USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form: > Part 25
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Pittsville, an incorporated city on the Yellow river in Wood county, and a station on the C., M. & St. P. Ry., 18 miles north- west of Grand Rapids, the county seat. There is one bank; the population is 546.
Pius, a discontinued postoffice in Sheboygan county.
Plain, a postoffice of 150 people in Sauk county, 32 miles south- west of Baraboo, the county seat.
Plainfield, an incorporated village of 829 people in Waushara county, on the W. C. Ry., 18 miles northwest of Wautoma, the county seat. It has a republican weekly newspaper, the Sun, and a bank.
Plainville, a postoffice of 200 people in Adams county, 25 miles south of Friendship, the county seat.
Plankinton, John, was born in Delaware in 1820, and came to Milwaukee in 1844. He became well-known as a packer, banker and hotel proprietor. He died in Milwaukee, March 29, 1891.
Plantz, Samuel, president of Lawrence University at Appleton, Wis., was born June 13, 1859. He was graduated from Lawrence University and later from Boston University, receiving from the latter the degree of Ph D. He spent several years in study in Germany and entered the Methodist ministry on his return. He was elected president of Lawrence University in 1892.
Plat, a country postoffice in Washington county, West Bend, the county seat, being 20 miles to the northwest.
Platte River rises and is wholly within Grant county ; flows al- most dne south to join the Mississippi river.
Platteville, an incorporated city of Grant county, on the C. & N. W. and the C., M. & St. P. Rys., 18 miles southeast of Lancas- ter, the county seat. The oldest of the state normal schools is situated here. The population of 4,438 supports three weekly newspapers, the Journal, the Grant County Witness, and the Grant County News, and two banks.
Pleasant Prairie, a post station on the C. & N. W. Ry. in Keno-
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sha county, 6 miles southwest of Kenosha, the county seat. It has a population of 250.
Plover, a post village of Portage county, on the W. C. and the G. B. & W. Rys. with a population of 300. It is 6 miles south of Stevens Point, the county seat.
Plum City, a post village of Pierce county. Ellsworth, the county seat, is 22 miles to the northwest. Its population is 300.
Plum Creek, a tributary of the Red Cedar river, rises in Pierce county and flows southeast into l'epin; it joins the river opposite Savoy, Buffalo county.
Plum Island is in Lake Michigan. It is northeast of the end of the peninsula which forms Door county, to whose jurisdiction it belongs.
Plummer, a post town of 200 inhabitants on the W. C. Ry. in Iron county, Hurley, the county seat, being 18 miles distant.
Plymouth, an incorporated city in Sheboygan county at the crossing of C. & N. W. and the C., M. & St. P. Rys., 15 miles west of Sheboygan, the county seat. It has a population of 2,764, which supports three weekly newspapers, the Plymouth Post (German), the Reporter, and the Plymouth Review, and two banks.
Point Bluff, a country postoffice of Adams county, 16 miles southwest of Friendship, the county seat.
Poland, a country postoffice of Brown county. Green Bay, the county seat, is 12 miles to the northwest.
Polar, a postoffice of 75 people in Langlade county, 9 miles east of Antigo, the county seat. It was formerly called Miller's Lake.
Political Committees, Law Governing .- Chapter 312 of the laws of 1897, though it applied only to Milwaukee, was the first attempt in Wisconsin to place political committees under legal supervision and control.
Political Parties .- During the territorial period of Wisconsin's history there was little development of party politics. The demo- cratic control of the Federal government was felt in the territory ; and the exigencies of life in the new country seemed to make those who were not nominally democrats disinterested as to the party color of their officials. In 1839 a political convention called
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a territorial convention, was held in Madison, and, as it occurred to some of the delegates present that doubt might arise in the future as to whether the complexion of the gathering was whig or demo- crat, a resolution was passed to the effect "That this be considered a democratic convention ; and that we are in favor of drawing party lines." In 1841 after the election of Harrison as president the whigs organized in Milwaukee and expressed a determination to claim their own, but the early death of Harrison and the posi- tion Tyler took toward the whigs, made this organization of little effect. There were frequently heard isolated sounds from anti- slavery men in the different settlements, but up to 1844, the lead mining regions contained the majority of the inhabitants of the territory and these being quite largely from the south, the pro- slavery sentiment in the territory was really dominant. In 1840 there was no Birney (abolition) electoral ticket put up in Wiscon- sin, so what abolition sentiment existed had had no opportunity to show itself. The presidential election of 1844, however, with the prospect of the annexation of Texas brought to the surface a strong anti-slavery, or liberty party, sentiment. In 1845 the lib- erty party in Milwaukee nominated E. D. Holton for congress but he was defeated at the polls. In 1848 the liberty men put up a full state ticket which was defeated, but the anti-slavery sentiment was rapidly spreading. The first state legislature in February, 1849, in- structed its newly elected senators to vote against the admission of any territory secured from Mexico unless there was a clause prohibiting slavery. That year the liberty party in the state was merged in the free soil party. In 1852 L. J. Farwell was elected governor on a ticket distinctly anti-slavery. From the organiza- tion of the territory until 1852 there had been a strong temperance sentiment in the state, manifesting itself in different ways. In 1853 the question of passing a law prohibiting the manufacture or sale of liquor in the state was submitted to the people and prohibi- tion carried by a vote of 27,519 to 24,109. Two years later, in ac- cordance with the vote, the legislature passed a prohibitory meas- ure and Gov. Barstow vetoed it In 1854, July 13, all the various shades of anti slavery sentiment in the state were combined in
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the organization of the republican party. This party elected Chas. Durkee, U. S. senator in 1855, and Coles Bashford, governor the same year. In 1857, however, the new party had a setback when its candidate for governor, Alexander Randall, was elected by a bare majority and the balance of the ticket was defeated. Carl Schurz, who had been nominated for lieutenant governor by the republicans that year, suffered defeat. But that was the last de- feat for the republican party for many years. During the war and following its close the party was dominant, and the contests were personal rather than related to policies. Following the financial panic of 1873, however, the Granger movement gained a large fol- lowing in Wisconsin as elsewhere in the middle west. The repub- licans had angered the liquor element by the enactment of a string- ent civil damage law in 1873 and the liquor interests joined forces with the democrats. In 1873 the democrats with their allies joined with the Granger movement and nominated for governor, Wm. R. Taylor of Dane county, a prominent granger, and this combination defeated the republican ticket, and elected, also, a democratic legislature. It was during this regime that the now famous Potter law (q. v.) was passed. The republicans regained power in the next two years and again were dominant in legisla- tion until 1890 when the Bennett law (q. v.) issue defeated them. For four years the democrats controlled; then by the election of 1894 the republicans again came into power and are still dominant. In 1872 the greenback movement began to secure a foothold in Wisconsin. It did not make much progress until 1827 when it nominated a full state ticket. So fearful were both the democrats and republicans of the growth of greenback sentiment that both parties pandered to the "soft" money sentiment in their state plat- forms in 1877. There was a strong feeling among the rank and file of republicans, however, that the party had shown a weakness, that a public meeting was called in Milwaukee at which strong anti-greenback resolutions were passed, and the republican party thus placed itself in direct opposition to the "soft" money senti- ment. This action gave the republican ticket much strength among the Germans and it was elected by a good majority. Green-
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back state tickets were put in the field twice thereafter, but showed diminishing strength. The social democrats first nominated a state ticket in 1887, and in one form or another the radical labor element has had a state ticket in the field every two years since that time. Although it is a different organization from that of 1887, a party with the name social democratic had a ticket in the field in 1904 and cast a considerable vote. In the larger cities, es- pecially in Milwaukee, the socialistic element is quite in evidence. In the early eighties the temperance or prohibition sentiment in the state which had remained loyal from before the war to the re- publican party, allied itself with the national prohibition party and since that time has had a ticket in the field at every general elec- tion. In 1884, 1886 and 1888 it reached its high water mark and since that time has lost ground, as a party, though the temperance sentiment throughout the state seems to have grown stronger. At the last general election in Wisconsin (1904) the following parties nominated tickets and adopted platforms: republican, na- tional republican (a division of the republican party which claimed to be the regular republican, but which was prevented from occu- pying the regular place on the ballot), democratic, social demo- cratic, prohibition, socialistic labor.
Political Year .- The political year of the state ends at 12 o'clock noon the first Monday in January.
Polk County, in the northwestern part of the state, on the St. Croix river, was named in honor of President Polk. Its organzation occurred in 1853. The soil is a clayey loam in the larger part of the county ; in the western part it is a loamy clay. The county has an area of 955 square miles and a population (1905 census) of 20,885. Balsam Lake is the county seat.
Polonia, a post town in Portage county with a population of 225 people. It is 101% miles northeast of Stevens Point, the county scat.
Poniatowski, a postoffice of 60 people on Bear creek in Mara- thon county, 21 miles northwest of Wausau, the county seat.
Poplar, a post town on the Poplar river in Douglas county, and
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a station on the N. P. Ry., 16 miles southeast of Superior, the county seat. It has a population of 200.
Poplaro River rises and is wholly within Clark county ; flows northwest and then southwest to join the Black river.
Population of Wisconsin, The .- The state census taken in 1905 gives the state 2,228,949, an increase of 159,907 since the taking of the Federal census in 1900. It comprises 1,157,161 males and 1,071,- 178 females, of which total 2,216,831 are whites, 2,120 negroes, 101 Chinaman and 9 Japanese. The average of population per square mile in 1900 was 38 against 31.1 in 1890.
Porcupine, a post village of 100 people in Pepin county, 10 miles southwest of Durand, the seat of justice of the county.
Porlier, James, distinguished as the first school teacher in the state, who taught at Green Bay in 1791. He was a half-breed In- dian.
Portage .- This city is one of the historic places of the state. It is situated on the land between the Fox and the Wisconsin rivers, now connected by a canal, and in early days used by explorers to get from the great lakes to the Mississippi river. It is the county seat of Columbia county and has transportation facilities through the C., M. & St. P. and the W. C. Rys. The present population is 5,524. There are two substantial banks and the following papers are published; the Democrat (daily and weekly), the Register (daily), Wisconsin Rundschau (German weekly), Wisconsin State Regis- ter (weekly), and the Columbia County Wecker.
Portage County lies in the central part of the state, getting its name from the passage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers where travelers by water across the state had to portage their boats and goods. It was organized in 1836 and has been subjected to a number of radical changes of territorial limits; as at first or- ganized the portage of the Wisconsin and Fox rivers was near the center of the county. The soil is light sandy loam with some swamp land. Its area is 792 square miles and its population (1905) 30,861. Stevens Point is the county seat.
Port Edwards, an incorporated village of 383 inhabitants on the Wisconsin river in Wood county, I miles southwest of Grand
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Rapids, the county seat. It is a station on the W. C., the C., M. & St. P., and the C. & N. W. Rys.
Porterfield, a postoffice of 30 people on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Marinette county, 9 miles northwest of Marinette, the county seat.
Port Hope, a settlement in Columbia county and a station on the W. C. Ry. in Columbia county, 7 miles northeast of Portage, the county seat.
Portland, a postoffice of 75 people in Monroe county, 13 miles southwest of Sparta, the county seat.
Port Washington .- This city of 4,036 is situated on the shore of Lake Michigan and on the C. & N. W. Ry., in Ozaukee county, of which it is the judicial seat. It has five weekly newspapers, the Zeitung, the Ozaukee County Advertiser, the Star, the Pilot, and the Herold. There is also a bank.
Port Wing, a post village of 600 people on Lake Superior in Bay- field county. Washburn, the county seat, is 40 miles to the south- east.
Postlake, a country postoffice in Langlade county. Antigo, the county seat, is 26 miles to the south.
Post Lake lies partly in Langlade and partly in Forest county and is the headwater of the Wolf river. Elcho, in Langlade county, is the nearest rail approach.
Potato Lake is in Chippewa county. Chetek, in the same county, is the nearest rail approach.
Potato River rises in Iron county ; flows west to join the Bad river in Ashland county.
Potosi, an incorporated village on the C., B. & Q. Ry. in Grant county, 12 miles south of Lancaster, the county seat. Its popula- tion of 450 supports a bank.
Potter, a post town of 150 people on the Manitowoc river in Calumet county and a station on the W. C. Ry., 10 miles northeast of Chilton, the county seat.
Potter, ("Bowie Knife") R. L. D., a prominent character in the early history of the state. Ile served as congressman from the 1st Wisconsin district from 1857 to 1843 and while in congress he was
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challenged to fight a duel by Congressman Pryor. Potter accepted and having the choice of weapons chose bowie knives, imple- ments much used by hunters and frontiersmen. From this incident he became known as "Bowie-Knife" Potter.
Potter Law, The .- In 1873 the Granger movement in Wisconsin had reached such proportions that it entered politics and in the fall of that year in coalition with the democrats and the liquor in- terests elected a full state ticket with Wm. R. Taylor, a farmer of Dane county and a prominent member of the grange, as governor. The legislature of 1874 under Governor Taylor's advice passed a stringent railroad supervision law, chapter 273, and known as the Potter law from the name of the man who introduced it. This law was a very comprehensive one It classified the railroads on the basis of business donc, classified freights, fixed maximum rates for both passengers and freight, provided for the appointment of a railroad commission of three members, gave justices of the peace concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts in hearing complaints and trying cases growing out of a violation of the law, gave the commissioners the right to examine books of the railroad com- panies, specified what information roads should give in their re- ports,-very similiar to the schedule prepared by the interstate commerce commission 15 years later,-gave the commission power to reduce rates, and gave to the plaintiff the right to recover from the railway company three times the excess amount collected from him. Within two months after its passage, the presidents of the C., M. & St. P. and the C. & N. W. Rys notified the governor that they would disregard the law, which they considered unconstitutional on the ground that it destroyed the earning power of the roads. On May 16 the state authorities filed information against the two companies named, in the supreme court, charging them with vio- lating laws passed for railroad regulation. The court granted the attorney general right to bring an action in the nature of a quo urer- ranto in the supreme court to annul the charters of the defendant roads. On June 1 the creditors of the railroads appealed to the U. S. district court for an injunction restraining the state author- ities from enforcing the law on the ground that it weakened the
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securities of the roads. On July 6 the Federal court, in which Judges Davis, Drummond and Hopkins presided, gave its deci- sion sustaining the validity of the law and maintaining the power of the legislature as arbiter of the question of rates from point to point within the state. On July 8 the supreme court of the state was petitioned to enjoin the roads from further violation of the law. On Sept. 15 the supreme court gave its decision fully sus- taining the law and the right of the state to control corporations, and the roads were given until Oct. 1 to arrange their schedules in accordance with the law. The Potter law was repealed by the legislature of 1876, but the right of the legislature to regulate rail- way rates was considered to have been judicially established.
Pound, a post village of 400 people in Marinette county on the C., M. & St. P. Ry., 20 miles west of Marinette, the county seat.
Pound, Thaddeus C., was born at Elk, Warren county, Dec. 6, 1833; came to Rock county. Wis., in May, 1856. Ile was a mem- ber of the assembly in 1864, 1866, 1867, and 1869, and lieutenant governor of the state 1870-71. He was a republican member of the 45th, 46th and 47th congresses as a representative from Wis- consin,
Powers Lake, a post village and summer resort on Powers lake in Kenosha county, 23 miles from Kenosha, the county seat. It has a population of 500 and was formerly called Lagoon.
Poygan Lake is in Winnebago and Waushara counties. Winne- conne in Winnebago county is the nearest railroad station.
Poynette, an incorporated village on a water power stream (Rowen's creek) in Columbia county, and a station on the C., M. & St. P. Ry., 13 miles south of Portage, the county seat. It has a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Press. Its population is 663.
Poysippi, a post village of Waushara county, on the line river, 18 miles northeast of Wautoma, the county seat. It has a popula- tion of 300.
Pragg, a discontinued postoffice in Buffalo county.
Prairie du Chien .- This city is a landmark in the history of the northwest. The name is French, meaning "prairie of the dog," but the city derived it from a chief of the Fox Indians, who lived
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near the site when the French first came. It is the site of Fort Crawford, captured during the war of 1812 by the British, and was for many years prior to this and afterward a trading post of the American fur company. It is on the Mississippi river at the junc- tion of the C., M. & St. P. and the C., B. & Q. Rys., and is the judicial seat of Crawford county. Incorporated as a city in 1873, its present population is 3,179. Prairie du Chien has two banks and four weekly newspapers, the Press and the Union (republican), and the Courier and Record (democratic).
Prairie du Lac .- See Milton.
Prairie du Sac, an incorporated village on the Wisconsin river in Sauk county, 16 miles south of Baraboo. the county seat. It is touched by the C., M. & St. P. Ry. It was named after the Sac tribe of Indians. Originally settled in 1840, its present population is 671. The village contains a bank and supports a weekly news- paper, the Sauk County News.
Prairie Farm, a post village of 300 people in Barron county, 17 miles southwest of Barron, the county seat.
Prairie River has its rise in Langlade county ; flows southwest into Lincoln county ; and joins the Wisconsin river at Merrill.
Pratt, a post village of 300 population on the C., St. P., M. & O. Ry. in Bayfield county, 35 miles south of Washburn, the county scat.
Pray, a postoffice of 50 people in Jackson county and a station on the G. B. & W. R. R., 27 miles northeast of Black River Falls, the county seat.
Preble, a substation of the Green Bay postoffice.
Prentice, an incorporated village on the Jump river in Price county, at the junction of the W. C. and the M., St. P. & S. Ste M. Rys., 13 miles south of Phillips, the county seat. Settled in 1883, it now has a population of 863, which supports a bank and two weekly newspapers, the Calumet and the News.
Prescott, a city at the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers in Pierce county, and a station on the C., B. & Q. Ry., 18 miles west of Ellsworth, the county seat. It has a population of
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889 and contains a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Prescott Tribune.
Presque Isle, one of the Apostle islands in Lake Superior. It is under the jurisdiction of Ashland county.
Presque Isle Lake is in Vilas county. Mercer, in Iron county, is the nearest railroad station ..
Press Association, The Wisconsin, is an organization of news- paper publishers and editors that meets several times each year to discuss matters of interest to their business. The association has one outing or excursion each year. Its present officers are : Presi- dent, Frank E. Noyes, of Marinette; secretary, Fred T. Yates of Washburn ; treasurer, Mrs. M. P. Rindlaub, of Platteville.
Press, Freedom of the .- Freedom of the press in Wisconsin is guaranteed in the first article of the constitution (q. v.).
Press, The Wisconsin .- There are 742 newspapers and period- icals published in Wisconsin,-64 dailies; 565 weeklies; 19 semi- weeklies. Of the total number 630 are published in English ; 1 in German and English; 96 in German; 6 in Polish; 6 in Nor- wegian ; 4 in Swedish ; 5 in Bohemian ; 2 in Hollandish ; 1 in Dan- ish. In politics 338 are republican ; 4 independent republican ; 122 democratic; 138 independent ; 33 religous; 17 educational; 9 tem- perance and prohibition; 8 agricultural; 4 populist; 4 socialist ; 1 woman's suffrage ; 64 literary, fraternal and trade.
Preston, a post town of 200 people in Grant county, on the C. & N. W. Ry., 16 miles northeast of Lancaster, the county seat.
Price, a country postoffice on the C., St. P., M. & O. Ry. in Jack- son county. Black River Falls, the county seat, is 30 miles distant.
Price County is in the northern part of the state, and was named in honor of the late W'm. T. Price, formerly a member of congress The organization occurred in 1829. The soil is a sandy loam with large tracts of swamp land. The area of the county is 1,160 square miles and its population in 1905 was 12,353. Phillips is the judicial seat.
Price, Hugh H., was born at Black River Falls, Wis., Dec. 3, 1859 ; elected to the 49th congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father, the Hon. Wm. T. Price.
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Price, William T., was born June 17, 1824. He was a member of the assembly in 1851 and again in 1882; state senator in 1857, 1870-71, 1878-79, serving as president during the session of 1879; and again state senator 1880-81. From 1854 to 1859 he was county judge of Jackson county. He was a republican representa- tive in the 48th and 49th congresses from Wisconsin. His death occurred Dec. 6, 1886, before the expiration of his second term. Black River Falls was his home.
Princeton, an incorporated village on the Fox river in Green Lake county, and on the C. & N. W. Ry., 10 miles west of Dart- ford, the county seat. The village was settled originally in 1849, and today contains two banks and two weekly newspapers, the Princeton Republic, and the Princeton Star. Its population is 1,425.
Progress, a post town of 175 people on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. in Wood county, 32 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, the county seat.
Prohibition, Liquor .- In 1853 the question whether the legisla- ture should enact a law prohibiting the sale of liquor in the state was submitted to a vote of the people of the state, and was car- ried affirmatively by a vote of 27,579 to 24,109. In 1855 the legis- lature enacted a law prohibiting the sale of liquor and Governor Barstow vetoed it.
Property, Personal .- The statutes define personal property for purposes of taxation as all goods, chattels, moneys, and effects ; all boats and vessels whether at home or abroad, and all capital in- vested therein ; all debts due or to become due from solvent debt- ors, whether on account, contract or note, mortgage or otherwise ; all public stock and stocks and shares in all incorporated com- panies, and such portion of capital of such corporations as is not invested in real estate.
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