter a collector shall annually, on the first Monday of August, be elected, and in case of a vacancy in the office of Collector, the County Commissioners shall have power to supply such vacancy until the next annual election.
SEC. 7. All duties in relation to any election required to be performed by a Sheriff within said county may be performed by a deputy, to be appointed in such county by the Sheriff of the county of Brown.
An election was held, August 6, 1839, under this law, resulting in the choice of John Bannister, Edward Pier and Reuben Simmons, as Commissioners ; A. Raymond, Treasurer ; and J. Bannister, Register. The Commissioners organized their Board on the 9th of October following, by electing Reuben Simmons, Chairman, and Mason C. Darling, Clerk. Upon the entering of these officers upon their respective duties, the county of Fond du Lac was organized for all but judicial purposes, and began its onward career of prosperity.
It was not until " from and after the first Monday of March," 1844, that Fond du Lac County was fully organized. An act to organize it for judicial purposes was approved January 22 of that year, the provisions of which were as follows :
SECTION 1. That from and after the first Monday of March next, the county of Fond du Lac shall be organized for judicial purposes, and shall enjoy all the privileges of other connties of this Territory.
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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.
SEC. 2. The counties of Sheboygan, Calumet and Marquette are hereby attached to the county of Fond du Lac for judicial purposes
SEC. 3. The said judicial county, composed of the counties of Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Calumet and Mar- quette, shall remain a part of the Third Judicial District, and the courts therein shall be held by the Judge of the said distriet, at such times as shall be established by law.
Sec. 4. The first election of Sheriff for said judicial county shall be held in the several counties before named, on the first Tuesday of April next, and thereifter at the time prescribed by law; and the return of said election shall be made to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Fond du Lac County, who shall proceed to canvass the same as the law requires.
SEC. 5. All writs, processes, appeals, recognizances, or other proceedings, sued or commenced in the District Court of Brown County, prior to the said first Monday of March next, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution issued thereon in the same manner they might or could have been had this act not passed ; an I execu - tion on any judgment heretofore rendered in said court, shall have the like force and effect, and may be executed and returned by the Sheriff of said county of Brown, anything in any law of the Territory to the c mtrary notwith- standing.
SEC. G. The county seat of Fond du Lac County is hereby established upon the north half of the northeast quarter of Section Fifteen, Town[ship] Fifteen north, of Range Seventeen east, in the town of Fond du Lac ; Pro- vided, a good and sufficient warrantee deed, duly executed, of a public square for the location of county buildings, embracing at least ninety thousand square feet [be delivered by the owners thereof to the county] ; and a bond entered into with the Board of Supervisors of the county, conditioned to provide a suitable room for holding courts for the use of said county for the term of three years, the whole to be free of charge to the county, and to be entered of record in the Register's office of said county. But it is herein further provided, that unless such deed and bond, ‹luly executed, shall be thus recorded on or before the first Monday of March next, the county seat shall be and remain as now established by law ; and the Supervisors of said county shall be hereby authorized to provide a build- ing for the temporary holding of such courts until county buildings shall be prepared at the county seat ; and such building thus provided (a certificate of such fact being recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of said county ), shall be deemed to be the Court House of said county.
SEC. 7. All appeals to be taken in the manner provided by law, from the decisions of the Probate Court of the district composed of the counties of Sheboygan and Manitowoc shall be made and returned to the District Court of Brown County, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 8. From and after the first Monday of March next, the county of Marquette shall be organized for county purposes, and the first election for county officers of said county shall be held on the first Tuesday of April next, at the house of S. W. Beall, the place appointed by law for holding the annual town meeting, and the returns of the election of such county officers shall be made to the Town Clerk of the town of Marquette, who is hereby author- ized to canvass the same and to issue certificates of election.
SEC. 9. Such election shall be conducted in all respects as the law requires for conducting the town meetings, and it shall be the duty of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Fond du Lac County to post up notices of such election, and also of the town meeting of the town of Marquette, at two or more places in such county ten days at least before the day of such meeting.
SEC 10. The several towns in the counties of Calumet and Marquette, and the county of Sheboygan, shall annually pay to the Treasurer of Fond du Lac County, S per centum of all taxes, except schoolhouse taxes, levied therein, to assist in defraying the expenses of courts. And it is hereby made the duty of the Collectors of the sev- eral towns in the counties aforesaid, and of the Collector of the county of Sheboygan, to collect and pay such per- centage to the Treasurer of the county of Fond du Lac, on or before the first Monday of January in each year ; and the receipt of such Treasurer shall be a good and sufficient voucher for such amount in settlement with the Treasurer of his own proper town or county, and the Collectors of such towns and counties shall be liable to the county of Fond du Lac, under their official bonds, for the payment, as aforesaid, for the percentage herein mentioned.
SEC. 11. From and after the first Monday of March next, all assessments that shall be made in the county of Fond du Lac, for the purpose of raising taxes, shall embrace improvements on real estate, in addition to the property now liable by law to taxation.
SEC 12. The Clerks of the Boards of County Supervisors of the counties of Calumet and Marquette, and the Clerk of the Board of Commissioners of Sheboygan County, shall be required to forward to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Fond du Lac County. on or before the first Monday of April next, a certified copy of the poll-lists of the last annual election ; and the Board of Supervisors of the county of Fond du Lac is hereby required to meet at the Clerk's office, in said county, on some day prior to the first day of May next, for the purpose of preparing a list of jurors, and taking any other measures necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.
SEC. 13. The Clerks of the several towns in the counties of Fond du Lac, Calumet and Marquette, and the Clerk of the Board of Commissioners of Sheboygan County, shall post up notices of the election of Sheriff for such county at the proper places, at least ten days prior to the said day of election.
SEC. 14. [This section brought the southern part of Lake Winnebago within the bounds of Fond du Lac County, and is recited in the article entitled " Fond du Lac County Boundaries Established," to be found elsewhere. ]
SEC. 15. [This section submitted the question of the annexation of Winnebago County to Fond du Lac County for judicial purposes, to the legal voters of the first-mentioned county, for adoption or rejection, " on the day of the annual town meeting in April next." The election was held on the 2d of that month, at which time twenty-five votes were cast in favor of being attached to Fond du Lac County, and five against. ]
351
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.
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