USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches > Part 77
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The Society was the result of a combination between the Unitarians and Universalists. and although they eleeted Trustees, viz., O. S. Cornish, Carlos Curtis and Leander Goosselin, with the intention of making it permanent, the Society does not appear to have lasted more than one year, as upon the record under date of March 3, 1867, appears the notice of a meet- ing whereat was formed the Universalist Society, with seventy-nine members. This organiza. tion is still in existence, and plays a very important part in the well-ordering of society. Out of this grew the Church which was organized on April 2. 1869, with the following charter ' members : Albert Winslow, L. Goosselin. R. C. Dodge, Mrs. M. I. Roberts, Mrs. R. A. Holmes, J. P. Curtis, Mrs. Betsy Dodge, S. A. Rice, Mrs. Laura Rice, Mrs. Sophia Benson, Mrs. Mary M. Winslow, Mrs. Celinda A. Curtis, Miss Effie Avery and Mrs. Hannah Foster. The church was built in 1868, by the Society, but at what cost or by whom the services were con- dneted, does not appear upon the records, which have been very irregularly kept. Added to this is a lack of memory on the part of persons who should know all about it, and a disinelina- tion to trouble themselves on the part of others, so that we must be held blameless in the premises.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
EVERGREEN CEMETERY.
In the early days of Fort Atkinson, the few burials that took place were made at a point on Section 3, a short distance up the river, on a hill, from the corner of which the city and surrounding country for miles around were distinctly visible. In these grounds, consecrated to the occupation of those of the pioneers who went before to be seen no more forever, the burial of Edward Foster on the 13th of October. 1837, was the first : William Prichard was buried two years later, and, with one other, was all that were therein interred. When the spot now known as Evergreen Cemetery was first utilized as a burying-ground, their bodies were removed to that locality, where they now sleep in sanctified repose.
In 1842, a cemetery was established on ground west of the city donated by Milo Jones, in which a sister of Philetus West was among the first burials, followed by that of Betsey Crane. On or about September 12, 1846, another cemetery was opened in the immediate vicinity, in which that of Olive. the wife of Thomas Crane, was among the first interments.
On the 24th of May, 1866, a meeting was held for the purpose of organizing a cemetery association and procuring the purchase of seventeen acres of ground on the Janesville road, about one mile from the city, in a southerly direction. No action was decided upon at that meeting, but, subsequently, Daniel Holmes, E. P. May, G. P. Marston, L. B. Caswell, J. D. Clapp. Milo Jones, Stephen Davis and C. Brigham purchased the property to be adapted to the ases contemplated. In the mean time. the organization of Evergreen Cemetery Association was perfected. Since the land was first offered, about forty lots have been taken up by purchasers, in which from seventy-five to one hundred interments have been made.
The Evergreen Association was organized at a meeting held on Saturday evening, January 24, 1863, attended by many prominent citizens, including Jared Alling, Milton Snell, Jesse Dodge, W. J. Barrie, Rufus Dodge, S. A. Rice, B. Roberts, Newton Snell, F. J. Roberts, William Avery, John and William Strong, W. W. Snell and B. Rhodes. Jared Alling pre- sided and M. Snell officiated as Secretary, and the object accomplished, as set forth in the con- stitution adopted, was the formation of an association for the purpose of procuring lands to be used exclusively for cemetery purposes. Jesse Dodge was elected President of the Association : Milton Snell, Secretary, and S. A. Rice, Treasurer, with Rufus Dodge, Newton Snell, W. J. Barrie, Milton Snell, Jesse Dodge and S. A. Rice as Board of Trustees.
Land was procured at various times from Jesse Dodge, Perry HI. Smith, Thomas Barrie. Newton Snell, Levi Tooker, J. W. Hatch, Frederick Bolt and others until the Association now owns about twenty-five acres about three-quarters of a mile from the city's center, beautifully located, the grounds handsomely laid out, planted with flowers and trees and decorated with combs and monuments of elaborate design and exquisite finish. No city in the State possesses a more attractive place of sepulture for its dead, nor is there a cemetery in the Northwest upon which care and attention are more lavishly expended than upon that within sight of the city by the lake.
THE TOWN OF SULLIVAN. 1
This section of Jefferson County affords some interesting and important history. In size und topography it is not unlike other towns, containing an area of thirty-six square miles of land, of a rolling or undulating nature, well adapted to agriculture. Nearly one-half of the town is yet in a primitive state. Extensive forests of ash, oak, maple, basswood and tamarack are still in existence, anl will furnish material for the woodman's axe for generations to come.
There are four post offices in the town, viz .: Rome, Erfurt, Sullivan and Oak Hill. Rome is an unincorporated village of about three hundred inhabitants, beautifully situated on Bark, River, in Section 17. It was laid out and recorded by Ambrose Seely on the 9th of September,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
1848, and contains an area of 7,000 square rods. It is under town government, its population not,being numerous enough to entitle it to corporate privileges. Mr. H. D. Sprague, one of th ohlest inhabitants, settled in Rome in January, 1846. He purchased a lot three rods wide b six in length. upon which stood a log cabin, built by Peter Knochker. The population at tha date is given as follows : D. Seely, wife and two children : Davis Seely, wife and two children Joseph Hibbard, wife and two children : William Arms and mother ; Sandford Burdick. wif and four children : Peter Knochker. wife and three children. Mr. Davis Seely had thre children, but one of them. a boy, was killed a mile and a half from Rome, when the family wa moving in. A leaning tree, beneath which the teamster drove, crushed the unfortunate child' head against a box in the wagon. Schools, churches and mills were soon established, and Rom has ever since been made to " howl" with the ceaseless noise of progress. The first school wa taught by Cynthia Moulthrop, now Mrs. Cushman. The young idea was taught to shoot within the confines of a diminutive log house, built in 1846 for educational purposes. There are not two public schoolhouses, with bells and belfrys. Mr. Sprague has been identified with ever effort to nurture the tree of knowledge in Rome.
The first church services were held in the house of Joseph Hibbard in the fall of 1846. b a Methodist divine named Hiram Frinck. The log schoolhouse was subsequently used for relig ious purposes until 1859, when a commodious church edifice was erected by the Methodists Among the ministers of this denomination who have preached in Rome may be mentioned th Revs. Fox, Latin, Moffit and Lawton. The next religious organization was that of the Free Will Baptists, which took place in 1854, with the Rev. John G. Hull as Pastor, Elder Parkin and Phineas Jaquith following successively in the charge. In 1873, the society reared a churel edifice. Mr. Hull has been recalled. In 1864, the German Methodists effected an organiza tion, and in 1869 built a church. The society is included in the Whitewater Circuit. In 1859 the Bible Christians formed a society and purchased a church site, but soon afterward relin quished 'their efforts to form a permanent organization.
In 1842, Myron Smith and S. D. Tenny built a saw-mill and dam on Bark River. Th inill was soon afterward destroyed by fire: but the demand for building material prompte Charles De Witt to immediately rear a similar concern upon the smoldering debris of th original. After long years of useful service, the De Witt Mill was torn away. and. in 1853, grist-mill was erected upon the site by Thomas Hooper. The property subsequently passed t the hands of the Notebohin Brothers, and, in 1864, it was replaced by a new structure an improved machinery. Messrs. Ponburg & Foljahn are the proprietors. In 1847. Ambros Seely built a saw-mill on the dam. The successive proprietors of this institution were Spragu & Foss, A. Seely. II. M. Dibble & Brothers. J. J. Kent and D. Force. Mr. Kent again obtained control of the property and is its present owner. having added machinery for th manufacture of feed and cider. In 1848, David Seely built a turning-shop, and, after a few years of successful operation, it was destroyed by fire. Then Moulthrop & Dibble reared similar concern near the site of the old one. This was also burned. David Force was the nex enterprising individual to make a venture in this direction. To the present time, his shop ha escaped the devouring elements.
A post office was established at Rome in 1848, Aaron J. Ball being the first Postmaster Ilis successors have been Orcemus Bramon. Smith Tubbs, II. M. Dibble. William Lyman an Engene Shakshesky. W. H. Sprague is Mr. Shakshesky's Deputy. Postmaster Tubbs wa the first to locate it in a place of security. Prior to that time, the mail-pouch was dropped b the carrier at the side of the road a short distance north of the village, the changes being mad beneath the shades of an oak.
The first hotel in Rome was built in 1848 by Silas Sears. It stood on the site and was part of the Rome Exchange, and was known by the very suggestive and alliterative name o " Live and Let Live." Peter Tubbs. Henry Horndon. Gilbert Allen, John Anthony and John Smith have been the proprietors. Smith died in 1867. and his widow now does the honors. . few years ago, George Ungermyre built a large structure for the purposes of a hotel, but th
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
business did not warrant its success. The property is now owned by Mrs. R. L. Piper, of Watertown. The upper portion has been converted to the uses of the Good Templars and Odd Fellows.
Among the leading and most prominent persons in Rome may be mentioned the following : Eugene Shakshesky, merchant : L. Shakshesky and John Treidel. merchants: George Bick. merchant ; John Koche. merchant ; Cartwright & Lippert. cheese-factory ; H. D. Sprague. blacksmith and Justice of the Peace: Kinion Meeller, harness ; Miss Emma Sprague, milliner : Mrs. Rothel, milliner ; J. J. Daniels, boot and shoe maker ; C. J. Collier, ex-County Superin- tendent of Schools; C. Wheeler, the inventor of a machine that will make a rope any length in a room' ten feet square, spinning from the raw material; John Walsh, school-teacher: M. Rothel. brickmaker; W. Stone, blacksmith : Jacob Lambrich, blacksmith ; William McCann. carpenter and Justice of the Peace ; Henry Landgraf, wagon-maker; George Smith, wagon- maker.
The first post office established in what is now the town of Sullivan was Oak Hill, more familiarly known to the early settlers as "Pumpkin Hollow." The Postmasters have been Charles De Witt, Norton Blackmer. Austin Longley and William Webster. Almond Steele. David Waite, David Platt and Seth Dustin were among the early settlers at Oak Hill. At present. the place consists of a cheese-factory, a sorghum-mill. two blacksmith-shops and one store. It is located in Section 34.
Erfurt Post Office, in Section 14, dates back to pioncer days. Rudolph Shuber has held the office of Postmaster since its establishment by the Postmaster General. There is a grist- mill at Erfurt, built in 1845, by William Warren as a saw-mill, and afterward converted into a flouring-mill by John Heath ; also a store, a blacksmith-shop and a cider-mill. Bark River fur- nishes an excellent water-power.
In 1850. Sullivan Post Office, in Section 29, was established, James Riddle being the first. and William Riddle the present, Postmaster. Welcome Henry, Ruben Terwilliger, John Nut- ter, H. D. Sprague, Nelson Hubbell and James Riddle were among the earlier settlers in that vicinity. James Riddle died during the presidency of the lamented Lincoln. When he voted at the Presidential election of 1860, he was heard to say : " I have always been a Democrat. but I begin to realize my mistake ; and, as I know I shall not live much longer, I shall try to wipe out my political sins by voting for Abraham Lincoln ; then I can dic in peace.'
The first election for officers in the town of Sullivan was held in the spring of 1846, at the house of John Nutter, in the eastern portion of the town, near what is now Sullivan Post Office. That section of the town was then known as " Hardscrabble" among the old settlers. At that election. Charles De Witt was chosen Treasurer. and Myron Smith. Clerk. There were also elected three Supervisors, four JJustices of the Peace. one Assessor, three Road Com- missioners, three Constables. three Fence Viewers and one Sealer of Weights and Measures.
School District No. 8. town of Sullivan. has a war record that will compare favorably with any place of equal population in the Union. Eighty-three soldiers enlisted in the cause of the preservation of free institutions ; and, what is more remarkable. but one of this number was killed, while four died of disease. Gen. Henry Harnden, now a revenue officer at Madison. while a resident of Rome, enlisted as a private in the First Wisconsin Cavalry, and was rap- idly promoted. While filling the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he was sent in pursuit of Jeff Davis, and, but for the unofficerlike conduct of Col. Pritchard, of the Fourth Michigan Car- alry, would have captured the arch-traitor, petticoats and all.
A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.
In the quiet village of Rome lives an aged lady, athwart whose path of life has fallen a multitude of sorrows. Every one knows " Aunt Betsy" Sears. She is sixty-four years of age, and lives alone in a neat little room, over the door of which, on the outside. is this sign : " Job Printer." In one corner of the room are three or four cases of type. each letter standing
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
on end. "Aunt Betsy " has never "learned the boxes," as types are ordinarily "laid," bu has a system of her own, as unique as it is original. She never saw any one " set type,' and does not even know the advantage of using a "rule." Nevertheless she has managed to acquire a sufficient knowledge of the art of printing to enable her to "print a job with neatness and dispatch." and she frequently has card and circular work to perform for the business men of Rome. She. "empties her stick " by sliding the type from the open por tion of that instrument upon a piece of tin, from which it is transferred to a wooden bo: half an inch deep, and then "keyed up," as she expresses it. The ink is then applied with a " brayer " almost as old as "Aunt Betsy" herself : a leather " platen " is placed upor the " form" and an eighteen-pound roller passed over it, and the impression is thus taken Following is a verbatim copy of ' Aunt Betsy's " business card, written and printed by hier self :
MRS . B - M. SEARS. ยท
EPJOB PRINTER -
JEFFERSON STREET , ROME . WIS.
To the north the fifth door From Frank Giffords store , You will find the old lady is living . All alone by herself , For the sake of the pelf Attention to business she's giving .
Some years ago, Mrs. Sears wrote an account of the trials and tribulations experienced b. herself and family when they came to Wisconsin. It is a true picture of pioneer life, vividl portrayed, and full of the sad impressions that only can be wrought upon the minds of thos who braved the dangers and trials of early days and suffered the adversities that beset the pionee in almost every clime. The extensive length of the paper will not admit of its publication i its entireity in these already overcrowded pages, but the most essential parts are given :
On the 221 of October, 1843, we left our former home in the town of Camden, County of Oneida, State of Ne York, with our four little children, to go to the Far West. Arriving at Buffalo, we found that no vessel was goin through to Milwaukee short of three or four days, but the "Julia Palmer" was about to sail for Detroit, and w were induced to take passage upon her. We were told that we would find plenty of boats at Detroit that would tak us through to Milwaukee, but when we arrived at the Michigan metropolis, we found it necessary to wait for th same vessels we left at Buffalo, and when they came they were so heavily loaded they could not take us on board and it was the last trip they were going to make. After remaining in Detroit five days, at a cost of $10, there cam n man to the tavern with a team and double wagon without any cover on it. lle was necompaniedl by his wife, an they were going to Milwaukee. They agreed to take our family through for $20, we to bear our own expenses ; s on the 3d of November, we set out upon a journey in an open wagon, for which we were little prepared. Th ground had frozen very hard the night before, and upon it had fallen about four inches of snow. For two week we had very severe weather, when it moderated and the ground and snow thawed together ; then it was nothin but mud. Thus we traveled around Lake Michigan through snow and mud and rain and shine, until we renche Racine. There we heard that the smallpox prevailed in Milwaukee, and so we hired the man to take us across tl country to Prairieville (now Waukesha). I had two brothers living at Genesee, in that direction ; but when we go within three miles of their place we heard that they also had the smallpox in both families, and had each lost child 'with it. There we were, worn out with fatigue, and my little children sick from the time we first put foot o the steamboat at Buffalo : looking forward to an hour of rest, the society of friends and a temporary home ; then i a moment to have our hopes dashed to earth-it was too much. It seemed as though I must sink down and die. W hal then traveled eighteen days, and I had carried may little babe, twenty-two months old, almost all the way in m lap : for it was so cold I had to keep her under my eloak. The youngest of our three little boys was very ill, requi ing the constant attention of his father, who frequently stopped by the roadside with him, and was then compelle to rua to overtake the wagon : for our teamster displayed his kin Iness by refusing to stop for anything or anybody When we stopped at night, instead of rest I had to cook our suppers, for it would have cost us all we had to live i the taverns.
When we heard the terrible news of my brothers' misfortunes, we stopped at a house on the road and had ou children vaccinated. We remained over night in the house with a very kind family. I shall never forget how I fe when the good mother spread n warm biscuit with butter and divided it among my half-starved children. It brough the lears of joy to my eyes. Il was the first morsel, except one, that they had received without money, in five week
.
FORT ATKINSON
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
In the morning, my husband set out for my brothers' homes, but before reaching there he met one of them going to Prairieville. They were overjoyed to learn of our safe arrival. They had expected us three weeks before, but, not having any intelligence of us, had given us up for lost, and believed we were drowned while crossing the lake. My brother said there was no danger of our taking the smallpox, as they were well of it, and had thoroughly disinfected their houses. So we went home with him, but it seemed to mne as if I was carrying my children to the grave. When we arrived, we found that his wife was nursing a lady with the disease, and therefore we were right in the midst of it. Within nine days, I was taken with the varioloid ; two days later, my little girl was taken sick, and the next day our youngest boy took his bed with the terrible disease The day before I was taken, my husband started off to look for a farm, and, as he remained away longer than we expected he would, we began to feel uncasy about him. When we started from Detroit, we gave orders to have our goods sent on to Milwaukee on a schooner, hut up to the time we were taken down with the smallpox we had not heard anything from them. Never before nor since have I experienced such feelings of sorrow and misery. Three of ns sick with a dreadful disease, my husband absent, l knew not where, and every indication that our meager stock of clothing and bedding had been lost on the lake. While I lay groaning in my utter wretchedness, this thought occurred to my mind :
" The darkest time, I have heard them say, Is just before the break of day."
I stopped weeping and began to hope. Thought 1, it may be that my husband is safe ; the children are not dead yet, and, possibly, some lucky wave may waft our goods ashore. That day, my husband came home; the children began to appear better, and my brother came from Milwaukee and said he had found our goods, and that they were on the way home. I began to take courage and think that all would yet be well. But alas ! how soon are blooming lopes cut off. On Wednesday, my husband came home full of bright prospects. He had found a good location, and had stayed and put up a house, calculating to move his family into it the next Monday, little dream- ing of what a situation we were in at home. When he came, there we were in a pile, three of us in one bed, and nine of us in a little shanty 12x14 feet in size. Our two sick children looked so loathsome we could scarcely bear the sight of them. The next day, they grew worse, and on Sunday, at 11 o'clock, the little girl died ; on Monday, at 12 o'clock, her little brother followed her. It had always seemed to me that, if I should ever lose a child, I could never let it go out of my arms ; but now two of my loves were dead, and what mother cannot imagine my feelings when I looked upon their innocent faces, covered with the repulsive marks of a terrible disease ? They must be hurried into the ground as quick as possible, and I not able to see them buried. But God strengthened my almost exhausted endurance, and I became resigned to my fate. I believe He is too wise to be mistaken, too good to be unkind.
Two weeks from the day my little hoy died, we started, in company with the family of my brother, Davis Seely, for Bark Woods. By some means, the teams took different roads, and we became separated. Our team came through Waterville, while my brother's went through the bluffs. I was very feeble from my recent sickness, and everything seemed to conspire against us as we wended our way through the woods, with no guide save now and then a freshly-marked tree. At the end of the second day, we reached our destination ; but what had become of my brother and his family ? This annoyed us very much all night. The next morning, we saw Davis coming slowly through the woods, but the wofnl look upon his face told us plainer than words that something terrible had hap- pened. His little four-year-old boy had been killed the day before by a leaning tree under which the teamster drove. We thought that our cup of sorrow was already full, but now it was running over. Picture to yourself a family of weary emigrants, looking forward with eager eyes and longing hearts to the time when they should reach their final destination, and be shel ered from the chilliog rain that was descending in torrents upon them, and urging forward their jaded beasts as fast as their weary limbs and the roughness of the ground would permit. Suddenly there is a crash. Oh ! what a sound to the father's ears, when, from a distance in the rear, he sees it is the head of his son. He has seen the danger and halloved to the teamster, but too late. lle rushes forward and catches the lifeless body of his hoy. " Oh ! Mr. De Jayne," he says, " you have killed my son ! You have killed my son !
Onward, through the mud and brush, he bore his bleeding child, in agony too great to give vent to tears. They found their way to a little shanty belonging to Mr. Tinney, and there watched and mourned the remainder of * The next day, the funeral took place from Mr. Crowder's tavern. I believe it was the night. *
the first meeting of any kind ever held in these woods.
When we left my brother Dempster's, on the Ist of January, 1844, he calculated to come out in a few days and bring us some provisions. Consequently, we did not fetch anything but a bag of flour and about a pound of butter that I put in my work-basket. But Dempster did not come for four weeks, and, during that time, we had very short allowances. We succeeded in getting three bushels of flat turnips, at 18 pence a bushel. This was all we could get for love or money. l'otatoes, there we e none to be had, and as for meat, I borrowed three pounds of pork of an old settler, and I used to cut two very small slices of it and fry them, and take a little flour and water and make a sort of paste or gravy with which to moisten our bread and turnips. I did not dare to cook but two turnips apiece, and they were very small, and 1 did not dare to peel them before they were cooked, because it would be such a waste. So, with our two turnips and bread and paste we made our breakfast, and, with a little water porridge made of " middlings" and sweetened with black molasses, and very poor at that, and a slice of toasted bread, we made our dinner. For supper, we had stewed dried apples and bread ; and sometimes, for a change, we ate our bread plain. This kind of fare lasted for four weeks, when my brother came and brought us some flour, a " porker" that weighed 160 pounds, and forty pounds of butter that we brought with us from York State. Then we had something to eat.
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