The history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, containing an account of settlement, growth, development and resources biographical sketches the whole preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 63

Author: Western historical company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 840

USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > The history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, containing an account of settlement, growth, development and resources biographical sketches the whole preceded by a history of Wisconsin > Part 63

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interest of Mauston, thus depriving me of the county printing, I suspended publication, and in February following moved my family and printing material back to Reedsburg; but I did not engage in publishing a paper, because of the unsettled and embittered state of public feeling. In the last days of that year 1863, I entered the military service, where I remained until June, 1866-more than a year after the close of the war. Upon arriving home, I found that my press and material had been sold, to go to Mazo Manie, and I therefore turned my attention to other pursuits."

Mr. Chandler has neglected to mention the fact-which of course every one then knew, but which every one would not know a hundred years hence should we now fail to record it- that the Free Press was a stanch Republican paper, and its first number was issued just in time to announce the nominees of the Chicago Convention of June, 1860-Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. In his indorsement of the nominees, the editor said : "As to our political course, we need only to refer our readers to the flag which we carry at the mast-head, inscribed with the names of the gallant rail-splitter of Illinois and the printer-lawyer of Maine, and to the declaration of principles as set forth by the Republican National Convention. * * * And now up to the ceiling goes the editorial felt, while we hurrah for Old Abe, the giant of the West."

The motto of the Free Press was, "Pledged but to truth, to liberty and law." Typo- graphically it was probably the neatest paper in the Northwest. In its first number we find the business cards of Stevens & Miles, J. Mackey and E. G. Wheeler, attorneys at law ; of A. O Hunt and A. West, Justices of the Peace ; of Dr. S. Hall, physician and surgeon ; of J. Barn- hart, wagon and carriage maker; of M. Finch, harness-maker; of A. Pettyes, fashionable tailor ; of William A. Pixley, watchmaker and jeweler; F. A. Weir, advertised the Alba House, and Perley Sargent the Western Hotel, while Justus Freer appeared as the landlord of Cottage Inn, at Delton. Sanford & Son sold sufficient dry goods to enable them to employ a column of the Free Press to tell the people about it, while J. L. Green was not far behind in the same line of business. John Kellogg sold plows and ice cream and lemonade and anvils, and anything else in any other line to be thought of. Dr. Ramsey sold drugs, paints, high- wines, etc .; Volney Ayres did blacksmithing, and Electa Ayres had a farm for sale ; R. C. Lewis

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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY.

was the village tinner, and D. R. Kellogg took pictures; J. W. Lusk and H. M. Haskell, issued insurance policies, and M. Shumway sold ice; Murray & Jones, Baraboo, kept hard- ware, while Moritz Pietzsch bound books; G. H. Stewart & Co., of Beaver Dam, advertised the product of their woolen mill-and altogether the Free Press was well patronized.

As has been stated by Mr. Chandler in his reminiscence, the Free Press was suspended in September, 1861. After a sleep of nearly eleven years, it was resurrected. The first number of the new series appeared March 22, 1872, and the success of the enterprise, it is said, was marked and immediate. Mr. Chandler continued its publication until July 1, 1878, when he disposed of what he had made a very good property to John W. Blake, a veteran typo and pub- lisher, and John H. Powers, the latter now being one of the publishers of the Baraboo Repub- lic. In November, 1879, Mr. Powers sold his interest to his partner, Mr. Blake, who is at present the sole proprietor. The Free Press is the largest paper published in Sauk County, being a nine-column quarto. On political propositions it has always been soundly Republican ; locally, it is a fair specimen of what a local paper should be.

The Sauk County Herold-Printed in the German language, is the title of the only other newspaper published in Reedsburg. It was established in 1876, the first number being issued on the 22d of December of that year, by William Raetzmann and Richard Porsch. It is an eight-column quarto, ably edited and carefully printed. In the spring, of 1877, Mr. Raetz- mann purchased his partner's interest and is now the sole publisher and responsible editor.

PRAIRIE DU SAC.

Sauk County News .- This paper was established by the firm of Burnett & Son, of Black Earth, Dane County, and G. W. Ashton, of Prairie du Sac, on the 21st of October, 1876. It was a six-column quarto, with E. W. Ashton as responsible editor. The News was printed at Black Earth and published at Prairie du Sac. Mr. Ashton conducted the paper until Nov. 1877, when his interest passed into the hands of S. W. Corwith, who enlarged it, adding one column to each of its four pages. Politically and socially, let the News speak for itself, in a prospectus issued by its present editor, Mr. Corwith, soon after mounting the editorial tripod : " It will advocate good government, independent of party lines. Principles first, men and par- ties afterward. The News will labor for the interests of this town and the county in particular, and the world in general. It will appreciate kindness from its friends and kicks from its ene- mies, if any there be. For every dollar it receives it will give value in the very best service that can be rendered through its columns. The News will always exercise the broadest charity con- sistent with right and justice ; it will not censure without cause, or approve that which has no merit." The circulation of the News has increased from 150 copies, under former management, to 600.

SPRING GREEN.

In December, 1877, J. F. Morrow, of Spring Green, established the Dollar Times, a weekly journal with greenback proclivities and patent outside, printed at Black Earth, Dane County, and dated and circulated in Baraboo and Spring Green. Robert T. Warner was the editor of the Baraboo edition, while Mr. Morrow conducted the Spring Green issue. The Dollar Times was a sprightly local paper, but seems to have espoused an unpopular political cause. The Baraboo issue was suspended under a postal regulation relative to rates of postage. About this time the name of the paper was changed to the Inter-County Times, and under this title, suspended publication in the spring of 1880.

SOME OF SAUK COUNTY'S ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD.

The compiler of this work has been only partially successful in his efforts to secure for its pages sketches of the lives of the leading actors in this historical drama. Not a few of the early settlers and others prominent in the county's history have passed away, leaving no record of their lives ; and, in some instances, there are no relatives, at this late date, to furnish the desired infor- mation.

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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY.

JONATHAN HATCH

was born in Milton, Conn., September 14, 1793; he died in the village of Lyons on the 14th of January, 1879. When quite young, his parents moved to Scipio, Cayuga Co., N. Y., and at the age of eighteen he left his home and went to the head of the Alleghany River and engaged in lumbering, rafting on that and the Ohio River. In 1813, he spent ten months in the army and helped to build Fort Stephenson, on the Lower Sandusky, being engaged meantime in several skirmishes with Indians.

In 1835, he came to Wisconsin, and in 1836 first saw the soil of Sauk County, being of a party of surveyors that platted " Superior City," on the Wisconsin River, opposite what is now Sauk City. In June, 1839, he moved to Sauk Prairie, and there raised the first oats, corn, wheat and potatoes ever brought forth from Sauk County soil. He was married in 1818, and eight daughters and one son was the result of this union.' He became a widower, and in due course of time-June 12, 1845-married a sister of William Johnson. By her he had one child, a daughter, now the wife of J. B. Duncan. The daughters of his first wife grew to womanhood ; the son died young. Jonathan Hatch was highly respected.

JAMES S. ALBAN

was one of the very first pioneers of Sauk County, Mrs. Alban being the first white woman in the county. He located on. Sauk Prairie in January of 1839, and afterward engaged in the practice of law at Sauk City. He was well read in his profession. About 1850, he removed to Plover, where he was subsequently chosen to represent his constituents in the Legislature. He also served as County Judge, and, when the rebellion broke out, entered the Union army as Colonel of the Eighteenth Regiment. He lost his life on the battle-field at Shiloh.

PRESCOTT BRIGHAM

emigrated from the town of Shrewsbury, Worcester Co., Mass., to Blue Mounds, Wis., in 1838 ; thence to Sauk County in June, 1840. Mrs. Brigham died October 20, 1846, and is remem- bered as a most excellent woman. Their house was like an oasis in the desert, ever open to strangers and neighbors. Mr. Brigham's last days were spent with his son-in-law, T. B. Cowles, in the town of Sumter. At an early day, he was an advocate for locating the county seat at Baraboo Rapids, as it was then called, and loaned to the county the money with which to purchase from the Government the quarter-section of land upon which the village now stands. Out of respect for Mr. Brigham, the place was first called Adams, by his request, from the great esteem in which he held John Quincy Adams. Mr. Brigham was elected to the office of Register of Deeds in 1845, serving two years. He died on the 28th of May, 1862.

EBEN PECK

was born in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vt., in 1804, and was taken to Middlebury, Genessee, now Wyoming County, N. Y., by his parents when quite a child, and on his return to Ver- mont in 1827, he established himself in business in Middleton, Rutland County. There he was married February 24, 1829, to Miss Roseline Willard, whose mother was Julia Ann Burn- ham, and her grandmother Burnham (wife of John Burnham, an able member of the Bennington bar) was a sister of Gen. Isaac Clark, of Castleton, Vt., a soldier of the Revolution, who also commanded a regiment in the war of 1812, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention and Judge of the County Court; died at Castleton January 31, 1822. Gen. Clark was the grandfather of Satterlee Clark, a Wisconsin pioneer of 1830. Miss Willard was born February 24, 1808, at Middleton. She was married in the house in which she was born, her parents, grandparents and others being present. In 1832, they removed to Middlebury, N. Y., and thence, in 1836, to Blue Mounds, Wis. Mrs. Peck was the first white woman to cross the Baraboo Bluffs. She now resides on her farm near Baraboo, in the enjoyment of good health. Mr. Peck started for California in 1844, and, though since reported as in Texas or New Mexico, is supposed to have been massacred by savages on the plains.

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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY.

AGOSTON HARASZTHY,

more familiarly known as Count Haraszthy, was born in 1812, in the Comitat of Bacska, Hun- gary. His family was one of the oldest and most influential of the old nobility, the name appearing frequently in the history of that country extending over a period of seven hundred and sixty years. He was educated to the law, as was the custom there, and at the age of eighteen was a member of the body-guard of the Emperor Ferdinand, which was composed of nobles. After filling the office of Chief Executive of State for a period, he became the Private Secretary of the Viceroy. When the Liberal movement began in 1839-40, he at once took the lead of that party, but was afterward, through the failure of the movement, compelled to leave his country. He came to New York, and, after traveling over the United States, he wrote and published a book upon their resources. The work was designed to invite emigration from Hun- gary, and was the first work upon that subject ever printed in the Hungarian language. About 1840, he made Wisconsin his home, purchasing large tracts of land, founding several settle- ments, building bridges, constructing roads and establishing ferries. Having in his possession valuable State papers, the Austrian Government opened negotiations for their surrender. The question was referred to Lewis Cass, who succeeded in gaining permission for Havaszthy to return to Hungary and remain for one year. This he did, settling up his affairs, and, although his landed estates were confiscated, he succeeded in saving $150,000, which he brought with him to this country, together with his family and a large portion of the family plate and paintings. Returning to Wisconsin, he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1842, after having, through the perfidy of a land officer, lost $5,000 in attempting to establish a colony, he came to the beauti- ful spot where now stands the village of Prairie du Sac. Here he founded a new colony, calling it by his own name (Haraszthy), and had it incorporated. He started a horse ferry across the river, mape excellent roads, established mills and stores, and subsequently ran a steamboat down the Wisconsin and Mississippi to St. Louis. But yearly recurring prairie fires destroyed his crops and many of his buildings ; besides, the commercial crisis of 1847 crippled him severely. His family joined him in 1844, and in 1846 he succeeded in having his place selected as the county seat of Sauk County, building a court house at his own expense. Still, the many losses between that year and 1849 told heavily on his finances, and, with a long train of over fifty associates, he started overland for California. He settled at San Diego, was elected Sheriff of the county, afterward laid out " Middle San Diego," and, in 1852, was elected a member of the Legislature. From San Diego, he removed to San Francisco, thence to the adjoining county of San Mateo, devoting himself to agriculture. President Pierce appointed him Assayer in the United States Branch Mint in San Francisco, and at a later period he was made melter and refiner. In 1856, he removed to Sonoma County, and engaged in viniculture. He was the first to employ Chinese labor in his vineyards. In 1861, he was appointed by the Governor of California as a Commissioner to visit the wine countries of Europe, which resulted in the importation of four hundred different varieties of grapevines. A year later, he was chosen President of the Cali- fornia State Agricultural Society. In 1863, he organized the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, to which he conveyed his four hundred acres of vines in Sonoma County. In 1868, he went to Nicaragua, where he became interested in sugar plantations, and erected an extensive distillery for the manufacture of spirits. In 1869-70, he returned to California to charter a vessel with which to open trade between San Francisco and the ports of Nicaragua. Upon his return to Central America, he was drowned while attempting to cross a stream of water by means of a fallen tree which reached from bank to bank. His body was never found, and it is supposed to have been devoured by crocodiles or carried by the swift current to the ocean, four miles distant from the scene of the tragedy. Count Haraszthy will long be remembered as one of the substantial pioneers of " Old Sauk."

JAMES MAXWELL

was born at Guilford, Windham Co., Vt., May 1, 1789. Removed to Walworth County in 1837, which county he represented in the Territorial Council for six years, being President

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of that body in 1840. In the spring of that year, he crossed the Baraboo Bluffs and began at Manchester the improvement of the water-power, but soon after he returned to Walworth County, where he continued to reside until 1846, when he came to Baraboo the second time, and made a permanent settlement. In the same year, he erected the first building upon the public square, the once well-known old corner store. The only other building in Baraboo proper at that time, was the log schoolhouse. In 1851 and 1853, he was a prominent candidate in the Whig con- ventions of the State, and at one of those conventions was nominated for Secretary of State. The decline of that party worked Mr. Maxwell's defeat. In 1856, he removed to the western part of Nebraska and opened a large farm on the Platte River. At the date of his death-the 16th of December, 1869-he was residing at the home of his son in Baraboo.

. STEPHEN VAN RANSSALAER ABLEMAN

was born December 25, 1809, in the town of Bethlehem, Albany County, State of New York. He died July 16, 1880, at Ableman, Wis. His father, Christian G. Ableman, was born in Prussia, Germany. He was a soldier of our Revolution. His mother, Regina Kanier, was born in Claverack, Columbia Co., N. Y. In a few months after, her parents arrived from Bordeaux, in France. In 1820, his parents moved to Albany. Stephen for two years was sent to the Lancastarian School in that city. In May, 1822, he was bound an apprentice during his minority, as the old indenture reads, "to learn the art, trade and mystery of a carpenter and joiner, after the manner of an apprentice, for and during the full end of the term, during all which the said operative, his said masters, faithfully shall serve, their secrets keep, and their lawful commands everywhere readily obey. He shall do no damage to his said masters, or see it done by others without letting or giving notice thereof to his said masters, nor waste his masters' goods, nor lend them unlawfully to any person. At cards, dice or any other unlawful game he shall not play. Whereby his said masters may have damage with their own goods or the goods of others ; without license from his said masters, he shall neither buy nor sell. He shall not absent himself day or night from his masters' service without their leave; nor haunt ale-houses, taverns or play-houses, but in all things behave himself as a faithful operative ought during the said term ; and the said masters shall use the utmost of their endeavors to teach or cause to be taught or instructed the said operative in the art, trade and mysteries of a carpenter and joiner, and promise to provide for him sufficient meat, drink, boarding, mending, lodging and washing, fitting for an operative during said term of time, and pay him in cash the sum of $25 per year, to be advanced and paid as his necessities may require. Signed and sealed." This indenture was canceled December 25, 1830.

In 1825, by the consent of his masters, he enlisted as a drummer in the National Guards, Ninth Rifle Regiment, and served in all their drills in this capacity for four years. He was then chosen Ensign, and rendered this service for three years, until elected Captain of the same company. He then took his discharge. It reads, "Thirty-first Brigade, Ninth Rifle Regiment. S. V. R. Ableman has paraded in the said Ninth Rifle Regiment, uniformed and equipped according to law, and has performed all such military duty as has been required of him for the space of seven years last past, and is, therefore, free from military duty, except in cases of insur- rection or invasion, or when called into actual service."

May 4, 1831, he married Elizabeth Bolt Jarvis. She was born October 25, 1812, and died May 19, 1860. She was confined to her bed for the last eleven years of her life, a great sufferer from neuralgia and rheumatism. Nearly all her joints became ossified. The issue of this marriage was two children-a son who was born June 14, 1832, and drowned in the Bay of San Francisco March 24, 1853, and a daughter, Laura Elizabeth (now Mrs. E. C. Watson), born September 7, 1835. After Mr. Ableman's marriage to Miss Jarvis, he immediately opened a carpenter shop on Water street, Albany, and has since performed many heavy contracts. July 29, 1833, Ensign Ableman was elected Captain, with rank from date, of the National Guards, Ninth Rifle Regiment, Thirty-first Brigade, commissioned by Gov. William L. Macy, Levi

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Hubble Adjutant General. In 1838, he was elected Colonel of the Two Hundred and Forty- ninth Regiment, New York State Militia, and duly commissioned. In 1843, Col. Ableman was elected Alderman of the Eighth Ward, Albany, N. Y., and served as such, and was subsequently re-elected. He was also appointed Commissioner of the Poor of said county, and keeper of the almshouse for 1842 and 1843.

In the spring of 1845, he came to the broad West, arriving with his family in Milwaukee on the 17th of June. He established there the first Woodworth Planing Mill, and, in 1848, he built a steam planing-mill, and a sash, door and blind manufactory on West Water street. This season he located lands in Sauk County, in Excelsior. In 1850, he sold his mills and moved temporarily to Baraboo, and commenced improving his lands. After a few months' residence here, he moved to the point that afterward became his permanent home. In 1853, Col. Able- man was appointed United States Marshal for the State of Wisconsin, by Franklin Pierce, and served as such until Buchanan's administration, in June, 1858. While in this capacity, he arrested the slave Glover, whose case, it will be remembered, caused so much excitement and agitation. November 30, 1865, he married Mary Ann, eldest daughter of Capt. Watson, and widow of the late Capt. Adam Gilmore.

In 1869, the Colonel wrote and published several articles, over the signature of " Locomo- tive," urging the people of the Baraboo Valley to organize for railroad purposes, and laid down a plan of operation. The force with which these letters were written caused an organization to be made, which was entitled the Baraboo Air Line Railroad Company. The Colonel was chosen President of this company. The commencement of the work, and then the sale to the Chicago & North-Western Railroad Company, and the construction of the line through the county within one year's time, was viewed with inexpressible satisfaction by the Colonel. The Chicago & North-Western Railroad Company, out of esteem for him, named the station at the village then known as Excelsior, " Ableman." The post office and village have since received the same name.

Col. Ableman built the well-known hotel, the Delavan House, in Albany. He also built the Methodist Church in Baraboo, on coming here, and before settling on his lands at Ableman. When he selected those lands, he drove across the country from Milwaukee. The belief then was that the first railroad west would follow the Baraboo Valley. The Colonel looked along this valley, and, coming to the Narrows near Ableman, readily decided that a railroad never could miss that point, and so purchased lands there. It was many years before his hopes of a railroad were realized, and he was then past active life. His sole remaining ambition was to sit on his porch and see a train go by. He lived a number of years after the present road fulfilled his desire. Col. Ableman was a man of strong characteristics, but one of the best-hearted and most genial friends in the world. He was a giant in size and strength, but never used his physical power but usefully.

CYRUS CLARK REMINGTON

was born in Sheridan, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., November 10, 1824, and died in Baraboo, October 13, 1878. He came to Wisconsin when 16 years of age with his parents, who settled in Waukesha County. All imaginable hardships in pioneer life were the lot of the Rem- ingtons in their new home, and the subject of this sketch was compelled to apply himself vigor- ously to the toils incident to farming. His few leisure hours, however, were devoted to study, and he soon became competent to instruct the youth in his father's neighborhood, and was for several terms engaged as teacher. He remained in this capacity-farmer-teacher -- for nearly · six years, when he went to study law in the office of Alexander Randall, of Waukesha, after- ward Governor of the State. He subsequently went to Milwaukee and finished his professional reading with Messrs. Finch & Lynde, being admitted to the bar February 16, 1847. In May following, he entered the county of Sauk, en route for Baraboo, with his wardrobe and library upon his back in a carpet bag, and withi 25 cents in his pocket. At that time, Lyons was the Athens of the Baraboo Valley, and here young Remington paused in his westward march, and

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took board at the house of Alexander Crawford. In 1852, he was married to Maria S. Train, by whom he had six children. In 1854, he represented in the Assembly, the district compris- ing Adams and Sauk Counties, and he was County Judge of the latter from 1870 to 1873, when he resigned. As a lawyer, Mr. Remington stood at the head of the Sauk County bar. He never sullied his professional character by a questionable, much less a dishonorable, act. As a wise counselor, he was the reliance of many business men, who had implicit faith in him. As a citizen, he was honorable, patriotic and public-spirited. It is worthy of record, that, when the war of the rebellion broke out, he loaned the United States Government $1,000 to help the cause along, and did it from a pure sense of duty. This act was characteristic of his citizen- ship.

ALBERT JAMESON,

one of Sauk County's earliest settlers, died at his home, in the town of Sumter, November 17, 1875. He was born in Wilkesbarr, Penn., August 15, 1809. Removing to Ohio in 1834, he spent two years in that State, and then went to Rockford, Ill., where he married Miss Elizabeth Hoover, November 25, 1837. From Rockford he soon removed to Belmont, Wis., and, in December, 1838, in company with three others, he came to Sauk County, crossing the Wisconsin River on the ice. The following season, the four pioneers made claims on Sauk Prairie, where Mr. Jameson lived until his death, with the exception of a few years he spent in California, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho. He was an enthusiastic lover of the sublime and won- derful in nature, and was always entertaining and happy in his descriptions of what he had seen. He had collected many rare minerals and curiosities in his travels in the wonderful West.

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The history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, containing an account of settlement, growth, development and resources biographical sketches the whole preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 63

Author: Western historical company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 840

Author: Western historical company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 840