The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 55

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

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One warm day, my husband, with all his men and boys, being down on the ridge clearing and breaking up a large piece of land for corn, saw something shining very bright below Tay- cheedah, at the edge of the woods, and could not imagine what it was. He took a pony and rode down to make inquiries. When he arrived where Taycheedah now is, he met Col. Worth (after- ward General in the Mexican war) with a regiment of soldiers. They encamped there for the night, and. after a hearty shake, the Colonel asked Mr. Simmons if he could furnish them with some eatables. He told him he could, and started for home ; arriving there, he had the cows all driven up, twenty-two in number, and, milking them, put the milk on an ox wagon, together with pork, bread, flour, butter, honey, cheese and other articles; he then started with his yoke of oxen, and when he arrived at the camp a file of soldiers were detailed to guard the wagon and its contents, and Mr. Simmons handed it out to the soldiers until it was all gonc. The next

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

day, Col. Worth moved up to Fond du Lac and then camped again, when my husband again met him with a similar load. The Colonel had come to remove the troublesome Indians west of the Wisconsin River and wanted interpreters. Mr. Simmons had a half-breed by the name of Charles Bopery working for him, who could talk good English and the four Indian languages. He let the Colonel have him, and he remained with him until the troublesome Indians had been collected and taken to the west side of the river. We were never troubled with them again. Some months after, a band of twenty or thirty came back to Fox Lake and encamped. A Mr. Stevens, an old pioneer, the only settler in that section of the country, a brave, noble man, went out alone and tore down their wigwams and drove them off never to return again.

When Col. Worth got the Indians on the banks of the Wisconsin River, ready to cross. they all refused to go, saying their forefathers were buried here and they would die here too. The Colonel brought up a platoon of soldiers and (the Indians all being in their canoes) fired over their heads, but that did not frighten them. He next brought up a field piece (cannon) and fired that off; then he told them the next time he would load with grape and cannister and fire amongst them. The old chiefs talked it over and finally concluded it was too much for them. and they paddled over to their new home, adjoining the reservation of the Sioux Indians, who were their deadly enemies.

Old Father, Halsted, a Methodist missionary, located among the Stockbridge and Brother- town Indians, was the first man who ever preached a sermon in this county. A good old-fash- ioned Christian gentleman, he would ride up here and preach to us as often as he could, say once every two or three weeks. He first preached in the house of Edward Pier and from that time, for a number of years, preached to the early settlers, speaking in different houses at differ- ent times, the people paying him in flour and other necessaries, and sometimes a very little money-little indeed, for the people had but very little.

In an early day, the Government cut a military road or track through the woods from Fort Howard (Green Bay) to Fort Winnebago (Portage). It was a poor apology for a road, but could be used in winter and, in very dry weather, in summer. That was all the road we had out here until 1841 or the next year. Some men in Milwaukee sent word they would meet the settlers at the Milwaukee River and eut a track or road through. The inhabitants accepted the offer, and one day a gang started out with a large pair of oxen owned by Mr. Simmons with ox chains and provisions for the trip. The party consisted of E. M. Simmons, Oscar and Oliver Pier and Harvey J. Peek. They cut the underbrush, moved the logs and bridged the small streams with poles, making a passable road. The boys met the Milwaukee party at the river and camped together over night, having a big jollification. That was the first Milwaukee road. and in dry weather we could go through with teams, taking a small load of wheat, which would sell for 45 to 50 cents a bushel. The next winter, a road was cut through to Sheboygan in a similar manner and by the same parties here. A few years after emigration starting, a plank road was built in nearly the same track. Then there was an outlet for grain to the lake and people began to prosper.

The first Fourth of July celebration held in the county was in our front yard. We built a bower of green boughs, then drove stakes in the ground and laid on boards for a table. This we covered with tablecloths. The seats around the table were built in the same way. Then we took a sheet and with pieces of red and blue cloth made a respectable flag, which we attached to a long pole. One of the men climbed to the top of the tallest tree and fastened it there. It showed plainly for miles around. This was the first American flag raised by citizens in the county. Most of the people in the county-men, women and children-came, each family bringing what they could of good things to put on the table; and when all was on, it was a bountiful table, indeed, enough for all and plenty to spare. When everything was ready, they all formed in line. Alonzo Simmons, with his violin, played Washington's March, and they marched and countermarched until they were all finally seated at the table. Dr. Darling delivered an address and many toasts were drank. Taking it all together. it was a grand old time, and all went to their homes happy indeed.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

The prairie fires were sometimes terrible. In March of the spring that Mr. Simmons built his house on " the old homestead," we had all the timber to build with, which had been hauled the fall and winter before. It was piled up closely, the snow was gone and the grass dry. One day in the forenoon, we saw black smoke arising in the south, when my son, A. P. Simmons, took a pail and, riding his horse as fast as possible, arrived there in time to " back fire " and save the timber ; but the next thing was to save himself; he jumped on to his horse, the fire after him, leaping sometimes twenty feet, then catching again. At last, becoming cornered, he had to turn and ride through the fire with all speed, and, in doing so, burnt the hair all off where it was not covered with his cap and also the hair off the sides of his horse. He got back home nearly exhausted. It was quite common to have our hay-stacks burned. One fall, our hay was nearly all burned, and. having a large stock of cattle, my husband had to go to the woods and cut down trees and let the cattle browse off the tops. By care, he brought them through the winter without losing any.

On a certain day, some fifteen or twenty Indians came to our house. They had been having whisky from Luke Laborde's, enough to make them ugly. All our men folks were away three- fourths of a mile, and I was alone with my two youngest children-Amasa, twelve years old, and Eliza Jane, nine. The Indians came in and demanded whisky. I told them we had none, but they would not believe me. The pantry door being open, they saw some bottles standing on the shelf and were determined to get to thiem, but I told them they must not. At last, they made a rush for it, and I, having prepared myself for the emergency, took a small chair in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other, stopped them and finally drove them out. The last one I pushed out, and he fell on his back, hurting him somewhat. They were very mad, and said they were going home for their guns and left. I then sent Amasa on horseback for his father, and he came home immediately. Soon after he arrived, the Indians came back with guns, but, when they saw him, they stood around a short time and then left. The next day, the chief brought a fine, fat deer, dressed, and made me a present of it, saying I was a very brave squaw ; and I never had any trouble with that band after.

The first store in this county was started by James B. Clock and George Weikert. They bought a small stock of goods and put them in the north half of the old Fond du Lac House, and, by boring holes in the logs and driving in pins and laying on slabs and pieces of boards, laid their goods on and made quite a respectable store.

The first singing school was at the little old schoolhouse, built where the city now is. A paper was circulated and each one subscribed what they could and sent to Sheboygan, and a Mr. Robinson (now living at Ripon) came and taught the school two nights each week during the winter for $3 a week, the people boarding him and his horse during his stay.

The first dancing school was taught by A. H. Clark at our house, there being no other large enough for that purpose. My husband had put up a temporary partition through the center of the house, and, by taking it down each time there was a dance, it made quite a good dancing hall, being 18x32 fect. For some years, large dancing parties were held there, until the old Badger Hotel was built, where the city now is, on the corner of Main street and Western avenue. That was the first hotel, strictly such, built in this county.

IX .- BY GEORGE WHITE. 1879

I emigrated from Green Bay to Fond du Lac County in 1837-to the town of Calumet. At that time, there was but one house between mine and Milwaukee-seventy-nine miles-and that was occupied by Colwert Pier and brother. The Brothertown Indians were our neighbors on the north, and the Menomonees were the roaming occupants of the prairie. We moved from Green Bay in a yawl-boat, and after entering Winnebago Lake, we hoisted sail and with a pleasant wind soon came in sight of the prairie on which my house was built. We had never before seen

a prairie, and the impression the sight produced was enchanting. It reminded us of the poet's description of the "sweet fields arrayed in living green," in the Promised Land. We found our log house prepared for our use ; and for several years it became the occasional shelter for the

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

night of the lawyers and judges going from Milwaukee to Green Bay, to attend court. Such were seasons of social intercourse without the restraints of courtly etiquette.

In the early settlement of the town of Calumet, wild game was abundant, and the deer were hunted for their skin and meat. One Sunday morning, my hired man came into the house in a great hurry, saying, " Mr. White, where is your gun ? There is a deer in the road close by." Said I to him : " The poor animals are entitled to one day in seven for a breathing-spell and respite from death, and my gun shall not be the instrument of his death." The timid animal escaped. Another anecdote : The mountain wolves were plenty. One day I was raking wheat on the lot, and hearing the cry of distress from one of my hogs, I dropped my rake and ran in the direction of the cry, and, within about fifty rods, I came in sight of a large wolf who had nearly killed a hog that would weigh one hundred pounds. He fled, when he saw mne, into the bush. As the hog could not live I put him out of his misery, and near by I set a trap between two saplings, built a circular brush fence on one side, put the carcass next to it and in front of the bait. I buried my trap, fastened by a log chain. Next morning early, with my two dogs, I went to the place and found the chain in its place and the trap gone. The dogs traced the wolf through the underbrush for about half a mile, when, emerging into the open woods, they espied him. The bulldog grappled with him till I prevented further contest. He was as passive as a lamb, and allowed me to tie his mouth and legs, and, with assistance, carry him home.

I was obliged, by the importunities of the Menomonees, to open a small store for their accommodation, but refused, under all circumstances, to furnish them with "fire water." As a proof of their honesty, I must chronicle an event that occurred at their yearly pay ground.

I had trusted them during the year with goods to be paid for either in skins, or at their yearly payment in money. I attended their payment, and employed a half-breed as an inter- preter and assistant, who stood with me at the door of the Agent's tent. At length an Indian came out with his money in silver in one corner of his blanket. A trader, that had sold him whisky, demanded his pay, and seized hold of the blanket, determined to have it. My half- breed commenced to interfere in my behalf, but I told him to desist, and just then the Agent took the Indian into the tent. Several hours after, as I was standing conversing with some gentlemen, I felt my coat pulled, and. looking round, I saw a hand filled with silver extended toward me. The squaw of Kiskotopway, my debtor, tendered to me the amount of my claim, saying her man had sent it to me in preference to paying the man who crazed the Indians with " fire-water."

I acted as agent for most of the Germans of Calumet, in buying their land for them. They were an honest, industrious and prosperous community.

Among the early settlers of Fond du Lac county with whom I was intimate, I recall the names of Dr. Darling, Edward Pier, J. M. Gillet, Gov. and Maj. Tallmadge, Gov. Doty, George Mc Williams and Dr. Delaney. An incident connected with Dr. Delaney I will mention : For several years, I was Postmaster at Calumet Village, but, in consequence of my support of Charles Doty for the Legislature, and the consequent defeat of R. P. Eaton, the Democratic nominee, the Democratic representation in Congress procured my discharge as Postmaster, and the removal of the office from our village.

As the next Representative was Gov. Doty, I wrote to him, stating that as we had lost the post office from our village, in consequence of our support of Charles, we should look to him for its restoration, and I recommended Dr. Delaney as Postmaster.

In a short time the Doctor (whom I had not informed of my doings) came to my house, bringing his appointment as Postmaster, and inquiring if I knew what it meant, as he had made no application for the office. I told him he might thank Gov. Doty for the appointment and me for the recommendation.

The oldest of the settlers of Fond du Lac County are mostly gone to a fairer clime, and of a more enduring and satisfying tenure than this. We have not in this ephemeral existence full scope for development. There is an irreconcilable discrepancy between our powers and their

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

full display if this life is the end of our conscious being. We begin to live here; we shall con- tinue to live beyond the reach of death as social, progressive and immortal beings .*

X .- BY JOHN O. HENNING. 1879.

I came to Fond du Lac in the summer of 1846. at the solicitation of Dr. Darling, and started the Fond du Lac Journal, in connection with Mr. Hooker, who had a business interest in it. Hooker sold out to Edward Beeson ; and afterward, on account of ill health, I disposed of my interest to Beeson. In the fall, J. M. Gillet started the Whig, and, some time after, Hooker obtained an interest in that paper.

Fond du Lac was a city of magnificent distances, and an enumeration of all the inhabitants within a distance of three miles amounted to one hundred and fifty-three. Dr. Darling and a Frenchman by the name of Hebert, accommodated the traveling public. The merchants were M. S. Gibson, Clark & Weikert, Smith & Gillet and A. P. & G. N. Lyman, by their agent Dewey. Jason Wilkins run a grocery, and D. R. Curran started his drug store that fall. The Badger House was opened that fall or winter, by Lewis & Morris. Drs. Babcock and Walker were the practicing physicians. Dr. Darling and John Bannister were local land agents. Peter V. Sang kept tavern at Seven Mile Creek ; Mr. Nathaniel Perry at Tayclieedah, and Harry Giltner at Forestville, on the Sheboygan road. Among the noted names at that time were ex-Govs Doty, Tallmadge and Beall; the Conklins, Piers, George McWilliams, Frank Moore, E. W. Drury, Judge Stow, Myron Eaton, O. S. Wright ; Warren Chase, of Ceresco ; Selim Newton, the Gillets, Morley, McCarty, Driggs, Slocum and others. The steamer Manchester, owned by George W. Featherstonhaugh, was running on Lake Winnebago, commanded by Capt. Houghtaling, with Jonas Warden as mate, and J. Tyler as engineer. Warden is now Captain of the Lake Superior, one of the finest steamers running from St. Louis, and Tyler is running a ranche near Los Angeles, California. Driggs & Morley had a saw-mill on the river west of the Court House : Davis & Smith built the first steam saw-inill on the river, at Lower Town, in 1846. In the fall. Smith made, as he supposed. an exploration of all the pineries on Wolf River, and returned satisfied that there was not pine enough on the river to run their mill three years, sold out at a sacrifice, and left for the Eist. There has been billions of lumber cut on the river since then.

In the spring of 1849, Moses S. Gibson and Frank P. Catlin, of Fond du Lac, were appointed Receiver and Register of the United States Land Office, at Hudson, Mr. Gibson now has a clerkship in the Treasury Department at Washington, and Mr. Catlin makes his home at Ripon, although he is at present visiting his sons in this vicinity, S. S. N. Fuller. who had been Register of Deeds, District Attorney, etc., of Fond du Lac County, came to Hudson in 1850, and a year or so after was elected Circuit Judge of this District. After his term expired, he went to Western Iowa. and died a few years since.

After disposing of my interest in the Journal, I became a granger, and started a farm in the present town of Eldorado, which I had the pleasure of naming. In the fall of 1849, I removed to Hudson, where I still remain.

" REMARKABLE SKILL .- MIr. J. R. Tallmadge, yesterday, brought to the Commonwealth ofhice the following letter : "' WASHINGTON, D. C., August 8, 1879.

".Denr Raymond-I received lately a strip of newspaper, inclosed in an envelope, in which is a flattering reference to myself. I judged it was a slip from the Fond du Lac Commonwealth, though it was guess-work. As reference was made in that to my letter to you, I inclose to the editor, with my compliments, a card which I wrote yesterday. You will please to say to him that I did the best I could with the means at my command.

GEORGE WHITE.'

" The card referred to by Mr. White is one not so large as an ordinary business card, and a little broader than a lady's calling card. On the face is written : . Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln. Written by the subscriber in his 831 year, for the editor of the Com- monwealth. Washington, D. C, August 8, 1879. George White." On the other side is Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, so plainly written that it may be read easily without the aid of a glass. At the first glance, the back of the card appears to be simply painted gray ; but on a closer examination the words and sentences plainly appear. We doubt whether there is another octogenarian in the Union who could have executed the work before ns."

" We saw," says a writer in a Fond du Lac paper of 1879, "a lengthy letter to day written to JJ. K. Tallmadge, by George White, of Wash- ington. Mr. White is one of the very earliest settlers of Wisconsin, having been here when the Tallmadges reached Wisconsin, over thirty- three years ago. He laid out the village of Calumet, which contained buildings at as early a day nearly as did Fond du Lac. He is now eighty-three years old, and a clerk under John A. Bentley, in the Pension Bureau, doing as much work as any of the clerks. And he does it well, too, the letter shown us being written more elegantly than could be done by most business men of thirty. Here is good cheer to you, good father, who helped to make the wilderness blossom as the rose; and may you enjoy the rose many years to come .- Fond du Lac Commonwealth, August 30, 1879.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

XI .- BY H. R. COLMAN. 1879.

My first visit to Fond du Lac County was in August, 1841, on my way from the Oneida Indian Mission, where I was then stationed, to attend the session of the Rock River Conference > of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was held that year at Platteville, Wis. Where the village of Calumet now stands, a man by the name of George White lived, and had made some improvements on a farm. I saw no more settlements or improvements till I came to where Fond du Lac City now stands, where there was a log house near where Darling's Block now is, where Dr. Darling lived and kept entertainment for travelers. There was a house then standing on Brooke street near where the railroad bridge now is, and there was a bridge across the river at that place, but there was no one occupied the house, and the travel was diverted another way farther up the river. A number of families had settled south and southeast of where the city now is, and had opened farms, and A. D. Clark had built a saw-mill on the West Branch of the Fond du Lac River. There was a log house erected at Seven Mile Creek, where they entertained travelers, which was all the settlement there was between Fond du Lac and Waupun. At Waupun there were but two families.

I made my annual journey through the county, with an occasional call at Fond du Lac on business till 1847, when I was stationed on the charge and came to the town of Fond du Lac to live. In 1846, there was a great rush of immigration into the county, and the ague and fever prevailed everywhere. In some places, there were scarcely well ones enough to care for the sick. But the ague disappeared in 1847, and there were settlements formed in different parts of the county. A man by the name of Wilkinson settled a little south of where the village of Oakfield now stands, and there was quite a settlement in that neighborhood. They had built a log house, which served for schools and religious meetings, for they were generally connected in every settlement.

Fond du Lac was then a small village with great expectations, inasmuch as it was the county seat. They had built a house which answered for schools and all kinds of meetings, religious and political, and also for a Court House, where justice was administered by Judge Stone as civil Judge. A saw-mill had been built, and the frame for a grist-mill had been put up by Wheeler & Morley, but Mr. Wheeler was killed in 1846 by the falling of a tree, while getting out timber for his mill, and the work stopped. The mills were located a little below the Western avenue bridge.

A steam saw-mill had been built on the river a little north of Arndt street, by Cornelius Davis, and a number of stores and shops and houses were subsequently built at the foot of Arndt street on the river; also a large warehouse was built on the north side of the street, close to the bridge. But the dams that were built about that time across the outlets of the lake at Neenah and Menasha raised the water so that they were under the necessity of deserting the place. On the west side of the river, opposite Cotton street, they formerly drew saw-logs with two yoke of oxen out of the river, and drew them up to A. D. Clark's saw-mill, some two miles, more or less. By that, any one may judge how much those dams have raised the water in the lake. Tayeheedah was an enterprising village about this time, and was thought by some to be the coming city, but the rising of the waters blasted all their prospects. A man by the name of Geisse had built a stone flouring-mill there, and they had quite a business place there for some time. B. F. Moore at that time was a prominent business man at that place.

As was before stated, schools and religious meetings go together in Yankee settlements, and they were provided for in every settlement. In the fall of 1847, there were schools estab- lished not only in Fond du Lac and Taycheedah; but in the south part of Fond du Lac, where Dr. Adams had settled, there was a flourishing school. There was also a school in Byron, and also a post office near where the Methodist Church now stands, Mr. Orin Morris, Postmaster. There was also a school established in the Genessee settlement in Oakfield. Four miles west of Fond du Lac, on the Waupun road, there was a flourishing settlement.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

Edward Beeson, Jesse Homiston and his son settled there at an early day, with others whom we cannot now name. Joseph Stowe kept entertainment for travelers a little beyond where the Four Mile House now stands, and E. W. Drury, Esq , had opened a farm a little west of him. Mr. Stowe not only opened his house for travelers, but also for religious meet- ings, and when he built a shed to accommodate the traveling community, he made a hall over it for the public worship of God, but did not keep strong drink for any one. At this time, there was a whisky tavern at Seven Mile Creek, kept by a man who had been a member of the church. He sent word to the Methodist minister that he wished to have preaching at his house and also wished to unice with the Church. An appointment for preaching was circulated in the neighborhood. The time arrived and a large congregation assembled, and. after preach- ing, an opportunity was given for any who wished to unite with the church to make it known, when the landlord presented himself for membership. The minister asked him if he was will- ing to abide by the rules of the church, and informed him we had a rule that not only forbade drunkenness, but the buying and selling of spiritnous liquors, or drinking them unless in cases of extreme necessity. He argued the case quite earnestly, and quoted Scripture to prove his position, but the rule was in his way and there was no way to get by it as long as he sold spir- ituous liquors, and the Church failed to get the influence of the landlord, and the landlord failed to get the Church to sanction his business.

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The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 55

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