Barron County, Wisconsin - Chapter 6: Early County Government, 1922

The first election held in Barron county for any purpose was at the home of John Banks, near the present village of Prairie Farm in 1862. The county was almost an unbroken wilderness, and constituted one township, called like the county, Dallas. Knapp, Stout & Co. were operating at Prairie Farm, and there were a few scattered lumber camps here and there. In addition to vot¬ ing on reannexing a portion of the county to Polk county, a list of town officers was elected. No record has been preserved so far as known.

At a meeting held at the home of John Banks, No. 2, 1863, it was ordered that the elections thereafter be conducted at the house of John Quaderer, which was located in Barron, on the south bank of Quaderer's creek, just south of the west end of the present courthouse square. The entry is signed by J. H. Vannett and John Myers. Since that date the records are preserved continuously.

The second entry in the book is dated Nov. 2, 1863, and contains the cer¬ tified oaths of A. Sampore, chairman of the special town meeting held Nov. 2,

1863; James H. Vannett, "sworn before E. B. Bundy, county judge", as justice of the peace; William Stansberry, A. Sampore and Edgar P. Long, inspectors of election; and James H. Vannett and John Myers, as clerks of election.

The third entry in the book is dated Nov. 3, 1863. It contains the certified oaths of Henry McCormick, John Quaderer and John G. Johnson, inspectors of election; James Bracklin and James G. Neville, clerks of election; Samuel P. Barker, chairman of election.

The next entry is dated Nov. 10, 1863, and contains the oaths of James G. Neville, as chairman of supervisors; James Bracklin, as supervisor; and James G. Neville, as town clerk; James H. Vannett as justice of the peace, with James G. Neville and Samuel P. Barker as sureties.

May 3, 1864, two more bonds were filed: Joseph Lancour, as constable, with Samuel P. Barker and Henry Sawyer as sureties; and Baptiste Quaderer, as constable, with James Bracklin and John Quaderer as sureties.

At a special meeting, undated, but probably in 1864, with John Quaderer, Jacob Ingler and Baptiste Quaderer as inspectors; and James G. Neville and August Yager, as clerks; Solon H. Clough received all the votes for circuit judge of the Eleventh district.

The first mention of taxe$ is made at the annual meeting of April 5, 1864. A tax of $600 was voted for general expenses, a tax of $100 for the superin¬ tendent of the poor ; and a tax of six mills on the dollar as a highway tax.

In 1865 the town authorities took action in regard to securing volunteers for the Civil War. Upon petition of twelve citizens a special meeting was held March 1, 1865, at which a tax of $1,200 was levied to pay bounties to volun¬ teers. At the annual meeting, April 4, 1865, a tax of $150 was levied to look after the families of volunteers.

Under the act, organizing the county, a town election was held at Barron on Nov. 3, 1868, and the following officers elected: Supervisors, S. P. Barker (chairman), Daniel Beagle and James G. Neville; town clerk, Rassman Kel¬ logg; treasurer, James Bracklin; assessors, James Bracklin and S. K. Young; justices of the peace, S. P. Barker, C. P. Fuller, Francis Finley and John Gar¬ rett; constables, Bradford Lampman, Alfred Finley, Alexander Miller and Leon Laforte; overseer of poor, John Quaderer; sealer of weights and meas¬ ures, D. T. Boswell.

Under this board of officers, the town name was changed to Barron, Feb. 6, 1869, to correspond with the change from Dallas to Barron in the name of the county.

Governor Lucius Fairchild, in 1868, appointed officers for the county as follows: Supervisors, Rassman Kellogg, S. P. Barker and C. P. Tuller; clerk, D. T. Boswell ; treasurer, James Bracklin ; register of deeds, James G. Neville ; county superintendent, Oliver Demers; county judge, Francis Finley; sheriff, Alex Beaton. At that time, counties in Wisconsin were governed by boards of regularly elected supervisors, the system of government by a board consisting of the town chairman and city and village supervisors not being adopted until later.

The first meeting of the county board, appointed by the Governor, was held Feb. 6, 1869, on call of S. P. Barker and Rassman Kellogg. These two, and C. P. Tuller, constituting the full board, were present. The name of the town of Dallas, embracing the whole county, was changed to Barron. A bounty of $2.50, in county orders, was offered for every wolf killed within the county limits. S. P. Barker was appointed to consider the matter of securing a build¬ ing for county purposes, and /the clerk, D. T. Boswell, was authorized to secure the necessary books for the county records. Thus the government of the county was set in motion.

April 13, 1869, an agreement was signed between S. P. Barker, and the county supervisors, for the use of the Johnson House, for county purposes. The Johnson House was not in section 26, where the Legislature had located the county seat, but in the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of sec¬ tion 27, just north of the river. The county was to spend $60 in fitting up the place, and Mr. Barker was to have the use of not more than a quarter of it for postoffice purposes.

Lots to determine the term of office of the commissioners were drawn on May 24, 1869. Mr. Barker drew the three-year term; Mr. Tuller, the two-year term; and Mr. Kellogg, the one-year term. Salaries for the county officers were fixed. The clerk was to receive $600, the treasurer, $600; the county superintendent, $100; and the county judge, $76. A tax of $3,000 was levied to defray county expenses, and a tax of $468.60 to defray school expenses. This school tax was a two-mill levy on an estimated valuation of $234,300. The tax demanded by the state was $417.27, a levy of 2 Vs mills on a valuation of $196,364. A judicial election was held in the county April 6, 1869. L. S. Dixen received 41 votes for chief justice and Francis Finley 40 for county judge.

At the state and county election of 1869, a maximum of 124 votes was cast. The voters were for the most part loggers engaged in the winter lumbering operations. The Republicans swept the county, Lucius Fairchild receiving 123 votes for governor, and some of the Republican candidates the whole 124. For members of the Legislature, no less than 144 votes were cast, John Com¬ stock, for senator, and Samuel D. Draper, for assemblyman, each receiving that number. The election of these two men was closely contested in other counties, and those in charge of the election here saw to it that the vote re¬ ported from this county was of goodly proportions.

The county officers elected were: Supervisor (in place of Rassman Kel¬ logg, who had drawn the one-year term), Henry Sawyer; clerk, Orville Brayton; register of deeds, William J. Smith; county superintendent, Oliver Demars; treasurer, John Quaderer; coroner, K. Whitman; surveyor, Orville Brayton. The election was unanimous.

The total receipts of the county treasurer for the year 1869 were $2,812.78. The disbursements were $467.08. The balance of $2,366.70 was divided as fol¬ lows: Tax certificates, $1,396.48; cash on hand, $964.68; personal property returns, $4.54. The financial sheet of the county for that year is interesting as compared with the present day volume of county business, some fifty years later.

Assets: Tax certificates, $1,396.48; cash, $964.68; unpaid taxes on personal property, $4.54; state tax due from taxpayers, $417.27; county tax due from taxpayers, $2,500; county school tax due from taxpayers, $460; county super¬ intendent tax due from taxpayers, $100; due from state, $686.52; total, $6,918.09.

Liabilities : Due to the state on tax of 1869, $417.27 ; due the town of Bar¬ ron on account, $896.01; outstanding county orders, $1,504.16; due for books and stationery, for which were issued notes at 10 per cent., $589.26; estimated interest on these notes, $40.00; drainage fund due the town of Barron, $360; total, $3,806.70. Balance of assets over liabilities, $2,712.79.

Even this early, property owners were defaulting in their taxes, and the cost of printing the tax sales list was one of the county's heaviest expenses.

There was no indication that the county would ever become a farming region. After the land was cut over it was left in stumps, brush and rotting trees. Much of it was allowed to revert to the county for unpaid taxes.

The board for 1870 consisted of S. P. Barker, C. P. Tuller and Henry Sawyer. Before the year was out, J. N. Hoag appears as a member of the board, probably in Mr. Barker's place. Feb. 28, 1870, and for some time thereafter, the board met at Barker's camp, section 7, township 34, range 11, now the town of Stanley, and the clerk, treasurer and register of deeds were author¬ ized to establish their offices there.

The abstract of 1870 gives an interesting picture of property conditions at that time : Horses of all ages, 61 ; value, $4,820. Neat cattle of all ages (prob¬ ably a large proportion of which consisted of oxen), 390; value, $12,176. Mules, - and asses of all ages, 6; value, $600. (The large number of mules used by the Knapp, Stout & Co. in their operations were taxed elsewhere.) Sheep and lambs, 20; value, $56. Swine, 170; value, $595. Wagons, carriages and sleighs, 180; value, $4,629. Gold and silver watches, 32; value, $513. Value of mer¬ chant and manufacturers' stocks, $9,800. Value of all other personal prop¬ erty, $35,475. Total value of all personal property, $68,663. Number of acres of land taxable, 124,491 ; value, $257,098.61.

At the annual election in November, 1870, the vote reported was consider¬ ably reduced. For congressman, 57 votes were cast, of which Jeremiah M. Rusk received 40, showing a continuance of the Republican preponderance. For assemblyman from the district including Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Bar¬ ron, Douglas and Polk counties, Samuel S. Vaughan received the 55 votes cast. E. L. Doolittle received 56 of 57 votes cast for sheriff ; Robert McAuley received 40 of the 57 votes cast for district attorney; and John Kelley received 41 of the 56 votes cast for clerk of the district court.

The county board for 1871 consisted of William Meauley, Henry Sawyer and Hiram Pelton. The board served through the following year, and held its last meeting March 28, 1873.

Aug. 9, 1871, efforts were started toward bringing settlers to Barron county. It was ordered that pamphlets telling of the county's advantages be printed in English, German and Norwegian, and suitably circulated. Later in the year, further measures were taken in behalf of prospective newcomers. A county map, plat book, and the government field notes were secured. The county treasurer was placed in charge of the abstract of entries, and ordered ' to secure a list of all patents issued on Barron county lands prior to May 1, 1871. A request was made of the land office officials at St. Croix Falls that M. W. Heller be appointed local agent in Barron county to transact business with all persons desiring land under the homestead or preemption laws. Orville Brayton was appointed land inspector for the county at an annual salary of $750 from Jan. 1, 1872.

At the fall state election in 1871, Cadwallader C. Washburn, Republican, received 169 votes for governor against 35 for James R. Dolittle, the rest of the ticket running about the same. For state senator, J. E. Trish received 180 votes and Samuel C. Johnson, 23 votes. Henry D. Barron swept the county for member of the assembly, receiving 202 of the 204 votes cast.

The last meeting of the board at Barker's Camp in section 7, in what is now Stanley township, was held March 27, 1872. On Nov. 12, 1872, and for some time thereafter, the board met at Quaderer's Camp, in the village of Barron.

The first presidential election in which Barron county participated was in the fall of 1872. The Republican presidential electors carried the county by a vote of 120 to 38. For the assembly, Henry D. Barron, for whom the county is named, received 141 out of 158 votes cast.

Dec. 19, 1872, with W. S. Grover sitting on the board in place of Henry Sawyer, a petition for the division of the town was received from E. M. Sexton and forty others. Less than thirty were freeholders, the remainder being homesteaders and non-property owners, so action was postponed.

The county board for 1873, consisting of S. P. Barker, John Leonard and John Quaderer, held its first meeting June 25, of that year. The board made arrangements for paying Dunn county $534.92, due that county for the ex¬ penses of Barron county cases in the circuit court from Feb. 1, 1869, to Dec. 1, 1871.

The question of county roads came up for official action this year. Late in 1872, William Meauley received pay as county road commissioner, and Or¬ ville Brayton, county surveyor, and J. W. Wilkinson, his chainman, received pay for work on county roads. No official action appears, however, to have been taken by the board, until Aug. 6, 1873. At that time, the board voted to take over as county roads, one state highway, and two town roads. The state high¬ way entered the county in section 33, town 32, range 13 (Prairie Farm), and followed a northerly direction to "Station 19" in section 18, township 35, range 12 (Stanfold). One of the town roads entered the county in section 32, town¬ ship 32, range 12 (west Dallas), and led by way of Barron to Rice Lake. The other town road entered the county in section 31, township 32, range 10 (Dovre), and led by way of Chetek Dam and Cameron to Rice Lake.

At the judicial election in the spring of 1873, Orasmus Cole received all 254 votes cast for chief justice; and Harvey J. Sill received all 254 votes cast for county judge.

On October 2, 1873, a petition was presented, signed by 97 voters, asking that the board authorize a vote on the question of moving the county seat to section 21, township 35, range 11, the location of the thriving hamlet of Rice Lake Mills. The petition, being found to contain a sufficient number of legal signers, the election was duly called for Nov. 4, 1873. Of the 444 votes cast on the proposition, 269 favored the removal and 174 were against it, one of the votes being blank.

At this election, a full state and county ticket was voted upon. For gov¬ ernor, Cadwalder C. Washburn, Republican, received 356 votes, against Wil¬ liam R. Taylor, who received 169. The other Republican candidates for state office received an almost unanimous vote. For state senator, Henry D. Barron, who received 283 votes, had a strong opponent in C. L. Taylor, who received 242 votes. S. S. Fifield received all the 531 votes cast for assemblyman. Hiram Sawyer was elected county treasurer; W. S. Grover, clerk; Alex Beaton, sheriff ; Washington Bird, surveyor; S. H. Young, coroner; and Washington Bird, super¬ intendent of schools. These six had strong opposition, the defeated candidates being Orville Brayton, for treasurer; J. G. Johnson, for clerk; W. W. Flinn and G. W. Roberts, for sheriff; N. M. Rockman, for surveyor; D. C. Strong, for coroner; and Oliver Demers, for superintendent of schools. Those elected unanimously were : Clerk of court, W. L. Morrison ; register of deeds, Aristide Mero; district attorney, E. M. Sexton. Circuit court expenses voted to Dunn county in 1873 for the 1872 terms amounted to $271.83.

Jan. 16, 1874, the board met at Rice Lake Mills for the first time. March 30, 1874, six townships, Chetek, Sumner, Stanfold, Rice Lake, Prairie Farm and Dallas, were detached from Barron, making seven townships in all. The last meeting of the old board was held July 10, 1874.

The new board, consisting of the township chairmen, met at Rice Lake Mills, Sept. 28, 1874, and was constituted as follows: J. D. Strong (chairman), Oliver Demers, Daniel Beagle, S. K. Young, B. B. Fuller, John Rusk and J. C. Stewart. The annual meeting was held Nov. 10, 1874, at Rice Lake Mills. Com¬ mittees were appointed, and the present system set fully in motion.