USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches > Part 60
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The Captain also relates the following " fish story :" "The waters of Rock River were alive with fish. When the first dam was built the stream below it was left very shallow, and it was a favorite place for teamsters to cross from one side of the river to the other. If you'll believe me, the fish were so thick that hundreds of them were killed by the feet of the teamns, while others would be thrown into the air by the spokes of the revolving wheels."
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
THE FIRST DEATH AND THE FIRST BIRTII.
It is to be regretted that the first death of a white person in Watertown was the result of intemperance. Far better had it been a tragedy-if tragedy it must be-of a bloodier nature. The victim was Thomas Bass. He was burned to death in January, 1837, in a cabin which stood near the old site of Virgil D. Green's wagon-shop. Bass and two or three others had passed the afternoon and evening by drinking and carousing. Their debauch was prolonged far into the night, and the next morning Bass was found near the fire a corpse, one arm being nearly burned off, and other parts of his body badly charred. A coffin from hewn pieces of basswood was prepared, and the remains were interred not far from the site of the old school- house. William Brayton, of Aztalan, recited a prayer on the occasion of the funeral. Rumors having been circulated that violence was the prime cause of the horrible affair, the Coroner of Milwaukee was sent for, the remains disinterred and an inquest held. As a result of the inquest, two men, who were with Bass on that tragic night, were arrested and taken to Milwau- kee for trial, but they were acquitted.
There is a diversity of opinion as to who was the first white child born in Watertown. Capt. James Rogan states, with characteristic positiveness, that to Alzenia Johnson, danghter of Timothy Johnson, and who is now believed to be residing in Florida, belongs the honor. The Captain says his wife was present when the infant Alzenia came into the world, and he gives as the date of the event, June, 1837.
By others it is asserted that a daughter of Isaac Hammerson, now believed to be living in Eau Claire, was the first white child who saw the light of day in this portion of Rock River Valley. Mr. Luther Cole states that Alzenia Johnson was two years old when the family came from Milwaukee, and that her father carried her over the mud-holes upon his back.
THE FIRST DEED.
Capt. James Rogan claims to hold the first deed to any land within the present limits of the city of Watertown ever conveyed to any person. He says it was given to him by John Hall, of Michigan, who accompanied a Government Surveyor named Brink on a surveying expedition operating in the Rock River Valley in 1835. The Captain says it is dated July 9, 1833. The land covered by the deed was the northwest quarter of Section 32, Town 9, Range 15. The second deed to the property was received for record August 26, 1836, at 11 A. M., by Cyrus Hawley, Deputy Register of Milwaukee County, and was made between Charles Sea- ton, of Milwaukee, of the first part, and James Rogan, of the same place, of the second part. The consideration was $1, and "this indenture assigns forever, all one equal undivided sixth part of six claims on Rock River, made by Messrs. Johnson, Griswold, Orr, Tucker, T. Holmes and Seaton."
GROWTH OF WATERTOWN.
In 1868, at the request of the editor of the Democrat, Luther A. Cole furnished a sketch for publication in that journal, which contained some valuable information relative to the pro- gress of Watertown. "In the latter part of 1836," says Mr. Cole. "Charles F. H. Goodhue and George J. Goodhue came up Rock River from Beloit and purchased the claims of Timothy Johnson and others, on the east side of the river. During that fall and winter, and the spring of 1837, ten or twelve log houses, or cabins, as they were called, were hastily put up and roofed with shakes, there being no lumber or shingles here then. In the spring of 1837, the soil was broken and the first seed put into the earth. Small quantities of corn, potatoes and beans were raised and harvested, but most of our breadstuffs had to be brought from Milwaukee, through a dense and unbroken wilderness, at a great cost of time, trouble and labor, to say nothing of the high price that was originally paid for them, flour being worth $25 per barrel. In the spring of 1837, James Rogan and two or three other families came here, in addition to Mr. Johnson's family.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
In May of that year, George J. Goodhue came here with his millwrights, built a double saw- mill and put a dam across Rock River-the first ever built on that stream, either in Wisconsin or Illinois. The mill was ready for sawing and began to turn out lumber in December follow- ing. At that time, the inhabitants herc numbered about seventy persons."
FIRST SETTLERS.
Mr. Cole then proceeds to give from memory, a list of those who had come to Johnson's Rapids for the purpose of settling, to December, 1837: Timothy Johnson (dead) and family ; William H. Acker, dead; Ezra Abell, whereabouts unknown; Peter V. Brown, Watertown ; Joel Boughton, dead ; Edmund S. Bailey, Minnesota ; Philander Baldwin, dead; Lawrence Beaulieu, dead; Victor Beaulieu, Concord, Jefferson County ; Louis Beaudrie, unknown ; Thomas Bass, dead ; Luther A. Cole, Watertown; John W. Cole, Watertown ; John A. Chadwick, Watertown; Cyrus Cummings, Vermont ; Ambrose Comstock, dead ; Dr. Colbough, Canada ; William M. Dennis, Watertown ; Peter De Coursey, Minnesota; Ezra Dolliver, dead ; Patrick Durfey, dead ; George J. Goodhue, Iowa ; John B. Geaundern, dead; William T. Goodhue, dead ; Charles F. H. Goodhue, dead; John C. Gilman, dead; Reeve Griswold, Watertown ; Manonah Griffin, dead; Stephen Gray, Manitowoc; Darius Healey, dead; Amasa Hyland, dead ; Isaac Hammerson, Eau Claire; Dudley Little. Chicago ; Richard Miller, dead ; William Maitland. dead ; Benjamin F. Morey, dead; Silas W. Newcomb, Ohio; Stephen Peck, dead ; Louis Paupaux, unknown ; James Rogan, Watertown ; Peter Rogan, California ; Patrick Rogan, Watertown ; Volney Raymond, South ; John Richards, dead ; Charles Seaton, dead ; William Stanton. dead ; Mr. Sumpter, South ; Benjamin Severns, dead ; Samuel B. Vinton, Waterloo, Iowa; Nelson Waterman, Camp Douglas, Wis .; Clark Waterman, dead ; Jacob Wedeman, dead, and Vivalda Wood, Ohio.
Mr. Cole's sketch concludes as follows : " The roads were very bad and frequently impass- able. In the month of July, 1837, a company of fifteen men went out east toward Milwaukee, and spent two weeks in the woods in constructing bridges and causeways, so that teams could pass with wagons. At this day, some people think they suffer in coming here over the railroads now running in every direction ; a slight touch of pioneer experience would show them the dif- ference between traveling then and now. Our city did not improve very rapidly for some years ; most of the lumber manufactured here being taken in rafts down the river to Janesville, Beloit and Rockford. In 1841, James Rogan erected another saw-mill on the west side of the river. In the fall of 1842, the property on the east side of the river was purchased by Cole, Bailey & Co., who, during the following year, erected what was long known as the old yellow grist-mill. A part of the city was then laid out in blocks and lots, Milo Jones, of Fort Atkinson, being the surveyor. After that the village took a fresh start, and the surrounding country began to settle up with farmers. Brick blocks began to appear, and we have gone steadily forward until now [1868] our city numbers about 10,000 people, the German element predominating."
In the spring of 1853, the date of Watertown's incorporation as a city, the place contained 4,000 inhabitants. There were six dry-goods, eleven grocery, two drug and three hardware stores ; fifteen taverns (and saloons), two bakeries, three meat markets, two livery stables, one tobacconist's factory, seven blacksmith, six wagon, two joiner, two jewelry, four tin, six cabinet, one chair, one machine and five shoe shops ; one fork and hoe, one plow, one door and sash and one saleratus factory ; three flouring and four saw mills ; one fanning-mill and two harness- maker's shops, two bookstores, two barber-shops, one gunsmith, one tannery, one furnace, one pottery, one oil-mill, one carding machine, one rake and cradle factory, one woolen and yarn factory, two printing offices, six schoolhouses, two select schools and one bank.
The census of 1855 shows the population of Watertown to have been 8,512, an increase of 7,000 in ten years. In point of population it was the second city in the State.
In 1856, the city of Watertown, among other institutions, contained twelve schools, nine churches. twenty-eight dry-goods, twenty-four grocery, nine hardware, four drug, six clothing,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
six boot and shoe and three fancy stores ; ten hotels and two banks, five livery stables, five meat. markets, four millinery establishments, four bookstores, four printing offices, one foundry, nine saw-mills, three flouring-mills. one woolen factory, ten carriage-shops, twenty-nine blacksmith- shops, nine cooper-shops, three bakers, seven lumber-yards, seven brickyards and fifteen warehouses.
The growth of the city since that time has been of the most permanent character. Schools and churches have increased in number and importance. Manufacturing establishments have been enlarged to meet the demands of the populous territory which invariably and necessarily surrounds a prosperous city. Three railway lines form a junction within the limits of Water- town, affording a convenient outlet for the abundance of breadstuffs and other necessaries of life, the fruits of fertile fields and industrious hands. But it is impossible to do justice to the insti- tutions of Watertown by referring to them in a general way. Each interest must be treated individually and specifically in order to show its importance.
SCHOOLS.
To that greatest of the great companions of civilization, the public school, Watertown is chiefly indebted for its prosperity. To the same agency it owes its present importance, and upon the development or hampering of that agency must surely depend its future advancement. or decay. Thirty-five years ago, the settlers of Watertown saw the necessity for adopting measures affording educational opportunities to their children. Their own experience had taught them the value of even the most meager knowledge of books obtainable in the common school, and they were not slow to determine that their posterity should have at least the same advan- tages. To this end we find in the first " Records of School District No. 1, of Watertown," the following :
At the annual meeting of the legal voters of School District No. I, held at A. Hoffman's shop, in Watertown, on the first Monday of October, A. D. 1844, Timothy Johnson was appointed Moderator. The District ('lerk being absent, Jacob J. Enos was appointed Clerk pro tem. The following named persons were then chosen officers for the ensuing year : John C. Gilman, Michael Murphy and Haven M. Morrison, Trustees ; John Gibb, Collector ; Jacob J. Enos, Clerk. On motion of P. Rogan, it was resolved that the year be divided into two terms, called the winter and summer terms, and that two-thirds of the public moneys be applied to the winter term and one-third to the sum- mer term. On motion, the meeting adjourned sine die. JACOB J. ENOS, Clerk.
At a similar meeting held April 28, 1845, it was resolved that " the trustees hire a male teacher for five months, and, if they deem it expedient, that they employ an assistant female teacher."
In October, of the same year, it was decided " to move the schoolhouse on to Lot No. 4, in Block No. 32, provided it be moved by Cole, Bailey & Co., at their own expense, and provided further, that the said Cole, Bailey & Co. give the district as good title to said No. 4 as it has to. the one on which the schoolhouse now stands." It was also resolved at this meeting " that $80 be raised by tax for the purpose of hiring a schoolroom the coming winter."
At the annual meeting held in October, 1846, it was " resolved that the Trustees be empow- ered to sell stove and pipe, the proceeds to go into the contingent fund."
The struggles of these early pioneers to establish educational facilities for their children were not without avail. As the population of Watertown increased, in the same measure did a substantial school system become necessary. The log schoolhouse, with its puncheon floor, was abandoned for the more commodious and genteel frame or brick, with seats of surfaced lumber and soft pine backs, on which the " a-b, ab " student might test the edge of his first jack-knife. Instead of Trustee, the more exalted title of " Director " was written, and finally Superintendent of Schools became a necessary office, as the following will show :
WATERTOWN, December 19, 1849.
To HEBER SMITH : The office of District Treasurer, in School District No I, in the town of Watertown, having become vacant, and the District Board [Directors] of said district having failed to fill the same within ten days, you tre hereby appointed to fill said vacancy until the next annual meeting in said district.
MELANCTHON HOYT, Town Superintendent of Schools of said Town of Watertown.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
On the 1st day of April, 1850, William C. Fountain, Clerk of the Board, made the follow- ing report :
" To Rev. Melanethon Hoyt, Superintendent, etc .: I hereby certify that the number of children between the ages of four and twenty years residing in School District No. 1 is as fol- lows : Male, 138; female, 166; total, 304. I also certify that school has been kept in said district by a qualified teacher for three months during the year ending with the 31st of March, 1850."
September 4, 1850, the Clerk of the Board reported that " school had been taught during that year by qualified teachers, eight and three-quarters months, as follows : By C. A. Abel, three months, at $28 per month ; by Mrs. Newcomb. three weeks, at $3.33 per week ; by H. P. Chamberlain, three months, at $28 per month, and by Miss Jane Burnham, two months, at $8 per month. Amount of money received from the Town Superintendent within the year, $174.46; amount raised by the district, $89.09. Applied to the payment of teachers' wages, $193 ; repairing schoolhouse and for fuel, $7.84; collecting school-tax, $4.45. Books used in schools : the Eclectic series of Readers, Ray's Arithmetic, Smith & Pruner's Grammar, Comstock's Nat- ural Philosophy, McGuffey's Spelling-Book."
In July, 1850, School District No. 5, in the town of Emmett, Dodge County, was formed. Thus, a large portion of District No. 1 was cut off, causing a noticeable diminution in the num- ber of scholars in the latter district, while the expense remained quite as large, as is shown by the following report of Heber Smith, Board Clerk, dated September 26, 1853 :
"Number of children in said district (No. 1) on August 31, 1853, under twenty years and over four years, 263 [against 304 in 1850]. Number of months a school has been taught, cight and a half, as follows : By A. Brooks and associate, six months, at an expense of $235; by E. Tompkinson, two and a half months, $78. Amount of moneys received from district tax, $199.35 ; amount delinquent, $48.13."
Other districts were formed within the limits of No. 1, still further reducing its territory. This was made necessary by the rapid increase in population ; but, instead of a decrease in the number of pupils belonging to No. 1, the report of A. F. Cady, the Board Clerk, made Sep- tember 1, 1855, shows 426 in attendance during that year. The expense account of the district for the same period was $460.48.
In March. 1856, the Legislature passed an act authorizing the organization of the schools of Watertown under the system known as the Union School System, and on the 12th of April, same year, the provisions of the law were carried out. Under this act, the schools of the city are controlled by a Board of Education, consisting of seven Commissioners, one from each ward, to which the Superintendent belongs as ex officio member, though not qualified to vote. The Commissioners are elected at the spring elections, for the term of two years, while the Superin- tendent is clected by the Board, whose meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month. The first Board of Education elected under the new system was as follows: First Ward, L. R. Cady and Myron B. Williams ; Second Ward, Lawrence Fribert and Heber Smith ; Third Ward, Samuel Ford and Peter Rogan ; Fourth Ward, James Cody and Patrick Rogan ; Fifth Ward, Jacob Baumann and William M. Dennis; Sixth Ward, John Ford and Fred Hermann. William M. Dennis was chosen President of the Board at its first meeting, held April 12, 1856, and C. B. Skinner was appointed Superintendent of Schools.
One frame and three large brick buildings are now in use for the accommodation of those attending school under the Union system. Union School No. 1 contains all the grades, from the first High School to the lowest Primary grade. No. 2 commences with the first Grammar grade, and No. 3 (in Dodge County) with the first Intermediate grade. The First Ward School contains two primary grades. The edifice of Union School No. 1 is in the Second Ward, and was erected in 1863; No. 2 is in the Fourth Ward, and was built in 1867 ; No. 3, Sixth Ward, was completed in 1871, and that in the First known as the First Ward School, in 1878. The cash value of the school property of Watertown is placed at $31,000. The number of children in the city August 31, 1878, over four and under twenty years of age, was 3,672; number in
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
attendance at the publie schools, same date, 1,247 ; percentage of attendance on the enrollment, 83; number of teachers employed at that date, 20; average salaries paid male teachers, $866.663 per annum ; female teachers, $350 per annum.
The present Board of Education consists of one Commissioner from each ward, as follows : First Ward, Eugene Wiggenhorn ; Second Ward, E. C. Gaebler; Third Ward, A. Solliday ; Fourth Ward, E. Sweeney ; Fifth Ward, H. Wilber; Sixth Ward, C. Reubhausen ; Seventh Ward, J. M. MeGolriek. E. Sweeney is President of the Board, and Charles F. Ninman, City Superintendent of Schools and Clerk of the Board. At the last meeting of the Board, the fol- lowing teachers were appointed :
Union School, No. 1-Principal, Prof. W. E. Stroetzel ; High School Department, Miss Pauline Voss and John Moran ; Grammar, Miss Margaret Corbett and Miss Rose Bernhard ; Intermediate, Miss Electra Wilder, Miss Mary Lembeke, Miss Maggie MeMahon, Miss Ella Cohoe and Miss Ida Kopp.
Union School, No. 2-Principal and Teacher of Grammar, J. M. Turner ; Miss Minnie Voss, Assistant ; Intermediate, Miss Cora Bradbury, Miss Emma MeMahon, Miss Emma Schochert, Miss Lizzie Davis and Miss Sarah MeMahon.
Union School, No. 3-Principal and Teacher of Intermediate Department, W. D. Parker ; Primary, Miss Attila Stallmann and Miss Celia Bouton.
First Ward Primary School-Principal, Miss Anna Norris; Assistant, Miss Lizzie Priee. The Northwestern University .- This institution was organized in 1864, by the Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin. A large briek structure was erected on the east side of the river, within the limits of the city of Watertown, at a cost of $24,000, and was opened for the admission of students on the 1st of September, 1865, with Dr. Moldehnke as Principal, and Prof. Adam Martin as Assistant. There were but seven students who availed themselves of the advantages of the institution at the date of opening, but the number increased to forty before the end of the year. In 1867, a building was erected to afford boarding facilities for students. This was destroyed by fire on the 28th of December, 1874; loss, about $3,000. In the spring of 1875, a similar addition to the University was erected, at a cost of $16,000, being more commodious and better calculated to answer the purposes for which the original was intended. Prof. Martin was the first President of the University. He was chosen in 1866, and held the position for three years, being succeeded by the Rev. L. O. Thompson. The latter retired in 1870, when the present incumbent, the Rev. August F. Ernst, was elected. The expense of an education at this institution is very slight when compared with the results which must aeerue. The ean- didate for admission as a student is required to pay $30 for tuition and $2.25 for ineidentals. He can also obtain board in the University for $100 per annum. Those studying theology and intending to engage in the ministry are not required to pay for tuition. There are now in attendance about two hundred students. Of this number, about two-thirds are from different parts of Wisconsin, the others belonging, principally, to Minnesota. The expense of carrying on the institution, not covered by the moneys received for tuition, ete., is defrayed by the Synod. There are seven professors now employed, namely : Prof. Ernst, teacher of Moral and Mental Philosophy ; Prof. William A. Notz, Greek ; Prof. Andrew W. Easterday, Mathematics; Prof. Andrew Peller, Assistant in various departments, and, at present, occupying the Latin Chair; Prof. Oscar W. Easterday, Assistant in Natural Sciences ; Prof. Thomas Snyder, Teacher of English. The school term begins the first Wednesday in September, and ends the last Tuesday in June.
College of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart .- This institution is situated in the western limits of the city, and is one of the first objects to attraet the attention of the traveler as he alights from the coaches of the Chicago & Northwestern road. Its history as given in the Milwaukee Catholic Citizen is as follows : In acquiescence to the formal invitation of his Grace, the Right Rev. Archbishop of Milwaukee, the Fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Cross took charge of St. Bernard's Parish. Rev. P. P. Cooney, C. S. C., was appointed Pastor by the Very Rev. A. Granger, Provincial at Notre Dame, Indiana. But the zeal of the Rev.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Fathers did not limit itself to the spiritual wants of the parish, and consequently they conceived the grand idea of establishing a college adapted to the wants of all. For this purpose they solicited and obtained from the Right Rev. Archbishop a beautiful tract of land to the west of the city, and erected thereon a splendid mansion surrounded by delightful and picturesque ground. In the beginning of September, 1872, it was opened for the reception of students under the administration of the Rev. W. Corby, C. S. C., who had held the position of Pro- vincial and Superior at Notre Dame, Indiana, and President of that University. The young institution could not fail in being a success. So great was the number of students who flocked thither, the capacity of the building was inadequate to their accommodation. Hence, in the spring of 1873, President Corby set about erecting a commodious college, in order to have it ready for the first session, commencing the following September. This undertaking was carried on with such energy, that the institution was completed, chartered by an act of the Legislature, granted university privileges, and prepared for the reception of pupils in September, 1873. Some of the ablest men in the Congregation of the Holy Cross were appointed as officers and professors in it. Rev. P. J. Colovin, C. S. C., was Director of Studies, and Professor of Moral and Mental Philosophy and Classics. The Rev. Mr. Colovin being called to the Presi- dency of Notre Dame, he was succeeded in turn by the Rev. Fathers Brown, Franciscus, O'Connell and Carroll, the latter of whom had acquitted himself in a most able manner as Pro- fessor of 'Classics and Higher Mathematics in 1876-77. Bro. Marcellinus, C. S. C., the present efficient Superior of the Academy at La Salle, Ill., creditably acquitted himself as Professor of Book-keeping and Commercial Law, from 1872 to 1878. Bro. Gabriel, C. S. C., who now directs the Cathedral School at Milwaukee, managed the financial affairs of the college. In 1876, Rev. P. W. Condon, C. S. C., for several years Provincial and Superior of the South, was appointed President of the College. More recently the Rev. Mr. Colovin became Presi- dent of the institution, and still holds that position. The Sisters of the Holy Cross have charge of the domestic department. The institution is in a flourishing condition.
Connected with the Evangelical Lutheran Church are two parochial schools-one being sit- uated in the country, but the principal one is in Watertown, located directly opposite the church building on Jones street. In the latter, there are three classes, comprising about two hundred scholars. Both German and English are taught. The schoolhouse was built in 1864, and is of brick, two stories high. The children of parents belonging to the congregation are admitted at the rate of " two shillings " per month each. If there are more than two of the same family, the third and fourth are admitted free. Double rates are charged for children not of the Church.
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