Columbia County, Wisconsin - Chapter 11, 1880 (part 2 of 2)

Lodges And Societies

The common tendency of civilized people to form themselves into societies for mutual advancement developed itself at a very early day in Columbus. From records still in existence, we find that a lodge of Odd Fellows was founded here, in 1849. It was called Columbus Lodge,

No. 40, and was organized on the 12th of September, with D. F. Newcomb, Andrew Higley, Benj. F. Hart, F. A. Fowler, J. J. Guppey, H. S. Haskell and Jerome B. Fargo as charter members. It prospered and grew in numbers until 1872, when it suspended operations.

In 1869, Benjamin Kelsey, J. R. Jones, A. H. Vanvoorhes, C. H. Townley, T. C. Charles, E. Richards and A. Miller applied for and received a charter for Ridgley Lodge, No. 165, but upon discovery that there already existed a lodge by that name (No. 82), it became necessary to adopt a new title for the new lodge, and on the 8th of May (the charter bears date of April 24, 1869) the word Gem, was substituted for Ridgley. The present officers of Gem Lodge are : F. Wirth, N. G.: Samuel McLarty, V. G.; W.- G. Bresee, Sec; L. Williams, P. S.; Robert Griffiths, Treas. The lodge has sixty-one members.

Irene {Rebecca) Lodge, No. 59. - Chartered November 25, 1879, with the following signatory members : W. A. Thompson, T. B. Elmore, C. Thiese, W. J. Edwards, W. K. Hosken, J. F. Buschke, S. McLarty, W. G. Bresee, A. D. Brewer, R. Griffiths, H. Annis, L. F. Owen, J. R. Jones, J. R. Decker, L. E. Everson, G. Mclntyre, C. S. McFadyen, M. G. Todd, F. Wirth, and sisters Hosken, Griffiths, Bresee, Annis, Todd, Jones, Brewer, Thiese, Elmore and Decker. The present officers are : Samuel McLarty, N. G.; Mrs. H. M. Todd, V. G.; W. G. Bresee, Sec; Mrs. W. K. Hosken, Treas. Thirty-two members. Meetings are held by the various lodges over Bassett & Davis' store.

The Masons - Columbus Lodge, No. 75. - Organized June 12, 1856, with the following charter members : F. Macauley Black, Edward Jussen, Silas Axtell, Peter Wentz, S. C. Higby, A. P. Birdsey, J. S. Manning, Benjamin Campbell, J. A. Elliott, B. F. Hart, J. J. Smith, E. E. Chapin, B. Chase, Robert Mills and J. H. Valentine. Messrs. Black, Jussen and A.xtell were the first officers. The present are M. Adams, W. M.; N. Sawyer, S. W.; E. Churchill, J. W.; J. A. Erhart, Treas.; B. E. Johnson, Sec; 0. E. Cornwell, S. D.; L. A. Randall, J. D.; D. D. Kelsey, Tiler. Meetings are held over Griswold's store, where the lodge has a wellappointed hall.

The Good Templars. - As early as 1850, an organization known as the Sons of Temperance was effected in Columbus, and the work of reformation in this direction has gone steadily forward with slight variations of success. Among those who were prominently connected with the various temperance movements of early times, may be mentioned Chester W. Dean.* W. W. Drake, John H. Valentine, William McCracken,* R. W. Chadbourn, Samuel McLarty, H. Loomis, A. D. Williams, Milford Loomis, D. F. Newcomb,* and others. Meetings were then held over Swarthout's drug store, where Hayden Brothers' place now is. The ladies of the village took an active part, and the society succeeded in gathering quite an extensive library. On one occasion the, lady members were allowed to vote on an important question, and this being a violation of the then existing condition of things, the Grand Lodge of the Sons of Temperance threatened a revocation of their charter and a confiscation of the property belonging to the liberal-minded cold-water champions of Columbus. In order that they might save their library, the lodge surrendered their charter to the Grand Lodge and went over to the Good Templars in a body. About 1855, a grand temperance sleigh-ride was gotten up. Three or four " bobs " were lashed together with ropes, and eight horses hitched to the concern. Fifty-six persons took passage for Beaver Dam in it. An hour and a half's drive brought the party to their destination, where a temperance dinner awaited them.

On the 6th of February, 1874. Columbus Lodge, No. 46, I. 0. G. T., was organized with the following charter members : E. D. Kanouse, E. G. Stitt, Rev. W. A. Cain, L. Williams and wife, R. Griffiths and wife, Walter Stitt, T. H. McConnell, Mrs. A. McConnell, Annie

St. Jerome's Temperance Society. - Organized January 1, 1876, by the election of the following officers: President, Terrence Flannagan ; Vice President, M. V. Cunningham; Secretary, B. Conlin ; Treasurer, John Crook ; Spiritual Director, Rev. H. J. Roche. In May, 1880, a library association was formed by the members of this society, and they now have 100 volumes of choice books. The present officers of the society are : President, Stephen Tobin ; Vice President, T. Conlin ; Secretary, R. S. Cunningham. Mr. Roche is a strong advocate of temperance principles, and is meeting with considerable success in his work.

When Lewis Ludington platted the village of Columbus in 1844, he donated to the use of the citizens of both town and village for burial purposes the most appropriate spot within the boundaries of the plat - the rise of ground now lying in the northeastern portion of the city. The first burial made there was that of the body of Hiram Allen, an early settler, who died in 1845. The cemetery question has entered quite largely into local political contests. When the city was incorporated, it was stipulated that there should be no change in the existing arrangements between the village and town. The matter has since been regulated by the Legislature, as follows : " Whenever any town cemetery shall become embraced within the limits of any city the duties and powers of the town board relating thereto shall be exercisedby the Common Council."

Catholic Cemetery. - In 1868, St. Jerome's Parish purchased of A. G. Cook suitable grounds for cemetery purposes just north of the public burying-ground. The first interment made therein was in the spring of 1869, the body of Maurice Cunningham, who died the winter previous and was buried temporarily in the churchyard, being transferred to the new plat. The grounds have been appropriately laid out and beautified, and the little groves of crosses

Local Reminiscences

There are many good stories of early times in Columbus, but they are mostly of the char acter of the majority of good stories - they lose their best qualities when told in print ; press a rose between " morocco " or " sheep " and its fragrance will vanish. The knowledge-box of the average "early settler" teems with pioneer reminiscences, ludicrous and pathetic; but it takes the " average early settler " to relate them. It is beyond the pen of the historian to portray, with any depth of interest, the incidents in John Swarthout's first pilgrimage to Columbus. It is an easy matter to say, in bare words, that John was the captain of a " prairie schooner" propelled by several yoke of oxen, and that he found himself "unequal to the occasion " whenever it became necessary for him to " talk ox" - for John had been reared a city boy and knew more of the efficacy of pills and squills than he did of the language usually applied to beasts of burden of the bovine species. Stripped of the intonations and gestures of the narrator, the story loses its charm.

It would also be a difficult matter for any one besides Uriah Davies to describe the appearance of Mr. Swarthout when he came to Columbus the second time, dressed in new " store clothes," his young and tender brow shaded from the torrid rays of the sun by a genteel, and at that date very stylish, white soft hat. Quite a difference of opinion existed among the settlers as to the nature of the stranger's calling ; some insisted that he was a minister, while others declared this view to be a libel upon the church. It was some days before the new-comer found favor in their sight.

Nor can a correct history be written of the "Codfish Society," so long ago has it been since their martial tread was heard in the streets of Columbus. They were wont to rouse "the boys " from their slumbers and " press them in " at all hours of the night. This once famous quasi-military society acquired its name from the alacrity with which its members could surround and annihilate a salt codfish. Its eminent commander saw actual service during the rebellion, leading the gallant Twenty-third through the domain of King Cotton. Codfish was then a luxury.

There were initiations by that immortal brotherhood, the A. 0. 0. T. 0 (Ancient Order of One Thousand and One), which, in point of thoroughness, rivaled all other initiations ever heard of. Patent-medicine men, patent-right sharps and such like adventurers, willing to sacrifice a little principle to gain "business prestige," fell easy victims. Occasionally a resident candidate took the " degree " and became honored with membership. But the order is no more. It has passed away, with many another institution, whose existence was in accordance with the conditions of society.

It has been deemed proper to preserve a few incidents of early times, as illustrating what those conditions of society were. One of the first settlers in Columbiis, who is still living, says the first winter he spent in the place he boarded at the hotel. If there is one thing about that hotel he remembers more distinctly than another, it was the landlady, who was a large, masculinelooking woman, well proportioned (though rather too corpulent to be considered a good figure), and withal a woman of great strength. She sometimes displayed her physical powers in leading unprofitable customers out by the ears, and was, at times, something of a terror to the boarders generally. Our pioneer informant recollects on one occasion hearing an unusual noise in the kitchen of the ancient hostelry, and upon going to see what wonderful thing had happened, found one of the male boarders being used as a rolling-pin by the female Samson. The unfortunate man had in some way interfered with the landlady's prerogative. She was engaged at the time rolling out biscuit on a large table, and had taken the offending boarder, and, sprinkling him well with flour, forcibly laid him across the table, and was rolling him back and forward over the dough, in place of the wooden instrument commonly used for that purpose. The astonished observer of the proceeding thought it best not to interfere. But the old lady soon after came to grief at the hands of her victim. It was in this wise : She very frequently put in an appearance when anything interesting was going on, and seemed anxious to know all about it, sometimes taking part in the fun. One afternoon, quite a number of men had collected in front of the hotel, and were engaged in shooting a rifle. The female giant came to the door and said she wasn't afraid to shoot a gun, and would like to try what she could do. The gentleman who had, but a short time previous, been made to serve as a rolling-pin was present ; his time had come to square accounts with his tormentor. There was an old musket setting in the bar-room, which, when heavily loaded, was wonderfully given to kicking. Indeed it was difiicult to tell which was the safer end of the gun to stand in front of when it was discharged. The old " fusee " was brought out and given to the landlady, who knew nothing of the old musket's history, and was equally ignorant of the handling of fire-arms of any caliber. Seizing the weapon, she placed the silent end against her stomach (not her shoulder, as most people do), and pulled the trigger. The reverberating report of the musket was followed by a heavy thud upon the ground. The old lady and the gun had suddenly parted company. The target was untouched, but the earth in front of the hotel looked as if it had stopped a meteor. Dr. A.xtell happened to be present, and by the free use of camphor, the old lady was restored, but she was never again known to engage in artillery practice.

It is related that the first attempt to hold a religious meeting in Columbus occurred in 1846. A well-groomed young man put in an appearance one Saturday afternoon and exposed written notices on the four corners, announcing that on the day following he would conduct divine service in the schoolhouse, which was then regarded as an imposing structure. Something of a congregation of both sexes duly occupied the benches. The prayer was made fluently enough, and the reading of the sacred poetry was accomplished without any perceptible violence to the sentences. Then the divine plunged glibly into the delivery of his discourse, but, after rolling out a single paragraph, he hesitated, and at once fell over the fragments of a sentence and finally went back to his beginning again. This provoked a ripple of merriment, which was quickly subdued, when, after a little "scoring," his sermon got under headway again. He broke down a second time at the same place, and when he again went back to the commencement to re-form, it was amid something like a general laugh. He went on once more briskly enough till he readied the old pitfall, and there he floundered hopelessly for the third time. The laugh was general and hearty now. In a pause of it the speaker proceeded to say : " I have always believed that I could preach, and, being among strangers, I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity. It's the first time I ever tried it, and, ladies and gentlemen, I haven't done near as well as I expected." Thereupon he fished up his hat, and, quickly vanishing, was never again recognized in these parts.

In 1846, Elder Winchell, a clergyman of the Baptist style of doing things, arranged for a meeting in the village and secured for the occasion an apartment in the old hotel that then occupied the present site of the Fox House, and which ofi'ered about the only feasible place in the settlement for the public breaking of the bread of life. A few of the villagers gathered in to refresh their recollection of meeting as they had been accustomed to it before their removal to the frontier ; but the audience must have been very small indeed, as the residents of the entire hamlet then would not have made a corporal's guard. The minister made fair sailing with the preliminary exercises, and had just started in his discourse with some show even of listening on the part of his little congregation. All at once, however, their attention seemed diverted toward some object in the street and momentarily became more engaged. Presently one of the little company went softly out on tiptoe ; then another, and another, after which the balance of the flock stood not on the order of their going but went noiselessly out in a body, leaving the surprised minister entirely alone, and not yet advanced to the middle of his sermon* Bassett & Arnold had recently built a little store, which stood somewhere near the present location of Lenders & Krause's new block, and Bassett, who had been East for a stock of goods, had arrived that Sunday forenoon with a load of mixed merchandise, and his appearance with it in the streets was 80 great an event that it caused the stampede mentioned, and undoubtedly gave the preacher an experience entirely new in his ministry.

There is "a good one" told of J. T. Lewis, and it is worth preserving for posterity. Not long after his arrival in Columbus, the now ex-Governor was met near the place where he now resides, by E. Thayer and H. Cady. They had just wounded a deer, and the animal was over the hill using his best endeavors to escape. They were on foot and Mr. Lewis was mounted on his Indian pony, and they requested him to give pursuit and secure their venison. Now, it may be premised that he knew as little about the cervine quadruped as any man in these parts, but he gave chase. The difference in the speed of the pony and that of the wounded buck was hardly discernible, but the former gained slowly, and after a sharp run came alongside. The rider was at the moment perfectly guiltless of any weapons of offense or defense, and the buck had ugly antlers, a circumstance before unthought of, but Mr. Lewis unhesitatingly flung that physique which was subsequently to embellish the gubernatorial chair of Wisconsin, pronely upon the back of the running deer. It was a seat even more uncertain than the seat of power, and his future Excellency was precipitated several yards into the snow. He shook himself from his descent, and, bethinking himself of his pocket knife, followed on foot the now almost exhausted animal, and, after one or two ineffectual attempts, succeeded in dispatching the deer by stabbing him in the neck, and was himself completely covered with blood.

The national anniversary of our independence was first commemorated in Columbus in 1846. Most of the settlers for miles around were convened and expressed their patriotism without any reference to the conventionalities that came in later years. The country tavern which then stood on the present site of the Fox House, had been transferred by Mr. Whitney to a Mr. L. Thomas, and here the dance, indispensable at such a time, was held. In those days most of the settlers were young or unmarried men, and the gentler sex did not exist in the proportion in which they are now to be found. Partners were in demand, and all the wearers of petticoats were impressed into the service. Many of those who were noted for their grave and dignified deportment that year passed the night of the '2d decorating the hall, danced all night on the 3d, and spent the night of the 4th in genera! jollification. The portico of J. T. Lewis' little law office was the rostrum for the orator of the day, who was Mr. Lewis himself, and Dr. Axtell read the Declaration of Independence. The ordnance consisted of a couple of anvils, the one inverted on the other, and the martial music to stir the patriotic breast of the early residents included a fife and drum, the latter manipulated by A. P. Birdsey.

The first court ever held in Columbus was when the old district system obtained, and was presided over by Judge Alexander W. Stowe in the old schoolhouse. Judge C. H. Larrabee was elected for this district, but at the time had made an exchange. Judge Stowe was an old bachelor of rather an harmonious turn of mind, and several dry jokes are related concerning him. During the first term of the court, T. Clark Smith was Sheriff and H. A. Whitney was Deputy. In the first case that was tried the jury went out under the direction of the Deputy to a room in the Whitney House to make up their verdict. The deliberation extended into the night, and the jurors, becoming convinced they could not agree, suddenly dispersed through the window, despite all the efforts of the deputy.

It was at this same term of court that Judge Stowe fined a petit juror for contempt, to which judicial visitation the party punished replied promptly and cheerfully, "Fine and be d - d," whereupon the court "went and saw him" in a second mulct, which satisfied him.

The first proceedings in the Justice Court in Columbus was an action of assault and battery, wherein one Joseph Brown did do Bob Mills bodily harm contrary to law. He was tried before Squire Allen.

Josiah Arnold, now Mayor of Portage, was a Columbus pioneer. He was a Massachusetts boy, and his birthplace was among the hills of Berkshire. He came to Wisconsin in the spring of 1843, and located at Janesville, then a small settlement. In 1845, Arnold and D. E. Bassett, another Columbus pioneer, started business together at Janesville, and conducted it there for about a year. Thinking the demands of trade too fully met in Janesville, Arnold started northward on horseback, in August, 1845, to find a new location. He came by way of Lake Mills and Waterloo, and night overtook him about six miles south of the hamlet of Columbus.

He inquired at the double log house, which was then occupied by a man named Paddock, and which is on the farm now occupied by Cyrus Montgomery, if he could find accommodations for the night. The lady of the rude mansion, which was kept as a sort of hostelry, told him that he could, if he would take care of his own horse. He accordingly mowed the animal some feed from the lu.xuriant meadow of nature which grew close by the premises, and stabled him in the log barn, which was well built enough for those times, except that it was roofless and without doors. There was no intimation of supper that evening, but as Arnold had eaten late in the afternoon, he did not suffer in consequence of that omission. Stopping at the house at that time, was a bridal party which added to the interest of Arnold's first night in this part of Wisconsin. Mayor Fisk had recently been married to a daughter of Zenas Robbins, and as the course of true love was running very rough in his case, he had found it expedient to put some distance between him and his irretrievable father-in-law. He was a devotee of the violin, and he fiddled away the hours of his honeymoon there in the wilderness in careless happiness, as if he was the possessor of millions, instead of being penniless. Arnold at length grew drowsy under the influence of this indifferent execution of " Old Zip Coon," " The Arkansas Traveler," and other harmonies of that ilk, mixed with much billing and cooing, and was shown to bed without any light. During the night. Paddock returned home from Columbus in a condition the reverse of sober. The second floor was thin and full of cracks, and Arnold had the complete benefit)of the rough eloquence with which Mrs. Paddock assailed her lord for an hour or more on the enormity of going to Columbus and getting drunk, with a stranger in the house, the cows not come up, and not a mouthful for anybody to eat. When Arnold awoke the next morning, the light was shining full in his face through the rents in the roof, and a line of chickens were roosting calmly on a pole stretching across the room at right angles with his bed. The breakfast of which Arnold and the happy bride and groom partook that morning consisted of tea without milk or sugar, dry bread and Stewed tomatoes.

Arnold came into Columbus that day, and purchased the lot opposite the Fox House. 150 feet front, for $30 ; Bassett and Arnold built a store that fall, and went into business, though they did not remove all their goods from Janesville until the following spring. Arnold continued a resident of Columbus until the fall of 1851, when, having been elected Register of Deeds, he removed to Portage, where in 1853 he and "Bony " Fargo established themselves in the hardware business in what was known as the old Verandah Block. Fargo subsequently went to California, and is now one of the leading wholesale liquor dealers in San Francisco.

Travel Now And Thkn Ky H. D. Bath

One of our business men has pressing business in Milwaukee, and while yet the nocturnal darkness shadows his sleeping neighbors, he shakes himself from his slumbers and reaches the railroad depot. The quiet of that gloomy period that precedes daybreak by a couple of hours rests in all the surroundings, which look as if life or animation never fell upon or entwined them. It is the period when animal life is at its lowest ebb ; when the powers of darkness and of radiance are beginning a combat, the result of which will be a new day. He feels the depressing influence of the time, and half regrets the precipitancy that led to his taking an early train. But he waits drowsily for the coming conveyance, and perhaps, in the mean time draws a practical comparison as to the yielding of slumber between the hard benches of the waiting room and his own comfortable bed. There is a languor upon him that speaks of nature violated and the diminution of her sweet restorer, and he fi^lls into a troubled nap. Amid the dreams that flit across it, the carpet bag under his head seems gradually to assume Alpine altitude and ruggedness, and to produce a proportionate strain on the back of the neck. Presently, he catches an approaching rumble which suggests to his bewildered faculties the opening of an overture. Only half awakened, he reaches the platform and is in the midst of the glare of the great fiery eye of the advancing locomotive. Though expecting it, he cannot repress the momentary impression that it is a colossal living monster, glaring with accumulated life, as in passing its hot breath steams into his face. Amid the clanging of the warning bell, the shriekins; of the whistle, the grinding of the brakes, the multiplied rattle of wheels, the voices of the conductor, baggage-man and brakeman, the din of the gradual annihilation of trunks, words of good bye, the thud of the fuel falling into the tender to replenish the red-hot man of the engine, he takes his seat in the cushioned car and is soon wrapped in comfortable unconsciousness, and is passively gliding, at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, toward the coming morning and his place of destination. And who can indicate the magnificence of those unlockings of the eastern portals from the first purple flash that steals through the orient gate, when it is but half ajar to the full glory of the perfect day as it streams forth regardless of any barrier. Seen from a car platform with the pure fresh breeze rushing against the cheek, youth and health find an ecstacy in the situation that words do not express. Our traveler arrives in Milwaukee just as the first murmur of business has begun to rise from the busy metropolis. He breakfasts liberally and has a full half-day to attend to business before the next return train, taking which he is home again the same day at 5 o'clock, P. M.

This is the manner in which the people in Columbus now reach the chief city of the State; but some of our residents remember when travel was a thing far different. It was quite another afiair in 1844, when a visit to the county seat, then at Plover, was a hoi'seback pilgrimage of many days' duration, on which the solitary traveler guided his course through the wilderness ''by the blaze." We meet on our streets every day comparatively young men who went to Milwaukee from this (then) village with trams when the trip was a campaign of fourteen days through mud and rain and swamp and wood. The main route was by what is known as the old Government road, by the way of Lake Mills, Aztalan, and the junction of the Watertown and Aztalan roads, twelve miles east of Watertown, at which junction stood an old tavern that many have good reason for remembering well. Thence the road was to Summit, to within two miles of Oconomowoc, when the Watertown plank-road was reached. In particularly bad weather it was necessary to go around by the way of Whitewater, Palmyra and Waukesha. Men who were on the road in those days tell us of being stuck in the mud, and, after ineffectually laboring until nearly night to extricate their wagons, mounting a horse and going for assistance and being all the next day in getting back to them. Subsequently, travel went by way of Lowell, and not unfrequently it was a day's hard work to transport a load to that point. Gliding so easily across the country in these times, we do not realize how arduous was the travel in those days of the pioneers.