USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches > Part 74
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During the year 1878, the total receipts of the office for stamps, rent of boxes, etc. amounted to $2.458; 2,220 money orders, aggregating $30,114.37, were paid out for the sam period, and 1,530, amounting to $14,037.68, issued.
The annual expenses of the office are stated at $1,300.
FORT ATKINSON.
EARLY HISTORY.
Fort Atkinson, one of the most delightful of the many delightful villages that dot the land scape of Jefferson County, is situated on both sides of Rock River, equidistant from Jefferson the county seat, and Lake Koshkonong. The early history of what now lays elaim to th considerations, privileges and immunities of a city is a combination of the romantic, mingled with the real features of pioneer life everywhere experienced in the great West; everywhere experi eneed as the wheel of human progress advances into the interior of semi-civilization an barbarism, crushing down with each revolution the bulwarks of that which impedes its progress and substituting in their stead a better, happier and more perfeet type of life.
From the statements of the few who now survive, the settlement of the present cit was begun in December, 1835, by a party representing a land company, having its headquarters a Milwaukee. The company was composed of Milo Jones, Solomon Juneau, Elisha W. Edgerton Henry Hosmer and a Frenchman named Le Tonder. Mr. Jones was in the capacity o Government Surveyor, and, in the seven or eight years he was this engaged, ran lines through out the Northwest. Solomon Juneau was a leading member of the fur companies. Edgerton and Hosmer afterward settled at Genesee. Le Tonder was Juneau's packman and genera utility man, and withal a good, jolly Frenchman. He was known by his comrades as "General,' for the reason that he exercised a general supervision of the camp.
Mrs. C. A. Southwell delivered an address at a meeting of the old settlers held in 1874 on " Fort Atkinson as It Was," which is said to be correct in detail, and this will be readil. believed when it was remembered that Mrs. S. was known in the early days as Celeste daughter of Dwight Foster, one of the original settlers of Jefferson County, and the firs white girl seen in what was first known as Finchtown, then Koshkonong, and, finally, For Atkinson.
She begins her address by referring to the Black Hawk war, and the building of the fort o stockade from which the city derives its name. "It was constructed." she continues, "of bnrr oak logs cut in half, the ends of which were set in the ground so as to stand about eight feet high It was located a little east of north of where the residence of E. P. May now stands. At on time, there were 4,500 United States troops under command of Gen. Atkinson encamped around the Fort." Another place of interest to Mrs. Southwell, when a child, was what was known a the " Soldier's Grave " on the hill, a little northeast of the Lutheran Church ; it was, like th
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
fort, picketed with logs, the grave being covered with beautiful pebbles taken from the river hank. At the head of the grave, carved on a barrel-head, was the following inscription :
LIEUT. DANIEL DOBBS, Shot by the Indians in the year 1832.
" What was known as the old army trail ran up through the valley of Rock River, in the vicinity of Janesville, and crossed the river at this place a little east of the fort.
"In 1836, it was a hard-beaten path from six inches to a foot in depth, and wide enough for two to walk abreast, while the Indian trails that crossed the country in every direction were only wide enough for one to follow another in single file. Time with its effacing hand is passing, each year carrying with it some old landmark of the past. Our little circle is drawing closer as it grows less and less; one after another lays down life with its burdens, until soon there will be none to remember the perils and adventures of the brave and hardy band of pioneers who left comfortable homes in the East to seek new homes in the then almost unknown Northwest. The objective and starting point for all was Milwaukee.
" From there, the early settlers radiated and selected the spot nearest answering their individual wants and ideals for their future homes ; made their claims and erected their houses, which often proved the nucleus around which the cities and villages of the present day have grown."
But, as facts connected with the early settlement of Fort Atkinson were wanted, Mrs. Southwell abandons reflection and proceeds to narration in that behalf.
"The Rock River Claim Company," she states, "was organized in 1836, composed of the following members so far as I am able to remember: Solomon Juneau, Sylvester Pettibone, Milo Jones, David Sargeant, Dwight Foster, Alvin Foster, William Barrie and George Ser- comb. Some members of the company went out to Rock River on an exploring expedition, and made claims at Fort Atkinson, Jefferson and Hebron. In the summer of 1836, a saw-mill was commeneed where the village of Hebron now stands (then called Bark Mills), under the supervis- ion of Samuel Wales, now living at Brodhead.
" In the fall of 1836, it was deeided best for some family to move to Fort Atkinson in order to hold the claim.
" Accordingly, Dwight Foster, in company with David Bartlett and William Prichard, visited Fort Atkinson in October and selected the site where E. P. May's house now stands to build a house. Leaving Prichard and Bartlett to build the log cabin, Foster returned to Mil- waukee for his family. Returning, he reached the fort November 10, having his family with him ; also Aaron Rankin. Mrs. Foster resided at her new home nearly four months without seeing a white woman.
" In February, 1837, Edward N. and' Alvin Foster settled at the fort with their families, and built them log cabins only a few rods apart, about one mile up Roek River, on the north bank.
" It may not seem amiss here to state that Alvin Foster and Sylvester Pettibone took the first contract for the grading of streets in Milwaukee, Milo Jones surveying the work and estab- lishing the grade. I was," continues Mrs. S., " the first white child brought into Jefferson County, and Edward J. Foster, son of E. N. Foster, was the first one born in the town of Kosh- konong. In 1837, Edward Mason and William Reynolds made elaims between Koshkonong and Jefferson. R. C. Dodge and family, with Robert Barrie, settled here in June, 1837, and Charles Rockwell. with his family, came abont the 1st of July in the same year, as did, it is believed, Calvin West, Elijah Kinney and James and Gerard Crane.
" The first death among this little band of pioneers was Edward Foster, Sr., who died at the residence of his son, Edward N. Foster, October 10, 1837, and was buried at Big Bend, on the river, Charles Rockwell reading the burial service of the Episcopal Church.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
' The first marriage was that of William Prichard to Susan Lems, the ceremony being performed in Milwaukee. whither Prichard went for that purpose, in the summer of 1837, after which he returned to his home. at that day located on the farm now owned by Mr. Wood.
" In the spring of 1837. th- Winslow brothers, the Finches and a Mr. Gorton, settled in Koshkonong, and Aaron Allen, with his family, moved into the cabin of John Allen, ou what is now the Beemer farm, near Lake Koshkonong, in which John Allen lived a hermit life, after he came to these parts in 1836.
" This brings us to 1838, during the spring of which year Charles Rockwell bought the first stock of goods, consisting of ready-made clothing, cloth, groceries, etc., he at that time residing at what was known as Rockwell's Crossing, his claim covering the tract of land owned in 1874 by James Mc Pherson, Alvin Strong, Joseph Morrison and others.
" Among those who became settlers in that year were S. A. Rice. Robert Greives and family. Cyrus Curtis, and the family of Milo Jones, Mr. Jones having come at an earlier day and sur- veyed the country. It might here be mentioned that Dwight Foster kept the first ferry, crossing the river just east of the present May residence. It originally consisted of two large canoes lashed together so as to hold a wagon, the horses and cattle being obliged to swim, and a canoe for the conveyance of foot passengers. In the spring of 1838, a man named Lonsdale built a scow and skiff for ferrying purposes, and moved the ferry site to the point on Main street, where the river is now bridged. The ferry was pulled across the stream by chain ropes, manufactured by R. C. Dodge, who was a blacksmith, and opened a shop in 1841, on Main street, near the bridge.
" The first post office in Fort Atkinson was established in 1838, Dwight Foster being the first Postmaster, and Solomon Hudson, mail carrier, his route being from Janesville to Water- town and return. These were the first facilities for receiving the mail, except as some one from the neighborhood went to Milwaukee, taking with thein a list comprising the names of settlers and procuring their papers or letters. At that time, postage on letters to and from the Eastern States was 25 cents.
"George P. Marston came to the fort in 1838, also, and was the defendant in the first jury trial of record in the settlement, Mary Bennett being plaintiff. She sued him for the amount of a wash bill, and the hearing of the facts was had at the house of Charles Rockwell, first Justice of the Peace.
" The first sermon preached in the settlement was by the Rev. Mr. Pilsbury, a Methodist clergyman, in the winter of 1837, at the house of E. N. Foster. Afterward, the Revs. Pilsbury and Halstead preached occasionally. The first Congregational society was formed in 1842, at the residence of Milo Jones, by the Rev. Mr. Pect. with a membership of fourteen persons, and Dr. Arms as the preacher in charge. The first Sabbath school was held at the house of Dr. Morrison in 1840 or 1841, Cornelia Veeder being Superintendent.
" The first steamboat was built at Aztalan, by Nelson P. Hawks ; came down the river in 1839, and went to the Mississippi, where it afterward ran."
The history of the first financial panic is related by Mrs. Southwell, as follows : " Jefferson County was first organized under the Commissioners' system ; among the first necessities was that of claim regulation, which required all claims of land made by settlers to be registered, whereby all trespass was forbidden, and all differences adjusted. E. N. Foster was the first Register of Claims, and the estate of William Prichard, who died August 12, 1839, was the first estate to be administered upon. Milo Jones being the administrator. The land sale of 1839 was held in the fall, and many of the settlers were unable to attend in consequence of fever and ague. Being anxious to secure their homes, they intrusted the money to pay in their names to E. N. Foster, who proceeded to Milwaukee for that purpose, with $200 in specie in his saddle- bags, and the balance in treasury notes in his pocket. lIonest himself, and supposing every one else to be as honest, he gave the saddle-bags to the landlord to take care of, who put them under his wife's bed. When inquired for, the money was missing, and no trace of it could be found until the next spring, when the saddle-bags and $300 were found in the root-house of Mr. Vail. The hostler of the house was accused of the theft, arrested, tried, found guilty and sentenced to
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
three months' imprisonment in the county jail. The loss at that time was a terrible blow to the little settlement." There has always been a general impression that the hostler was innocent. "In the year 1839, there were new accessions to the neighborhood in the families of Chester May, Sr , Dr. Morrison, A. F. Snell, Freeman Morrison, Mrs. Barrie and two sons, with others. " The first frame house in the vicinity was built by Asad Dean Williams for Chester May. Sr., on the farm recently owned by William Benham. Mr. May had part of the house fitted up as a store, and brought in a stock of goods.
"In the spring of 1840, Charles Rockwell, the first carpenter locating at the fort, built a house for Dr. Morrison, the first practicing physician. In the same spring, Mr. Rockwell also built the first framed house in the village, near the present corner of River and Main streets. The same spring, Mr. Rockwell purchased a block of land for $20 of Dwight Foster. In 1841. he built the frame house now occupied as a millinery store, at the corner of Main and Milwaukee streets, and sold it to Lyman Hickcox, who brought the first stoek of goods ever sold in the vil- lage. The same year, Mr. Rockwell built a residence for hiinself adjoining the grocery store of Hickcox, which, subsequently, was occupied by the family of H. E. Southwell, and was the scene of the first prayer-meeting and Episcopal service held in the village. Mr. Humphrey, from Beloit. delivered the first Fourth of July oration ; Mrs. Dwight Foster prepared the dinner, the day's festivities closing with a dance in the evening. at the house of D. Foster." E. N. Foster built what was, at the date of Mrs. Southwell's address, known as the Eagle Hotel, on the North Side. subsequently destroyed by fire.
" The first school was taught by Jane Crane, in the spring of 1839, on the north side of the river, in what was known as the 'Barrie boys' shanty,' on the bluff a little west of the railroad crossing. The first schoolhouse was built by Charles Rockwell, in 1844; the first summer school was taught by Martha Rankin ; the first winter term by the Rev. Simeon Bicknell ; the first select or high school was taught by Benjamin F. Adams. The first jeweler was Perry Hickcox, who occupied a desk in the store of Lyman Hiekcox.
" George Cooper's was the first cooper-shop, standing on the site of the house subsequently occupied by Mr. Warnschneider : George Dix was the first shoemaker; R. Covey, the first wagon- maker: R. C. Dodge's the first blacksmith-shop; Robert Bruce, the first tinsmith ; Robert Greives, first tailor ; Edward Rankin taught the first singing school ; Franklin Utter brought the first job printing press ; T. W. and Emma Brown published the first newspaper, the Wisconsin Chief, aud, in 1850, Charles Rockwell built the first church erected in the village."
Supplementary to Mrs. Southwell's address, it may be added that some claim that the first hotel in the village was built by Dwight Foster, in 1841, on Main street, opposite the Green Mountain House, on the corner now occupied by H. A. Porter's grocery. During the same year, E. N. Foster erected the hotel above referred to, which, with the bachelors' hall of Will- iam Barrie, on the West Side, and Rufus Dodge's blacksmith-shop, were the only buildings to be seen at that time.
The first shoemaker, it is also claimed, was not George Dix but Owen Duffey, who maintained a shop on the left bank of the river cast of the bridge, and the first cabinet-maker was Josiah Goodrich, who is remembered as coming here about 1843.
THE BRIDGE,
The point on Rock River, now spanned by the bridge, which connects north and south towns was, as is already known, originally a ferry. The first bridge was projected in the fall of 1842. During that winter, the settlers went into the forest and " got ont " the timber for its construc- tion. It was of the truss pattern with oak bents and stringers, and completed so that teams could eross about June, 1843. In the winter of 1844-5, a man residing in Dodge County, while driv- ing cattle across the bridge, was kicked by an animal of his herd, falling upon the ice and receiving injuries from which death resulted soon after. The structure was worn out in time, and has been succeeded by several bridges of different patterns. the last being completed some seven years ago.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Main street was originally an old Territorial road from Racine to Madison, but changed into its present form at an early day and annually improved. Milwaukee was the first cross street surveyed, laid out and put in order for travel.
THE CITY'S PROGRESS.
During the decade from 1840 to 1850, the first harness-shop, in addition to other business interests cited, was established by Joel L. Walker ; a military company was improvised, but fell through ; the Green Mountain House, Congregational Church and other buildings were erected.
During the succeeding ten years, the future city improved materially, schoolhouses were built, manufacturing interests established and other ventures which have since grown into exten- sive corporations, though limited, were objects of special importance.
THE MORMONS.
In the summer of 1852, a number of Mormon saints from Beaver Island, in Lake Mich- igan, on a proselyting tour, made their appearance in the vicinity of the fort and attracted a number of converts from the settlement. They established themselves on the northwest side of Lake Koshkonong, whence they made predatory levies, their former neighbors being the victims. These felonious incursions were endured for a season, but culminated when the mob broke into the house of Joseph Horan one night, and at the muzzle of a gun robbed him of vari- ous household articles. This aroused the village to an appreciation of the situation and induced pursuit, resulting in the capture of Preston Downing, and a man named Heth, former residents · of Koshıkonong, who were tried, convicted and imprisoned in the penitentiary. This prompt interference was the means of breaking up the raids, as also Mormon influence in this vicinity.
HORSE-THIEVES.
In the winter of 1855, John Conway, a peripatetic adventurer, but known to modern enact- ment as a " tramp," visited the house of Rufus Dodge, craving hospitality and rest. His wants were supplied, and in the evening, while his host's back was turned, the ungrateful mendicant slipped into the barn and fled upon one of Mr. Dodge's horses. He was pursued southward along Rock River into Illinois, but escaped, the horse being captured by P. G. Bowen, of Fort Atkinson, and this circumstance was the prime cause of the creation of the " Anti-Horse-Thief Society," an organization still in existence, and represented all over the Northwest.
TIIE FIRST TRAINING.
The first " militia training" is spoken of by the old settlers with some humor. This his- toric event, according to their statements, was unaccompanied by much of the spirit ordinarily attendant upon " grim-visaged war." It occurred about 1841. The settlers were ordered by Gov. Dodge to rendezvous at a stated place. Arms were scarce, but their absence was supplied by an excess of canteens. Capt. Finch commanded, and, there being no subordinate officers, he appointed them, including a Corporal. This latter, unappreciative of the distinguished honor, and unmindful of his obligations to obey, resented what he considered an affront, and, as the chronicler relates, " booted the Captain." No arrests were made, but the company disbanded without leaving any record to guide the historian regarding its future engagements.
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
Many other events of importance occurred in the early days of the city, but, owing to the defective memory of those who should be familiar with the facts, their elaboration is denied the historian.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
During the war, Fort Atkinson and her citizens were fully alive to the demands of the Government, and contributed men and money to the support of the Union arms. After the war, the vast manufacturing interests which are now maintained in that vicinity received a new impetus, and have grown into values of great proportions.
Situated in the valley of Rock River, almost within sight of a sheet of water equaling in beauty and history the lakes of the Old World, about which cluster hallowed memories and romantic associations, Fort Atkinson contemplates a future as peaceful in its surroundings as " Sweet Auburn," the home of wealth and influence, and a happiness born of simplicity, as elegant as it is unusual ; inseparable from true worth, and a golden age of social superiority.
Among the pioneers who still survive are the following, whose names have been collected for the city's history : Stephen A. Rice, Laura Rice, Milo Jones, Charles Rockwell, Rufus Dodge, Rebecca Dodge, H. S. Prichard, Saralı L. Prichard, Mrs. Martha Lewis, Darwin and Alonzo Morrison, of Denver ; Mrs. Maria Morrison, Mrs. Sophia Wilcox, Edward and Mariette Foster, of Fond du Lac; Aaron and Sarah Rankin, Mrs. Caroline Snell, Mrs. Aaron Allen, of St. Paul ; Mrs. Dwight Foster, of Milwaukee; Mrs. C. A. Southwell, of Mil- waukee ; Mrs. Fidelia Shepherd, of San Diego, Cal .; Dr. Joseph Winslow, A. Winslow, Milton Snell, Wirt Snell, Newton Snell, of Missouri ; Mrs. Anna Wheeler. of Janesville : Misses Susan and Maria Snell, of Janesville ; MIrs. Ellen Carey, of Fond du Lac; Chester May, E. P. May, George May, Mrs. Elizabeth Caswell, Alvaron Allen, of St. Paul; Quincy Allen, of Memphis ; Mrs. Mary Foster, of Appleton; L. M. Roberts, Samuel and Daniel Finch, of Cambridge, Iowa; Lewis and John Waldref, of Oxford, Mo .; William Wheeler, Lyman Hickcox, Joseph Morrison, M. L. Bates, Mrs. Martha Bates, of Salem, Mo .; Gerard Crane, of Pennsylvania ; James Crane, of Neosho; Edward Rankin and Mrs. Amelia M. Rankin, daughter of Milo Jones ; Adna J. Rankin, Thomas Crane, Deborah Crane, Newton Jones, Geneva, Ohio; Harrison and Eli Kinney ; James Bliss and wife ; Joshua Kirkland and wife, Carlos Curtis, Mrs. H. E. Caswell ; Mrs. A. E. May, Mrs. Cordelia Warne, Whitewater, and others.
At the request of the editor of the Union, Mr. Charles Rockwell, one of the pioneers of Fort Atkinson. who died Oct. 7, 1879, contributed the following incident of the early history of the city to the columns of that paper :
' At the time of the occurrence narrated here, the writer had selected for his 'home in the wilderness' Section 11, Town 5, Range 14, comprising at this date the farms now owned by J. F. Morrison, James McPherson, A. Strong and H. Merriman. My log cabin I built new, near Bark River, on account of two beautiful springs, on the land owned by J. F. Morrison. This has ever been to me a consecrated spot, and is the place where the farmers and Old Settlers held their picnic last Fourth of July. When I located my claims, in 1837, the land was not in market, neither had the Indians been removed from their old and favorite hunting-grounds in this vicinity ; Bark River was a hunter's paradise to them, and, as soon as the ice was out in the spring, fleets of canoes were seen on the river. Whenever they passed the shemokoman's cabin, they were pretty sure to call. Their stock in trade was furs, venison and fish. with an occasional Indian-tanned buckskin, brought out from under the old squaw's blanket. An Indian never traded, if he owned a squaw ; still there were exceptions, as the sequel will show. I give this story the name of
"'SHEMOKOMAN'S SQUAW, OR, THE HEROINE OF BARK RIVER.'
" One day in the spring of 1838, myself and hired man had gone to the woods to prepare for sugar-making. To find a good bush, we had to cross the river opposite my cabin and go four miles into the big woods. We selected a bush that suited us, near which were encamped about forty Indians, big and little. They would frequently come to the cabin to trade with the ' shemokoman's squaw' (white man's wife). We had a large dog that was death on Indians if they meddled with anything about the cabin, and he usually stayed at home with my wife and
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
little boy, two years old. On the day on which occurred the incident I am about to relate, the dog went with us to the woods. We were gone all day, and when we returned to the cabin that night, my wife said to me, ' That Tonta Buck and his brother have been here to-day.' These were two powerful Indians, about thirty years of age, and both splendid specimens of the Pot- tawatomic tribe. Tonta had been to the cabin before, to swap venison, honey and fish for flour and pork. This time he had honey. Both Indians came in and sat down awhile, waiting till they were satisfied the dog was gone. Tonta offered to swap honey for pork, and said : . Heap kokosh (pork), heap honey.' My wife said she saw he was bound to have things his own way. She got him some pork and flour, and told him she would give him so much for his honey. He said, 'No! swap petite ' (too little), and began to flourish his knife. - We had a fire-place at that time, and we had brought with us from the East the old New England shovel and tongues. The shovel was about four feet long, with a wide, strong blade. My wife saw her chance, and placed herself between the shovel and the Indian. She saw he intended to scare her, so that she would run from the cabin, like most of the other women of the settlement; but in this he was sadly mistaken, for. as he came toward her. she reached for the shovel, and, with a swift motion. brought it down with a sounding whack on his ugly head. He gave a grunt and retreated, saying : 'How ! Nishashin shemokoman's squaw ; me nishashin ashanobba ;' which meant : Good white man's squaw, me good Indian. . Me swap and puckachee wigwam' (me trade and leave house). His brother, who had been a looker-on all this time. gave a loud laugh and called Tonta a squaw, and said : 'Ileap brave shemokoman's squaw.' They took the pork and flour my wife had first offered, left their honey and ' puckacheed.' Never after that did the Indians dictate about trading in my cabin. I did not tell my wife she was a little heroine of a woman, but I thought so, nevertheless. I felt proud of being the husband of a woman who dared defend her home and property from such devils. Two weeks after this occurrence, a party of Indians came to a neighbor's house and found the wife all alone : they made a few demon- strations, and the woman fled through the woods to my house, half dead with fright. The Indians gobbled ten bushels of potatoes and all the other provisions. My neighbor brought his wife to my house until we got through making sugar, and she had a fit of sickness consequent upon her fright. This is one of many incidents of like character, that marked the pioneer life of this town at that early day."
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