The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 72

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

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The Major first broke ground near Rienzi Cemetery, the original plat of which was a gift to Fond du Lac by Gov. N. P. Tallmadge ; both were buried there. Next, he and Conklin bought and inelosed 1,200 acres where J. C. Lyons now lives, in Empire. From this place, the Major moved to Calumet and purchased a large farm. On it he lived and labored, building a large house and enjoying fruitful, well-tilled acres. About thirty years ago, he sowed 600 acres of winter wheat-a great undertaking for that time-which proved from cold weather a total failure. This, with the death of his son Kelsey, a stirring, energetic man, was a blow from which he never fully recovered. He was the projector of the Green Bay and Taycheetah plank road, a portion of which he built. He and J. R. Tallmadge also built the Empire Cemetery and Milwaukee gravel roads under contract, losing some money by the operation.

If Maj. Tallmadge had been endowed with many unpleasant faults, he lived long enough in Fond du Lac to have them thoroughly found out. But he was not thus endowed. He was a man of the greatest charity, broad, liberal views and unbounded hospitality. He loved a full house and a bountifully spread table, and generally had both. He was in no sense an "old fogy," but read the latest literature and embraced the freshest and most progressive ideas. Few men have taken part in more or greater changes in Wisconsin than Maj. Tallmadge, and few left a cleaner record. He died January 2, 1879, at his home in the town of Calumet.

JAMES MONROE GILLET

was born at Le Roy, N. Y., April 21, 1821, in a country beautiful and wild with hills and rich with orchards and vines. He went to a common district school, and at Ellicottville, then as now the county seat of his native county, until he was thirteen years of age. Thereafter, he worked summers and taught school winters, often teaching branches he never had studied him- self, working nights to keep ahead of his classes. HIe became a successful teacher in this way, at the same time beginning to read law from borrowed books. At about the year of his major- ity he visited St. Louis, where he continued the business of teaching, but the climate did not suit, and he returned to New York and entered the law office of Hon. Maurice Brown, at Ham- mondsport. Here he was a remarkably thorough student, and became at once noted for won- derful clear-headedness, honesty and proficiency. In due time, he passed a creditable examination and was admitted to the bar. He soon after married, at Penn Yan, Miss Emmiline E. Smith, who joined her destiny with his on the 9th of September, 1845. She shared his sorrows, lightened his burdens and rejoiced in his pleasures for thirty-three years ; nursed him tenderly in his long sickness ; was present to close his dying eyes, and survives to mourn the loss of a

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loving and noble-hearted husband. A year after his marriage, Mr. Gillet drove to Wisconsin with his own horse and buggy, leaving his young wife to follow by water and stage, which she did shortly after. He came as a lawyer to Fond du Lac, when both were young. He found but little law practice at first, being a stranger. He therefore thought a newspaper would pay better than a law office ; so on Monday, the 14th day of December, 1846, he published the first number of the Fond du Lac Whig, a paper which might be called the foundation of the Com- monwealth. His paper, printed by his own strength thirty-three years ago, was a five-column folio, of perfect respectability and cleanliness, and showing a mind of no small force and inde- pendence. The second number was issued with one side printed. The reason for this does not appear anywhere in the yellow volume of the Whig. His salutatory was characteristic and manly. He closed by declaring : " We shall do what shall seem right to us ; and if we err, let it be remembered that it is but human. We do not expect to be withont faults; and only ask the same candor in criticism of our course which we will cheerfully extend to others. Our course will be independent." And it was. At the head of the paper was " J. M. Gillet, editor and proprietor. Published every Monday, at Fond du Lac by the editor and

proprietor." Thus, during the first year he devoted his time to the Whig rather than to law. He finally took an important case, and in its trial made a reputation which placed him at once in the front rank as a lawyer, a place he maintained for a third of a century-until failing health drove him inch by inch from his business. After he once secured a reputation as a lawyer, he never lacked for business, money or friends. He lent and gave to whomsoever asked, as freely as though he could dip gold like water from the ocean. Notwithstanding this generosity that amounted to a fault, he at one time had accumulated a large property, either in real estate or encumbrances on land, which the shrinkage of hard times, with one or two dis- honest clients, almost entirely used up. But this did not matter so long as he had his health, for he could earn abundantly. He ran for State Senator once, but was beaten, as he had not the faculty to command political workers, and did nothing, allowing people to vote for him or not, as they pleased. He was glad he was beaten, and never dabbled in politics again.

The fatal sickness was brought on by catching cold. In the fall of 1878, he went to Michigan and afterward to Colorado, from which he received great benefit. His business and finances suffering from his long sickness made him uneasy, and he returned home to work. This was his fatal mistake. He died May 31, 1879.

He was one of a family of five children. George M., the eldest, very well known in Wisconsin, died in 1852. B. S. and W. B. reside in Fond du Lac. Erastus J. lives at Buffalo, N. Y., and Ione A., first wife of Judge W. D. Conklin, died in 1867. His children were George Finley, who died in 1860 ; Maria Corinne, wife of C. V. Pettibone; Morrison M., who has adopted his father's profession ; Miss Mary Inez and Louis H. Gillet.

J. M. Gillet was no politician, no intrigue, no trickster. He was an open-hearted, gener- ous, talented man, who loved his friends and loved to show, in some material way, his regard for them. He might have been the ideal for the poet's

" Nature's own nobleman, friendly and frank, A man with his heart in his hand."

The character and qualities of a man like him cannot be described in a few brief moments. They are best understood and appreciated by those who have seen them unchanged and undi- minished in all the intricacies of business for himself or others, and the innumerable changes of life.

An intimate friend bears this testimony to the excellency of his life : "Take him all in all, he was a noble specimen of a man. Learned and wise in his profession, his mind well stored with a knowledge of the world and of man, affable, courteous and a gentleman in all his associa- tions ; neither improvident nor parsimonious ; a strong friend but a weak enemy ; neither a bigot nor an iconoclast; one who rejoiced with the prosperous and sympathized with those in afflic- tion ; neither brilliant in intellect nor wanting in judgment, wit or imagination ; neither osten- tatious in dress or deportment, nor without care for appearances ; neither a worshiper of the

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

learned or great, nor one who despised the poor and ignorant, but a sound, sagacious. well- informed, able and conscientious man, ever ready for his task, and able to perform it well. Such in brief, were some of the traits, in our judgment, of our deceased friend. He possessed the elements of true greatness. Such traits as became more apparent, the nearer you approached the individual. Not those which dazzle from a distance and captivate the crowd, not those which bring a man into notice without merit and keep him there without ability. In the true sense of the word great, he was a great man, and yet many of the great men of earth fall to dust and are soon forgotten.

" True glory is duty fitly and faithfully fulfilled. Mr. Gillet remained to the day of his death ' a private citizen. He never held, that I am aware of, a public position either by election or appointment. That he would have graced such a position, and discharged its duties with honor to himself and usefulness to the public, no one will deny ; but he was too modest to reach it. In these times the man seeks the position, not the position the man, and he was not one to ask for place or power. If such came to him at all, it must come to him unasked. He was twice a candidate for State Senator, but others outstripped him in the race. He could not, or did not, condescend to buy or ask for votes. I say could not, for all presume he acted his nature, when he remained quietly at home at work, and let his fellow-citizens act their pleasure. He would not stoop to ask for place, nor belittle himself by advocating a faith in which he did not believe. This was clearly shown when he was offered the place of Postmaster here. He could not bend to the powers then in control, so he had to step aside for others. Thus never asking for place or position, he remained a private citizen, and it is as a private citizen we know him and must honor him. Aside from the influence he had on his immediate associates, he made his mark in life in his profession as a lawyer, and the records of the court bear the memories of his greatness.

" The deceased practiced in all the courts of the land, from that of a Justice of the Peace, to that of last resort-the Supreme Court of the nation-and the records of his work are to be found in the reports.

" Ile never resorted to a trick to gain a point, but waiving many technical questions to get at the merits of the controversy between the parties, he was anxious that the true issue might be determined, and litigation cease. Not only was he a peer among the ablest at the bar, but in social life he was pre-eminent. He was not a great conversationalist, but having traveled much, and being well posted in the literature and knowledge of the day, he was a desirable and enter- taining companion. He was never morose, crusty or absent minded ; always cheerful, ready to listen or be listened to ; to communicate or receive communications, and to join in any amuse- ments in which his companions might be engaged at the time.

" His life-work is done, and as we recall to mind his traits, his virtues and his failings, may we not hope the good he did in life will live hereafter ?"

Concerning the standing of Mr. Gillet as a lawyer, another of his friends puts this testi- monial upon record :

" It is unnecessary for me to speak of Mr. Gillet's standing as a lawyer. We have often lis- tened to his eloquence-an eloquence which appealed to the intellect. We have often witnessed his masterly handling of important cases and his display of legal learning. He was a self-made man. His success was the result of his own vigorous intellect and of his untiring industry. He loved his noble profession.

" The edifice of public liberty is erected upon the administration of justice, and to stand, as he stood, pre-eminent among those who have beautified and adorned the temple of justice, is among the loftiest positions allotted to man.

" To many who knew him, Mr. Gillet will be remembered only as a great lawyer. By some, however, his memory will be cherished for his character as a man and as a friend. They will remember him as one of Nature's noblemen. They will think of him as he appeared on those occasions when all care was thrown aside and he became the genial companion.

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" He was generous to a fault. He never turned a deaf ear to the cry of poverty. He never refused to give to any one who asked. He never seemed to realize that money had any other value than to alleviate suffering or to contribute to the happiness of friends. His large- heartedness was displayed in other ways. He was always courteous to members of his profes- sion. He was ever ready to grant a favor. Many a young lawyer at this bar can remember the assistance and counsel so freely given by our departed friend. Among all the older mem- bers of the bar, he was the one to whom the younger members went with the most freedom for advice. They always saw in his grave but pleasant face a welcome. IIe always gave eredit and encouragement to others. He never pushed a young lawyer into the background when associated with him in a cause, but rather encouraged him to take a leading part in the trial or argument.

" Mr. Gillet died before the measure of his years was full. His intellect was in the prime of its vigor. Old age had not yet abated its force or dimmed its elearness. In the very meri- dian of his manhood, in the very midst of busy, useful labor, his rugged constitution and physical frame of power was compelled to yield to the destroyer."

Says another of his enthusiastic admirers :

" He arose from the ranks, and early taking an advanced place, as well in the practice of his profession as in the hearts of his fellow-men, he grew more and more in the respect of the community and the admiration of his friends, until his labors were brought to a close by his mortal sickness and untimely death.

"There was nothing in the early life of Mr. Gillet, so far as I have learned, that marked him for especial prominence. But he had energy. He had industry and perseverance. He had application to his business and a single purpose to be faithful to his clients, and successful in his practice, and, above all, he had that personal character and honor which gained and deserved the confidence of his associates and those with whom he transacted business."

SAMUEL WOTTON BEALL,

known in Wisconsin, since 1851, as "Governor Beall," was born in Montgomery, Prince George Co., Md., in the year 1807. He descended from families of note on both sides ; on his father's. his lineage could be traced through men of great physical power, and, through marriage, with such families of note as the Randolphs, Stewarts and Jobnstons, of Virginia, the Carrolls, of Carrollton, and the Singletons of South Carolina. His father married a Miss Wotton, niece of the great Dr. Wolton, who came over with Lord Baltimore, being Lord Baltimore's first consin, and a descendant of the old poet Wolton, famous in Queen Elizabeth's time.

Samuel W. Beall was educated at Union College, under Dr. Nott, where he took the highest honors in Greek and Latin ; afterward he studied law at Litchfield, whence so many famous lawyers have been admitted to the bar. He married Miss Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper, in 1827, and, through the influence of a close friend of his family, old Chief Justice Taney, received the appointment (at that time of great responsibility) of Receiver for the sale of public lands of the Northwest, what is now Michigan and Wisconsin. He took his young and charming wife and started for his home in the far West. He located at Green Bay, then a small fort, and, from the Land Office established there, sold for the Government most of the lands now in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. Ilere, on the 4th of July, 1828, his first child was born (a man now well known in Washington Territory), christened Singleton Wotton Bcall. Mr. Beall returned to Cooperstown in 1834, where he and his lovely wife enjoyed a most lux- urions life, he having bought one of the most beautiful places in the whole town, called "Wood- side." Here, for some years, they gathered about them a circle of cultured, refined society, of whom Mrs. Beall's uncle, the world-renowned J. Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Watson Webb, and others formed the center, while Russell, the noted English-ballad singer, added to the circle the charm of his remarkable voice. Several children were born to them in this beau- ful home.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

The results of the terrible crisis of '37, in the failure of one for whom Mr. Beall had indorsed generously, forced him to surrender all his means to pay the debts of others, and 1840 found him with his wife and now large family, again domiciled at Green Bay, henceforth to be identified with the growth and progress of the then far West. Soon after his return, he moved on to land on the banks of the beautiful Green Lake, where he improved and cultivated a farm. He was the first to introduce blooded cattle into the Northwest, the well-known short- horn bull " Major Star," being one of his importations. While here acting the part of Cin- cinnatus of old, his beloved mother died in Maryland, leaving him over thirty slaves and a certain amount of bonds and mortgages. Southerner though he was, and straitened in circum- stances (as compared to his previous life), the spirit of the free West and a noble heart moved him to liberate his slaves, and, what was wisely and well done, to devote the entire proceeds of the sales of the bonds and mortgages to the support of these slaves for two years, and as long indeed as the means lasted and long enough for the slaves to learn what liberty meant, and how to earn a living for themselves-an act truly worthy of record in any man's life.

While carrying on his farm, he was chosen among the first delegates to the convention at Madison, to draw the form of a State Constitution, which Constitution, however, was not accepted at Washington at this time. Shortly after this, he came to Fond du Lac County, leaving his oldest son, Singleton, to carry on the farm. Building a home in Taycheedah, then far more thrifty and promising than Fond du Lac, he devoted himself to his old profession, the law. A year or two afterward, he was chosen Delegate from Fond du Lac County, to draw up another Con- stitution of the State of Wisconsin, which was accepted, and Wisconsin became a State.

When Mr. Dewey was elected Governor, Mr. Beall was chosen Lieutenant Governor, and his Presidency of the Senate, during the term of his office, was noted for unusual dignity, order and just ruling.

His term expiring, he was appointed Indian Agent, and was among the first, as Agent for the Government, to take to Washington chiefs of tribes under his care. Of these were the sachems of the Munsie and Stockbridge tribes. One chief of the latter tribe, John Quinny, created much interest and wonder by the delivery before Congress of a most erudite and eloquent speech, now recorded in history as a sample of remarkable power and pathos. This speech was written by Mr. Beall, and taught word by word to the chief, even to the gestures, who proved an apt scholar to so brilliant a teacher. The original manuscript is still in the hands of the family. So much for the romance often connected with Indian history, and as often misleading.

On the settlement of the Stockbridge Indians on their reservation, he gave up the Agency and devoted his time to his profession. As a criminal pleader, he was noted far and wide, and he swayed juries as he only can whom Nature has intended as a leader of men.

In 1859, impelled by that spirit of Western enterprise to which it had become the habit of his life to yield, he led a party to Pike's Peak. While on this expedition, he, with some others, located the city of Denver. This place immediately started into rapid growth, and, the follow- ing winter, Col. Beall was sent to Washington to obtain a charter for the city-a journey in those days of danger and long duration.

From Denver, he returned not enriched by the work done for others, in time to devote his strength and brave heart to his country. At the age of fifty-four years, he offered himself as a private soldier to Col. Delaney, whose regiment was then in the State in camp. But just as he was leaving to take his place in the ranks, he received the appointment, through the aid of friends in power, of Lieutenant Colonel of the Eighteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, under Col. Alban. He was with this regiment in its first battle, so noted in the history of bloody struggles of the war, Pittsburg Landing. His men had not even received their full rounds of ammunition. In fact, the Eighteenth Wisconsin arrived at night, were pushed directly to the front, never having even fired a gun by file, and in the early morning was receiving the brunt of the first charge from the enemy. However, they fought well, and by 2 o'clock P. M., the Colonel and Major were dead, Lieut. Col. Beall and Adjutant Edward Colman, now of Fond

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du Lac, severely wounded, and the regiment cut to pieces. The youngest son of Col. Beall, Lewis Upton, seventeen years of age, was with his father throughout the whole fight, and showed himself worthy of his brave sire, whose coolness upon the field was remarked by officers and men on both sides. Lieut. Col. Beall was sent home to die, while his young son remained, proving himself a true soldier throughout the war, falling terribly wounded at the fatal storming of Petersburg, Va., dying at last after two years of unparalleled suffering with these wounds. Col. Beall, when he had only partially recovered, returned, against the advice of the surgeons, to his regiment, and was at the storming of Vicksburg, and in most of the battles in which the Army of the Tennessee took part before that event. After the capture of Vicksburg, he returned home, and finding his health enfeebled by his old wounds and the Southern climate, he entered the Invalid Corps, and was given command of the rebel prison at Elmira, which, under his charge, was noted for its cleanliness, and the prisoners have all testified to the human- ity as well as justice shown them. At the close of the war, Col. Beall felt that his active work as a soldier was done, and too proud, as a pensioner or in an office now unnecessary to the country, he resigned a position he might have held for years.

In 1867, he went with Col. Johnson, of Omro, to Montana, locating at Helena, and through his great frontier experience, soon became a prominent man in the fast-growing town. He at once took a leading interest in the welfare of the place, as he had nearly ten years before in Denver, and his well-known ability as connected with the history of Wisconsin, naturally pushed him into the politics of that Territory. This brought him into contact with George M. Pinney, then Postmaster at Helena and an editor.

Col. Beall. acting for the Government, charged Pinney with the acts of which the people of Helena complained. and afterward, as he entered Pinney's office, was shot twice by him. At Pinney's trial for the murder of Col. Beall, which Col. Meredith, commandant of the post, tes- tified was a farce, and the jury an illegal one, he was acquitted.

Thus ended the life of a prominent man of the West, and one of the remarkable men of his time.

To understand the character of Col. Beall, one should have known him personally, and should know well the history of the different elements which have made the varied American character.

For even among the diversified individualities produced by our peculiar American civiliza- tion, Col. Beall stands still unique and certainly unrivaled.

He was a "gentleman of the old school." His virtues were not of the austere type of New England ; his faults were not the glaring defects of the extreme South ; but if there be in character as in climate, a happy medium, then of such medium was Col. Beall a shining example.

His gentle blood, enriched by a long line of illustrious ancestors, gave a certain largeness to his whole being. So his generosity was always princely. IIis dignity was not too cold, thus repelling approach, but still too grand to permit familiarity. This largeness, so rare, made him above all meanness himself, and slow to suspect meanness in others.

Sometimes with princely wealth, at other times more unfortunate, he seemed above the degrading influences of good or ill fortune.

WILLIAM STARR

occupies a prominent place among the illustrious dead, not only of Fond du Lac County, but of Wisconsin. He was born at Middleton, Conn., March 3, 1821, and was the youngest of eleven children. His father was a thrifty but poor mechanic, who died just before Mr. Starr was born, thus leaving him mostly the shaper of his own life and fortunes.

In 1829, when eight years old, Mr. Starr went to Lewis County, N. Y., then a new and sparsely settled country, and there lived on a farm with his stepfather for the next six years. Ile experienced many of the hardships of a pioneer life, occupied in clearing the lands of heavy timber, and in obtaining a scanty support. Neither could the advantages of a public school be

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enjoyed, nor could the boy be spared from hard and necessary labor to acquire a fair education. Still he seems to have improved to the utmost the meager opportunities furnished him for study- ing the common English branches, and became in them an apt and diligent scholar. He formed at this time the habit of learning the contents of his school-books in his leisure hours, after din- ner, in the evenings, and on rainy days. He thus gratified, to some extent, his overmastering passion for reading. IIe literally devoured everything in the shape of books that came within his reach. He always desired to become possessed of a complete education, a feeling in which his mother had a share. Therefore, at the age of fourteen, he began school at the academy at Watertown, N. Y., dividing several of the following closely worked years 'between books and severe labor on the farm. He preserved through his busy life the text-books used at this time, and at the time of his death, they were found neatly arranged among the choicest books of his library. They were free from rents, ink blots, dirt and broken covers. As difficult as the cir- cumstances of Mr. Starr's life made the attainment of an education, he managed to go to the depths of classical branches, and through his busiest years did not relinquish the study and con- templation of mathematics, Greek and Latin. His earlier plan was to become thoroughly quali- fied for teaching, but after teaching two years in the public schools of Leyden and Watertown, N. Y., he resolved to abandon that vocation altogether, finding that he possessed ability of high order for managing large business enterprises.

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The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 72

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