The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 9

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

USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin > Part 9

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The legislature, on the thirty-first of March, adjourned over to the third of September, to dispose of a congressional land grant to the State. Upon re-assembling, an important measure was taken up-that of a new apportionment for the legislature. It was determined to increase the

HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.

number of members from one hundred and seven to one hundred and twenty-seven. The session closed on the thirteenth of October. The general election for members to the thirty-fifth congress. held in November, resulted in the choice of John H. Potter, from the first district ; C. C. Washburn from the second ; and Charles Billinghurst, from the third district. They were all elected as republicans. The presidential canvass of this year was an exciting one in the State. The republicans were successful. Electors of that party cast their five votes for Fremont and Dayton.

The year 1856 was not an unprosperous one, agriculturally speaking, although in some respects decidedly unfavorable. In many districts the earlier part of the season was exceedingly dry, which materially diminished the wheat crop. Other industrial interests were every where in a flourishing condition.

The legislature commenced its tenth regular session at Madison, on the fourteenth day of January, 1857, with a republican majority in both houses. Wyman Spooner was elected speaker of the assembly. For the first time since the admission of the State into the Union, a majority of the members of both houses, together with the governor, were opposed to the democratic party. On the twenty-third the senate and assembly met in joint convention, for the purpose of electing a United States senator in place of Henry Dodge, whose term of office would expire on the fourth of March next ensuing. James R. Doolittle, republican, was the successful candidate for that office, for a full term of six years, from the fourth of March, 1857. The legislature adjourned on the ninth of March, 1857. At the Spring election, Judge Whiton was re-elected chief justice of the supreme court for a term of six years.

The second reformatory State institution established in Wisconsin, was, by an act of the legislature, approved March 7, 1857, denominated a House of Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents, afterward called the State Reform School, now known as the Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys, and is located at Waukesha, the county seat of Waukesha county. The courts and several magistrates in any county in Wisconsin may, in their discretion, sentence to this school any male child between the ages of ten and sixteen years, convicted of vagrancy, petit larceny, or any misdemeanor ; also of any offense which would otherwise be punishable by imprisonment in the State prison ; or, of incorrigible or vicious conduct in certain cases. The term of commit- ment must be to the age of twenty-one years.

At the State election held in November of this year, the republicans elected A. W. Randall governor ; S. D. Hastings, State treasurer, and Edward M. McGraw, State prison commis- sioner. The democrats elected E. D. Campbell, lieutenant governor ; D. W. Jones, secretary of State ; Gabriel Bouck, attorney general ; L. C. Draper, superintendent of public instruc- tion, and J. C. Squires, bank comptroller.

The year 1857 was a disastrous one to Wisconsin, as well as to the whole country, in a finan- cial point of view. Early in the Fall a monetary panic swept over the land. A number of prominent operators in the leading industrial pursuits were obliged to succumb. Agriculturally the year was a fair one for the State.

SIXTH ADMINISTRATION .- ALEXANDER W. RANDALL, GOVERNOR-1858-1859.

Randall's administration began on the fourth day of January, 1858, when for the first time he was inaugurated governor of the State. On the eleventh of January the legislature commenced its eleventh regular session, with a republican majority in both houses. Frederick S. Lovell was elected speaker of the assembly. The legislature adjourned sine die on the seventeenth of March, after an unusually long session of one hundred and twenty-five days. " That a large majority of the members were men of integrity, and disposed for the public weal, can not

@thalloway ( DECEASED ) FOND DU LAC

WISCONSIN AS A STATE.

be doubted ; but they were nearly all new members, and without former legislative experience. They set out to accomplish a great good, by holding up to public scorn and execration the whole- sale briberies and iniquities of the immediate past ; but they lacked concentration of effort, and. for want of union and preconcerted action, they failed to achieve the great triumph they sought, by providing a ' sovereign remedy ' for the evils they exposed."

At the regular session of the legislature of 1856, an act was passed for a general revision of the laws of the State. Under this, and a subsequent act of the adjourned session of that year, three commissioners-David Taylor, Samuel J. Todd, and F. S. Lovell-were appointed "to collect, compile and digest the general laws " of Wisconsin. Their report was submitted to the legislature of 1858, and acted upon at a late day of the session. The laws revised, which received the sanction of the legislature, were published in one volume, and constitute what is know as the Revised Statutes of 1858.

At the Fall election, John F. Potter from the first district, and C. C. Washburn from the second district, both republicans, were elected to the thirty-sixth congress; while C. H. Larrabee, democrat, was elected to represent the third district.

The twelfth regular session of the Wisconsin legislature commenced on the twelfth of January, 1859, with a republican majority in both houses. William P. Lyon was elected speaker of the assembly. The legislature adjourned sine die on the twenty-first of March, 1859, after a session of sixty-nine days. At the regular spring election, Byron Paine was chosen associate justice of the supreme court, for a full term of six years, as the successor of Associate Justice Smith. As it was a question when the term of the latter ended - whether on the 31st day of May, 1859, or on the first Monday in January, 1860-he went through with the formality of resigning his office, and the governor of appointing Paine as his successor, on the 20th of June, 1859. On the twelfth of April, 1859, Edward V. Whiton, chief justice of the supreme court, died at his residence in Janesville. The office was filled by executive appointment on the 19th of the same month-the successor of Judge Whiton being Luther S. Dixon. Late in the Sum- mer both political parties put into the field a full state ticket. The republicans were successful -electing for governor, Alexander W. Randall: for lieutenant governor, B. G. Noble; for secretary of state, L. P. Harvey ; for state treasurer, S. D. Hastings, for attorney general, James H. Howe; for bank comptroller, G. Van Steenwyck ; for superintendent of public instruction, J. L. Pickard ; for state prison commissioner, H. C. Heg.

SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION .- ALEXANDER W. RANDALL, GOVERNOR (SECOND TERM), 1860-1861.

Alexander W. Randall was inaugurated the second time as governor of Wisconsin, on Monday, January 2, 1860. One week subsequent, the thirteenth regular session of the legis- lature commenced at Madison. For the first time the republicans had control, not only of all the State offices, but also of both branches of the legislature. William P. Lyon was elected speaker of the assembly. A new assessment law was among the most important of the acts passed at this session. The legislature adjourned on the second of April. At the spring elec- tion, Luther S. Dixon, as an independent candidate, was elected chief justice of the supreme court for the unexpired term of the late Chief Justice Whiton. In the presidential election which followed, republican electors were chosen - casting their five votes, in the electoral college, for Lincoln and Hamlin. At the same election, John F. Potter, from the first district; Luther Hanchett, from the second, and A. Scott Sloan, from the third district, were elected members of the thirty-seventh congress. Hanchett died on the twenty-fourth of November, 1862, when, on the twentieth of December following, W. D. McIndoe was elected to fill the vacancy. All these congressional representatives were republicans. Wisconsin, in 1860, was a strong repub-

HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.

lican State. According to the census of this year, it had a population of over seven hundred and seventy-seven thousand.

On the ninth of January, 1861, the fourteenth regular session of the State legislature con- menced at Madison. Both branches were republican. Amasa Cobb was elected speaker of the assembly. On the tenth, both houses met in joint convention to hear the governor read his annual message. It was a remarkable document. Besides giving an excellent synopsis of the operations of the State government for 1860, the governor entered largely into a discussion of the question of secession and disunion, as then proposed by some of the southern states of the Union. These are his closing words :

"The right of a State to secede from the Union can never be admitted. The National Government can not treat with a State while it is in the Union, and particularly while it stands in an attitude hostile to the Union. So long as any State assumes a position foreign, inde- pendent and hostile to the government, there can be no reconciliation. The government of the United States can not treat with one of its own States as a foreign power. The constitutional laws extend over every State alike. They are to be enforced in every State alike. A State can not come into the Union as it pleases, and go out when it pleases. Once in, it must stay until the Union is destroyed. There is no coercion of a State. But where a faction of a people arrays itself, not against one act, but against all laws, and against all government, there is but one answer to be made : ' The Government must be sustained ; the laws shall be enforced !'"

On the twenty-third of January the legislature met in joint convention to elect a United States senator to fill the place of Charles Durkee, whose term of office would expire on the fourth of March next ensuing. The successful candidate was Timothy O. Howe, republican, who was elected for a full term of six years from the 4th of March, 1861. One of the important acts passed at this session of the legislature apportioned the State into senate and assembly districts, by which the whole number of members in both houses was increased from one hun- dred and twenty-seven to one hundred and thirty-three. Another act apportioned the State into six congressional districts instead of three. By this - the third congressional apportionment - each district was to elect one representative. The first district was composed of the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha ; the second, of the counties of Rock, Jefferson, Dane, and Columbia; the third, of Green, La Fayette, Iowa, Grant, Crawford, Rich- land, and Sauk; the fourth, of Ozaukee, Washington, Dodge, Fond du Lac, and Sheboygan; the fifth, Manitowoc, Calumet, Winnebago, Green Lake, Marquette, Waushara, Waupaca, Outa- gamie, Brown, Kewaunee, Door, Oconto, and Shawano; and the sixth, of the counties of Bad Axe, La Crosse, Monroe, Juneau, Adams, Portage, Wood, Jackson, Trempealeau, Buffalo, Pepin, Pierce, St. Croix, Dunn, Eau Claire, Clark, Marathon, Chippewa, Dallas, Polk, Burnett, Douglas, La Pointe, and Ashland. The legislature adjourned on the seventeenth of April, 1861.

At the spring elections of this year, Orsamus Cole was re-elected as associate justice of the supreme court. On the ninth of May following, Governor Randall issued a proclamation convening the legislature in extra session on the fifteenth of the same month. "The extraordinary condition of the country," said he, "growing out of the rebellion against the government of the United States, makes it necessary that the legislature of this State be convened in special session, to provide more completely for making the power of the State useful to the government and to other loyal States." The fifteenth or extra session began on the fifteenth of May, as designated in the governor's proclamation. The message of the governor was devoted entirely to the war. " At the close of the last annual session of the legislature," said he, " to meet a sudden emer- gency, an act was passed authorizing me to respond to the call of the president of the United States, ' for aid in maintaining the Union and the supremacy of the laws, or to suppress rebellion

WISCONSIN AS A STATE.

or insurrection, or to repel inva ion within the United States,' and I was authorized, and it was made my duty, to take such measures as, in my judgment, should provide in the speediest and most efficient manner for responding to such call : and to this end I was authorized to accept the services of volunteers for active service, to be enrolled in companies of not less than seventy-five men each, rank and file, and in regiments of ten companies each. I was also authorized to provide for uniforming and equipping such companies as were not provided with uniforms and equipments." "The first call of the president for immediate active service," con- tinued the governor, " was for one regiment of men. My proclamation, issued immediately after the passage of the act of the legislature, was answered within less than ten days, by companies enough, each containing the requisite number of men, to make up at least five regiments instead of o. e. I then issued another proclamation, announcing the offers that had been made, and advising that thereafter companies might be enrolled to stand as minute men, ready to answer further calls, as they might be made, but without expense to the State, except as they were mustered into service. In less than one month from the date of my first proclamation, at least five thou- sand men, either as individuals or enrolled companies, have offered their services for the war, and all appear anxious for active service in the field." "The time for deliberation," concludes the governor, "must give way to the time for action. The constitution of the United States must be sustained in all its first intent and wholeness. The right of the people of every State to go into every other State and engage in any lawful pursuit. without unlawful interference or molestation ; the freedom of speech and of the press; the right of trial by jury; security from unjustifiable seizure of persons or papers, and all constitutional privileges and immunities, must receive new guarantees of safety."

The extra session of the legislature passed, wtih a single exception, no acts except such as appertained to the military exigencies of the times. Both houses adjourned sine die on the twenty-seventh of May, 1861. As the administration of Governor Randall would close with the year, and as he was not a candidate for re-election, there was much interest felt throughout the State as to who his successor should be. Three State tickets were put in nomination : union, republican, and democratic. The republican ticket was successful, electing Louis P. Harvey, governor; Edward Salomon, lieutenant governor; James T. Lewis, secretary of state; S. D. Hastings, state treasurer; James H. Howe, attorney general; W. H. Ramsey, bank comp- troller; J. L. Pickard, superintendent of public instruction; and A. P. Hodges, state prison commissioner.

THE WAR OF SECESSION - LAST YEAR OF RANDALL'S ADMINISTRATION.

When Wisconsin was first called upon to aid the General Government in its efforts to sustain itself against the designs of the secession conspirators, the commercial affairs of the State were embarrassed to a considerable degree by the depreciation of the currency. The designs of the secessionists were so far developed at the ending of the year 1860 as to show that resistance to the national authority had been fully determined on. It is not a matter of wonder, then, that Governor Randall in his message to the legislature, early in January, 1861, should have set forth the dangers which threatened the Union, or should have denied the right of a State to secede from it. "Secession," said he, "is revolution ; revolution is war ; war against the government of the United States is treason." " It is time," he continued, "now, to know whether we have any government, and if so, whether it has any strength. Is our written constitution more than a sheet of parchment? The nation must be lost or preserved by its own strength. Its strength is in the patriotism of the people. It is time now that politicians became patriots; that men show their love of country by every sacrifice, but that of principle, and by

HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.

unwavering devotion to its interests and integrity." "The hopes," added the governor, most eloquently, " of civilization and Christianity are suspended now upon the answer to this question of dissolution. The capacity for, as well as the right of, self-government is to pass its ordeal, and speculation to become certainty. Other systems have been tried, and have failed ; and all along, the skeletons of nations have been strewn, as warnings and land-marks, upon the great highway of historic overnment. Wisconsin is true, and her people steadfast. She will not destroy the Union, nor consent that it shall be done. Devised by great, and wise, and good men, in days of sore trial, it must stand. Like some bold mountain, at whose base the great seas break their angry floods, and around whose summit the thunders of a thousand hurricanes have rattled - strong, unmoved, immovable - so may our Union be, while treason surges at its base, and passions rage around it, unmoved, immovable - here let it stand forever." These are the words of an exalted and genuine patriotism. But the governor did not content himself with eloquence alone. He came down to matters of business as well. He urged the necessity of legislation that would give more efficient organization to the militia of the State. He warned the legislators to make preparations also for the coming time that should try the souls of men. "The signs of the times," said he, " indicate that there may arise a contingency in the condition of the government, when it will become necessary to respond to a call of the National Government for men and means to maintain the integrity of the Union, and to thwart the designs of men engaged in organized treason. While no unnecessary expense should be incurred, yet it is the part of wisdom, both for individuals and States, in revolutionary times, to be prepared to defend our institutions to the last extremity." It was thus the patriotic governor gave evidence to the members of both houses that he " scented the battle afar off."

On the 16th of January, a joint resolution of the legislature was passed, declaring that the people of Wisconsin are ready to co-operate with the friends of the Union every where for its preservation, to yield a cheerful obedience to its requirements, and to demand a like obedience from all others; that the legislature of Wisconsin, profoundly impressed with the value of the Union, and determined to preserve it unimpaired, hail with joy the recent firm, dignified and patriotic special message of the president of the United States; that they tender to him, through the chief magistrate of their own State, whatever aid, in men and money, may be required to enable him to enforce the laws and uphold the authority of the Federal Government, and in defense of the more perfect Union, which has conferred prosperity and happiness on the American people. " Renewing," said they, " the pledge given and redeemed by our fathers, we are ready to devote our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honors in upholding the Union and the constitution."

The legislature, in order to put the State upon a kind of "war footing," passed an act for its defense, and to aid in enforcing the laws and maintaining the authority of the General Government. It was under this act that Governor Randall was enabled to organize the earlier regiments of Wisconsin. By it, in case of a call from the president of the United States to aid in maintaining the Union and the supremacy of the laws to suppress rebellion or insurrection, or to repel invasion within the United States, the governor was authorized to provide, in the most efficient manner, for responding to such call- to accept the services of volunteers for service, in companies of seventy-five men each, rank and file, and in regiments of ten companies each, and to commission officers for them. The governor was also authorized to contract for uniforms and equipments necessary for putting such companies into active service. One hundred thousand dollars were appropriated for war purposes; and bonds were authorized to be issued for that amount, to be negotiated by the governor, for raising funds. It will be seen, therefore, that the exigencies of the times-for Fort Sunter had not yet been surrendered -

WISCONSIN AS A STATE.

were fully met by the people's representatives, they doing their whole duty, as they then under- stood it, in aid of the perpetuity of the Union.

Having defended Fort Sumter for thirty-four hours, until the quarters were entirely burned, the main gates destroyed, the gorge-wall seriously injured, the magazine surrounded by flames, and its door closed from the effects of the heat, four barrels and three cartridges of powder only being available, and no provisions but pork remaining, Robert Anderson, major of the first artillery, United States army, accepted terms of evacuation offered by General Beauregard, marched out of the fort on Sunday afternoon, the fourteenth of April, 1861, with colors flying and drums beating, bringing away company and private property, and saluting his flag with fifty guns. This, in brief, is the story of the fall of Sumter and the opening act of the War of the Rebellion.

" Whereas," said Abraham Lincoln, president, in his proclamation of the next day, "the laws of the United States have been for some time past, and now are, opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law." Now, in view of that fact, he called forth the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress those combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. " A call is made on you by to-night's mail for one regiment of militia for immediate service," telegraphed the secretary of war to Randall, on the same day.

In Wisconsin, as elsewhere, the public pulse quickened under the excitement of the fall of Sumter. "The dangers which surrounded the nation awakened the liveliest sentiments of patriotism and devotion. For the time, party fealty was forgotten in the general desire to save the nation. The minds of the people soon settled into the conviction that a bloody war was at hand, and that the glorious fabric of our National Government, and the principles upon which it is founded, were in jeopardy, and with a determination unparalleled in the history of any country, they rushed to its defense. On every hand the National flag could be seen displayed, and the public enthusiasm knew no bounds; in city, town, and hamlet, the burden on every tongue was war." "We have never been accustomed," said Governor Randall, " to consider the military arm as essential to the maintenance of our government, but an exigency has arisen that demands its employment." "The time has come," he continued, " when parties and plat- forms must be forgotten, and all good citizens and patriots unite together in putting down rebels and traitors." "What is money," he asked, " what is life, in the presence of such a crisis ?" Such utterances and such enthusiasm could but have their effect upon the legislature, which, it will be remembered, was still in session ; so, although that body had already voted to adjourn, sine die, on the fifteenth of April, yet, when the moment arrived, and a message from the governor was received, announcing that, owing to the extraordinary exigencies which had arisen, an amend- ment of the law of the thirteenth instant was necessary, the resolution to adjourn was at once rescinded. The two houses thereupon not only increased the amount of bonds to be issued to two hundred thousand dollars, but they also passed a law exempting from civil process, during the time of service, all persons enlisting and mustering into the United States army from Wis- consin. When, on the seventeenth, the legislature did adjourn, the scene was a remarkable one. Nine cheers were given for the star spangled banner and three for the Governor's Guard, who had just then tendered their services-the first in the State-under the call for a regiment of men for three months' duty.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 9

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