USA > Wisconsin > Washington County > Washington County, Wisconsin : past and present > Part 11
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"G. T. WESCOTT."
The second company, the Corcoran Guards, consisting of 75 men, mostly of Irish descent, left West Bend on January 17, 1862, for Camp Randall at Madison. Other parts of the county also furnished more volunteers. In Kewaskum $2,000 were collected, and each soldier received $100.
The second war meeting in the Court House at West Bend was held on August 13, 1862, and resulted in the organization of the Washington County Rifles, a company made up mostly of men of German lineage. About 25 enlisted in the meeting, and $475 were subscribed for the benefit of the company. A committee was ap- pointed to solicit further subscriptions. The number of volunteers increased rapidly during the next few days.
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Three days later a war meeting was held in Reisse's Hall at Barton in which a number of young men were sworn in and $890 were sub- scribed. It was resolved "that each individual present exert their influence to procure subscriptions to the bounty fund," and also "that each man, woman and child use their influence and urge volunteers to enlist in the cause of the Union."
When the Washington County Rifles left for Camp Sigel at Mil- waukee, they numbered 95 fine looking soldiers. Their captain was Jacob E. Mann, the other editor of the "West Bend Post." His wife took the editorship after her husband and her brother had been en- rolled in the army, and published the paper for some time alone and under the most trying circumstances. Jacob Heipp was first lieuten- ant, and Charles Ottilie second. The company was assigned to the 26th Wisconsin Regiment as Company G. The regiment, commanded by General Franz Sigel, left for Washington, D. C., on October 6, 1862, and was sent to the front. They fought at Gainesville; went into winter quarters at Stafford Courthouse, took part in the battle near Chancellorsville, in which Co. G lost twelve men; also in that of Gettysburg, in which many were wounded, some mortally; were en- gaged in the campaign around Atlanta; had a hand in the battles of Resaca, near Dallas, and of Peach Tree Creek; and marched with Sherman to the sea.
In spite of all this honorable support of the Union cause, the county in point of the number of volunteers furnished was behind every other county in the state. Reasons have been proffered to ex- plain this fact. For example the agricultural pursuits of most of the inhabitants who had little liking for the din of war, the end of which, by the way, was expected every day; or the population being mostly made up of Germans who, among other reasons, left their native country to get away from military service. But these explanations could not stand, for other counties had under practically the same conditions furnished a larger quota. A good reason has never been found. Most likely it was a mere accident which could have been passed over as such, had it not been for an unpleasant effect in its train.
The call for troops had again been sounded, and all over the state a draft was to be held on Monday, November 10, 1862. When it became known that Washington county had to furnish nearly 800 men, or many more than any of the other counties, the population grew indignant and believed to be the victims of foul play. It was a time of general excitement and little cool thinking, or they would
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have seen that the demand was only just. The draft, performed by a little girl in the courthouse had the first day run on without a hitch. Tuesday the turn of the town of Trenton came. When the last name had been drawn, one of the men who had shown considerable un- easiness stepped upon a chair and addressed the crowd with inciting words, and then demanded the papers from Commissioner E. H. Gilson. An attempt by Sheriff Weimar to quell the growing mob sentiment failed, but helped the commissioner to make away un- noticed with the papers. But before he had reached the post office, his absence was noticed, and the men rushed down the hill after him. They halted him at the law office of Frisby & Weil, and one threat- ened him with a heavy stone if he would not give up the papers. Mr. Fisby, himself a drafted man, came out and spoke to them, explain- ing matters, and succeeded to quiet them a little. Gilson got into the office, disappeared through a back door and reached Milwaukee where he notified the authorities. In the afternoon another meet- ing was held in the courthouse in which resolutions praying for two months' postponement of the draft were adopted and forwarded to Madison. Saturday, November 22, six companies of the 30th Regi- ment arrived in West Bend, and on the following Monday the draft was under military protection resumed and completed. In all, 758 men were drawn, mostly Germans.
Touching upon the occurrence, the "West Bend Post" said in an editorial: "We deny that the people of this county are not loyal and ready to enlist. - We most decidedly deny that this county is not loyal, but on the contrary believe if she had been treated with half the consideration that other counties have been she would have furnished her quota."
The disturbance, nettling as it was to the patriotic citizens, had been instigated by but a few persons who believed themselves a prey of some unfair scheme, and did not want to submit to it, and it would have been extremely unjust to use it as a trump against the loyalty of the county. The day before it happened, a draft riot of much larger proportions, but after all only an operetta riot, had oc- curred in Port Washington, the waves of which struck the town of Trenton and encouraged the disgruntled men to active resistance. All other drafts that were held in West Bend in the course of the war came off smoothly.
About two thousand men from Washington county fought on the Union side in the war between the states. In many places most
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all of the able-bodied men had enlisted. For war purposes $180,- 577.48 were raised in the county.
This chapter would be very incomplete indeed if mention was not made of the noble help offered by the women. A little of it has already been said. They fought at home hardly less desperately than their husbands or sons or sweethearts fought in the rank and file. In many places societies of women were organized who collected cloth- ing, food and money, partly for the soldiers, but mostly to support their families. It was considered a sacred duty to ward off penury from the folks of the brave ones who had offered their service to the country in the time of her greatest calamity. The soldiers in turn sent home whatever they could spare of their pay, and this, too, helped to make conditions at home more bearable. And when in 1865 the war came to an end, and many a husband, son, brother, or lover did not return because his life blood reddened some battle field, his loved ones at home learned to bear this greatest of all sacrifices with sub- mission to the will of the Eternal.
The women assumed the duties of their old, old office, old as wars are among men. There were cowardly young men who tried to shirk the duty they owed to their country. Cowards can be found any- where. And here is where the old custom of the women of our an- cestors thousands of years ago, and of the uncivilized tribes of today, was again revived. They inspired the men, and if necessary goaded them, to fight. Here is an example of the latter kind of influence exerted by the sharp pen of a West Bend woman, which appeared in the "Post" of August 9, 1862:
"Mr. Editor :- I cannot refrain from expressing my delight at finding that there are some wise men left yet in our state. I allude to those young men who were not so attracted by blue uniforms, drums and fifes, as to leave their homes in search of glory and renown .. I hardly know how to express my thanks, and in fact the thanks of the girls of this state for their bravery, their patriotism, their noble disinterestedness; for how could there be a surer way to quell the re- bellion than for every man to refuse to fight.
"Some, I hear, would go, did not 'dyspepsia' prevent them. That's right, boys, 'a poor excuse is better than none,' any day, and it's easy enough to get a certificate from an M. D. releasing you from service. Then 'dyspepsia' is not a very dangerous disease. Never mind being called 'cowards.' What is the good of your going to be shot? Why it is obviously your duty to stay behind the counter to measure silk
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and calico and do up a pound of candy, or a sheet of paper. It's all stuff about women taking your place, of course there's no woman on earth who is strong enough to fill such an arduous position.
"What matters it to you that others have gone and returned not; that mothers, heart-broken wives, sobbing children, mourning friends, call upon you to take their places and avenge their wrongs ?- You did not make them go; why should you care; it is naught to trouble you !- That is right, manly, noble, wise. If folks will be such fools as to go and be shot, let them do it; you are not obliged to; you are too valuable to the country to risk your precious life, and besides you have the 'dyspepsia.' Spend your time in the noble employment of curling your hair and ranting about the standstill policy of the Government. Of course, the war can be carried on without men; you could do it, and Lincoln should be able. Oh! can you be men? Have you no ambition, no pride, no manhood?
"Think of the noble men who are gone, of those who are going, of the dead whose blood cries to you from the ground .- Think of our wrongs, of our desolate homes, and beware lest there go up a curse against you from broken-hearted mourners to whose ranks numbers are daily added; from suffering slaves, from the sad, the bereaved, the sorrowing, all over our land, to whose cries you have turned a deaf ear. As surely as there is a God above us, so surely, if you do not your duty at this time, you will not be held guiltless-God will require at your hands an account of those whom your going might have saved. "HATTIE."
"West Bend, Aug. 4th, 1862."
Another young woman of West Bend, Miss Ada H. Thomas, en- listed her poetic talent which certainly was remarkable, to help the good cause of the war. The poem appeared in the "Post" of January II, 1862, and read thus:
ON TO THE SOUTHWARD
"Hail to the Norsemen! men of the morning! Hail to the ruddy-cheeked men of the snow! Thor hath awakened, he giveth his warning! Hail to the land where the evergreens grow!
"Where are the Norsemen, men of the morning? Show us the strong-sinewed men of the snow!
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Where is old Thor, as he hurleth his warning? Where is the land where the evergreens grow?
"Where, from Chesuncook, Penobscot down rushes, Where, from the mountains, the Merrimac flows, Where old Katahdin's grim forehead, in bushes, Meets the full flood of the warm sunset glows.
"Where the swift waves fill the rocky St. Lawrence, Where the Great Lakes forge their coppery chains, Where wild Missouri comes rushing in torrents Down on the borders of Iowa's plains.
"Where the loud waves push down from the mountains, Out to the mighty old Lea of the West, Where Minnehaha wreathes mist into fountains, Where Fremont's Peak lifts high his bare crest.
"Where the white snow lies deep on Itaska, Where, to the east, open wide the calm bays, Where the tall grass waves in lonely Nebraska, Where Pilgrims' Rock points out the past days.
"Where the grape ripens by singing Sciota, Where Sacramento her golden gate swings, Where the wind sweeps over frosty Dakota, Where the Ohio swells grand from his springs.
"From the East bays to the mighty Pacific, From Illinois to the lakes banked in snow; Gentlest in love, but in anger terrific ! That is the land where the evergreens grow!
"Men of the forest, plain, and of the river, Men of the mountain, the flood, and the field, Men, before whose ever earnest endeavor Forests, and mountains, and torrents must yield.
"These are the Norsemen! men of the morning ! These are the pure-hearted men of the snow!
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Hating all wrong with the bitterest scorning, Freemen are they where the evergreens grow!
"Hail to the Norsemen! the uncounted numbers ! Hearts framed of iron, and sinews of brass! Hail to the Liberty-tone that out-thunders! Hail to the Norsemen, as southward they pass!
"Press to the southward, and level the borders ! Nations aloft see the war that ye wage! Cure, from the North, for the mad world's disorders, Hail to the Norsemen, the first in the age!
"ADA H. THOMAS."
WASHINGTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE
CHAPTER XVIII
THE COUNTY TODAY
We will skip the years of development that followed the war period and now look at the county as it presents itself today. Nothing very important happened since anyway. In counties devoted overwhelm- ingly to agriculture life's stream flows on gently, without many eddies or freshets. The flute of Pan does not stir up passions.
The surface of the county is mostly level, or gently rolling-a part of the great Wisconsin plateau. Toward the west several ranges of hills run in a south-southwesterly direction like a kind of a backbone. They consist of gravel and sand, dumped during the glacial period, and with few exceptions rise only to a height of a few hundred feet. The soil is a sandy loam mixed with plenty of humus; it is very fertile and at the time of the settlements was cov- ered by the rich vegetation of the forest primeval. At places many boulders were imbedded in it, more than the settlers really liked, and which were hidden in the green splendor of the virgin soil. But that is a thing of the past.
The climate is a healthy, temperate one, about midway between that of the lake region and the inland. All products of temperate America are raised here. Of fruit, apples deserve special mention, the trees often producing rich harvests. Cattle raising and dairying are carried on extensively and profitably. The country is dotted with cheese factories and creameries. In the southwestern corner sheep raising is substituted with success.
One of the features of the county are its many springs, creeks and rivers as compared with the area of the land. This wealth of water was even greater in former years, which is evinced by the nu- merous tumble-down saw-mills on little streamlets which once must have been volumned watercourses. The decrease is attributed to the cutting down of the forests. But there are still plenty of springs left. In places the soil is literally honeycombed with them. Within a small radius in the town of West Bend several springs bubble up from the
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ground, the water of each one of different composition. At times the owners of such springs have with more or less success recom- mended their mineral waters to health-seekers. These springs point to extensive subterranean water veins and reservoirs which, to some extent at least, originated in the last glacial period, as geologists think. The springs feed numerous brooks which wind, placid and limpid and silvery, or turbulent and babbling, through meadows and fields, or they grow in their course and become rivers.
It would be no misnomer to call Washington county "The Land of the Five Rivers." And if anyone likes comparisons, he may liken it to that country in the northwestern part of India which bears that surname-the Punjab. Not only do five rivers flow through the county, but four of them spring from its soil. The rivers are the Rock, the Rubicon, the Oconomowoc, the Menomonee, and the Mil- waukee. The former three originate on the west side of the water- shed formed by the morainic ridges already mentioned, and the latter two on the east side.
The Rock river has its source in the town of Polk and flows through the towns of Addison and Wayne, taking up many creeks on the way. It then traverses the counties of Dodge, Jefferson and Rock, enters the state of Illinois and empties into the Mississippi below Rock Island. The banks of this river which takes its name from its rock-strewn bed are known for their pretty scenery.
The Rubicon river, named after that river of historic fame in upper Italy, which Caesar crossed when he declared war to his own country, is a confluent of the Rock river. Its sources are the out- let of Pike lake and a spring in the town of Polk. It flows through the town of Hartford in a western direction and in Dodge county unites with the Rock river.
The Oconomowoc river originates in the town of Polk, and runs in a southeastern direction through the towns of Richfield and Erin, widening in several places to little lakes. Soon after entering Wau- kesha county the river enters a beautiful chain of lakes named after it, which is lined with summer resorts and known all over the coun- try. Finally it too empties into the Rock river.
The springs of the Menomonee river are in the town of German- town. It flows through the northeastern corner of Waukesha county, through Milwaukee county, and unites with the Milwaukee river a short stretch above its mouth.
The Milwaukee river has its source in Fond du Lac county and enters the town of Kewaskum east of the watershed aforesaid, flowing
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through the town of, Barton, the city of West Bend which derives its name from the horse-shoe bend of the river with a radius of about a mile, continuing its course east and northeast through the town of Trenton, the northwest corner of the town of Saukville, northwest through the town of Farmington, thence turning with a decisive curve again toward east, running through the southwest quarter of the town of Fredonia, thence draining in a southern course the towns of Saukville, Grafton and Mequon, and emptying into Lake Michigan at Milwaukee. The river in its course through the county has so many windings that its length is almost sixty miles while it advances only twenty-four miles toward the south. It has many rapids, and for- merly was considered one of the prettiest rivers in the West. This opinion, to a large measure, holds good to this day. Many rivulets swell its brownish floods, the most important one being the Cedar creek, the outlet of the Cedar lakes, which joins after many meanders.
It may be mentioned as a curiosity that the springs of the Rock river and the Cedar creek are only a stone cast apart, but their water flows far apart, that of the former into the Gulf of Mexico, and that of the latter into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a distance of about two thousand miles.
The inhabitants, numbering 23,784, according to the census of 1910, are mostly (nine out of ten) engaged in agricultural pursuits, or in dairy farming, and the farmers as a rule live comfortably on their tracts of from forty to one hundred and more acres, and many have fat bank accounts, and automobiles, and sons who attend the Col- lege of Agriculture, and daughters who attend High School. For all of their farm products they find good markets.
Four-fifths of the population are Germans or their descendants. The good German stock is still very noticeable, even in the young generation. The old people were a strong, resolute army of colonists that left the fatherland to perform a work of cilivization that should be of lasting honor to them. The other fifth consists of Irishmen who among their hills in the southwestern part have withstood the Teutonic tide, and of Yankees who did not sell out and take to the backwoods. For decades the population remained almost stationary, a phenomenon which, however, cannot be linked with "race suicide," for the families are as a rule large. The county is all settled, land is high in price, and the farms are increasing in size, a fact which accounts for the decrease of the rural population. But that decrease is about made up by the increase of the urban population. Many young people turn to other parts of the Union where land is still Vol. I-9
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plentiful and cheap, or they flock to the big cities to find employment, which rejuvenate with the aid of these healthy and rugged farmer boys and girls. A vague estimate may place the number who have thus left their home at about fifty thousand. They have helped to populate other parts of the State and the Union.
The county also has furnished a number of men who attained high honors and distinction in public life, among them being state senators ; a secretary of state, Wm. H. Froehlich of Jackson; an attorney general, Leander F. Frisby; and a judge of the United States Court of Claims at Washington, D. C., S. S. Barney of West Bend, the "Grand Old Man" of Washington county.
Three railroads traverse the county, namely the North-Western, the St. Paul, and the Soo. An electric line is planned. An extensive telephone system spreads over cities and villages and farms. Most every farmer has a telephone in his home. Rural routes radiate from the postoffices, and every farmer gets his daily mail. He is no longer separated from the rest of the world. Churches of the different denominations and public schools are plentiful.
Like a checker-work the county is divided into thirteen townships which run their local affairs and are represented in the county board. They are: Germantown, Richfield, Erin, Hartford, Polk, Jackson, Trenton, West Bend, Addison, Wayne, Barton, Kewaskum and Farm- ington. The county is represented in the State Legislature by an assemblyman and a senator, and in Congress by a congressman and the two senators of Wisconsin.
The cities and villages in the county are (the number of inhabi- tants is according to the census of 1910) :
West Bend .- County seat and city of 2,462 inhabitants, situated prettily on a big bend of the Milwaukee river, 34 miles north of Milwaukee on the North-Western Line. The county buildings consist of the courthouse in the round arch Gothic style, the county jail, the insane asylum and the county home. Two fine public school build- ings, of which one is used for the high school, and two parochial schools, one Catholic and the other Lutheran, serve the purpose of edu- cation. Of prominent industries there are the factory of the Enger- Kress Pocket Book Co., one of the largest of its kind in the world; the farm machine works of the Gehl Bros. Manufacturing Co .; the wagon factory of Schmidt & Stork; the West Bend Woolen Mills; the large creamery and cheese factory of the Wallan Dairy Co .; an aluminum ware factory; and the brewery of the West Bend Brewing Co. Two banks, the Bank of West Bend and the First State Bank, tend to the
BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF HARTFORD, LOOKING EAST FROM THE WATER TOWER
UR CAR CO.
MOTOR CAR CO.
KISSEL KAR
WORKS OF THE KISSEL MOTOR CAR COMPANY, HARTFORD
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local money interests. The city has a pretty city hall of modern co- lonial style, in which are housed a fine public library and the fire de- partment. It has municipal water works and sanitary sewer, and an electric light and power plant. There are stores of various kinds, also hotels, etc. Five churches, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, and English and German Methodist, gather the respective worshippers in their folds. Three weekly papers are published, the "West Bend News" and the "West Bend Pilot" in English, and the "West Bend Beobachter" in German. A number of societies and lodges attend to the social and benevolent matters. On a large tract of land set apart the annual county fair is held.
Hartford .- A city of 2,982 inhabitants situated attractively on the banks of the Rubicon river, not far from the western county line, on the C. M. & St. P. Ry. It has municipal water works and sanitary sewers, and a public library. A private plant furnishes electric light. There are two graded schools and a high school, besides a Catholic and a Lutheran parochial school. The chief industry is the auto- mobile factory of the Kissel Motor Car Company with extensive shops ; there are also a glove factory; the knitting mills of the Para- mount Knitting Co .; a cannery; the tanneries of Uber Bros., Place & Wells, and E. W. Leach; and a brewery. Three banks, the Hartford Exchange Bank, the First National Bank, and the First City Bank, do business, besides the usual stores, hotels, etc. Four denominations, the Catholics, Congregationalists, Lutherans and the Evangelicals, have churches. Two English weeklies are published, "The Hartford Times" and the "The Hartford Press."
Schleisingerville .- An incorporated village of 538 inhabitants, sit- uated among the outer eastern hills of the morainic ridges, and on the Milwaukee and Soo lines. Good markets for the farmers of the surrounding country. The village has municipal water works, a bank- ing institution, the Schleisingerville State Bank, a brewery operated by the Storck Brewing Co., a brickyard, a malt. house, the gasoline engine works of the Standard Machinery Co., a public graded school with high school classes, and a Catholic, an Evangelical, and a Lutheran church. A German weekly, "Der Botschafter," is published by Gustav Meister.
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