USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form: > Part 4
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Benoit, a post town on the C., St. P., M. & O. Ry. in Bayfield county, 16 miles south of Washburn, the county seat. Its popu- lation is 130.
Benton, an incorporated village of La Fayette county, 20 miles southwest of Darlington, the county seat. It was settled in 1846 and today has a population of 600. There is one bank in the vil- lage.
Bergen, a discontinued postoffice in Rock county.
Berlin .- This city with 4,638 population was incorporated as a city in 1857. It is on the Fox river, which supplies water power for its manufacturing industries, and is a station of the C., M. & St. P. Ry. Dartford, the county scat of Green Lake county, wherein it is located, is 10 miles south. There are two banks and two news-
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papers, the Evening Journal, (daily and weekly), and the Courant (weekly). Berlin is one of the principal shipping points of the cranberry industry.
Bernhard, a discontinued postoffice in Jefferson county.
Berryville, a discontinued postoffice in Kenosha county.
Bethel, a post town of Wood county with a population of 300, also known as Woodland. It is 18 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, the county seat.
Bevent, a country postoffice in Marathon county, 22 miles south- east of Wausau, the county seat.
Bible Case, Edgerton .- This case became famous as the first judicial condemnation of the practice of Bible reading in the pub- lic schools. In 1889 a number of Catholic parents in Edgerton pro- tested against the reading of the authorized version of the Bible for opening exercises in the city schools. No attention being paid to their protest they asked the court to issue a writ of mandamus forbidding the Bible reading on the ground that it was in contra- vention of Sec. 3, Article X of the constitution, forbidding sectarian instruction in the public schools. The case went to the Supreme Court and the court held that the reading of the Bible before pu- pils whose parents objected to it on sectarian grounds provoked controversy which made the act in effect sectarian instruction, and hence was prohibited by the constitution.
Bibon, a post town of Bayfield county, the junction of the D. S. S. & A. and the C., St. P., M. & O. Rys. It has a population of 250 and is 24 miles south of Washburn, the county seat.
Big Bend, a discontinued postoffice of Waukesha county. 1
Big Bull Falls .- The site of the city of Wausau on the Wiscon- sin river was formerly known as Big Bull Falls.
Big Butte Des Morts Lake is situated in Winnebago county, the south end of it touching the city of Oshkosh. It empties into Lake Winnebago through the Fox river at Oshkosh.
Big Elk River rises and is wholly within Price county, flowing west through Phillips; joins south fork of the Flambeau river near western boundary of the county.
Big Eau Pleine River rises in southeast corner of Taylor county
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and flows southeast through Marathon county, joining the Wiscon- sin river at Knowlton.
Big Falls, a post town of 450 inhabitants on the Big. Falls Ry. and the Little Wolf river in Waupaca county, 24 miles north of Waupaca, the county seat.
Big Flats, a country postoffice of Adams county, 12 miles north of Friendship, the county seat.
Big Lake, one of the Manitowish string of lakes in Vilas county. Manitowish (Iron county) is the nearest rail approach.
Big Patch, a discontinued postoffice in Grant county.
Big Plover River rises in northeast portion of Marathon county, flows southwest into Portage and joins the Wisconsin river iust below Stevens Point.
Big Rib River has its rise in the waters of Rib lake, Taylor county. It flows southeast across a corner of Lincoln county, join- ing the Wisconsin river just below Wausau.
Big Rice River rises in Oneida county, flows southwest into Lin- coln county and joins the Tomahawk river just north of Heafford.
Big River rises and is wholly within Pierce county, flowing south- west to join the Mississippi river between Diamond Bluff and Prescott.
Big Sand Lake, in Burnett county, is really a widening of the Yellow river. The nearest rail approach is Spooner, Washburn county.
Big Spring, a post town in Adams county, also known as New Haven, with a population of 100, is 31 miles southeast of Friendship, the county seat.
Billinghurst, Chas., was born in Brighton, N. Y., July 27, 1818, and came to Wisconsin in 1847. He was a member of the state legislature of 1848 and elected a member of the 34th and, 35th con- gresses as a republican.
Binghamton, a discontinued postoffice in Outagamie county.
Binner, Paul, was one of the principal teachers and chief pro- moters of the system of teaching speech to the deat. Mr. Binner was born in Prussia, coming to this country when a child, and after the War of Secession, in which he served four vears. he secured a
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position as teacher of German in the public schools of Milwaukee. Soon he became interested in the school for the deaf which was be- ing carried on under private enterprise. He became principal of that school and became the most enthusiastic and successful teacher of the system. He died in Chicago in 1895.
Birch Island, a country postoffice of Burnett county, 42 miles northeast of Grantsburg, the county seat.
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Birch Lake, a country postoffice in Bayfield county, 32 miles south of Washburn, the county seat.
Birchwood, a post village at the junction of the M., St. P. & S. Ste. M. and the C., St. P., M. & O. Rys. in Washburn county, with a population of 500. It is 40 miles southeast of Shell Lake, the county seat, and has a weekly newspaper, the Birchwood Press.
Bird Day .- See Arbor and Bird Day.
Birds, Protection of .- A law was enacted in 1901, which prohibits under penalty, the killing of, or having body of in possession, of any bird not a game bird in season.
Birnamwood, an incorporated village in Shawano county with a population of 701. It is on the line of the C .. & N. W. Ry., and was first settled in 1880. There is a bank and a weekly newspaper, the News.
Black Creek, a post town on the G. B. & W. R. R. in Outagamie county, with a population of 450. It is 16 miles north of Appleton, the county seat, and contains a bank.
Black Creek Falls .- See Athens.
Black Earth, a post village of 475 inhabitants in Dane county, on a creek of the same name and a station of the C., M. & St. P. Ry. Madison, the county seat, is 20 miles southeast.
Black Hawk, a post town of 60 inhabitants on Honey Creek in Sauk county. Baraboo, the county seat, is 25 miles northeast.
Black Hawk War .- In November, 1804, the Sac and Fox Indians ceded to the United States 50,000,000 acres of land in eastern Mis- souri, northwest Illinois and southwest Wisconsin for an annuity of $1,000. The United States gave the Indians the privilege of hunt- ing on the ceded lands. In the summer of 1823 squatters began clos- ing in on the Sac village on the Rock river, 3 miles above where it
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enters the Mississippi. The squatters kept moving their limit until in 1831 when the Sacs returned from their winter hunt they found their burying ground desecrated. They had been generally abused by the white men for some years before and becoming desperate, Black Hawk, the chief figure of the tribe, threatened to use force to remove the settlers if they should not evacuate. A reign of terror ensued among the whites and Gov. Reynolds was petitioned for aid. The executive issued a proclamation calling for volunteers to put down the Indian uprising and some 1,600 re- sponded. On June 25th, 10 companies of regulars made a demon- stration before Black Hawk's village, which resulted, on June 30, 1831, in the Indians signing a treaty tc remove to and keep on the west shore of the Mississippi river. All that summer the Sacs were in misery. They had removed too late to plant their usual crops and the suffering was kecn. A Winnebago prophet, White Cloud, in- duced Black llawk finally to break his treaty and the following year to come to the Winnebago village 35 miles above the mouth of the Rock river and plant his corn, promising that in the fall of 1832 the Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes would join his tribe in an expedition against the whites. The crossing of the Mississippi by the Sacs again spread terror through the northern Illinois and the southern Wisconsin settlements in the spring of 1832. Gov. Reynolds was again appealed to and he sent Gen. Atkinson with an army of 1,800 volunteers and 300 regulars to force the return of the Sacs across the Mississippi. Black Hawk sent Gen. At- kinson a defiant message and then retreated up the Rock river with his band, the Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes having refused to join him. At Stillman's creek he came to a stand and seeing the folly of resistance, the Indian leader sent a flag of truce to Gen. 'Atkinson, but the bearers were shot down by the drunken militia- men. Angered at this unjust treatment, Black Hawk, with 35 braves turned on 275 horsemen and drove them terror stricken to Dixon, 25 miles away. Great consternation was created among the whites. Forts were thrown up at nearly all the settlements, Fort Union at Dodgeville, Fort Defiance on the farm of D. M. Parkinson, Fort Hamilton at Wiota, Fort Jackson at Mineral Point and
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Mound Fort at Blue Mounds being among the number. Em- boldened by his success Black Hawk removed his women and chil- dren to marshes and swamps around Lake Koshkonong, and started a general raid through northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Skirmishes at Blue Mounds, Sinsinawa Mounds and Pecatonia re- sulted in indecisive victories for the whites, causing losses of 200 killed on each side. The Indians were forced to retire. Gen. Atkinson, learning from the Winnebagoes the hiding place of the Sac band, immediately set out in pursuit. But the band had fled westward. About the middle of July the troops nearly caught up with the Indians at the present site of Madison ; a lone Indian seen peaceably sitting on his wife's grave on the shore of the lake was killed. At Prairie du Sac the Indians were overtaken and the battle of Wisconsin Heights ensued. The Indians managed to hold off the whites while the non-combatants were ferried across the river. Black Hawk's idea was to get back across the Mississippi. At the mouth of the Bad Axe river, while the Indians were getting their women and children across the river a force under General Dodge came up with them. A gunboat, the Warrior, had mean- time been sent up the river to intercept the Indians should they attempt to cross. Black Hawk raised a flag of truce but it was dis- regarded. This occurred on August 2d. Only 150 succeeded in the attempt to reach the west shore, this number being all that was left of the band of 1,000 which crossed the river in the spring. Black Hawk sought refuge with the Winnebagoes, who delivered him to the whites for the large reward offered. This outbreak was important in that it settled for all time the Indian troubles in Wis- consin and stimulated immigration to this state. Many men who afterward became famous in state and national history served in the suppression of this outbreak. Among them were Gen. Henry Dodge, afterward territorial governor and one of the first two United States senators from this state, Abraham Lincoln, afterward president of the United States, and Jefferson Davis, afterward presi- dent of the Confederate States.
Black River rises in Taylor county, flows northwest and then southwest into Clark county, where it is joined by the Poplar river
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and Wedges creek; then southwest through Jackson county, the northwest corner of Monroe county and west into La Crosse county, where it turns to the south and joins the Mississippi river at La Crosse.
Black River Falls, an incorporated city at the falls of the Black river, from which it takes its name, and the county seat of Jackson county. It has a population of 1,946, has two banks, and two weekly newspapers, the Badger State Banner and the Jackson County Journal.
Blair, a village of Trempealeau county with a population of 500. It is on the Trempealeau river and on the G., B. & W. Ry. White- hall, the county seat, is 7 miles northwest.
Blairmoor, a country postoffice of Dunn county, 22 miles north of Menomonie, the county seat.
Blake, a country postoffice of Polk county, 8 miles northeast of Balsam Lake, the county seat.
Blanchardville, an incorporated village in La Fayette county, on the I. C. R. R. and the Pecatonica river. The inhabitants number 642 and maintain a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Blade.
Blind, State School for .- See Reformatory, Charitable and Penal Institutions.
Bloomville, a country postoffice in Lincoln county, 13 miles northeast of Merrill, the county seat.
Blueberry, a post town in Douglas county of 100 inhabitants, a station on the N. P. Ry., and 22 miles southeast of Superior, the county seat.
Blue Book, The .- This book is a compilation of election statis- tics, biographical sketches of legislators and state officers and much other miscellaneous information of public nature. The 1905 Blue Book is an 8vo volume of 1166 pages, in all, and an edition of 46,000 copies was printed for gratuitous public distribution through the members of the legislature and state officers. It is compiled by the commissioner of labor and industrial statistics. (q. v.)
Blue Mounds, a post town in Dane county of 300 inhabitants, 24 miles southwest of Madison, the county seat. It is a station on the C. & N. W. Ry.
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Blue River, a post town on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. and the Wis- consin and Blue rivers. The population numbers 400; maintains a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Blue River Bee. It is located in Grant county, 30 miles from Lancaster, the county seat.
Blue River rises and is wholly within Grant county. Flows northwest to join the Mississippi river.
Board of Agriculture, State .- The legislature of 1897 created the present state board of agriculture. It consists of 12 members, one to be appointed by the governor from each congressional dis- trict and one at large. Its purpose is to promote agriculture, dairying, horticulture, manufacturing and domestic arts. It man- ages the state fairs held annually and controls the grounds and buildings in Milwaukee furnished by the state for that purpose.
Board of Control, State .- The legislature of 1901 abolished the two boards-the state board of supervision and the state board of charities and reform-which up to that time controlled and supervised the state reformatory, charitable and penal institutions (q. v.), and created in their place one board-the state board of control. This was again reorganized by the legislature of 1895 and made to consist of five members, with terms of five years. The legislature of 1905 provided for an additional member, the sixth member to be a woman. The powers of the board are to act as a state board of lunacy with power to investigate the question of insanity, and the condition of any one committed or confined on the charge of insanity and take proper steps to discharge those wrongfully confined; to investigate all charges or complaints against the management of any reformatory, charitable or penal institution ; to maintain and govern these several institutions; to visit each at least once each month and to fix the number of em- ployes ; to appoint superintendents and subordinate officers and gen- erally to manage and control.
Board of Equalization .- See Tax Commission.
Board of Supervision .- See Board of Control.
Boardman, a post town on the C., St. P., M. & O. Ry. and Wil- low river with a population of 75. It is in St. Croix county, and is 12 miles northeast of Hudson, the county seat.
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Boaz, a village in Richland county with 275 inhabitants. It is on Mill creek and is situated 9 miles west of Richland Center, the county seat.
Bolt, a country postoffice in Kewaunee county, 17 miles south- west of Kewaunee, the county seat.
Boltonville, a post town of 150 population in Washington county, 9 miles northwest of West Bend, the county seat.
Boma, a discontinued postoffice in Crawford county.
Bond Law, Wisconsin .- A most stringent liquor law, enacted in 1849. It provided that the vendor of liquor should give a bond in the sum of $1,000 with three or more sureties "conditioned to pay all damages to support all paupers, widows and orphans, pay expenses of all civil and criminal prosecutions growing out of or justly attributable to such traffic, that communities or individuals may sustain by reason of such traffic." Married women were au- thorized to bring suits for damages sustained by them or their families, and no suit for liquor bills should be entertained by any court. The bill, with drastic sentiments expressed publicly by tem- perance people, caused much controversy, and ill feeling. The bond law was repealed in 1851.
Bonds, Official .- The legislature of 1903 authorized the state, counties, towns, villages and cities to pay from public funds the premium or cost of bonds required of officials (not to exceed one- eighth of one per cent of the face of the bond) where the officials offer bonds by surety companies authorized to do business in the state.
Bonduel, a post village in Shawano county of 300 souls. It is 9 miles southeast of Shawano, the county seat.
Bone Lake is in Polk county. St. Croix Falls is the nearest rail approach. It finds an outlet through Half Moon lake and Balsam lake.
Bone Lake .- See Dueholm.
Bone Lake is in Polk county. It finds an outlet through Half Moon lake and Balsam lake. St. Croix Falls is the nearest rail approach.
Bookkeeping, The State .- The legislature of 1899 authorized the
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governor, the secretary of state and the state treasurer acting as a commission to employ an expert accountant and an assistant to pre- pare a revised, uniform and simplified system of bookkeeping for the different state departments to take the place of the system then used. George D. Bartz and Stephen W. Gilman were employed and after six months' work prepared and reported the new sys- tem. This was at once adopted in most of the state departments and during the following year it received general adoption.
Booth, Sherman M., was a noted Milwaukee abolitionist and editor of the Wisconsin Free Democrat, who led the mob which broke down the Milwaukee jail and freed the runaway slave, Joshua Glover, whom the Federal authorities were attempting to restore to his southern owners under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Act. Booth was arrested and tried several times for the offense, the case giving rise to the celebrated clash between the Federal courts and the supreme court of Wisconsin.
Borth, a country postoffice in Waushara county, 28 miles east of Wautoma, the county seat.
Boscobel, an incorporated city of Grant county with 1,700 in- habitants. The Wisconsin river flows through it and it is a station of the C., M. & St. P. Ry. Lancaster, the county seat, is 25 miles south. There are two banks and two weeklies, the Dial Enterprise and the Sentinel. -
Bouchea .- See Burkhardt.
Bouck, Gabriel, was born at Fulton, Schoharie county, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1828; was graduated from Union College with the class of 1847 and came to Wisconsin in 1848. He was attorney general of the state 1858-59; a member of the assembly in 1860 and again in 1874 as speaker; entered the War of Secession as a captain and was mustered out as a colonel. He was a member of the house of representatives from Wisconsin in the 45th and 46th con-' gresses as a democrat. His death occurred in Oshkosh in 1903.
Bovay, A. E., a citizen of Ripon, is credited with having called the first meeting which led to the organization of the republican; party. His call was for a meeting "to take action against the slave power and to abandon old parties." He died Jan. 29, 1903.
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CYCLOPEDIA OF WISCONSIN.
Bowers, a postoffice in Walworth county with 35 people, 6 miles east of Elkhorn, the judicial seat of the county.
Boyceville, a post village on the W. C. Ry. and Tiffany creek, a water power stream, whose population is 225. It is located in Dunn county, 15 miles northwest of Menomonie, the county seat.
Boycotting, Law Against .- The law defines boycotting to be a. conspiring or mutual undertaking, combining, associating, agreeing or concerting together for the purpose of wilfully or maliciously in- juring another in reputation, business or profession by any means whatsoever; to compel another to do, or refrain from doing any lawful act. The offense is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding $500.
Boyd, a post village of Chippewa county and a station of the W. C. Ry. Its population is 655 and it is 21 miles east of Chip- pewa Falls, the county seat. A weekly newspaper, the Times- Herald, is published.
Boydtown, a discontinued postoffice of Crawford county.
Brackett, a country postoffice in Eau Claire county, 16 miles southeast of Eau Claire, the county seat.
Bragg, Edward Stuyvesant, was born in Unadilla, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1827; admitted to the bar in 1848 and came to Fond du Lac, Wis., the same year. During the War of Secession he served in the army of the Potomac, entering the service as captain and being mustered out in 1865 as brigadier general. In 1876 he was elected to congress from his home district and served three terms. Was U. S. minister to Mexico under President Cleveland and was ap- pointed consul-general at Havana by President Mckinley. His post was later changed to Hong Kong by President Roosevelt. He resigned his post May 1, 1906.
Brandon, a village with a population of 700, on the C .. M. & St. P. Ry., in Fond du Lac county, 16 miles southwest of Fond du Lac, the county seat. One bank is maintained and a weekly newspaper, the Brandon Times, is published.
Branstad, a discontinued postoffice in Burnett county.
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Brantwood, a postoffice in Price county on the M., St. P. & S. Ste M. Ry., 22 miles southeast of Phillips, the county seat.
Brasington, a discontinued postoffice in Pierce county.
Breed, a postoffice with a population of 50 on the C. & N. W. Ry. in Oconto county, 28 miles northwest of Oconto, the county seat.
Breeders' Association, Holstein-Friesian .- This society was or- ganized at Oshkosh and incorporated in February, 1892, its purpose being to promote the work of improving the breed of cattle which gives it its name.
Breeders' Association, Live Stock .- This is an association organ- ized in Madison, in February, 1901, having for its object the promot- ing and better breeding of live stock, especially cattle, swine, sheep and horses. The annual meeting is held in Madison.
Brehm, a country postoffice 14 miles from Medford, the county seat of Taylor county, within which it is situated.
Briarton, a discontinued postoffice in Shawano county.
Bribery in Elections .- The legislature of 1875 enacted a law making the use of money by a candidate for office to menace an elector or a friend of an elector, or the use by an elector to menace a candidate, bribery, and fixing as the penalty for the offense a for- feiture of citizensmp for from 5 to 10 years.
Brickner, Geo. H., was born in Bavaria, Germany, Jan. 21, 1834, and came to Wisconsin a few years later. As a democrat he was elected a member of the 51st, 52d and 53d congresses as a repre- sentative from Wisconsin. Sheboygan Falls is his home.
Bridgeport, a village in Crawford county, with a population of 200, on the C., M. & St. P. Ry. and the Wisconsin river. It is 6 miles southeast of Prairie du Chien, the county seat.
Bridge War .- During the years from 1840 to 1845 there were fre- quent disputes between the residents of the east and west sides of the river in Milwaukee relative to the locating and maintaining of bridges. The trouble reached a point of bitterness and several bridges were destroyed and communication between the two sec- tions of the city was cut off. The territorial legislature of 1845 set- tled the disputed points and ended the "Bridge War."
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CYCLOPEDIA OF WISCONSIN.
Briggsville, a village in Marquette county with a population of 150. It is 22 miles southwest of Montello, the county seat.
Brigham, Ebenezer, was the first permanent white settler in what afterward became Dane county. His home was near Blue Mounds and was for years the road house for settlers. He was born April 28, 1789, and came to Wisconsin in 1827. He was a member of the territorial council from 1836 to 1841 and after the admission of the state served as an assemblyman.
Brigham, Jerome Ripley, one of the first school teachers of Madi- son, was born in Fitchburg, Mass., in July, 1825; came to Wis- consin in 1839; and later was graduated from Amherst college. He served as a member of the assembly, was director of the Lay- ton art gallery, and also of the Milwaukee law library ; was ap- praiser of the port of Milwaukee and served as city attorney for several terms; also served a term as regent of the University of Wisconsin. He died in Milwaukee, Jan. 21, 1897.
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