Wisconsin: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form:, Part 14

Author: Peck, George W. (George Wilbur), 1840-1916, ed. cn
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Madison, Wis., Western Historical Association
Number of Pages: 824


USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form: > Part 14


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. Fort Edward Augustus, one of the names given to the fort at Green Bay.


Fort Howard, a fortifieation at the mouth of Fox river on


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Green bay, built in 1816 for the United States government by Col. John Miller, who arirved there Angust 7, 1816, with three or four companies of the 3rd United States Infantry. The purpose of the stockade was the protection of trade from Indian depredations. It was named in honor of Gen. Benj. Howard, then in command of the western army in the war of 1812. Quite a city was built up around the fort which has since become a part of Green Bay. This fortification was also known as Fort St. Francis.


Fort St. Francis .- See Fort Howard.


Fort Shelby .- Sce Prairie du Chien.


Fort Winnebago, a fortification formerly situated at the port- age of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers in Columbia county. It was built in 1829 to stop the depredations of the Indians who were levy- ing exorbitant toll on all goods transported between the two rivers. Jefferson Davis, later president of the Confederacy, was at one time the second in command at the fort. The city of Portage once proposed that the state purchase the site (315 acres) for $25,000 for a park, but nothing ever came of it.


Forty-Eighters .- This name was given to the Germans who came here in 1848 as political exiles or as friends of the exiles.


Fountain City, an incorporated city with a population of 1,008 on the C., B. & Q. Ry. and the Mississippi river in Buffalo county, 18 miles southeast of Alma, the county seat. There is a semi- weekly newspaper, the Buffalo County Republikaner und Alma Blaeter. The city was first settled in 1839.


Fourierism .- In 1843 a number of people in Kenosha under the leadership of Warren Chase organized a society for putting into practice the principles advocated by Charles Fourier, the French Socialist. They secured a tract of land in Fond du Lac county and settled upon it. The organization they called the Wisconsin Phalanx and their settlement they named Ceresco (after Ceres, the goddess of grain). For five years they maintained a reasonably successful communistic settlement .- See Socialism.


Foxboro, a country postoffice on the G. N. Ry. in Douglas county, 20 miles south of Superior, the county seat.


Fox Lake, an incorporated post village with a population of 908


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and a summer resort on the C., M. & St. P. Ry., at the outlet of Fox lake in Dodge county, 17 miles northwest of Juneau, the county seat. There is a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Repre- sentative.


Fox Lake is situated in Dodge county. Fox Lake village at the south end, is the nearest rail approach.


Fox River is a post station of 30 people on the Fox river and the C. & N. W. Ry. in Kenosha county, 20 miles west of Kenosha, the county seat.


Fox River .- This subject refers to the larger of the two streams of the same name in the state. It has its rise in Columbia county, flowing west to Portage, thence north into Marquette county, where it passes through Buffalo lake, and east into Lake Puckaway in Green Lake county. Zig-zagging across this county in a northwest- erly and then northeasterly direction, it just touches the southeast corner of Waushara county before getting into Winnebago county. Across this county it flows northeast and enters Big Butte Des Morts lake, adjoining Lake Winnebago, into which it then passes. It leaves Lake Winnebago, flowing north into Outa- gamie, across the southeast end of which it flows northeast into Brown county. Turning a little more to the north it empties into Green bay. This river became famous through the early explora- tions of the French, making with the Wisconsin river an almost un- broken water route from the great lakes to the Mississippi.


Fox River, one of two rivers in the state of the same name. This stream is the outlet of many of the Waukesha string of lakes and flows south through Waukesha county into and across Racine and Kenosha counties and across the state line into Illinois.


Fox and Wisconsin River Improvement Company .- As early as 1829 the subject of building a canal and improving the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to make navigable waters from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river was agitated. In 1839 congress made a sur- vey ; in 18-16 it made a grant of land. When the state was ad- mitted in 1848 the grant was accepted and a board of public works was appointed. Work was begun, contracts being let for different sections of it. Dredges were in operation on the Upper Fox river ;


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a canal with locks was constructed between the rivers at Portage. Then the work languished as the sales of the lands granted fell off. In 1851, Morgan L. Martin of Green Bay made a proposition to con- tinue the work, and accept the receipts for the sales of land as made, and take certificates of indebtedness for the balances due with interest at 12 per cent. When L. J. Farwell became governor he refused to issue certificates for the work. In 1853 Governor Farwell advised that, as the enterprise was in a hopeless state fi- nancially, it be incorporated as the Fox and Wisconsin River Im- provement Company. This was done. In 1854 congress made an additional land grant to aid the work. In 1856 the company had to reconstruct a portion of the work already done, but capital was scarce; and a little later eastern capitalists bought the enterprise and re-organized it as the Green Bay & Mississippi River Canal company. The next move was to sell out the entire enterprise, which had begun as a state venture, to the Federal government. In all 680,000 acres of land and two million dollars in money had been put into the enterprise with little to show for it except the few miles of canal at Portage and the improvements on the Lower Fox. The Federal government has latterly confined all its work to the Lower Fox river, and the trans-state waterway scheme has been abandoned.


Francis Creek, a discontinued postoffice in Manitowoc county.


Frank, a country postoffice in Washington county, 12 miles south- cast of West Bend, the county seat.


Frank, Michael .- Mr. Frank was the earliest advocate of a public school system in Wisconsin, and one of the noted educators of the state. He was born in New York state and came to Kenosha early in the territorial history of the state as a teacher. He framed many of the school laws of the state, and served as regent of the Univer- sity of Wisconsin from 1861 to 1867. His death occurred in Keno- sha.


Franklin, a post town of 175 people on the Sheboygan river in Sheboygan county, 11 miles northwest of Sheboygan, the county seat.


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CYCLOPEDIA OF WISCONSIN.


Franksville, å post town of 150 on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Racine county, ? miles northwest of Racine, the county seat.


Fraternities and Sororities, U. W .- There are altogether 30 Greek letter sororities and fraternities among the students of the Univer- sity of Wisconsin, 16 fraternities and 10 sororities and 4 department fraternities. The fraternities and the date of their foundation at Madison follow: Phi Delta Theta, 1857; Beta Theta Pi, 1823; Phi Kappa Psi, 1865; Chi Psi, 1878; Sigma Chi, 1881; Delta Upsilon, 1885; Delta Tau Delta, 1892; Phi Gamma Delta, 1893; Theta Delta Chi, 1895; Psi Upsilon, 1896 ; Kappa Sigma, 1898; Phi Kappa Sigma, 1901; Sigma Nu, 1902; Alpha Delta Phi, 1902; Sigma Alpha Ep- silon, 1903; and Rho Delta Phi, 1903. All these fraternities are chapters of national fraternities, with the exception of Rho Delta Phi, which is at present local but will within a year become a chap- ter of a national fraternity. The sororities and the dates of their foundation are as follows: Kappa Kappa Gamma, 1875; Delta Gamma, 1881; Gamma Phi Beta, 1884; Kappa .Alpha Theta, 1890; Pi Beta Phi, 1894; Alpha Phi, 1896; Delta Delta Delta, 1898; Chi Omega, 1902; Alpha Chi Omega ; 1903; Alpha Xi Delta, 1904. All of the sororities are chapters of national organizations. Other fraternities to which men of only certain departments of the in- stitution are eligible to, are Phi Delta Phi, 1891, and Phi Alpha Delta, 1904, both of the law school, Phi Alpha Tau, 1904, of the department of elocution and a fraternity in the agricultural school founded in Jan., 1906. All the department societies are members of national organizations. Fifteen of the whole number own their own homes or lots on which they will build within a year. About 650 of the 4,000 students belong to these societies, or one-fifth of the total number.


Frazer, a post office in Shawano county, 18 miles southeast of Shawano, the county seat.


Frederic, an incorporated village of 683 population on the M., St. P. & S. Ste. M. Ry. in Polk county, 18 miles north of Balsam Lake, the county seat. The village has a bank and a weekly news- paper, the Star.


Fredonia, a post village on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Ozaukee


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CYCLOPEDIA OF WISCONSIN.


county, 8 miles northwest of Port Washington, the county scat. Its population is 250.


Fredonia Station .- See Fredonia.


Freeman, a discontinued postoffice in Crawford county.


Freistadt, a post village of 200 population in Ozaukee county, 20 miles southwest of Port Washington, the county seat.


Fremont, an incorporated village on the Wolf river in Waupaca county, 16 miles southeast of Waupaca, the county seat. Its sta- tion on the W. C. Ry. is 31/2 miles distant. The population is 300.


French Rule, Wisconsin Under .- With the explorations of Jean Nicolet, sent out by Governor Champlain of New France in 1634, began the French rule over Wisconsin, lasting until the conquest of New France by the British in 1763. What legal control there was was applied through notaries in the chief settlements under direction of the governors in Quebec. During this period France had but three kings, Louis XIII, Louis XIV and Louis XV.


Frenchville, a post town of 40 inhabitants on Beaver creek in Trempealeau county, 18 miles south of Whitehall, the county seat. Freya, a discontinued postoffice in Burnett county.


Friendship, a post village of 350 people on the Little Roche-a- Cri creek in Adams county, of which it is the county scat. It has two weekly newspapers, the Adams County Press and the Adams County Reporter.


Fugitive Slave Act, Opposition to .- Opposition to this law cul- minated in Wisconsin in the freeing of Josima Glover, the runaway slave who was arrested near Racine by his former master and a U. S. marshal. Neither the marshal, nor the U. S. judge nor the sheriff would obey a writ of habeas corpus from a state court, and a crowd of abolitionists of Milwaukee with 100 from Racine, under the leadership of Sherman Booth (q. v.) broke open the jail and freed Glover. Booth was arrested by U. S. authorities, but was freed by the state supreme court on a writ of habeas corpus. Later he was indicted by the Federal grand jury and again the state su- preme court released him. See Nullification.


Fulton, a discontinued postoffice in Rock county.


Fund Income, Normal School .- See Normal Schools.


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CYCLOPEDIA OF WISCONSIN.


Fund, Normal School .- See Normal Schools.


Fur Company, American .- See Fur Trade in Wisconsin.


Fur Trade, Wisconsin .- The fur trade exercised an important in- fluence in the early history of Wisconsin. It paved the way for the development of the territory as an agricultural country. It promoted explorations which brought other resources of the country into notice, the Indians were developed into friendly traders, in short, it was a promoter of peace. John Jacob Astor was the foremost among the early furtraders. His American Fur company had depots at Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, the latter especially being an important one as it was neutral ground to the various Indian tribes. An act passed by congress in 1816 limiting the right to trade in furs to American citizens gave the business in Wisconsin and all the western territory a marked impetus. The American Fur company headquarters were at Mackinac, whence supplies were sent out as far as the head waters of the Mississippi. This company had a practical monopoly of the business and had many trading points in Wisconsin. Famous among the company's factors and agents in the Wisconsin territory were John Lawe and Augustin Grignon of the Green Bay region, and Ramsey Crooks, who headed Astor's famous Astoria expedition, and passed through Wisconsin on his way to the Oregon territory. For many years the trade in Wisconsin amounted to upwards of $75,000 a year. Many of the leading cities of the state, among them Milwaukee, La Crosse, Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, Kaukauna, Oshkosh, Ke- wannee and Portage were originally trading posts.


Gad, a country postoffice in Taylor county, 81/2 miles east of Med- ford, the county seat.


Gagen, a post village of 150 people on the C. & N. W. Ry. and the M., St. P. & S. Ste. M. Ry. in Oneida county, 14 miles from Rhinelander, the county seat.


Galesville, an incorporated village on the C. & N. W. Ry. in Trempealeau county, 25 miles south of Whitehall, the county seat. It was settled in 1857. Its present population of 876, sup- ports a bank and two weeklies, the Republican and the Independent. Galloway, a postoffice of 38 people on the C. & N. W. Ry. in


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Marathon county, 30 miles southeast of Wausan, the county seat. Gardner, a discontinued postoffice in Door county.


Garfield, a country postoffice in Portage county, 18 miles north- cast of Stevens Point, the county seat.


Garnet, a country postoffice in Fond du Lac county, 15 miles northeast of Fond du Lac, the county scat.


Gaslyn, a country postoffice in Burnett county, 40 miles north- east of Grantsburg, the county seat.


Gates County .- See Rusk County.


Gays Mills, a post village with a population of 350 people, on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Crawford county, 31 miles northeast of Prairie du Chien, the county seat.


Genesee, a post town of 150 people in Waukesha county, 8 miles southwest of Waukesha, the county seat.


Genesee Depot, a post town of 100 people on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Waukesha county, 8 miles southwest of Waukesha, the county seat. Is the railroad station for Genesee.


Geneva Lake, in Walworth county. Lake Geneva city is on the north shore. It is a favorite summer resort of Chicago people.


Genoa, a post village on the Mississippi river and the C., B. & Q. Ry. in Vernon county, 20 miles west of Viroqua, the county seat. It was formerly known as Bad Axe City.


Genoa Junction, an incorporated post village of 710 people on the C. & N. W. Ry. in Walworth county, 20 miles southeast of Elkhorn, the county seat. It has a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Times.


Geological and Natural History Survey .- The legislature of 1897 created this survey for the purpose of (1) completing a geological survey of the state with reference to the occurrence of iron, build- ing stone and other valuable mineral products; and also with refer- ence to the value of stone in road construction; (2) to study the soils of the state; (3) to study plant life, especially of forests with reference to their cultivation and preservation; (4) to study the animal life of the state; (5) to prepare a physical geography and natural history of the state; (6) the completion of the topographi- cal map of the state begun by the U. S. survey. The survey is 12


CYCLOPEDIA OF WISCONSIN.


under the direction of a board consisting of the governor, the state superintendent of public instruction, the president of the University of Wisconsin, the president of the fish commission, and the presi- dent of the academy of arts and sciences.


Geological Survey, Early .- The legislature of 1853 authorized the governor to appoint a state geologist to examine the ores, rocks and clays of the state, but first of all the lead region. The law of 1857 authorized the appointment of a commission of three members to make a geological, mineral and agricultural survey of the state to collect specimens and place them in the University of Wisconsin museum, and report on the soils, plants, etc.


Georgetown, a post village in Grant county, with a population of 200. It is 24 miles southeast of Lancaster, the county seat.


Germania, a post village of 200 people on the Mechan river in Marquette county, 9 miles northeast of Montello, the county seat.


Germantown, a country postoffice in Juneau county, 12 miles northeast of Mauston, the county seat.


Gerrymanders .- The democratic legislature of the state made a new legislative apportionment of the state in 1801. It was at- tacked on the grounds that in breaking county lines to make assem- bly districts it had violated the constitutional requirement. The supreme court decided that the apportionment was unconstitu- tional. A special session of the legislature was called in July, 1892, and another apportionment measure was passed. This also was attacked though the attorney general in this case refused to bring suit as he had in the former one. The supreme court granted per- mission to bring action withont leave of the attorney general and when the case came before them declared the second gerrymander also unconstitutional, on the ground that in making the senatorial districts uniformity of population was glaringly disregarded.


Gibbsville, a post town of 160 people on the Onion river in She- boygan county, 9 miles southwest of Sheboygan, the county seat.


Gibson, a discontinued postoffice in Dodge county, 12 miles south- west of Juneau, the county seat.


Gile, a post village of 500 on the C. & N. W. and the W. C. Rys.


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m Iron county, 21/2 miles west of Hurley, the county seat. The west branch of the Montreal river runs through village.


Gillespie, Ezekial, an ex-slave, who in 1865 was refused permis- sion to vote in Milwaukee, took the matter into the courts and dis- covered that negroes had actually possessed that right since 1849 .- See Negro Franchise in Wisconsin.


Gillett, an incorporated post village of Oconto county, 24 miles west of Oconto, the county seat. It is a station on the C. & N. W. Ry., has a population of 514, a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Times.


Gillingham, a post town of 100 on Fancy creek in Richland county, 8 miles north of Richland Center, the county seat.


Gillsrock, a discontinued postoffice in Door county.


Gilmanton, a post village of 275 people on Elk creek, Buffalo county, 30 miles northeast of Alma, the county seat.


Gleason, a post station of 100 people on the M. T. & W. Ry. in Lincoln county, 16 miles from Merrill, the county seat.


Glen, a country postoffice in Adams county, 23 miles south of Friendship, the county seat.


Glenbeulah, a post village on the C. & N. W. Ry. and the Mul- lett river in Sheboygan county, 21 miles northwest of Sheboygan, the county seat. Its population is 450.


Glendale, a post town of 125 people on the C. & N. W. Ry. in Monroe county, 28 miles southeast of Sparta, the county seat.


Glen Flora, a post village on the M., St. P. & S. Ste. M. Ry. and Deer Tail creek in Rusk county, 11 miles east of Ladysmith, the county seat. Its population is 500.


Glen Haven, a post village of 200 population on the C., B. & Q. Ry. and the Mississippi river in Grant county, 22 miles west of Lancaster, the county seat.


Glenton, a discontinued postoffice in Polk county.


Glenwood, an incorporated village of St. Croix county, on Tif- fany creek and the W. C. Ry. It was settled in 1883 and now has a population of 905. It is 40 miles northeast of Hudson, the county seat. It supports a bank and also a weekly newspaper, the Tri- bune.


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CYCLOPEDIA OF WISCONSIN.


Glidden, a post village of 800 people on the W. C. Ry. and the Chippewa river in Ashland county, 43 miles southeast of Ashland, the county seat. The people support two banks and two weekly newspapers, the Glidden Enterprise and the Ashland County Her- ald.


Globe, a country postoffice of Clark county, 9 miles northwest of Neillsville, the county seat.


Glover, Joshua, a runaway slave who sought refuge in Wisconsin in 1854 and whose arrest and attempted restoration to his owners, called out radical views on state sovereignty by the people of the state, the legislature and the supreme court .- See Fugitive Slave Act; also Nullification.


Goff, a discontinued postoffice in La Fayette county.


Gogebic Boom, The .- The discovery of high grade Bessemer ore in paying quantities on the Montreal or Gogebic range in 1885 led to the greatest speculative mining craze that ever swept Wisconsin. The boom reached its height late in 1886, and collapsed in 1888. During its existence fortunes were made and lost. Shares in mere holes in the ground which were given names were sold at impro- vised stock exchanges in Ashland, Milwaukee and Chicago. A number of really valuable properties were opened, shares in which sold at valuable prices, and became the hope and promise of all the others. Never before in the history of the state were so many people of all classes carried away by the speculative mania. Dur- ing the period of the "boom" much more money was put into stocks than was taken out in the succeeding ten years; nevertheless the range has developed and is now one of the great ore producing dis- tricts of the world. (See Iron Ore Production.)


Goll, a country postoffice on the W. & M. Ry. in Marinette county, 18 miles north of Marinette, the county seat.


Goodell, Lavinia, became prominent as the first woman in the state to apply for admission to the bar. The supreme court refused her admission in 1876, but in the following year the legislature passed a law admitting women to practice.


Goodrich, a country postoffice in Taylor county, 161/2 miles east of Medford, the county seat.


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CYCLOPEDIA OF WISCONSIN.


Good Roads, League for .- This league was organized at Mil- waukee in 1895 having for its purpose the improvement of wagon roads throughout the state. It favors the construction of roads by the state, or by the state in co-operation with towns.


Good Templars .- This order was first introduced in Wisconsin in 1855, a lodge being organized in Sheboygan Falls that year. At one time the order had 500 lodges and over 20,000 members in the state. Relatively it has declined in strength of late years.


Gordon, a post village of 450 people on the C., St. P., M. & O. Ry. in Douglas county, 38 miles southeast of Superior, the county seat.


Gotham, a post town of 230 people on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Richiand county, 10 miles southeast of Richland Center, the county seat. It was formerly called Richland City.


Gouda, a country postoffice on the M. T. & W. Ry. in Lincoln county, 27 miles northeast of Merrill, the county seat.


Governor, The .- Sce State Executive: also Constitution.


Governor, The Lieutenant .- The constitution provides that the lieutenant governor shall be elected at the same time the governor is and for the same term. In case of the impeachment of the gov- ernor, or his removal from office, death, inability from mental or physical disease, resignation, or absence from the state, the powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the lieutenant governor. The lieutenant governor shall be president of the senate, but shall have only a casting vote therein. The salary of the lieutenant gov- ernor is $1,000 ; while acting governor he is paid $5 per day in ad- dition to this.


Governor's Guard, The .- This name. is borne by the Madison company of the W. N. G. (q. v.)


Governors, Wisconsin .- Wisconsin has had in all 24 governors, four in territorial times and twenty since the admission of the state to the union. The governors and the terms they served are as fol- lows: Territorial, Gen. Henry Dodge, dem., 1836-40; James Duane Doty, whig, 1840-44; N. P. Tallmadge, whig, 1844-45 (8 months) ; and Gen. Henry Dodge, 1845-48. The governors of the state as such are: Nelson Dewey, dem., 1818-1852; Leonard J. Farwell, whig, 1852-54; Wm. Augustus Barstow, dem., 1854-56;


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Coles Bashford, rep., 1836-58; Alexander Randall, rep., 1838-1862 ; Louis Powell Harvey, rep., 1862 (3 months) ; Edward Salomon, rep., 1862-64; Jas. T. Lewis, rep., 1864-66; Lucius Fairchild, rep., 1866-72 ; C. C. Washburne, rep., 1872-74; W. R. Taylor, dem., 1874- 76; Harrison Ludington, rep., 1876-78; W. E. Smith, rep., 1828- 82; Jeremiah Rusk, rep., 1882-89; W. D. Hoard, Rep., 1889-91; Geo. W. Peck, dem., 1891-95; W. H. Upham, rep., 1895-97; Edward Scofield, rep., 1897-1901; Robt. M. La Follette, rep., 1901-06; James O. Davidson, rep., 1906- .


Grace, Days of .- Prior to 1895 on all notes, drafts, acceptances, bills of exchange and bonds, or other indebtedness in which the maker or accepter promised to pay to any person or corporation, on order, or to bearer, three days of grace after due were given for payment. The legislature of 1895 abolished the days of grace.


Graceport, a discontinued postoffice in Door county.


Grafton, an incorporated post village of 520 people on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. and the Milwaukee river in Ozaukee county, 8 miles southwest of Port Washington, the county seat.




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