Wisconsin: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form:, Part 2

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 2


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).


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Anti-Pinkerton Law .- The legislature of 1893 passed what is known as the Anti-Pinkerton law prohibiting "the use or employ- ment of bodies of men to act as militia men, policemen or peace officers who are not duly authorized to act in such capacity by the laws of this state." It further provided that "no person, firm or corporation shall hereafter use or employ any such body of armed men to act in the capacity aforesaid for the protection of person or property or for the suppression of strikes within the state,


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whether such armed men be employes of detective agencies (so- called) or not." The labor element demanded this law because during strikes certain manufacturers had employed men from Chicago detective agencies.


Anti-Prohibition Society was organized in 1885 in Milwaukee for the purpose of working against the movement to establish local option and the efforts to cultivate a sentiment favoring the pro- hibition of the liquor traffic.


Anti-Treating Law .- The legislature of 1881 enacted what is known as the Anti-treating Law, which made it a misdemeanor to purchase or secure by any device whatever liquor for another person to be drunk on the premises. The law was repealed the fol- lowing year.


Anti-Trust Law .- The legislature of 1893 passed a law entitled "An act to protect trade and commerce" as against unlawful trusts and monopolies. This law is known as the first anti-trust law of the state.


Apex, a postoffice in Iowa county, 18 miles northwest of Dodge- ville, the county seat.


Apiaries .- A law passed by the legislature of 1897 created the office of inspector of apiaries, whose first dut: was to suppress foul brood in bees, and later to more generally promote the culture of bees and honey in Wisconsin. A later legislature (1905) in- creased the pay of the inspector.


Apostle Islands, a group of 24 islands in Lake Superior, under the jurisdiction of Wisconsin. Madeline (q. v.) is the largest, being 12 miles long and from one to three wide. Gull island, the small- est, is but 15 feet in diameter. The islands are from 40 to 160 feet above the water. The name dates back to the visits of the early French missionaries. 1


Apple Creek, a discontinued postoffice in Outagamie county.


Apple River rises in Polk county and is joined by the Balsam river near Deronda. Flows southwest and empties into the Missis- sippi river just above Somerset Junction, St. Croix county.


Apple River, a country postoffice of Polk county, is 12 miles sontheast of Balsam Lake, the county seat.


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Appleton, an incorporated city, the county seat of Outagamie county, situated on the Grand Chute of the Lower Fox river. From this river water power, equivalent to 16,000 horse power, is de- rived for operating many paper and pulp mills, the city's chief in- dustries. It is on two divisions of the C. & N. W. Ry. and the C., M. & St. P. Ry. and has trolley interurban connections with Oshkosh Neenah, Menasha and Kaukauna. The development of the Fox river at 'Appleton admits of the passage of steamers from Lake Winnebago to Lake Michigan, at Green Bay. It is the home of Lawrence University, the Methodist college of the state. The last census gave the city a population of 17,000. There are three sub- stantial banks and the press is represented by the Post, and the Crescent (daily and weekly), the Volksfreund, the Montagsblatt, the Gegenwart, the Haus-Schatz, the Samstagsbate and the Wecker, the last named being weeklies.


Appollonia, a post town on the M., St. P. & S. Ste. M. Ry. in Rusk county, 11 miles west of Ladysmith, the county seat. It has a population of 350, and a newspaper (weekly), the Cause.


Apportionment, State .- The constitution provides that after each enumeration of the population of the state made by the U. S., the legislature shall apportion and district anew the members of the Senate and Assembly, according to the numbers of inhabitants, ex- cluding Indians not taxed, and soldiers and officers of the U. S. army and navy.


April, a discontinued postoffice in Burnett county.


Apuckwa, Lake .- This is the Indian name for Lake Puckaway (q. v.).


Arbor and Bird Day .- The legislature of 1889 authorized the governor to set aside one day each year to be observed as tree- planting or arbor day and requesting schools, colleges, etc., by suitable exercises to stimulate the culture of trees. The legislature of 1897 amended the law, naming it Arbor and Bird Day, and spe- cifying the cultivation of an interest in birds as one of its purposes.


Arbor Vitae, a post town in Vilas county with a population of about 1,000. It is on the line of the C. M. & St. P. Ry. and is 30


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miles west of Eagle river, the county seat. There is a fish hatchery at Arbor Vitae under state control.


Arbutus, a country post office in Adams county, 81/2 miles from Friendship, the county seat.


Arcadia, a village on the Trempealeau river in Trempealeau county with a population of 1,316. It is 15 miles southwest of Whitehall, the county seat, and is located on the G. B. & W. Ry. There is a bank, and three newspapers are published, the Anzeiger, the Arcadian, and the Leader.


Arena, a village with a population of about 350 in Iowa county. It is on the C., M. & St. P. Ry., and is 24 miles northeast of Dodge- ville, the county seat.


Argyle, a post village located on the line of the I. C. R. R. and on the P'ecatonica river, in La Fayette county. It was first settled in 1840 and now boasts a population of 572. The village has a sub- stantial bank and a weekly paper, the Atlas. It is 16 miles east of Darlington, the county seat.


Arkansaw, a post village with a population of 250 on the Chip- pewa and Ean Galle riv rs and Arkansas creek, in Pepin county. It is 4 miles from Durand, the county seat.


Arkdale, a post town in Adams county with a population of 35. It is on the Big Roche-a-Cri river, and is 7 miles northwest of Friendship, the county seat.


Arland, a discontinued postoffice in Barron county.


Arlington, a post town in Columbia county on the C. M. & St. P. Ry., 17 miles south of Portage, the county seat.


Armenia, a country postoffice of Juneau county, 34 miles north of Mauston, the county seat.


Armstrong, a discontinued postoffice in Fond du Lac county.


Armstrong Creek, a post town in Forest county on the line of the M., St. P. & S. Ste. M. Ry., 30 miles northeast of Crandon, the county seat.


Army Nurses .- A law known as Chapter 7, Laws of 1903, con- ferred upon army nurses who served during the War of Secession the privileges of the State Veterans' Home at Waupaca, on the same footing as soldiers and sailors.


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Arndt, Shooting of Charles P .- Out of the strained relations be- tween Gov. Doty and a majority of the members of the territorial legislature in 1842, much ill-feeling was engendered among the members. On Feb. 11 a debate on a motion to table the nomina- tion by the governor of a sheriff for Grant county led to a personal altercation between two of the councillors,-Chas. P. Arndt of Brown county, and James R. Vineyard of Grant county. On the adjournment of the council the two men met in one of the aisles of the chamber, and Arndt having struck at Vineyard, the latter drew a pistol and shot his adversary dead. Vineyard surrendered himself to the sheriff of Dane county, and sent his resignation to the council. That body declined to accept it and summarily ex- pelled him. Vineyard was afterward tried for manslaughter and acquitted.


Arnott, a post town with a population of 275 on the G. B. & W. Ry. in Portage county. It is 10 miles southeast of Stevens Point, the county seat.


Arpin, a post town in Wood county at the junction of the W. C., the C. & N. W. and the C. M. & St. P. Rye It is 17 miles north- west of Grand Rapids, the county seat, and has a population of 772.


Art Gallery, Layton, is located on the northeast corner of Jeffer- son and Mason streets in Milwaukee. It was built and presented to the city in 1887 by Frederick C. Layton (q. v.). It is governed by a board of twelve trustees.


Arthur, a discontinued postoffice in Grant county.


Ashippun, a post town in Dodge county with a population of 60. It is 19 miles southeast of Juneau, the judicial seat of the county.


Ashland .- This city, the judicial seat of the county of the same name, is located on Chequamegon Bay, an arm of Lake Superior. It is the great railroad center of northern Wisconsin, the C. & N. W., the W. C., the N. P., and the C., St. P., M. & O. Rys., all entering it. The iron ore from the great Gogebic range, 40 miles to the east, is practically all shipped from Ashland, where the largest ore docks in the world are located. There are two national banks and six newspapers are published, two dailies, the Ashland Press (Rep.) and the Ashland News (Dem.) and four weeklies,


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the News, the Press, the Bladet and the Chequamegon Critic. The last census gives the city a population of 14,519.


Ashland County is one of the northern counties of the state on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior, named in honor of Henry, Clay, after the latter's homestead. It was organized in 1856 and today has an area of 1,051 square miles and a population of 23,935. Its soil is mostly, a red clay. The city of Ashland is the county, seat.


Ashland Junction, a post town at the junction of the C., St. P., M. & O. and the N. P. Rys. in Bayfield county. It is 8 miles south of Washburn, the county seat, and has a population of 35.


Ashley, a country postoffice in Marathon county, 22 miles from Wausau, the county seat.


Ash Ridge, a discontinued postoffice in Richland county.


Askeaton, a post town of Brown county, 18 miles south of Green Bay, the county seat. It is on the C., M. & St. P. Ry., and has a population of 50.


Assembly, a discontinued postoffice in Dane county.


Assembly, The .- See Legislature.


Assessment, Supervisors of .- In 1901 the legislature authorized county boards to appoint supervisors of assessment, one in each county, whose duty it is to superintend and supervise the work of the assessors. They are paid by their several counties, but receive their instructions, once each year, from the state tax commission.


Astor, John Jacob, the founder and principal proprietor of the 'American Fur Company which operated extensively in Wisconsin in the early part of the century. See Fur Trade in Wisconsin.


Asylums, County .- See Reformatory, Penal and Charitable In- stitutions.


Athelstane, a post town and summer resort of Marinette county, on the line of the C. M. & St. P. Ry., and on the Big Wausaukee river. It has a population of 300 and is 40 miles northwest of Marinette, the county seat.


Athenae Literary Society, the earliest literary society of the Uni- versity of Wisconsin, organized 1850, incorporated 1852. Its ob- jects are to cultivate debating, oratory and parliamentary practice. 3


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Its membership is secured from election of undergraduate men. The meetings are held Friday evenings during the college year.


Athens, a post village in Marathon county, which was formerly known as Black Creek Falls. It is on the A. & N. E. Ry., is 30 miles west of Wausau, the county seat, has a bank, and a weekly newspaper, the Athens Record. Its population is 1,050.


Athletic Association, U. W .- Membership in this organization consists of all male students of the U. W. Its officers are a presi- dent and a vice president and a board of 19 directors, 12 from the student body, including the president and vice president of the asso- ciation as ex-officio members, 3 from the faculty, 3 from the alumni, and 1 from the regents. Each body selects its own representa- tives, the alumni representatives coming from Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison alumni associations. This board has general super- vision over all athletics through the graduate manager, who is nominated to the board of regents by the president of the U W. up- on the advice of the board. The meetings of the Athletic Associa- tion are held semi-annually, the third Friday after the opening of each semester, the members of the board and the two officers of the association being chosen at the fall meeting. The terms of office are all one year. The secretary of the board of regents is treasurer of the Athletic Association.


Athletic Board, U. W .- See Athletic Association.


Atlanta, a post town of Rusk county on the Chippewa Valley & Northern Ry., with a population of about 1,000. It is 10 miles west of Ladysmith, the judicial seat of the county, and has a news- paper, the Atlanta Weekly Gazette.


Atlantic Cable .- By joint resolution. the legislature of 1867 ex- pressed to Cyrus W. Field the thanks of the people of Wisconsin for his courage and persistency in finally laying the Atlantic cable; and an appropriation was made to prepare and send to Mr. Field a suitably inscribed medal.


Atlas, a post town in Polk county, with a population of 75. It is 19 miles northwest of Balsam Lake, the county seat.


Attainder, Bill of .- See Constitution.


Attica .- This post town in Green county is situated on the banks


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of the Big Sugar river, 22 miles northeast of Monroe, the county seat. It has a population of 70. 1317414


Attorney, District, is the law officer of the county provided for by the constitution. He is elected for two years at the general election held in November every two years. His salary is fixed by the county board.


Attorney-General, a constitutional state officer, elected at the same time and place as members of the legislature, the term of office being two years. His salary is $3,000 a year. The statutes have provided for a first assistant and a second assistant attorney- general, a law examiner and clerks, all to be appointed by the attorney-general. An effort to increase the salary of the office to $5,000 failed in the legislature of 1905.


Atwater, a post town in Dodge county with a population of 60. It is on the C. M. & St. P. Ry., and is 10 miles north of Juneau, the county Jeat.


Atwood, David, one of the leading newspaper publishers of the state, was born in Bedford, N. H., on Dec. 15, 1815. He came to Wisconsin in 1847 and became editor and publisher of the Wiscon- sin State Journal in 1852. He was quartermaster general of the state under Gov. Fairchild; was a member of the assembly in 1860; a member of Congress a portion of the 41st session, and was state commissioner of the Centennial Exposition in 1876. He built up along with his newspaper a very large and very profitable law- book publishing business. Mr. Atwood died Dec. 11, 1889.


Aubrey, a country postoffice in Richland county, 7 miles south- east of Richland Center, the county seat.


Auburn .- See New Auburn.


Auburndale, an incorporated village of Wood county with a population of 300. It is on the W. C. Ry., and is 26 miles north- west of Grand Rapids, the county seat.


Audubon Society, Wisconsin, was organized in Milwaukee in 1897, its avowed purposes being "to attempt to discourage the wear- ing of feathers of all birds except those under domestication; to preserve our wild birds and their eggs; and to promote popular in- terest in bird study." Headquarters of the society are in Madison.


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Augusta, an incorporated city of Eau Claire county, is 23 miles southeast of Eau Claire, the county seat. It is on the C., St. P., M. & O. Ry., and has a bank and two weekly newspapers, the Eagle and the Times. It had a populaton of 1,426 in 1905.


Aurora, a discontinued postoffice in Washington county.


Auroraville, a post town of Waushara county, situated on a water power stream, Willow Creek. It is 22 miles east of Wautoma, the county seat. Its population is 150.


Automobiles, Law Governing .- The legislature of 1905 passed a law requiring the registration of all automobiles or similar motor vehicles with the secretary of state. A fee of one dollar is required and the number given must be kept in plain sight on the machine. Speed in cities is limited to 12 miles an hour and in the country to 25 miles an hour. If a sign of distress is given by a driver of horses the driver of a machine must stop until the team has passed. When the machine is left standing the power must be shut off.


Avalanche, a post town with 100 population, 8 miles northeast of Viroqua, the judicial seat of Vernon, within which it is located. It is on the West Kickapoo river.


Avalon, a country postoffice in Rock county, on the C., M. & St. P. Ry., 10 miles from Janesville, the county seat.


Avoca, an incorporated village in Iowa county on the Wisconsin river and the C., M. & St. P. Ry. It has a population of 450 and is 25 miles northwest of Dodgeville, the county seat


Avon, a discontinued postoffice in Rock county.


Ayr .- See Crandon, Forest County.


Aztalan, a discontinued postoffice in Jefferson county. Histori- cally connected with mound builders. (See Mound Builders.)


Babbitt, Clinton, was born at Westmoreland, N. H., November 16, 1831, and came to Wisconsin in 1853. He was postmaster of Beloit during Cleveland's first term and as a Democrat was elected a member of the house of representatives of the 52d congress.


Babb's Prairie, the first settlement on the Baraboo river, was made in 1857, near where the city of Neillsville now stands, and was called Babb's Prairie.


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Babcock, a post town in Wood county which was formerly known as Remington. It has a population of 325, is on the Yellow river and the C., M. & St. P. Ry., and is 17 miles southwest of Grand Rapids, the county seat.


Babcock, Joseph Weeks, was born in Swanton, Vt., on March 6, 1850; lived in Iowa from 1855 to 1881 when he came to Wisconsin, settling in Necedah; was a member of the assembly of 1889 and 1891; in 1892 was elected to represent the third district in congress and has been continuously re-elected since. In the five campaigns from 1894 to 1904 he was chairman of the national republican congressional committee. His home is in Necedah.


Babcock Medal .- The legislature of 1899 appropriated $300 for a medal to be conferred upon Prof. S. M. Babcock of the Agricultural College of the University of Wisconsin in recognition of his signal service to the state and country in his invention of the Babcock milk test (q. v.).


Babcock, Stephen Moulton, a professor of chemistry on the teach- ing force of the Agricultural College of the University of Wiscon- sin. He is the inventor of the Babcock milk test (q. v.).


Bacon, a country postoffice of Monroe county, 8 miles northeast. of Sparta, the county seat. It is on the line of the C., M. & St. P. Ry.


Bad Axe, Battle of .- See Black Hawk War.


Bad Axe City .- See Genoa.


Bad Axe River rises and is entirely within Vernon county. Empties into the Mississippi, flowing southwest. It was near the mouth of this river the battle of Bad Axe was fought in the Black Hawk war in 1832.


Baden, a discontinued postoffice in Bayfield county.


Badger, a discontinued postoffice in Portage county.


Badger, The, the annual publication of the junior class of the University of Wisconsin. Its compilation and publication are in the hands of a hoard selected annually by the junior class.


Badger Mills, a discontinued postoffice in Chippewa county.


"Badger" State, The .- The name "Badger" state for Wisconsin had its origin in the lead mining districts of southwestern Wiscon-


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sin. Miners from the south (Illinois) in the early days were in the habit of working in the lead mines during the summer and return- ing south for the winter, migrating like suckers, hence the name "Sucker" state. Those who came from the east, however, could not return to their homes in the winter and made for themselves "dugouts" in the sides of the bluffs and hills, burrowing like bad- gers, hence "Badgers" or permanent residents of the Wisconsin country.


Bad River rises in Ashland county, flows northwest into Bay- field county and then northeast into Ashland again where it is joined by the Potato river and Tyler Fork. Joins the White river at Odanah, which empties into Lake Superior.


Baer, a discontinued postoffice in Washington county.


Bagley, a post town in Grant county which was settled in 1888 and now has a population of 350. It is on the C., B. & Q. Ry., and is 28 miles northwest of Lancaster, the county seat. Has a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Chronicle.


Bailey, Gen. Joseph, a Wisconsin man who, while acting engi- neer of the 19th Army corps operating on the Red River during the War of Secession, distinguished himself by using the knowl- edge he had acquired as a log driver in Wisconsin, to release Por- ter's flotilla from its predicament in the Red river in 1864. Ad- miral Porter said of Bailey's achievement, "It saved to the Union a fleet worth two millions and deprived the enemy of a triumph which would have extended the war two years longer." Bailey was made brigadier general for this work. In further recognition of his sig- nal achievement, congress presented to Bailey a gold mounted sword, and a silver punch bowl, both duly inscribed. In 1895 the Wisconsin legislature purchased these mementos from Bailey's heirs, and they are now in the museum of the State Historical Soci- ety in Madison. He was assassinated March 21, 1867, by bush- whackers in Missouri.


Bailey's Harbor, a post village in Door county, on the shore of Lake Michigan. It has a population of 300 and is 25 miles north- east of Sturgeon Bay, the county seat.


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Bakerville, a settlement in Wood county, on the Yellow river, 33 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, the county seat.


Baldwin, an incorporated village in St. Croix county with a popu- lation of 640. It is on the C., St. P., M. & O. Ry., 20 miles east of Hudson, the county seat, and has a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Bulletin.


Baldwin's Mills, a discontinued postoffice in Waupaca county.


Ballot, The Australian .- What is known as the Australian bal- lot was adopted in Wisconsin in 1889. The legislature of that year enacted a measure describing the ballot, and providing more elaborate machinery than ever before used to preserve the secrecy. of the ballot. Voting bootlis were provided for, where the voter could, behind a curtain and alone, mark his ballot without the solicitation or interference of others. The law lias been amended since, and improved until the machinery of voting is now vastly, superior to that of twenty years ago.


Ballot, The Pocket .- Chap. 522, Laws of 1905, provided for the use of what is known as the pocket ballot, a device patented by a Wisconsin man; provision being made for the purchase of the patent from the owner. The new ballot comprises "a sufficient number of contrastingly colored sheets, stapled or fastened to- gether at the top, each sheet composed of the requisite number of individual coupons, bearing the names of all the candidates of a certain political party; each coupon shall bear the designation of the office and the name of the political party, and said coupons shall be consecutively numbered or lettered. Each sheet shall have an exposed portion where they are attached together, bearing re- spectively the names of the different political parties, and a folder or envelope having designated spaces or pockets to receive and corresponding to the several 'individual coupons, and means for sealing such envelope or folder to enclose certain selected sheets or coupons. The coupons of each sheet shall be designated to correspond with coupons for the same office of each and every other sheet by the use of numbers or letters. And also an appropriate envelope to receive unused sections or portions of sections of each ballot."


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Balmoral, a discontinued postoffice in Richland county. \


Balsam Lake, a village with a population of 300. It is the county seat of Polk county and is on the Balsam branch of the Ap- ple river.


Bancroft, a post village at the junction of the W. C. and C. & N. W. Rys. in Portage county. It has a population of 250 and is 16 miles south of Stevens Point, the county seat.


Bangor, an incorporated village of 695 inhabitants, situated on the La Crosse river and on the lines of the C. & N. W. and C., M. & St. P. Rys. in La Crosse county. It is 16 miles southeast of La Crosse, the county seat, and has a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Independent.


Bankers' Association, Wisconsin,-This was organized in Mil- waukee in 1892 with 150 banks represented. Its purpose as set forth in its constitution is "To promote the general welfare and use- fulness of the banks and banking interests of the state and secure uniformity of action in the consideration of the questions regarding the financial and commercial usages, customs and laws which affect such interest." It holds one meeting a year.


Banking, Commissioner of .- From the organization of the state up to 1868 Wisconsin had a bank comptroller. In 1868 the office was abolished. In 1895 the legislature created the office of bank examiner with duties similar to that of the former bank comptroller. In 1903 the legislature enacted a law which provides for a state banking department, with a commissioner of banking, a deputy commissioner, examiners and clerks. The commissioner is ap- pointed for 5 years with the advice and consent of the senate ; the salary is $3,000, the deputy commissioner gets $2,000 and the ex- aminers $1,800 each. The commissioner has supervision over all state and private banks domg business under the state laws. They must make reports to him twice each year and oftener if he desires it. The duties are in general the same as those of the national bank examiners to national banks.




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