The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 56

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

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The Methodist Church sent ministers into this county at an early day. In 1842, a Mr. Halsted and Mr. Smith were stationed here. Their charge included Brothertown and all this region of country where there were any inhabitants. Mr. Halsted lived near where Mrs. E. H. Galloway now lives. From that time, there has been a regular supply of Methodist minis- ters sent to Fond du Lac County in different parts as the people wished. In 1852, there were two Methodist Churches built in the city-the one that now stands upon the corner of Marr and Third streets. now owned by the Evangelicals, and the other built on Arndt street, now owned by the Presbyterians and used for a mission chapel, on the west side of the river.

In 1847, there was a Congregational minister living in Fond du Lac by the name of Spof- ford, and the Congregationalists built the church now occupied by the Free-Will Baptists, about the time the Methodists built theirs.

XII .-- BY ISAAC ORVIS. 1879.

There are many charms in Western prairie life for those who are lovers of nature and of reflective minds, that can never be effaced, and particularly to the early settlers of this country. The variety of its scenery ; its vast expanse of undulatory prairie and woodlands and oak open- ings ; its ledges of limestone, their fissures and grottoes ; its crystal lakes and streams ; its bub- bling springs and rivulets ; its Eden of flowers and waving grass ; its abundance of wild game ; the fertility of its soil ; all conspire to make the thoughtful pioneer feel that there had been pre- pared a new paradise or Eden for his inheritance. In this spontaneous garden of beauty the first settlers made their locations.

They were mostly youngerly men, brimful of health, energy, and kindness for one another. Among them. I remember, with the greatest kindness, Colwert Pier, Edward Pier, M. C. Dar- ling, Selim Newton, John Martin, Col. Conklin, Gustave de Neven, John Carswell, N. P. Tallmadge, W. R. Tallmadge, E. H. Galloway, J. M. Gillet, Bertine Pinkney, Capt. D. P. Mapes, Warren Chase, Hugh Hubbard, the Olmstead brothers, and many others. These were a few among many of the men that braved the privations and difficulties of pioneer life to lay the foundations of one of the most populous and wealthy counties in the State. They and their coadjutors are the men who have packed their provisions on horseback, or human backs, from Green Bay or Milwaukee, fording rivers, crossing what seemed to be bottomless sloughs, living for weeks and months in houses without floors, and, in some instances, with bed-sheets sewed together and drawn across the rafters for a roof.

Several families of my acquaintance ground the materials for their bread in a coffee-mill, and, for their meat, subsisted upon the wild game of the forest, which was plenty. Still the novelty

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

of our surroundings, the primeval beauty of the landscape, the unity. equality, and mutual dependence of the people, made the little society a paradise, and I sometimes almost grieve for the good old days of pioneer life.

There are some incidents and anecdotes connected with the first settlement of the town of Oakfield, that will not be forgotten while any of the pioneers remain, one of which I will relate here. Rupell Wilkinson was the first settler in this town. He came from Fond du Lac, built a shanty, and moved his wife and goods. After remaining some weeks, they became lonesome and went to Fond du Lac on a Saturday, to remain over Sunday. While absent, the Indians (it was supposed) burned the shanty and its contents. They returned to Fond du Lac and remained some time, and then came back with two brothers, John and Robert. In the mean time, Sherman Botsford and John Bierne had settled in the same vicinity. In consequence of the burning of the shanty of Wilkinson, it was agreed among the settlers that, in case of an Indian attack upon the settlement, they were to fire a gun and all rendezvous at Fort Botsford (Botsford's shanty), that being made of logs and covered with troughs that rendered it imper- vious to water and bullets. Botsford and Bierne kept "bach." Bierne had been to Fond du Lac and returned to Botsford's shanty late on a wet evening. He had with him a flask of what always warms and cheers the heart of an Irishman, and lightens the shanty of a bachelor, and leads to the desire for fun and frolic. They concluded to inaugurate an Indian scare. Botsford went out and fired his gun, and then they jumped into bed. It so happened that the two Wil- kinson men were from home. Upon hearing the report of the gun, their wives sprang from their beds, seized their infants, and, in their night habiliments, inade their best speed for Fort Botsford. They found the men in bed. The latter immediately sprang up and threw each a blanket round the fugitives, and sat down for explanation. Botsford afterward said he meas- ured the strides of the ladies next morning, and they would have done credit to any practiced pedestrian.

Among the early settlers were several families of English people-Burletons, Shuttle- worths, Halls, Whitmores and others. They were like most of the settlers, of small means or none at all, except their energy and muscle. Mrs. Burleton was taken sick soon after arriving. The neighbors ministered to her wants as well as their limited means would allow, and she was nursed by her sister, Mrs. Bledsoe. On returning from church (the log cabin), my wife and I called to see how she was. Mrs. Bledsoe declared she was a'most dead. "She would have been dead afore now, but the folks, going to meeting, called and put her out in her dying, and she hadn't got through'f't yet !""

Our town was organized by the Legislature in the winter of 1846-47. During these years, it settled rapidly. I think the first tax was the largest ever paid in proportion to population and property. The expense of a town organization, the laying-out and making highways and bridges, together with our poor-tax (we had then no county system for the support of the poor), made the tax high for those who had any improvement or capital. The first public building in the town was a log schoolhouse, which served all the purposes of church, town hall and rostrum.

Close upon the settlement of our town followed that indefatigable and zealous individual, the Methodist itinerant preacher. Mr. Ellwell, a Methodist preacher from the East, had settled in Oakfield. Mr. Requa, I think. was on the circuit. I cannot here record the name of Requa without a tribute to his memory. He was, I think, a good Christian man, and peculiarly adapted to his vocation. He was a man of culture ; his imagery of happiness or misery, of the power of love and charity, expressed through his sympathetic soul, I shall always remember with much pleasure.

The ministers and brethren consulted together and came to the conclusion that the settle- ment ought to have a revival of religion. Accordingly, a series of meetings was inaugurated and kept up for several weeks.

There were some incidents and sayings that may seem trivial, but they belong to that time, and exhibit the manner, culture and mode of expression of that era, and consequently are noted. One young exhorter, wishing to quote that Scripture which says : "Not one jot nor tittle

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of the law shall pass away," got it " tit and jottle." Mortified at his mistake, he stammered on " tit-tit-tit," until some brother gave him "jot," and he got through.

Another young man, who had experienced a change of heart, was requested to tell his young companions of his joys of redemption and forgiveness. He said to them, " My young friends, you need to give your hearts to Jesus; if you do not, you will surely be lost; you are all on bruin's rink."

A little innocent girl " thanked the Lord that He had taken her feet out of the mud-hole and established them on a rock." The titter of the juveniles spoiled the rest of the communication. But the quaintest and most original of all was by an aged brother. When called upon for his experience, he said : "Last night, as I went to prayer, it Lord coom down like a mighty rooshin wind, and like to took it top off it ould shanty.'

Another elderly brother who was requested to make the closing prayer, ended his petition in these words: "Now, O Lord, let salvation come to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, for Christ's sake."

In the mean time, the county was rapidly populating, and there began to be a surphis of production. Fond du Lac was our only market. Surrounded by a flat, and at that time, wet prairie, it was at certain times in the year almost inaccessible. I wrote an article which was published in the Fond du Lac Journal, then edited and published by Edward Becson, which was favorably received, recommending the building of a few leading plank-roads from the table- lands surrounding the city on three sides, over the low prairie, and finally called a meeting to be held at the log schoolhouse in Oakfield. The meeting was attended by Dr. Darling, Robert A. Baker, John Sewell and Judge Flint, of Fond du Lac, Alvin Foster, of Mayville, and several persons from our town. The subject was discussed, and an adjourned meeting agreed upon to be held at Fond du Lac some time in the future. That niceting was held, and, if I remember right, the Forest, Fond du Lac & Waupun Plank Road Company was organized, with several branches. The roads were built in due time, and from that moment a new impetus was given to the business of the city and country about it. A plank-road had been previously built from Fond du Lac to Sheboygan. After the completion of the Mayville branch of the plank-road, 1 have loaded five teams with 100 bushels of wheat each, and drawn it to Sheboygan with ease and comfort, whereas, I have often seen the time when I would have given the whole toll to have been extracted from one mud-hole.

Speaking of wheat reminds me of my first grist. The first fall that I came into the coun- try, I started a saw-mill. Dr. Adams, of Byron, wanted lumber, and I wanted bread, so we made an exchange. He was to deliver ten bushels of wheat at Conklin's mill in Empire, the only grist-mill in the county, and receive lumber for his pay. The wheat was delivered, and, at the appointed time, I sent for my grist. It was not ground. I waited for a month and sent again, instructing the man who went for it that if it was not ground, he should take it to Taychee- dah, get it on board of Houghtaling's steamboat and send it to Neenah. The grist was sent to Neenah. But the covetous Neenahites (unlike the honest miller who, having forgotten whether he had tolled a grist, said he would toll it again, as it was better to be twice right than once wrong), took the whole grist, bags and all !

It has been said that no human happiness is unalloyed. Our quiet community was destined to be the victim of another Indian scare. At an early day, Solomon Juneau, in the goodness of his heart and his love for the Indian, had purchased of the Government forty acres of land on the east shore of Winnebago marsh, and deeded it to the Indians (it is known by the euphoni- ous name of Smut's Point), so that they might not be trespassers upon the settlers when fishing, hunting and trapping on that miasmatic frog-pond. Word came by riders and runners that the Indians in their war paint, brandishing their tomahawks and scalping-knives, were swooping down upon the settlements in the north part of the county, massacreing the feeble and innocent indiscriminately, and making the welkin ring with the savage war-whoop ; and the people were all rushing to Fond du Lac and Taycheedah. A runner was sent to Oakfield with the appalling news and also the news that there was another band at Smut's Point, preparing to meet the

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

invaders from the north. The neighbors gathered together, and I was offered the command of a squad to go down and attack them in their forty-acre garrison. Your humble servant, either from fear or incredulity, declined the honor, but said to my neighbors that if it were true we had better defend ourselves at home than make an attack. The settlers in the west part of the town, however, concluded to attack the enemy in his entrenchments. A citizen of Oakfield organized a corps, armed them with guns, scythes, pitchforks, and I do not know but with plow- shares, threw out his scouts and skirmishers, and, carefully feeling his way, marched to Smut's Point. The gallant leader arrived at Fort Smut, and to his chagrin found but one old Indian and squaw, who turned pale and trembled in their moccasins at the military array. They said, in broken English : " Me good Indian ; me no kill ; scalp shmoky man-me good !" The officer wheeled his command right about face, gave each soldier an honorable discharge, and in a little speech told them he should know just where to find the gallant defenders of the county when next assailed.

The first settled minister in this town was, I think. the Rev. Samuel D. Darling, a man of strong, positive feeling, tender sympathy, of excellent judgment, a leader in every charitable and benevolent work, a genial, good man, who will long be remembered in this community. The Congregational Society erected a small church, the first in the town, and installed Mr. Dar- ling Pastor. The congregation was small and the members not affluent, consequently his salary was small and he was obliged to cultivate a small farm to support his family. He occupied the pulpit for a number of years much to the satisfaction of his congregation and the public. He finally gave up his preaching for farming. He fell dead from his seat in Opera Hall while attending a literary meeting, as many in the county will remember. The church was purchased by the Baptist Society, enlarged, and is now presided over by the Rev. Mr. Lewis.

The need of a place for religious instruction was felt in the east part of the town, and a joint-stock company was formed for the erection of a Union Church in the village of Oakfield. The stock was taken by all denominations, and by those of no denomination. The church was built and paid for, the ladies instituting dime sociables to furnish it and purchase an organ. A Pastor was hired for one year-Rev. Mr. McFarland, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The congregation was large, and a general feeling of harmony and kindness prevailed. The stock paid a dividend of ten per cent to the stockholders, the incidental expenses being mostly con- tributed by the audiences. The social feeling was cordial and the community were happy. After another year, two churches were organized-a Baptist and a Congregational.

The Episcopalians have a small church and congregation in Oakfield Village, presided over by the Rev. Mr. Wright, Pastor of the Episcopal Church of Waupun, which is well attended.

Nearly thirty-five years have elapsed since the rapid settlement of the county commenced. When I survey the change from a primeval wilderness to a wealthy and populous county, with its cities and villages, its churches and schoolhouses, its mills and manufactories, its beautiful country residences, its thousands of acres of cultivated soil, all produced by the labor and.skill of its inhabitants, I am almost astounded by the power of human possibility.

Many of the first settlers have passed over the mystic river ; many still remain, but their days are in the sear and yellow leaf. We shall all soon have to balance the ledger. But I pray that we may all adopt the sentiment of the poet Burns, whom I quote:

" The lift aboon will welcome soon The wayworn and the weary, And angels fair will greet them there Sae winsome and sae cheery. But while we stay make smooth the way Through life's wintry wither Until one beald and common shield Shall haud us all thegither."

N. Boardman

FOND DU LAC

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

XIII .- BY GILBERT M. LEE.

I came into the Territory of Wisconsin on the 14th day of September, 1845. I purchased in the town of Calumet 423 aeres of prairie and timber land and moved in the next spring. I landed at Milwaukee and came to Fond du Lac by way of Watertown and Oak Grove. I took dinner at a little tavern, about sixteen feet square, kept by a Frenchman. My bill of fare was a large beef's head, cooked whole. It looked like a sign on a butcher's shop. The house was where the Opera House now stands. There were then no bridges between Milwaukee and Fond du Lae. I arrived in Calumet May 26, 1846. Winter wheat on Boyd's Prairie was two feet high. I immediately commeneed work on my farm and feneed the whole of it.

The winter of 1846-47 was a mild one. The lake [Winnebago] opened on New Year's Day, and the ice piled up on the east shore very high in some places. The next winter, I had occasion to go to Oshkosh to purchase some lumber, as there was a saw-mill at that place then, but the hill, where the heart of the city now is, was then oak openings and scrub bushes with a few small houses set on blocks. Lake Winnebago was at that time frozen over, except now and then spots of a rod or more in diameter. It was twelve miles across, and, as I was a good skater, I made the distance in something over an hour. In returning late in the day, I broke one of my skates and encountered a snowstorm. The consequence was, I did not reach the eastern shore until 10 o'clock at night, and then in an exhausted condition.

XIV .- BY " LISLE LESTER."

On the 6th of June, 1844, we arrived at Milwaukee in the old steamer " Missouri." Mil- waukee was then a small, lively place, peopled by thorough, enterprising inhabitants. It seemed to already wear the appearance of a city. The streets were for the most part sidewalked and planked, and many buildings of fine structure, graced the grounds. Hotels, churches, etc., were scattered here and there. Indeed, Wisconsin Territory was rich with such a place as Mil- waukee.

Our destination lay farther north, to Fond du Lac, in a wild and almost unpeopled region, yet possessing very attractive features of scenery and home comforts. No train of cars stood ready to convey us out of the city-far from it ! but, through a dense, wild forest, almost totally uninhabited, we were obliged to wend our way, drawn by "slow, sure-footed beasts"-oxen, and then not until we had tarried a week at Milwaukee, waiting for my father, Lyman Walker, to go through to Fond du Lac and return with the conveyance. The Monday following, we were prepared to depart, and then for the first time we commenced the true work of pioneering in good earnest. Our goods and effects, which were packed in large boxes, were piled into a wagon, firmly and in order. Upon the top of that generous load my mother and myself took seats, the elevated position affording a fine range of vision.

But few families had emigrated and settled between Fond du Lae and Milwaukee, and even those were mostly foreigners. However, we were so fortunate at the close of the first day's journey as to obtain shelter from the driving rain ; poor as the accommodations were, any place was acceptable. The road through these dreary forests was almost impassable, for the spring had been very backward and rainy, and in the woods the mud was-" I dare not say how deep." Often during the weary days, we were obliged to halt for an hour at a time, in a perfect sea of mud, to extricate a wheel of our burdened wagon, which, generally, as soon as out, was spinning on the top of a neighboring stump or log. In such dilemmas, I, being a small child, was often mysteriously handed from my seat to a position amid the brambles and bushes upon the oppo- site side of the road-although gracefully, yet at the peril of broken bones. Here and there, in those dim old woods, we frequently hailed little opening oases, radiant with thousands of beautiful flowers-the very air was fragrant-such flowers as are only found in the West. Indeed, one would be reminded of a painter's sketch, in which he had thrown the rarest speei- mens of the floral world.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

One week from the day we left Milwaukee we arrived in Fond du Lac. Only a few teams had ever passed over the road before. When one considers the short space of time it now takes to go to Milwaukee from Fond du Lac, and thinks of it taking one week of hard labor only a few years ago, he is well impressed with the great and rapid change that has swept over this part of the State in a very short period. Riding from Milwaukee to Fond du Lac in 1844, after an ox team through a wild region, over a new road, in the rain, and " a stranger in a strange land," is quite a contrast from stepping into the cars at the La Crosse Depot in Milwaukee and arriving at Fond du Lac in about three hours.

As we emerged from the forest upon the Fond du Lac prairie, it presented more the appear- ance of a lake than a prairie, it was so completely immersed in water. Lake Winnebago met our view beyond, and, had the wet season been past, and this lovely spot, in its usual beanty, burst upon our view as we afterward beheld it, we should have uttered a loud exclamation of surprise. It was wild and new, yet strange and beautiful.

Only those who have emigrated to the West in early days, can realize the feelings we experi- enced as we gazed upon our wild home. Indian wigwams met our view in different directions, and curious savages crept stealthily around, scrutinizing our persons and baggage. At this period, there were but four families in the settlement: M. C. Darling, a French man and family, the Bromleys and the Greens. This comprised the society of Fond du Lac in 1844. There was then one store of limited contents. The Indians kept up the trading traffic of venison, maple sugar, fish, berries, and other articles, which, indeed, furnished the table in rich style. Strawberries, raspberries and wild plums were abundant; the prairies were red (so to speak ) with large, wild strawberries. From the Indians, we could purchase these delicacies for a mere trifle. Brass buttons and similar trinkets were far better than money. The savages were peace- able, kind and friendly, worthy of the Menomonees and Pottawatomies.

We were by no means without roads to more early settlements-to Sheboygan and smaller places, although at times the highways were impassable in the woody regions. During the sum- mer, a fine log house was erected for our abode ; a beautiful portion of the prairie, together with a strip of woodland upon its side, was fenced off, and life in the West commenced in good earnest. Hay for the cattle was at the door, as it were, in its sweetest luxuriance ; in the river, within a stone's throw of our house, fish of various kinds were caught in large numbers. Plums ripened in our dooryard, raspberries lined our fences, and the butternuts fell rattling among the leaves. And although the polished furniture, the soft carpets, and like former comforts were not to be had, yet happiness did not withdraw her charming society from our new home : however, there were times when older ones recalled the joys of their New England homes with a sigh and saddened tone. Such is human nature; and that heart that would break all its early home-ties without a regret is hard indeed.

At a small distance from the village, a saw-mill was erected on a small stream, affording necessary lumber for the use of the settlers-mostly burr-oak and basswood, ash and maple. Pine could only be obtained from the northern regions, then almost totally uninhabited.

The first summer was one of frequent storms. At times, the prairie would be completely deluged, looking, for many hours, like a glassy lake, the water having no convenient opportu- nity to flow off; trees would be uprooted, and split from top to ground by lightning ; roofs of houses were lifted gracefully from their places ; it seemed, indeed, during some of those fearful storms as though the rolling thunder and sweeping wind would rend the very earth with their fury. Never, since that season to the present time, have I witnessed such devastating storms and experienced such an inclement season in the West.

" The storm, with its raging breath Made fierce the hours, and all terrific The lonely, gloomy night."

The summer and fall of 1844 found many new-comers to Fond du Lac and vicinity. Rev. William HI. Sampson commenced his ministerial labors as Presiding Elder in this region of scattered inhabitants. A schoolhouse was built; and Fond du Lac being the county seat,

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the building served well for a Court House. It was also used on Sundays for a mecting-house. Other buildings soon graced the village plat. Farmhouses were seen at a distance ; fences began to lengthen in every direction ; cattle and horses were observed grazing upon the prairies : speculative men from abroad were busy around us; the red man retreated slowly from the scene of progression and civilization; the mail, that comer of welcome and interest, paid us weekly visits ; indeed, progress was riding through the country in every direction. The mer- chants found less time for amusements, and money, that shining, bewitching metal, circulated more liberally from hand to hand. The usual hum of action and life lengthened into louder strains; while the barking of the wolf became less common, and the prowling wildcat crept still farther into the thicket.

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The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 56

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