USA > Wisconsin > Washington County > Washington County, Wisconsin : past and present > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
37
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
$10 were appropriated to the poor fund, and $75 for general expenses. The latter sum seemed to some of them too weighty a burden for the young community, but after a long squabble in which the epithets "extravagant" and "stingy" were liberally exchanged, it was carried by a vote of six to five. Until 1850 the town was mostly settled by Yankees and Irishmen. Then the German pioneers came in larger numbers, and they kept on a-coming and buying land of the first settlers, or taking up the rest of the homestead land, until the town- ship was almost entirely peopled by Germans.
Town West Bend .- The original town of West Bend, as divided off by the Legislature on January 20, 1846, included the areas of the towns of Barton, Trenton, Farmington and Kewaskum which have since gone in the administrative business for themselves. The area was trimmed several times until it was reduced to its present size. As the first settlers of the town M. A. T. Farmer and Isaac Verbeck are set down. Both hailed from Pennsylvania and were related to each other. In the spring of 1845, they with their wives, children, and two thousand pounds of baggage arrived in Wau- kesha county, not far from the border line of Washington county, where two brothers of Verbeck had already settled. From there the restless Isaac undertook a cruise into Washington county. Like Columbus he did not trust his good luck altogether, for he had heard of beautiful lakes and land farther east. On the way he spent a night in a wigwam among hundred fifty odd Indians. Here he be- came a witness of the Indian's sense of justice. A German had shot a deer which had been hunted by some Indians. One of them was greatly nettled at the German's claim of the booty. He retired to the woods and fired at the German without hitting him, whereupon the latter answered the shot and killed his adversary. The other Indians who carried the body away entirely sanctioned the action of the German, saying that "John" who was known as a "bad Indian" had received what he deserved. When on the following morning Isaac from the wigwam overlooked the prairie, the chief stepped to his side and said: "White man, walk on!" And he walked on and came into the vicinity south of West Bend. He liked the country so well that he took up land and settled on it with his brothers and his brother-in-law Farmer. They put up the first shacks in the town. Besides these settlers the following arrived in the years 1845-46: The Alsacian Moses Weil and his family, the innkeeper G. N. Irish, the Rusco brothers, Jehiel H. Baker, Walter Demmon, the Young brothers with their families, Daniel Freer, Edward Helm, Elder
38
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
Babcock, James L. Bailey, the blacksmith Sinn, and others. Like other places, the city of West Bend is indebted to the Milwaukee river for its existence. The swiftly running water offered a strong inducement for a sawmill and a gristmill. Byron Kilbourn of Mil- waukee on an exploration trip through the county noticed the excel- lent waterpower, and he and two other Milwaukeeans (James Knee- land and Dr. E. B. Wolcott) bought land along the river bank. This was in the fall of 1845. In the following year a dam and a saw- mill were built, and in 1848 the clang of a gristmill joined the intermittent buzz of the band saw. They turned out lumber for houses and flour for bread, the two most necessary staples of the pioneers, and so the work of building up the future county seat could begin. The voters held their first town meeting on April 7, 1846, in the house of Isaac Verbeck. The minutes of that meeting have been lost. But a few recollections of it have come upon us: That the meeting didn't know exactly how to constitute themselves; that finally somebody swore in somebody else as clerk, and he in turn swore in the election officers; that Barton Salisbury was chosen chair- man, Verbeck secretary, and Farmer treasurer. There is a difference of opinion as to whether a coffee pot or an old tallow candle box was used to collect the ballots. Between thirty and forty votes were cast.
BANK
FIRST STATE BANK
FIRST STATE BANK OF WEST BEND
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE CITY OF WEST BEND
ESCER KRESS PIONET BOOR
ENGER KRESS POCKET BOOK COMPANY, WEST BEND
CHAPTER VII
FOUNDERS OF "BURGS"
Barton .- The original name of Barton was Salisbury's Mills, which, after the retreat of the numerous Yankee population, was translated by the incoming Germans with "Salzburg." The founder of the village was Barton Salisbury. On a surveying trip in the fall of 1845 he discovered the strong current of the Milwaukee river at the place. It looked to him like an invitation to build a mill on the bank. The surroundings, too, seemed to be predestined by Nature for the site of a village. He at once got busy and started to build a log hut. Some settlers who had located a little way south came up to help him. They found him and two other men cutting down trees which two oxen dragged to the lot. During the fall and winter several other pioneers arrived, among them Charles and Foster Buck, James Frazer, John Douglas, Martin Foster, Rev. Bela Wilcox, W. P. Barnes and the Danford family. Mrs. Danford was the first white woman who put her foot on the ground of the village. Ere the spring of 1846 blew into the land, Salisbury had his sawmill humming. In 1847 the big flouring mill of Edward and William Caldwell was finished. Thus the seed was planted out of which the village did grow-to use a trope. The last named brothers, in 1846, fitted up the first general store. Their stock, the "fall line of goods," they brought from Milwaukee on an ox cart. On their way home they in West Bend met Moses Weil who was just putting up the first store building of that place. Barton had become a "business center" ahead of the future county seat. The first school teacher was Rev. Wilcox. He did not have to pass a teacher's examination. School commissioner Young simply asked him to write out his certificate himself, which the school board signed. The reverend schoolmaster was also the first postmaster. The official name of the postoffice was "Salisbury Mills Post Office." The mail was carried from and to Cedar creek, the nearest railroad station at that time, by Wm. Ellis "in a pouch made of W. P. Barnes' vest pocket." For that reason
39
40
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
it was called the "Vest-Pocket Mail." The first sermon was held by a Rev. Traine in the schoolhouse which was a board shack originally built by Salisbury for his own use. The first congregation, of the Presbyterian creed, was organized by Rev. Elliot of Milwaukee. For want of a better edifice he sometimes had to preach in the-sawmill. In 1853 the congregation built a church. The first saloon was opened by Martin Foster. On Christmas day, 1857, Father Rehrl held the first Catholic service. September 30 previous, Bishop Henni of Milwaukee had laid the corner stone for the first Catholic church. Father Rehrl also founded a convent of the Sisters of St. Agnes. The convent since has been discontinued, and the low building with its boulder walls and Gothic windows is now used partly as a dwelling and partly as a stable. In 1855, ten years after the founding, Barton had 1,095 inhabitants. It had considerably more than West Bend at that time. As the years went by the tide turned.
Boltonville .- This village was founded in 1854 on the Stony creek in the town of Farmington. In its baptism it received the surname of Harlow Bolton, a settler. The first house, a store, was built by Horace Smith. Following him, E. A. Duncan erected a saw- mill on a tributary of the Stony creek. He made improvements on it as necessity demanded and his means allowed him. Next came a gristmill which Bolton & Schuler built on the bank of the Stony creek, and which also in course of time was enlarged and improved. In 1858 Bolton put up a store building. By and by other tradesmen, blacksmiths, wagon makers, cobblers, harness makers, etc., arrived and fitted up their stands. A school saw to the education of the children, and a church-"for man does not live of bread alone"-catered to the spiritual wants.
Hartford .- The founders of the city of Hartford were the Ross- man brothers, James, George and Charles, and Nic Simon. As has been said in the chapter on "The Vanguard of the Pioneers," they were induced by Simon, a German settler, to come over from Prairie- ville, now Waukesha. James and George arrived in the summer of 1844, immediately bought forty acres about the rapids of the Rubicon river, built a dam in the fall of that year, and had a sawmill running early in 1845. In 1846 Charles joined his brothers and built a grist mill which had three runs of stones and did a fine business. Simon felled the first tree and built the first log house in the village. In April, 1846, Hiram H. Wheelock arrived from Oconomowoc and put up the first general store. It was 12x18 feet in size. The year fol- lowing, Reuben S. Kneeland came and formed a partnership with
41
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
Wheelock, whereupon the firm built larger quarters, this time 20x40 feet in size. They also started an ashery which proved very profitable. The settlement soon became the central trading point for the country a score of miles around. Other early settlers who came before the incorporation of the village in 1846, were Joel F. Wilson, John Rumrill, Christopher Truax, Ralph Freeman, Isaac Maxfield, Ches- ter Ewers, Warren Sargent, John D. Morey, Henry Washburn, John G. Chapman, E. O. Johnson, Calvin S. Wilson, Francis Willmuth, C. Smith and genial and generous John Barney. A vivid picture of what Hartford looked like in its first years is presented in the follow- ing extract from a letter of Mr. Bissel, an old settler, published in the "Washington County Republican" of March 16, 1881 :
"I first saw the village of Hartford in the spring of 1845, coming in by the south road. After a walk of twenty-five miles, just at sundown, we came out into a broad chopping of some two or three acres, extending along the west side of the present Main street, from the corner mentioned, to the river. Just north of the present brick hotel and nearly opposite Wheelock, Denison & Co.'s store, stood one log house, occupied by E. O. Johnson who gladly fed and piloted land-lookers, for a consideration. After a few months, he put on more style, built a small addition, got a bottle of whisky, painted "Noster House" on a small board with iron ore, nailed it to a tree in front of the house, and thus commenced the hotel business in Hart- ford. He used to inform those of us not so well educated that he had studied Latin, and that 'noster' meant 'our.' At the time just spoken of, the frame of the sawmill was up; not a stroke had been done toward putting the machinery in place, or on the dam. There was a small house by the river, nearly opposite the parsonage, where the man who had put up the frame of the sawmill had stayed, but no family had occupied it. On the lot way out in the woods, now owned by J. C. Dennison, Ralph Freeman had put up the body of a house, but no one had yet lived in it.
"In the southwest part of the town were the families of Julius Shepherd, John Rumrill and John Graham, both of the latter families living in one house, and Henry Winters and Thompson Harper in another. These families came in the fall of 1844, by way of Mil- waukee and Neosho road, leaving that road at or near Cherry Hill.
"Going east from the mill, the first house was John Brasier's on the bank of the lake. He could have been there but a short time, and made or bought little furniture, for, in coming from Milwaukee, and getting belated, I stopped with them over night, they taking down
42
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
the outer and only door for a supper-table. On the east side of the lake was Fred Hecker, an old bach, living in an Indian bark wigwam, and just south of him were two sailors, also old baches, but they stayed but a short time. About one mile further east was the family of John Mowry, and a little north of him his brother-in-law, Churchill, on the farm so long, and perhaps yet, owned by Chris- topher Smith. North of him and well toward the north side of the town, were the families of Deacon Chapman, Chris Truax and Cor- nelius Gilson. I am not sure whether Chester Ewer, Isaac Maxfield and the Pulfords were here then or not, if not, they came very soon afterward. Nicholas Simon had selected his farm but had not com- menced work on it. These families embraced all, or nearly all, here at that time. In the northwest quarter of the town, not a settler had yet located. Wagons had come in as far as the mill, or Ross- man's mill, as it was called, but no wagon had crossed the river. I drove the first wagon across, turning down the hill nearly where the Mill House stood so long, and perhaps does yet, and crossing about half way down between the gristmill and the foot of the tail-race. This was not a good crossing, and another was opened just below the sawmill, which was used until the first bridge was built by Almon Washburn, for $25. The first road was the old Milwaukee and Fond du Lac road which crossed the northeast corner of the town. The next was the Territorial road from Grafton, Ozaukee county, to Hustis Rapids, now Hustisford, in Dodge county, both being large and important points, in future prospects, being the present road through the village east and west."
Jackson .- In 1848 Franz Reis, a young German of twenty-seven summers, acquired a preëmption on an area of land on which subse- quently the village of Jackson arose. The year before, he had immi- grated from Germany, and was almost penniless. Bodily vigor, coupled with courage and determination, were his capital. When he had saved up a little money, he bought forty acres of land. To this he added one stretch after another, as his means would allow, until at last he owned four hundred acres of the finest soil in that vicinity. His domain he worked in the best way and with the best means of the pioneers. When the "air-line" railroad was built from Mil- waukee to Fond du Lac, Franz Reis was not slow in offering to the company free of charge a right of way and a plot of ground for a depot, for he was aware of the advantage he would reap from a railroad that would pass through his farm and would stop right at his door. Not only would he be benefited by it, but likewise the entire
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, HARTFORD
MAIN STREET, LOOKING NORTH, HARTFORD
43
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
neighborhood. The offer was accepted, the rails were laid across his land, and a depot was built. Thus he became the founder of Jack- son which was formerly called Riceville after his Englished surname, so that Americans could pronounce it correctly. On his farm the village was built. In 1873 he erected a large general store and saloon, and also an elevator, and around this nucleus the village grew. The founder had six children, of which the three sons followed the footprints of their father. He died in 1878.
Kewaskum .- The first pioneer who built a log house on the bank of the Milwaukee river, on the site of the present-day village of Kewaskum, was J. H. Myers. It happened in 1852. In the same year F. W. Buchtel fitted up the first smithy, and in the fall, Myers constructed a primitive sawmill on the river bank, where the rapids promised a fine water power. In 1854 the latter also began the erec- tion of a flouring mill which was completed in 1856. The first frame house was raised by Henry P. Eames; it was a structure of a story and a half, and stood close to the river, south of Main street-to-be. The next settler, William Pickel, lived one-half mile away. William Spicer kept the first store. In the spring of 1854 the Dutch Re- formed organized the first congregation. They started out with four members, and their pastor was Rev. M. Davenport. In 1855 a Sun- day school was added. The Catholics built a church in 1862, the Methodists in 1866, and the Lutherans in 1868. A lodge, Kewaskum Lodge, No. 101, I. O. O. F., was organized Feb. 4, 1860. Their meetings the members held at first in English, later substituting Ger- man. After a while, the lodge disjoined, and since the restoration on Feb. 2, 1876, the English tongue is again used in the meetings, although many of the members are of German descent. June 2, 1878, the Kewaskum Turnverein was organized. The society flourished for years, but went out of existence long ago. With the advent of the railway to Fond du Lac, the village developed a vigorous growth. In its name, the name of the noble Indian chief Kewaskum is per- petuated. His grave near the village is pointed out to this day, and attempts are made to have it preserved.
Mayfield .- A native of the German part of Switzerland, Andreas Reiderer, was the founder of this little village. He named it after his birthplace Maienfelden, translated into English. In 1851 he was joined by another pioneer, George F. Fleischmann, and in the spring of 1852 the two men platted the village, laid out the main street and the side streets, and named them. On his land, on the bank of the Cedar creek, Reiderer built a sawmill. The baby village had a struggle to hold its own and to keep the plow away from its empty
44
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
blocks, and up to now it is but a quiet hamlet. When Joseph Katz and his partner, Jacob Pfeil, opened up a general store, the name Katzbach came up, and because many of the inhabitants, and also many outsiders, took a fancy to it, the original name which was cer- tainly much more poetic, was almost done away with, to the chagrin of the bland Swiss founder who, together with both of the store- keepers, John Metz the shoemaker, and a blacksmith whose name is no longer known, for many years entertained hopes for a radiant future of the place. In 1859 Mayfield was made a postoffice, and the first postmaster was John Toedly. Once a week the mail was brought over from Cedar Creek. But when Jackson, situated one mile east, got to be a railroad station, trade mostly drifted thither. The out-of- the-way hamlet withered, and its streets, planned for a flourishing community, are well-nigh empty and deserted.
Newburg .- The founder of Newburg was Barton Salisbury, an Anglo-Saxon who in the first act of our civic drama played the most conspicuous part, and the most tragic too. When he had founded the village of Barton, farther up the Milwaukee river, he in the winter of 1847-48 sent one of his workingmen by the name of Watson to a place where now the village of Newburg complaisantly spreads, to build a log house. On his exploring trip up-stream he had noticed the swift current of the river at that particular place, and he intended to make use of the water power. In the spring of 1848 he came to the place himself, built a dam, a sawmill, and a gristmill. He then erected an ashery, or an establishment for the manufacture of pearlash out of potash. The latter the settlers extracted from the immense ash piles on their clearings, for the brush and useless wood was burned up to get it out of the way. The potash thus gained was a by-product which the needy pioneer gladly turned into ready cash at the ashery. These were the beginnings of Newburg. The founder was assisted by two nephews who shared their uncle's vim and push. They built some of the first houses, among them the first hotel, the Webster House. At the construction of the latter, Barton Salisbury lost his life. He was working on the roof, when one of the rafters broke and he fell down into the basement. He was mortally injured and died soon afterwards. Fate reached him at the early age of 36 years. After having founded other places, he intended to settle here permanently and make Newburg the most important place in the county. Prematurely his life's thread was cut off, and the vision of a singularly energetic and enterprising spirit did not materialize.
45
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
Richfield .- With the founding of this village the name of Philipp Laubenheimer is inseparably associated. His bearer was born in Hesse-Darmstadt on March 23, 1803. In 1842 he was seized by the great migratory wave which swept the northwestern and middle parts of Europe and which finally landed him in the wilderness on the site of the future village of Richfield. He was accompanied by his wife and seven children. For the first two weeks the family camped be- neath a spreading tree, until the log house was finished. Soon after- wards his wife and child died. They were the first white people buried in the village. The old Fond du Lac Road ran through his land, and Laubenheimer conceived the idea that a tavern might be made to pay. He accordingly opened one up, and after a while put in a supply of needles, coffee and sugar, thus making a start in the store business. When room was lacking he built an addition to his log house. He had to do that several times. His house came to be the meeting place of the German settlers of the vicinity. Lauben- heimer was the first German who kept an inn and a store in Wash- ington county. He created the commercial center of the surrounding country, and when in 1855 the La Crosse Railroad was built and led right through his land, the stability of his business was as- sured. He offered a plot to the railroad company on which they could build a depot, and this was another good move of his. The gift was accepted. Later he erected a large store building of boulders and brick. His second wife was Mrs. Annie M. Arnet of German- town, who bore him five children. He died in 1878. Laubenheimer was a close friend of Solomon Juneau, one of the founders of Mil- waukee. The two men often met. Juneau enjoyed great esteem among the Indians and was very influential with them. This relation the redskins who were still numerous in the settlement conferred on his friend Laubenheimer.
Schleisingerville .- The Romulus of the "City of the Seven Hills," Schleisingerville,-but without the stigma of manslaughter which adheres to that historic name,-was B. Schleisinger Weil, a German- Alsacian and a member of the Semitic family of nations. In Decem- ber, 1845, he bought much Government land in the town of Polk, on 527 acres of which he platted the village of Schleisingerville. A merchant dyed in the wool, he first built a store and a dwelling. His assortment of merchandise comprised everything the settlers could make use of. And these in return fetched him everything their land would produce. This way the place very early became the most im- portant mart for many miles around. Blacksmiths, shoemakers,
46
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
wagonmakers, and other artisans settled here. A hotel was built to accommodate the traveling public. Then two tanners, George Ippel and Thomas Jenner, arrived and started a tannery. Weil later on built a distillery. It is also due to his untiring efforts that the La Crosse Railroad, now the St. Paul, was run through the place. When in 1855 the track had reached Schleisingerville, he invited a large number of prominent Milwaukeeans to a sumptuous feast, the ex- penses of which he paid out of his own pocket. Among his guests were Stoddard Judd, president of the railroad, Judge Larrabee, Mayor James B. Cross, Moritz Schoeffler, and Harrison Ludington. When the train pulled in, an artillery salute was fired off. The carousal in the upper story of the hotel, which followed, was a favorite topic of the town gossip for many years afterwards. The Milwaukeeans fairly gulped Weil's hospitality. They missed the return train. Late in the evening a special train arrived, on which their host packed them with difficulty, and which carried the merry crowd back to the Cream City. Until 1860 Weil remained in the place which he had founded and which bears part of his name. He then moved to the shore of Big Cedar lake, a few miles away, where he owned a fine home, later moving to West Bend, and finally to Milwaukee. Soon after Schleisingerville had become a railroad station, Lehman Rosen- heimer, another merchant, arrived on the scene of business activities in the infant village. He in 1856 built a large store, and besides did much cattle and grain buying. Five of his six sons followed the footprints of their father. The advent of the house of Rosenheimer ınarked another era of advancement for Schleisingerville. Among the early business men of the place the name of John Pick, Sr., also stands out prominently. The first church was erected by the Cath- olics in 1862. In 1863 the Lutherans reared their place of worship and after it had burned down in 1866 they and the Methodists had a church in common until the former built a new one in 1872. The village was incorporated in 1869. In 1868 the Odd Fellows organ- ized a lodge, and in 1877 a Turnverein stepped into existence, but went out of it again, long ago.
West Bend .- The attractive site of West Bend with its frame of green hills and the audaciously swung bend of the Milwaukee river in the valley, could well point to an idealist as the founder of the city. But probably very few cities have been founded by such peo- ple. Here, too, the prime motive was a very material one : the strong current of the river which warranted an excellent water power for mills. In the summer of 1845 E. N. Higgins secured a preemption on
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.