Dane County, Wisconsin - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 4 of those read), 1880 (part 2 of 4)

The few hundred people living at that time in Madison, and most of the lawyers attendant upon the court, then made their first acquaintance with Judge Miller. James D. Jenkins, the Deputy Marshal, was in attendance, and opened the court each day by proclamation. A seal was adopted. Two new rules were adopted in addition to the four previously established. Franklin J. Munger, of Potosi, and William N. Seymour, of Madison, were admitted to the bar of the court on the first day, and John Catlin and Nathaniel F. Hyer on the third day of the term. The other attorneys who appear to have been in attendance, are Francis J. Dunn, Thomas P. Burnett and William H. Banks, all from the southwestern portion of the Territory, as Mr. Burnett had become, in 1837, a resident of Grant County. H. N. Wells, who had been appointed by the Governor, Attorney General of the Territory on the 30th of the preceding March, was not present ; and the court made an order appointing Mr. Munger to act as Attorney General for the term. Mr. Burnett was for some reason re-appointed reporter. On the last day of the term, Mr. Catlin resigned the office of Clerk, and Simeon Mills, of Madison, was appointed to succeed him. He retained the ofiBce for only a single year, when he resigned It in favor of La Fayette Kellogg, who had acted as his deputy during' the year. Mr. Mills still survives as one of our leading citizens, after a life of varied public service and private enterprise, which will be found recorded elsewhere in this volume. Only two cases were decided upon the merits at this term, viz., Hunter v. The United States, and Rountree v. The United btates. In Judson v. Hindman and another, a writ of certiorari to a Justice of the Peace was dismissed on the ground that the court had no jurisdiction. Four other oases, viz.. Ward v. iTice, Johnson v. Wilson, Mills v. The United States and Towslev v. Turner, were dismissed for defects in the proceedings by which they were brought up. In each of the seven cases above named, a written opinion was filed ; but in only one of the last four (Ward v. Price) vras the decision ever reported. Two other cases were dismissed without any written opinion; while two (Arndt v. Allard and Porlier. Doty and Arndt v. Hogarthy) were continued.

The term for 1840, commenced on the 20th of July. The United States Marshal not being present in person or by deputy, Berry Haney was appointed crier. In the absence of the reporter on the first day, Don Alonzo J. Upham, Esq., of Milwaukee, was appointed reporter* but Mr. Burnett made his appearance the next day. The court sat three days in succession and then adjourned to the 10th of August. In default of any exact knowledge on the subject it may be conjectured that this adjournment was necessitated by the condition of the court-room the floor of which was apt to be inundated after a heavy rain. On the re-assembling of the court, Edward James, the United States Marshal, was in attendance. The reporter being again absent, Jonathan E. Arnold, of Milwaukee, was appointed reporter for the term. The court sat seven days at this adjourned session. On the last day, Monday, August 17, it adopted some regulations as to the fees of the Clerk, and nine rules in addition to the seven already established. The first record in naturalization in this court appears on the journal of July 21.

The following gentlemen were formally admitted to the bar of the court at this term : Thomas W. Sutherland, of Madison, and Ben C. Eastman, of Platteville, July 20 ; Wiram Knowlton, of Prairie du Chieu, July 21 ; Charles J. Learned, of Prairie duf Chien, and Lorenzo Janes, August 10 ; Edward V. Whiton, of Janesville, and John H. Tweedy, of Milwaukee, August 11, and Charles C. P. A.rndt, of Green Bay, August 15. Moses M. Strong, of Mineral Point, makes his first recorded appearance in the court on the first day of this term; Morgan L. Martin, of Green Bay, August 10 ; Mortimer M. Jackson, of Mineral Point, August 11 ; David Brigham, of Madison, on the 13th. There is no record, at this term or any other, of the formal admission of either of the four gentlemen last named, to the bar of the court ; but they continued from this time to be recognized and active members of that bar.

We naturally linger long over first things. In the history -of any civil institution, the first steps Seem of greatest interest, to the reverted glance of subsequent generations. But the Territorial Supreme Court had now struck its gait ; and its remaining record must be more briefly disposed of.

The records show the formal admission of the following gentlemen to the bar of the court after 1840 : In 1841, Alexander Botkin and Alexander P. Eield, both of Madison ; in 1842, James S. Baker, of Green Bay ; Alexander L. Collins, of Madison ; Edwin P. Oarr and Zelotes

B. Mayo ; in 1843, William P. Lynde, of Milwaukee ; Chauncey Abbott, of Madison, and Henry Waggoner ; in 1844, Isaac P. Walker and Levi Hubbell, both of Milwaukee; in 1845, Cyrus P. Hiller, of Sheboygan ; and in 1847, Ganem W. Washburn, of Oshkosh.

The following gentlemen, not already named above, appear from the records to have practiced at the bar of the court during the Territorial period : Parley Eaton (1841) ; Alexander W. Stow, David Noggle, H. B. Towslee, Marshall M. Strong, Warner Earle, Thomas Wright,

J. A. Bingham, S. P. Candee, 0. C. Pratt, David Taylor, T. 0. Howe, George B. Smith, Orsamus Cole, William R. Biddlecome, Charles M. Baker, Lyman Cowdery, 0. Cowdery, C. B. Jenkins, W. Bond and William C. Allen (1847). To these, Mr. Pinney adds, from his examination of the records, the following names, which have escaped my attention in the rapid exammation which I have made : Edward Elderkin and E. Estabrook, both of Elkhorn ; John Hustis, Daniel F. Kimball, Ilazen Cheney, Alexander W. Randall, of Waukesha ; Leonard P. Crary, of Oshkosh ; Walter W. Kellogg and Lewis Smith.

We have thus the names of over one hundred attorneys, who appear to have been recognized as members of the bar of our Territorial Supreme Court. Of this number, only a few attended the terms of the court with regularity or frequency. Taking the whole period together, the largest practitioners were Francis J. Dunn, Thomas P. Burnett, Moses M. Strong, Edward V. Whiton Horatio N. Wells, John Catlin, Alexander L. Collins, Jonathan E. Arnold, A. Hyatt Smith, James H. Knowlton, David Noggle, Levi Hubbell, Morgan L. Martin and Mortimer M. Jackson. Of the 131 cases in which decisions of this court are reported for the eleven years of its existence (less then half the number now reported for a single year), Mr Dunn appeared as attorney in 1844. From his admission in 1838 to the close of the period, he was a constant attendant upon and a leading practitioner in the court. Mr. Strong did not appear there until 1840 ; but, for the next five years, his practice at this bar was equal to that of Mr. Dunn. Afterwards, he became engaged in various public enterprises, which withdrew him to some extent from attendance upon the court. Franklin J. Munger, of Potosi, who was admitted at the opening of the term in 1839, and was very active during that term, disappears thereafter from view. Mr. H. N. Wells and Mr. Arnold were less frequent attendants upon the court in the later than in the earlier years of its existence. On the other hand, the practice of J. H. Knowlton, A. Hyatt Smith and Levi Hubbell, was chiefly in the latter half of the period. Besides these, we may name as well-known and frequent attendants upon the court from outside of Dane County, John H. Tweedy, and a little later William P. Lynde and Peter Yates, of Milwaukee ; William R. Smith and Parley Eaton, of Mineral Point, and Ben C. Eastman. A few others attended only one or two of the terms, who afterward rose to distinction in the State. Of the Dane County bar, besides Mr. Catlin and Mr. Collins, David Brigham, Alexander P. Field, Alexander Botkin, Julius T. Clark, Chauncey Abbott and J. Gillett Knapp all appeared in important cases. Mr. Brigham, whose name is first mentioned in the journal in 1840, died in 1843. The personal appearance and character of most of the gentlemen whom I have named as attending the court from other counties, were probably familiar to the citizens of Dane County, and especially of Madison.

During 1842, the Judges of the Court appear to have had a large amount of business in bankruptcy, of which the records of the court show little trace. On this point the following statements are made in a paper read before the Old Settlers' Club of Milwaukee, by Judge Andrew G. Miller, on the 4th of July, 1870 : " The second act of Congress to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States * * took effect from and after the Ist day of February, 1842. Jurisdiction of cases in bankruptcy being by the act conferred upon the Supreme^or Superior Courts of the Territories, the Supreme Court of this Territory discharged 300 petitioners out of 315. A majority of these had failed in business in the Eastern States, in consequence of the inflation of the currency and of speculations in 1836. It was estimated that the debts of those 300 bankrupts exceeded $2,000,000. The act largely increased the miles of travel and the judicial duties of the Judges who held their court in Sladison. They were empowered by the act to form the rules of their court in bankruptcy ; and to establish the fee bdl. Under the fee-bill of the Supreme Court in Bankruptcy, the fees in cases did not average $20. The act was repealed on the 3d of March, 1843."

The decisions of the court to the close of the term of 1840 were prepared by Mr. Burnett, and published in 1841 by the direction of the Legislature (as an appendix to a volume containing the acts of a special and a regular session of the Legislature), from the press of W. W. Wyman, lit Madison. The decisions of 1842 and 1843 were published by Mr. Burnett in a separate volume m 1844, from the press of George Hyer, at Madison. la the winter of 1844-45, and again the succeeding winter, Mr. Burnett was in the Territorial Legislature as a member of the House of Representatives from Grant County. He was then elected a delegate to the first wnst^utional Convention, which met at Madison October 5, 1846. He had removed, in 1837 , uom Frairie du Chien to Cassville, the temporary seat of justice of Grant County, but had suDsequently removed to a farm on the old military road between Forts Crawford and Winneago. Which he had selected and embellished with taste and care for his permanent home, and to t which he had given the name of " The Hermitage." Field, garden and lawn were already taking shape under his eye and hand ; and a dwelling of stone was already planned to take the place of the comfortable log house which he had erected for temporary use. At this place he had been confined by disease for some months before the meeting of the Constitutional Convention. He was unable to take his seat in that body until October 14, and even then he was probably too much enfeebled for the severe draft which membership of such a body would naturally make upon a man of his active brain, accustomed to be a leader of men. On October 25, he was recalled to his home by intelligence of the alarming illness of his wife from typhoid fever. A wagon-ride of eighty-five miles, commenced after an exhaustive day's work, brought him to his home, only to be himself struck down by the fever. , Himself, his wife and his aged mother, who had recently come from Kentucky to spend her last days with him, lay prostrate with the same disease, " under the same roof and within hearing of each other." The mother died on the 1st of November, the husband and the wife ort the 5th ; and on the 7th of that month, when the evening shadows fell on " The Hermitage," the bodies of the three reposed side by side, " in a beautiful grove at the head of the garden," in a spot which the owner had chosen as the burying place of his family.*

The very first reported case determined by the Supreme Court of the State was one involving an alleged nuncupative will of the late reporter of the Territorial Court. At a later stage of the cause, Judge Hubbell, in delivering the opinion of the court, said : " The members of this court hold in cherished recollection the character and public services of the late Thomas P. Burnett. His high standing as a member of the bar, his position as reporter of the late Supreme Court, his ability and influence as a legislator and statesman, and especially his amiable private character, have induced a more than usually careful examination of this case."

At the time of his death, Mr. Burnett " had prepared abstracts of the cases and briefs of all causes which had been argued and decided up to the close of the July term, 1846," and to these rough notes Mr. Pinney acknowledges his obligations in the preparation of the first volume of the valuable series of Supreme Court reports edited by him and published in 1872.

The last term of the Territorial Supreme Court was held in July, 1847. On the 29th of May, 1848, Wisconsin became a State, and a new period began in her judicial and political history. None of the Judges of the Territorial Court were afterward connected with the State judiciary. Chief Justice Dunn held his last term as Judge of the First District at Mineral Point, in October, 1848. That district had been, during the greater part of his period of service, the most populous of the three, and had furnished the greatest amount of litigation. One who knew him long and intimately has said : " The duties of the Judge were exceedingly onerous, but they were discharged with ability, fidelity and integrity, and a dignity and grace which won for him an immense popularity and made him the idol of his bar."")"

While still upon the bench. Judge Dunn was elected a delegate from La Fayette County to the Second Constitutional Convention, which assembled at Madison in the summer of 1848 ; was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and is said to have " possessed a commanding influence " in the convention. He was a member of the State Senate from 1853 to 1856, both inL.usive, and was a member of the Judiciary Committee of that body during the whole four years, and its chairman until 1856, when, the majority of the Senate being of the political party opposed to his own, he was succeeded in the chairmanship by David Taylor.

" Upon the establishment of the State Courts, Judge Dunn devoted himself to the practice of law, which he continued up to his death. A portion of the ^ime, he kept an ofiice in Mineral Point, but his residence was at Belmont, where hewas generally to be found when not engaged in court, and where consultations with clients were generally had. He was well educated in the classics, and was an excellent English scholar. His professional education had been thorough and complete. * * * He added to his scholastic and professional acquirements a very remarkable knowledge of human character and of the reasons and causes that ordina.ily influ-

* The facts above stated concerning Mr. Burnett are derived chiefly from an interesting sketch of his life by his father-in-law, i« Alfred Brunson, of Prairie du Chien, found in the second volume of the Collections of the State Historical Society. tMoses M. Strong, 30 Wis., 25.

ence human conduct. These acquirements, in connection with the reputation he so generally and 80 deservedly had for candor and integrity, personal and professional, gave him unbounded influence with juries and made him a most successful practitioner."

Judge Dunn died at Mineral Point on the 7th of April, 1872, being then in his seventythird year. His portrait, admirably painted by James R. Stuart from a photograph, is associated with those of the late Chief Justice Whiton and the late Judge Byron Paine upon the walls of the Supreme Court room, to which they furnish the chief and the most appropriate embellishment.*

When his functions as Judge of the Territorial Supreme Court ceased, Judge Irvin removed, first to St. Louis, and afterward to Texas. We are told that in the latter State he invested the accumulated savings of his ofiScial life in wild cotton lands, and became wealthy ; and that, during the rebellion, he espoused the cause of the South. He died, apparently, in the early part oi 1872. "But a little while ago," said Mr. Ryan, in his very striking remarks upon the death of Judge Dunn, " we read of the death, in a place far distant, of Judge Irvin, one of the first Territorial Judges of Wisconsin. After a long absence, perhaps a long forgetfulness, his death called up the past to many of us, like the ghost of our earlier lives. But he was only a Territorial officer, who filled his ofiice respectably amongst us, and left us when his ofiice expired. Respectable in all his relations, kind in heart and life, he came and left us as a Territorial functionary ; was a stranger among us, and had little part in the lot of the early settlers of Wisconsin. Peace be with him.'

On the 12th of June, 1848, Judge Andrew G. Miller was appointed by President Polk to be District Judge of the United States for the District of Wisconsin ; and he held this position until January 1, 1874, when, in the seventy-third year of his age, he retired after an almost continuous judicial service of more than thirty-five years. He had retained his ofiBce and performed full service therein for two years after reaching the age at which the laws of the United States would have permitted him to retire with continuance of salary. On the day when he resigned his commission, in notifying the President of the Milwaukee Bar Association of the fact, he wrote : " I am the oldest Federal Judge in commission, and the sole surviving Judge who administered the Bankrupt Act of 1841. As Judge of the Territorial Supreme Court, I attended its annual terms at Madison, and held the District Courts in the Third District of the Territory (which, before the admission of the State into the Union, was composed of nine counties), and also the terms of the District Court as Judge of the United States, without missing a term from sickness or any other cause." He added that the infirmities of age could not even then be pleaded as an excuse for his resigning, but that, after passing fifty-four years of his life in the law, as student, member of the bar and Judge, he hoped that his retirement in the evening of his days would Be approved. A few months afterward, on the 30th of September, 1874, Judge Miller died at his home in Milwaukee. In respect to the manner in which he discHarged his duties as a Federal Judge, there were unquestionably wide differences of opinion and feeling among the people and the bar of Wisconsin ; though all appear to concede to him professional learning, great mdustry and entire integrity in the ordinary sense of that term. " For the greatness of his office," says Chief Justice Ryan, " for the remarkable length of his official life, for the public importance of his administration, for the vast aggregate of his official labors, few Judges have a higher claim to eminence. * * * Judge Miller's intellect was less remarkable than hia character. It had nothing brilliant or attractive in it. Its quality was sagacious, not proround ; deliberate, not quick ; it was respectable rather than remarkable, and was always subordinate to his character. He was a man of firm, resolute, persistent nature ; patient and steadfast ; self-reliant, reserved and unsympathetic. His temper was calm and impassive ; his disposition undemonstrative. His feelings and passions were deep, and rarely manifest on the surface. "^''^ ^^^ nothing impulsive or emotional in his constant and sedate constitution. His moral

Icaaes mL^°!i'^° the Supreme Court relative to the death of Jud?e Dunn (30 Wis., 2M0), including the interesting, and, in some sketch tharaSnl, S'""'''^ of Moses M. Strong, Mr. (now Chief Justice) Ryan, Ueoree B. Smith and Judge Cole. To the biographical «oti of the portrS f J d' f?"^ -"<'«'"8'' for most of the facta here stated. See also the proceedings in the same court on the presenta- sense was just, but not broad or generous. He had great self-esteem, and great faith in his own opinions, often rather instinctive than philosophical. He was inflexible in all his convictions and steadfast in all his conduct. He was a self-centered and self-contained man, who yielded nothing for applause, and was never visibly affected by censure. He had little quality of attraction ; little habit of conciliation. The world could have little appreciation of .such a man ; little comprehension of the principles and motives of his life ; little sympathy with him ; little toleration of his course, where it conflicted with its interest or offended its sense, And so men's criticisms of his judicial administration were sometimes severe and angry, not to say vindictive. But he appeared to heed nothing of these ; and kept his way, guided by his own lights. He may Have felt censure, but he made no sign. * * * Think as men may of his administration, there was something grand in the lonely self-reliance and steadfastness of the man, which none can fail to admire. * * * There was a long period when he exercised great power; and, by no fault of his, his power was practically irresponsible. This was at least as great a misfortune to him as it could well be to others. But he did not so regard it. His love of power probably led him to enjoy it the more because it was irresponsible. And so it happened that men often denounced the power and impeached the exercise of it. Such animadversions tended rather to harden than to soften such a man. If they had any effect upon him, Ijhey drove him on his way, not checked him in it. He had a high sense of authority, perhaps an overweening one. Had he been Chief Justice of England, tempore Gascoigne, policy, not defective sense of dignity or power, might have spared the heir apparent of the throne from commitment for contempt. And so, regardless of all outcry, he held his own way. And so he appeared to others arbitrary, when he was only true to his own sense of the duty and dignity of Jiis ofllce. * * * Judge Miller could not but take his personal character with him on the bench, and such a character could not fail largely to influence his judicial administration. * * * Mistakes and errors he doubtless committed. * * * Some of these were judicial errors, mistaken conclusions of law or fact, the common infirmity of all Judges. Some were undoubtedly owing to the peculiar constitution of his court, and his habit of independent, almost absolute authority ; some to the idiosyncrasies of the man ; and some to a complication of these causes. It would be unjust to Judge Miller's memory to ignore the criticisms which his administration encountered. They were open and notorious. And the memory of them has not passed away. His court was sometimes denounced asa judiciitl despotism, tyrannous, partial and oppressive. These criticisms did not spare the personal character of the Judge. So far as they affected him, they were founded on imperfect consideration, and were indiscriminating and unjust. * * * Judge Miller's notions of the rights of property were very high ; unduly so, I think. They betrayed him into a leaning toward all prima-facie creditors ; and so his court was called a plaintiffs' court. But the same bias led him, in actions of ejectment, to lean toward persons in possession under color of title. And thus in real actions his court was as much a defendants court as a plaintiffs' in actions ex contractu ; both upon a single prepossession, of which there was little or no recognition. And so his steady, passionless prejudice of character encountered, provoked if you will, a violent and passionate prejudice against him, which was unjust, which exaggerated and discolored his errors, and imputed errors which he did not .commit. * * Few living members of the bar practiced longer before Judge Miller than myself, and few are less open to suspicion of being influenced by favor to his memory. And I am happy to bear witness to my own belief, founded, I think, on thorough knowledge of the man and his admmistration, that Judge Miller left the bench without a sense of willful wrong done upon it."

By the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin, and the acts of the first Legislature, provision was made for the first Supreme Court of the State, as follows : The State was divided into five judicial circuits, of which the First comprised Racine, Walworth, Rock and Green Counties; the Second, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson and Dane; the Third, Washington, Dodge, Columbia, Marquette, Sauk and Portage; the Fourth, Brown, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Calumet; and the Fifth, Iowa, La Fayette, Grant, Crawford and St. Croix, and three new counties attached to some of these for judicial purposes. The Legislature was, how- ever authorized to alter the limits or increase the number of the circuits, with certain restrictions. The qualified electors in each circuit were to elect a Judge for the circuit, who should reside therein after his election. The Circuit Courts, to be held by these Judges in each county, were the courts of most general original jurisdiction throughout the State, and had, also, appellate jurisdiction from the inferior courts. The Constitution further provided for a Supreme Court having appellate jurisdiction only, except in a few specified cases. It then provided that, for the term of five years, and thereafter until the Legislature should otherwise provide, the Judges of the several Circuit Courts should be Judges of the Supreme Court, four of whom should constitute a quorum ; atnd that the concurrence of a majority of those present should be necessary to a decision. Another provision was, that the Supreme Court should hold at least one term annually at the seat of government, at such time as should be provided by law ; and , that the Legislature might provide for holding other terms at other places when they might deem it necessary.

The first election of Circuit Judges was held on the first Monday of August, 1848, and the following persons were chosen, the numbers indicating the several circuits : First, Edward V. Whiton ; Second, Levi Hubbell ; Third, Charles H. Larrabee ; Fourth, Alexander W. Stow ; Fifth, Mortimer M. Jackson. By law, the terms of the several Judges first elected were to be such that one should go out at the close of two years, and one each year thereafter, while those elected to fill the several vacancies thus created were to hold, each, for a term of six years. The short term fell by lot to Judge Stow. The Legislature having erected a sixth circuit, consisting of Crawford, Chippewa, Bad Axe, Black River, St. Croix and La Pointe, Wiram Knowlton was elected Judge thereof, on the first Monday in July, 1850, and took his seat in the Supreme Court at the December term in that year. Judge Stow, having refused a re-election, was succeeded as Judge of the Fourth Circuit in January, 1851, by T. 0. Howe, who first took his seat in the Supreme Court at the June term, 1851. Judge Hubbell's first term expired in January, 1852, but he was re-elected. No other changes occurred in the composition of the court during its brief existence in this form of organization.

On the expiration of Judge Stow's term, January 3, 1852, Judge Jackson was chosen Chief Justice, but resigned on the same day, and Judge Whiton was thereupon chosen, and retained the position until the court in that form was superseded by a new organization, in June, 1853. r . s ,

J. R. Brigham was aippointed the first Clerk of this court, and, upon his resignation, to go into the practice of the law at Milwaukee, S. W. Beall was appointed on the 12th of December, 1849 ; and he immediately appointed La Fayette Kellogg his Deputy.

Daniel H. Chandler, Esq., of Milwaukee, was the reporter of the first Supreme Court of the State, and published its reports in four volumes, averaging 292 pages each. These volumes, covering four years, contain 157 cases. The court expired by law on the 1st day of June, 1853 ; but It held no term after the December term, 1852.

So rapid was the growth of population and business in the State, that a Supreme Appellate Court composed of nisi-prius Judges soon ceased to be able to perform satisfactorily the various duties imposed upon its members. But the Constitution authorized the Legislature to provide nl- f°T^^"'^**'°"' **"'®'" ^^^ ^^P^® °^^^® y^^""^' °^ * "separate Supreme Court," to consist of a thief Justice and two Associate Justices, who should be elected " by the qualified electors of the btate, ' and should be so classified that but one should go out of office at any one time, and whose full term of office should be six years. By Chapter 395 of 1852, the Legislature exercised the power thus conferred; and, since June 1, 1853, the State has had a Supreme Court nnaer the new form of organization, though the number of Judges and the length of the term nave since been increased by constitutional amendment. This court differs from that of the particular circuit. And it diifers from both in that its members have no judicial duties other than those which belong to the Supreme Court itself. Under the Territorial Government, the three Judges of the Supreme Court were, by virtue of that office. Judges of the District Courts. Under the first State organization of the judiciary, the persons elected Circuit Court Judges in their several circuits were ex officio members of the Supreme Court. Under the existing organization, the Judges have no function as Circuit District or Judges.

The first Judges of the new organization, elected on the last Monday of September, 1852 were Edward V_. Whiton, of Janesville, Chief Justice, and A. D. Smith, of Milwaukee, and Samuel Crawford, of Mineral Point, Associate Justices. The term of Judge Crawford expired on the last day of May, 1855, when he was succeeded by Orsamus Cole, of Platteville. Chief ^Justice Whiton was his own successor on the 1st of June, 1857, and retained his seat until his death, in April, 1859, deprived the State of i^e of its most useful and distinguished citizens. He was succeeded by Luther S. Dixon, of Portage City, as Chief Justice. Byron Paine succeeded Judge A. D. Smith, June 1, 1859, and from that date until the lamented death of Judge Paine in January, 1871, the court consisted of Chief Justice Dixon and Justices Cole and Paine, except during an interval of nearly three years (from November 15, 1864, to September 11, 1867), following upon the resignation of Judge Paine to take a command in a regiment of Wisconsin infantry in the war of the rebellion. During that interval, his place was filled by Jason Downer. On the death of Judge Paine, William P. Lyon, of Racine, succeeded him ; and, on the resignation of Judge Dixon, on the 17th of June, 1874, Edward G. Ryan, of Milwaukee, succeeded to the office of Chief Justice. By an amendment of the constitution, adopted in 1877, the Legislature was required to provide for the election of two additional Associate Justices ; and Harlow S. Orton, of Madison, and David Taylor, of Fond du Lac, were elected in the spring of 1878 ; the provision as to terms being such that the term of the former will expire on the first Monday of January, 1888, and that of the latter on the corresponding day in 1886, while the term of Judge Lyon will expire in January, 1884, and that of the Chief Justice in January, 1882. Judge Cole, whose term expired in January, 1880, was re-elected in the spring of 1879. His term and that of all the Judges to be hereafter elected is fixed by the constitutional amen'.. ment at ten years.

As we have seen. La Fayette Kellogg had been Deputy Clerk of the Territorial Supreme Court from July 18, 1839; had been appointed its Clerk August 11, 1840 ; and had retained that office until the dissolution of the court. After an interval of ill health, he had become Deputy Clerk of the First Supreme Court of the State December 12, 1851, and had been " virtually the Clerk of the Court until its re-organization." When the court was re-organized, June 1, 1853, he was appointed its Clerk, and he retained the office until his death, June 4, 1878. His long, faithful and skillful service was fully recognized by the court and bar.* On the 11th of June, 1878, he was succeeded by his son and previous Deputy, Clarence Kellogg.

The first eleven volumes of the reports of the court under the new organization bear the name of A. D. Smith, one of its Associate Justices, as reporter. Some of the earlier of them were, in fact, prepared and passed through the press by that accomplished and able jurist, Others, of later date, are understood to have been prepared, and their publication supervised, by other gentlemen at Judge Smith's request. Early in 1861, Philip L. Spooner, Esq., of Madison, was appointed reporter by the court, and he published Volumes 12 to 15. In 1864, he resigned the office to resume the practice of the law, and was succeeded by O. M. Conover, Esq., of Madison. The whole number of volumes containing the reports of the court under its present organization is forty-eight, and at the time of this writing sufficient matter has accumulated to make the forty-ninth. The number of reported cases for the twenty-seven years may be estimated at about five thousand. In consequence of the destruction of a great number of volumes of the reports by the great fire in Chicago in 1871, the first twenty-two volumes were republished by Messrs. Callaghan & Co., of that city, under authority of the Legislatui e ; Volumes 3 and 5 with annotations by Chief Justice Dixon ; the remainder of the first twenty volumes annotatd bv Messrs. Vilas & Bryant ; and Volumes 21 and 22 without notes. While these reports have been published for many years by the firm above named, they have for the most part been printed in Madison, and have furnished a nucleus for a considerable and valuable business in book printing and binding in this city. The whole set, and the three volumes edited between 1872 and 1876 by S. U. Pinney, Esq., containing the decisions of the Territorial period and those by the first State organization, have been stereotyped, and the plates are preserved in the capitol.

Judge Cole was, perhaps, the first of the Judges of the Supreme Court who transferred his residence permanently to the capital. Since the summer of 1859, all the Justices have, upon their election, made Madison their home, except Jason Downer ; and that learned and able Judge, finding it inconvenient to abandon his residence in Milwaukee, felt compelled to resign his position on the bench after a brief service.

All the terms of the State Supreme Court, except two, have been held in Madison. By Chiipter 49 of 1868, the Legislature provided for holding three terms annually - a February term at Madison, a June term at Milwaukee, and an October term at Oshkosh. The June and October terms were h.eld, as thus provided, during 1868 ; but the arrangement was found to be excessively inconvenient to the court and its officers, with no compensating advantages, and the act was repealed in March, 1869.

Of the Judges who have from time to time composed the court under the State Government, all but Stow, Hubbell, Whiton, Crawford and Paine still survive.*

To this hasty outline of the history of the court, it would be a pleasant task to add sketches of the eminent men who have sat upon the bench of the court, or at least some notice of the public life and character of each of the honored dead. It would be interesting, too, to speak of the lawyers, many of them learned and able, and some of them distinguished by very great forensic talent, who have practiced at the bar of the court. Interesting would it be, also, to notice some of the great controversies carried on before the court and determined by its judgment, which have arrested the attention of the whole State, and marked epochs, perhaps, in its civil growth. Still more interesting to me, and more instructive, perhaps, would it be to follow the line of juridical development in legislative enactment and forensic discussion and judicial decision, during all the years since the first Legislature and the first Supreme Court of Wisconsin met in those little rooms at Belmont, until the present day, when almost every civil and business interest is regulated by statutes or decisions of native growth, inspired or tested by Wisconsin necessities, criticised and modified by Wisconsin intellect ; when our own reports furnish the sources of argument and authority and the means of solution for almost every legal question raised in our courts ; and when the laws and judicial decisions of Wisconsin, a State hardly one-third of a century old, exert a controlling influence over the juridical life of great States and Territories of still later growth, stretching from the Mississippi to the Pacific. But the theme is as large and difficult as it is fascinating ; and the limits of time and space alike forbid me to attempt it here.

Territorial District Court and State Qircuit Court. - The act establishing the Territorial government of Wisconsin provided for the division of the Territory into three judicial districts, and for the holding of a district court by one of the Justices of the Supreme Court in each distoct, two terms in each year in each organized county in the district. The three Justices were Charles Dunn, David Irwin and William C. Frazer. By an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved November 15, 1836, the counties of Brown and Milwaukee were constituted the Third District, and assigned to Justice Frazer ; the counties of Crawford and Iowa the First District, and assigned to Chief Justice Dunn. As, at that date, what is now the county of Dane was then portions of the counties of Milwaukee and Iowa, it was, of course, in both the Third and First districts. However, there being no population at that time in what is now Dane County, except aliM E« 1°? named; and it is doubtful whether any adequate memorials of them, or of Judge Whiton, exist in print. lawyer or indeo h«i .h '° ""o Printer, viz., on the 19th of October, 1880, Chief Justice Eyan joined the number of the dead. No greater VoL I of Uie T*^ °" "'' ""e in Wisconsin. A proper notice of his life and character wiU doubtless be found prefixed to urn nisconsin Keports when that volume shall appear.

in that part which then formed a portion of Iowa County, the Blue Mound region and that if the Four Lakes was, judicially considered, a part of the last-mentioned county - that is, it was practically and in fact, in the First Judicial District. Nor was this state of things changed by the formation, in December following, of Dane County ; as the latter was attached to Iowa County for judicial purposes and so remained until its orjijanization in 1839. By the statutes of Wisconsin Territory of that year, the counties of Walworth, Rock, Green and Dane, were made the Second Judicial District, to which Justice Irvin was assigned. To this district Dane County belonged until Wisconsin was admitted into the Union as a State. In 1840, Sauk County was formed, and attached to Dane for judicial purposes, where it remained until 1844 when it was detached and organized into a county by itself. So, also, of Portage County, which, in 1841, was for judicial purposes attached to Dane, and so remained until 1844.

The first term of the District Court of the United States in Dane County began Monday, October 7, 1839, David Irvin, Judge of the Second Judicial District of Wisconsin Territory, presiding. The first action of the court was the appointment of Simeon Mills as Clerk, to hold his oifice during the pleasure of the court. The Sheriff, Nathaniel T. Parkinson, returned a venire with the names of the following persons summoned as Grand Jurors on part of the Territory : Prescott Brigham, William T. Sterling, Henry Fake, Horace Lawrence, George Vroman, Jonathan Lyman, Jr., Almon Lull, George H. Slaughter, Berry Haney, Mahlon Blaker, Augustus A. Bird, John C." Kellogg, William B. Long, Isaac Atwood, Robert L. Ream, Isaac H. Palmer, William Wyman, Josiah A. Noonan, John Stoner, David Hyer, Prosper B. Bird and Ebenezer Brigham. Of the number so returned, the following-named persons appeared on the first day of the term and were sworn on the part of the Territory : Augustus A. Bird, George H. Slaughter, Jonathan Lyman, Jr., William T. Sterling, Horace Lawrence, George Vroman, Robert L. Ream, Isaac H. Palmer, William W. Wyman, Henry Fake, Josiah A. Noonan, Prosper P. Bird, Isaac Atwood, Almon Lull, David Hyer and John Stoner. George ff. Slaughter was appointed foreman.

On motion of Moses M. Strong, United States Attorney for the Territory, a venire was issued to the Marshal of the Territory, for a grand jury on the part of the United Stales. Thereupon the Marshal returned the same names as those who were sworn on part of the Territory. The same person was appointed foreman. The second day of the term, the grand jury reported that they "had no further business before them on the part of the United States," and, as such, were discharged. George H. Slaughter received pay, in addition to his per diem allowance, for fourteen miles travel - coming from and returning to his home - and Horace Lawrence for sixteen miles travel. After this, Ebenezer Brigham, Prescott Brigham and Mahlon Blaker,- who were called to answer for their contempt in. not appearing as grand jurors on the first day of the term, appeared in court and purged themselves of contempt. Thereupon, on motion of John Catlin, District Attorney, they were severally sworn as grand jurors..

The Marshal, on the same day of the term, returned into court a venire with the names of the following persons summoned to attend as petit jurors on the part of the United States: Wilson D. Spaulding, Richard H. Palmer, Peter W. Matts, Hiram C. Fellows, JohnT. Wilson, William Hoadley, Charles H. Bird, Charles Lawrence, Darwin Clark, Jairus S. Potter, William Webb, James A. Hill, Charles S. Peaslee, William G. Van Bergen, Jonathan Taylor, Thomas Jackson, Jonathan Butterfield, William M. Seymour, Thomas Perry and Adam Smith. There being no business, the jury were discharged. Charles Lawrence, besides his per diem allowance, was also paid for sixteen miles travel, and Charles S. Peaslee for ten miles.

On the third day of the term the grand jury for the Territory, came into court and presented an indictment against " one Scoville, a fisherman," for erecting " across a certam stream of water," in Dane County, "commonly called the outlet of the Fourth Lake, a dam, to prevent the passage of fish." A "nolle" was entered in this case at the May term, 1841. On the same day another indictment was found by the grand jury against one of the c'tizens of the counj, for fornication. The jury were then discharged. The indictment was quashed at the August term, 1840.

On the fourth day of the term, the Sheriff returned into court a venire, with the names of the persons served by him as petit jurors on the part of the Territory - being the same as those summoned on the part of the United States. There being no business for this jury, they were

The first civil suit, at this term of the court, upon the docket, was one in assumpsit, brought by " Lester H. Cotton and Henry Fake vs. Almon Lull." On motion of the plaintiffs, by their attorney, William N. Seymour, the cause was dismissed at their costs. There was a number of other cases disposed of during this term of the court.

The attorneys in attendance at the first term of the United States District Court of Dane County, were John Catlin, Thomas W. Sutherland and William N. Seymour, residents of Madison; Moses M. Strong, William R. Smith and Parley Eaton, from Mineral Point; J. E. Arnold, from Milwaukee, and Edward V. Whiton, from Janesville.

Upon the admission of Wisconsin into the Union as a State, it was divided into five Judicial Circuits. In the Second Circuit were four counties, one of which was Dane. On the first Monday of August, 18-18, Levi Hubbell was elected Judge of this circuit. Judge Hubbell commenced the first term of the Dane County Circuit Court on the 25th of September, 1848. On that day the attorneys admitted to practice in that court were Thomas W. Sutherland, Chauncy Abbott, Ira W. Bird, George B. Smith, I. G. Knapp, William Welch, Alexander L. Collins, Julius T. Clark, Henry A. Lambert, John Catlin, Alexander Botkin and N. F. Hyer. The first case disposed of was one in assumpsit - " Abijah Perry vs. Albin Blood." This case was dismissed at plaintiff's costs. Singularly enough, this suit was of the same nature as the one first disposed of by the District Court of the county, and precisely the same disposition was made of it as of that case.

On the 29th of September, 1851, Judge Hubbell was re-elected for the full term of six years as Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit, to commence January 1, 1852. Dane County continued in that circuit until January 1, 1855, when, by the law of April 1, 1854, it passed into the Ninth Judicial Circuit, in which it has since remained. As the last-mentioned circuit was a new one, created for the counties of Dane, Sauk and Jefferson, a new Judge had to be chosen. The choice of the electors fell upon Alexander L. Collins, who was elected on the 4th Monday of September, 1854. He went into office January 1, 1855, but on the 19th day of August, 1858, he resigned. On the 5th of September following, Luther S. Dixon was appointed in his place until a successor was elected and qualified. Before the next April election, however, Judge Dixon resigned, being elevated to the Supreme Bench, and Harlow S. Orton was elected Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, to fill out the full term for which Judge Collins was elected, which expired December 31, 1860. On the 3d day of April, 1860, Judge Orton was elected for a full term of six years, but he resigned January 28, 1865, when Alva Stewart was appointed to hold until the next April election. In April, 1865, Judge Stewart was elected to fill out the full term of Judge Orton, which expired December 31, 1866. In April, 1866, he was again elected, this time for a full term of six years, which began January 1, 1867, and ended December 31, 1872. In April, 1872, he was re-elected for a full term, commencing January 1, 1873, and to end December 31, 1878. However, on April 2, 1877, upon the increase of the Ninth Judicial Circuit by the addition of three counties - Juneau, Adams and Marquette - Judge Stewart resigned, but was appointed, on the 5th of the same month, as his own successor, to fill out his full term. In April, 1878, he was re-elected for another full term of six years, which commenced January 1, 1879, and will end December 31, 1884.

Municipal Court of Dane Oounty. - At the organization of the city of Madison, in 1856, a W' k 9?^^'' ^*s provided for, with exclusive jurisdiction of all criminal cases witliin the city. With this exception, the jurisdiction of this court was no greater than that of a Justice of the reace. The first Police Justice elected under this act was A. B. Braley, who held that oflfice lor three successive terms of two years each. In the spring of 1862, Calvi Aunsnorth succeeded to the office, which he held for one term, or until the spring of 1864, when J. M. Flower was elected to the office. In 1866, Judge J. R. Baltzell was elected, and filled the office for three terms, or until the spring of 1872, when Judge Braley was again chosen without opposition to fill the place. During this term, the Supreme Court having decided that police courts coulij exercise no greater Territorial jurisdiction than the municipalities which elected them, the Legislature of 1874 provided for a Municipal Court, the Judge of which was to be elected by the voters of the whole county. To this important place, Judge A. B. Braley was elected without opposition, in the spring of 1874, for a term of six years. In 1875, the jurisdiction of the court was greatly enlarged in criminal matters, and made concurrent with that of the Circuit Court in all respects save the crime of murder. At this re-organization of the court, in which it was erected into a court of record, with clerk and seal, A. E. Pettingell was appointed clerk, and still holds the place, the duties of which he has discharged with great efficiency and fidelity, and to the satisfaction of all who have had business with the court. In the spring of 1880, Judge Braley was re-elected to the office of Municipal Judge in a second term. Up to May, 1880, the compensation of boih Judge and Clerk was derived through fees in each case ; but, in the winter of 1880, the Legislature passed an act providing for a salary for the office. This was fixed at $3,000 per annum, out of which the Clerk is to be paid. One-third of this salary is paid by the city, and two-thirds by the county. All fees taxed and collected are paid into the treasury toward the salary. The Municipal Court has proved itself to be a very efficient instrumentality both in the punishment and prevention of crime. Since its organization, crime has greatly diminished, especially in the city of Madison, The certainty and speediness of punishment, in a court which is open every day, exercises a wholesome and restraining influence on those disposed to violate the law.

The Municipal Court of Dane County is the only court in the State which carries out to the very letter that provision of the constitution which gives to all a speedy public trial on criminal charges. This court also saves much in criminal expenses to the county. Prisoners, instead of waiting for months in jail for the Circuit Court, can be tried at once. Besides the saving in board of prisoners, the expenses of a trial in the Municipal Court are very much less than in the Circuit Court. In the latter court, there is a jury of thirty-six, at $2 per day, while in the former, the jury consists of twelve men, in each case, at $1 per day. Besides these items, officers' and witnesses' fees are also very much less in the Municipal than in the Circuit Court. Since the organization of the Municipal Court, with its enlarged jurisdiction, in 1875, it has tried and disposed of about 125 cases, which otherwise would have been sent to the Circuit Court for trial. About four-fifths of these have resulted in convictions of the prisoners, and been followed by sentences for longer or shorter terms at hard labor in the State Prison, the longest sentence being for eleven years, and the shortest six months.

County Court. - County Courts were established in this State by Chapter 86 of the Revised Statutes of 1849 ; and the jurisdiction and powers previously exercised by Probate Courts, were, by said Chapter 86, transferred to the county courts. Civil jurisdiction, to a limited extent, was vested in County Courts by the act establishing them, but such civil jurisdiction was soon after taken away.

By Chapter 76, of the laws of 1858, the jurisdiction of the County Court for Dane County was increased, and jurisdiction conferred in actions founded on contract, and some other matters in controversy, where the amount claimed did not exceed $5,000. That act, however, was repealed in 1863, since which time the County Court of Dane County has exercised only probate jurisdiction.

At the election in April, 1857, D. 0. Bush was elected to fill an unexpired term, and S. H. Roys was elected for the full term commencing next thereafter. The latter died before the commencement of the term for which he was elected.

Eight of the Judges are deceased, to wit : Albert W. Parris, Alexander Botkin, William W. Wyman, Jesse A. Clark, Daniel B. Sneeden, John Catlin, S. H. Roys and N. B. Eddy. The other eight are living.

The first estate administered, as shown by the records, was the estate of Zen as H. Bird. Letters were granted by Judge Wyman to Ira W. Bird June 1, 1843.

The first book of records contains 490 pages, and contains all Probate proceedings from the first oflScial act of Judge Palmer, June 26, 1840, to the 2d day of March, 1853. The record books proper, of Probate proceedings, now number forty-four, made of medium paper, and each containing about 600 pages.

Norwegian Lutheran Seminary

This institution is located in Madison. It is owned and supported by the Norwegian Lutheran Synod, founded in 1852, and consisting of about one hundred and fifty ministers and 65,000 communicants. In 1876, this seminary was inaugurated with two professors. Prof. E. A. Schmidt, formerly of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., and Prof. 0. Aspenheim, of Springfield, 111. The seminary consists of two departments - one theoretical, pre-supposing a full classical course, and the other practical. At present three professors are engaged in the work, Prof Schmidt, Prof H. A. Stub and Prof. J. Ylvisaker. The number of students for the year 1879 to 1880 was thirty-seven, graduates four. The theology taught is strictly Lutheran, according to the symbolical books of the Lutheran Church.

The building and grounds were formerly the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, and were purchase in the summer of 1876 of the Regents of the University of Wisconsin, to whom it was donated by the State.

The number of students in 1876 was nineteen. The time required to complete the course of study is three years, in both departments. The languages used are Norwegian, English and German.

Albion Academy And Normal Institute

Albion Academy located in the village of Albion, was founded in 1854, with C. R. Head, as President ; J. H. Potter, as Secretary, and J. A. Potter as Treasurer.

The first building was completed in September, 1854, and the school began its work under the direction of T. R. Williams, A. M., D. D. His very able administration continued until 1860, when he resigned in order to engage in the ministry, and A. R. Cornwall, A. M., was appointed to supply the vacancy.

In 1864, Prof Cornwall left his work in the institution to take charge' of a church at Plainfield, N. J., and Prof J. Q. Emery and Prof E. G. Campbell were appointed Associate Principals, continuing successfully till the death of Prof Campbell, in the fall of 1865. The vacancy caused by the death of this able scholar and teacher was filled by A. B. Prentis, who, in conjunction with Prof Emery, conducted the school till the spring of 1866.

In 1866, Prof Cornwall again became its Principal, and in 1868 Prof R. B. Anderson became Associate Principal. The influence of this energetic young man largely increased the patronage of the school, filling the buildings to their utmost capacity.

Prof Anderson remained till 1869, when he became connected with the State University, where he now holds an important professorship. Prof Cornwall remained at the head of the academy till 1878, when Edwin Marsh, A. M., was appointed to succeed him, and remained till

The object of the founders of the academy was to afford to young men and women a thorough and practical education at a cost so low that no one who had any desire need go without it.

Poverty has never been an obstacle to the acquirement of a good education to those who have been persistent in its pursuit, and many poor boys have here laid the foundation for successful careers.

Its alumni are scattered throughout the United States, numbering considerably over one hundred. The academy has a property valued at $30,000, consisting of three large brick buildings, situated in a beautiful park of twelve acres.

For educational purposes, the academy has many advantages. It is situated in one of the pleasantest villages in the country. It is surrounded by a rich farming community. Its location is healthy. Its recitation rooms are commodious. The three societies have fine halls, and the influences that generally tend to diotract the student's mind from study are absent.

It receives no aid from church or state, but depends upon a small tuition fee and the liberality of a few benevolent individuals for its maintenance. C. R. Head has been President of the Board of Trustees during the twenty-six years of its existence, and has been its strongest supporter and most liberal giver. G. W. .Williams, Jesse Saunders, J. H. Potter, D. J. Green, Daniel Coon, S. R. Potter, J. A. Potter, George Greeman & Co., of Mystic, Conn. ; E. Lyon, New York ; Clark Rogers, Plainfield, N. J., and Horace Bliven have been foremost among its supporters and contributors.

Marshall Academy

The building is a large three-story, erected in Marshall, in 1866, at a cost of |8,000. It was built by a joint-stock company. It was opened January 7, 1867, with J. J. Mclntire. Principal, and Mary A. Cuckoo, Preceptress, under the supervision of the following Board of Directors : Joseph Hart, President ; W. H. Porter, Treasurer ; E. B. Bigelow, Secretary ; Louis Morrill, Samuel Blascoer, Thomas Hart, Torga Oleson, Jacob Miller and Samuel Fields. In 1869, the building was purchased by the Augustine Synod of Lutherans, and formally dedicated to their use in November of the same year, with J. J. Anderson as Principal of the Academic Department, and Prof. Weinass of the Theological Seminary. In the fall of 1875, the building was leased by Prof. Henry Dorman, and the academy was run by him during the academic years of 1875-76 and 1876-77. Charles Leonardson was Prof. Dorman's assistant. In the fall of 1877, Prof. F. W. Dennison leased the building, and during the academic years of 1877-78, 1878-79 and 1879-80, has successfully managed the institution. Rev. T. Lysnes has been at the head of the Theological Department since 1875.

St. Regina Academy

This school for females was established in Madison in August, 1871, as auxiliary to St. Clara Mother House, of Sinsinawa Mound, Grant County, Wis. The building, which was formerly a private residence, stands on the corner of Washington avenue and Henry street; and, although large, having fifteen commodious rooms, is too small to accommodate the number of pupils taught there. There is a Sister Superior and four assistant teachers. There are fifty pupils taught there annually, on an average, including girls from the parish schools. The school is open to, and is patronized largely by, people of all denominations.

The course embraces all primary studies, and advanced and graduating studies in geography literature, mathematical and Biological sciences, philosophy, sacred, profane and natural history, logic, rhetoric and the French, German and Latin languages, besides music, painting, and the study of the Constitutions of the United States and of Wisconsin.

Northwestern Business College

This school is located in Madison, and was founded by R. S. Bacon in January, 1856. He first opened it in the third story of Brown's Block, where he taught a few months, then moved to Bacon's Block, now Ogden's. In June, 1858, after a successful management, Mr. Bacon sold to D. H. Tullis. The college was then united with the university, and called the University Commercial School. Mr. Tullis conducted the department successfully until the winter of 1864, then sold to B. M. Worthington, with whom was soon associated Mr. .Warner. They continued the school in Young's Block for a time, then moved it; to its present quarters, in Ellsworth Block. H. M. Wilmot bought Warner out in 1871. R. G. Damming purchased Worthington 's interest in 1876, and in January, 1879, J. C. Proctor purchased Mr. Wilmot's interest, the last-named purchasers being the present proprietors.

The school occupies one floor 44x66 feet, divided into four rooms. The course embraces book-keeping, penmanship, commercial law, arithmetic, and business correspondence. There is also an academic department, embracing a college preparatory course. The average yearly attendance is 160. A debating society is maintained in connection with the institution.

That it is not always profitable to speculate as to the future progress of a county, is shown by the following, published nearly a quarter of a century ago, concerning Dane County :

" Let us make some moderate estimates of the population of Dane County for the next ten years, based upon the present population of 40,000 :

"In 1857, add one-fifth increase, 48,000; in 1858, add one-sixth increase, 56,000; in 1859, add one-seventh increase, 64,000 ; in 1860, add one-eighth increase, 72,000 ; in 1861, add one-ninth increase, 80..000; in 1862, add one-tenth increase, 88,000; in 1863, add oneeleventh increase, 96,000 ; in 1864, add one-twelfth increase, 104,000 ; in 1865, add onethirteenth increase, 112,000 ; in 1866, add one-fourteenth increase, 120,000. , ' g^'eat empire county of Wisconsin is well able to sustain a far larger population than that here indicated. But one-sixth of the land in the county is yet settled, and all is susceptible of culture, and, were the other five-sixths settled, at the same ratio per square mile, we should exhibit a population of 250,000 people.

iou.uuu; and there are counties in England of the same area, having 344,000 people; and in "anoe, having 700,000 inhabitants - all chiefly dependent for their sustenance upon the cultivation ot the soil, which is naturally much inferior to that of Dane County."

Milch Cows

Property Valuations at Different Periods. - The following table shows the number of acres assessed, and valuation of the same for taxable purposes, from 1846 to 1850 inclusive in Dane County ; '

In 1836, there was but one post ofBce in what is now Dane County - Moundville (Blue Mounds), with Ebenezer Brigham as Postmaster. It was then, in fact, in Iowa County, as Dane County was not created until the latter part of that year. On the 11th day of May, 1839, there were two post ofBces - Moundville and Madison. There had been one established at the City of the Four Lakes, and one at Cross Plains, but these had been discontinued.

County Receipts and Expenditures in 1839 and 1879. - On the 14th of January, 1840, the County Commissioners, Eben Peck, Simeon Mills and Jeremiah Lycan, made a report of the receipts and disbursements of Dane County, from the time of its organization to that date, This, the first report of Dane County, is here given :

Debtor

To amount of expenses for October term of district court, elections, cost of assessment, fees of officers, bounty on wolves, expenses of criminal prosecutions, Coroner's inquests, etc 938 17

The total receipts of the county from January 1, 1879 to September 1, of the same year, was $92,858.95 ; the disbursements for the same time were $84,947.

was born the 13th of October, 1803, at Orwell, Vt. His genealogy has been successfully traced back through six generations to Thomas Catlin, who resided at Hartford, Conn., more than two and a quarter centuries ago. His father was John B. Catlin, and his mother's maiden name Rosa Ormsbee, daughter of John Ormsbee, of Shoreham, Vt. John Catlin came of excellent American stock as both his paternal and maternal grandfathers were Revolutionary soldiers, and conspicuous for their patriotic zeal in the war which resulted in the consummation of American independence.

In his paternal grandfather's family there were seven brothers, all of whom shouldered the Revolutionary musket and joined the ranks of the patriotic army. They were all of them fine specimens of stalwart manhood, standing full six feet high, heavy, muscular, and well proportioned His mother's father held a Lieutenant's commission in the Continental army, and continued in the service until the close of the war, when he received an honorable discharge, together with the sum of $1,400, the amount of his pay. The currency of the country was somewhat inflated at that time, as on his return to his home in Massachusetts, Lieut. Ormsbee paid $60 of his money for a single bushel of corn.

John Catlm's father was engaged in the mercantile business until 1812. At the beginning of the war which broke out that year, he abandoned his mercantile vocation and took up his residence in the town of Bridgport, Addison Co., Vt. Having purchased a farm bordering upon Lake Champlain, he became a tiller of the soil. The subject of our sketch was then about nine years of age ; and in that place and vicinity he began and ended the scholastic training which was to prepare him for the business of life. His educational advantages were quite limited, being only such as the common district school afforded, with the exception of one year which he spent in Newton Academy, located at Shoreham. At the age of eighteen, he quit school and resarted to the vocation of teaching as a temporary means of livelihood. He followed this occupation for nine successive winters, devoting his summers to self-culture and to the study of law in the office of Augustus C. Hand, of Elizabethtown, 2S[, Y. In 1838, he was admitted to the bar at the age of thirty.

In 1836, he joined the comparatively small band of early pioneers who were following the course of empire westward. That was forty years ago, and emigrating as far west as Wisconsin was no holiday excursion as now. The pioneer of 1836 had no palace car, furnished with luxurious accommodations, in which he could repose at his ease, reading the latest paper or magazine, or sleep away the swift hours, rolling him over the iron track at the rate of four hundred miles a day. The emigrant of forty years ago was compelled to travel by the slow stage-coach, aragging its weary way over muddy roads, at the rate of thirty to fifty miles a day ; or by the tedious canal-boat, with its scanty accommodations, or the ill-provided lake steamer, laborins against opposing waves to make six miles an hour, and, even when the wished-for destination was reached, the traveler found himself encompassed with difficulties, dangers and privations.

Mr. Catlin first settled at Mineral Point, where he formed a copartnership with Moses M, Strong in the business of his chosen profession. He, however, remained there but two yearsfor, the capital of the Territory having been located at Madison, and he having received the' appointment of Postmaster at that place, in the spring of 1838, he removed there, with a view of making it his permanent residence. He held the position of Postmaster until the election of Gen. Harrison as President, when he was removed to make way for a political antagonist; but upon the accession of John Tyler to the Presidency, he was re-instated and continued to hold the office until 1844, when he was elected a member of the Territorial Council, and, the two offices being incompatible under the law, he resigned his post office appointment.

In the fall of 1836, Mr. Catlin was appointed Clerk of the Supreme Court. He was also chosen Clerk of the Territorial House of Representatives in 1838 ; and was re-elected to that position for eight successive years. He was the first District Attorney of Dane County, and, on the removal of George C. Floyd from the office of Secretary of the Territory, in 1846, he was appointed his successor, and continued to hold that position until Wisconsin was admitted into the Union, in 1848. A bill was introduced into Congress by Morgan L. Martin, the delegate of Wisconsin, to organize a Territorial government for Minnesota, including the district left out on the admission of Wisconsin as a State. The citizens of what is now Minnesota, were very anxious to obtain a Territorial government ; and two public meetings were held - one at St. Paul, and the other at Stillwater - advising and soliciting Mr. Catlin, ,who was Secretary of Wisconsin, to issue a proclamation, as the Acting Governor, for the election of a delegate. After some consideration, Mr. Catlin repaired to Stillwater, and issued the proclamation. H. H. Sibley was elected ; and he did much toward hastening the passage of a bill for organizing a Territorial government for Minnesota. Mr. Catlin was afterward elected County Judge of Dane County, an office which he resigned in order to accept the position of President of the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad Company. His appointment to this position necessitated his removal to Milwaukee.

In the discharge of the duties of the important position of President of the primitive railroad of Wisconsin, Mr. Catlin displayed great energy and skill. He procured the passage of a law which made the first mortgage bonds of this railroad, to the amount of 50 per cent, a foundation for banking. This feature appreciated the obligations of the company to such an extent that he was enabled to effect a loan of $600,000, which gave to the road the first great impulse, and the work of constructi.on was vigorously begun, and as vigorously prosecuted. He was President of this road for five years, or until 1866, when he declined a re-election. His retirement was made the occasion of a highly complimentary resolution adopted by the Board of Directors, thanking him for his eminent services in behalf of the road.

In 1857 the company failed, and Mr. Catlin was once more induced to accept the position of President, and he proceeded to re-organize the association. He continued his official connection with that corporation until it was subsequently consolidated with the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company.

Mr. Catlin was married on the 19th day of September, 1843, at Rochester, N Y., to Miss Clarissa Bristol, daughter of Charles Bristol, once a prominent wholesale merchant of New York City. The fruit of this marriage was one child, a daughter, who is still living.

Among the pioneers of Wisconsin, John Catlin held a conspicuous place. The various important official positions which, as we have seen, he was called upon to fill, furnish sufficient proof in confirmation of this statement. He was chosen' Secretary of the Territory, was the first Postmaster of Madison, first Clerk of the Supreme Court and of the Territorial House of Representatives, first District Attorney of Dane County, its first County Judge, was President of the first '-ailroad company, and a member of the Territorial Legislature.

His energetic character and practical ability peculiarly fitted him for the work of aiding in the buil img up the fabric of a new State. All enterprises that proraised to promote the growth.

and prosperity of Wisconsin, found in him a zealous supporter and a determined advocate. In its infancy he became a life member of the State Historical Society, and to the time of his death he was one of its most active and inflexible friends. His efforts and influence contributed in no very slight degree toward the collection of literary treasures which now fill one wing of the capitol forming a library of which the State is justly proud. Mr. Catlin's friendship for the Historical Society was not impulsive or spasmodic, but a continuing regard which lasted throughout his active life. It is perhaps but just in this connection to allude to the liberal bequest which he made of a section of land in the State of Texas, for the benefit of the society.

John Oatlin was pre-eminently a self-made man. He owed but little of the success which he achieved to the gifts of fortune, or to extraordinary natural endowments.

His intellectual parts were more solid than showy, more useful than ornamental. His aim was success, and he sought it in the slow, but sure and solid pathways of industry and perseverance.

He knew the race was not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. He saw the prize of victory in the far distance, waiting for all who would labor to achieve it ; and he entered upon the pursuit, not with the impulsive flights of genius, but with the steady gait of practical common sense.

It may be said that Mr. Catlin's intellectual character was neither illustrated nor marred by any of the faculties or of the faults of genius. He laid no claim to the natural gifts which are essential attributes in the character of the successful advocate ; and yet, had he devoted his life exclusively to the duties of his chosen profession, he would doubtless have gained distinction at the bar. He was a kind and faithful husband, an indulgent pareiit and a most exemplary citizen. He died August 4, 1874, in Elizabeth, N. J.

Mr. Bird was born on the 1st day of April. 1802, in the State of Vermont. His mother was a daughter of Dr. Burgoyne, who was a nephew of Gen. Burgoyne, of the British army. When three years of age, Mr. Bird's father, with his family, moved from Vermont, and settled in Madison County, N. Y. In April, 1824, he was married, in the town of Westmoreland, N. Y., to Miss Charity Le Clar, who was a daughter of Louis Le Clar, a Frenchman. In 1826, Mr. Bird moved with his family to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he remained over two years, and then moved back to Madison Co., N. Y.

In 1836, he located at Milwaukee, and there engaged energetically in the business of building. He was appointed one of the three Commissioners for the erection of the Territorial cap- ' itol at Madison, and was the active and efficient man of the board. On the 1st day of June, 1837, Bird, at the head of about forty workmen, and a train of four wagons loaded with provisions, tools and other articles essential in commencing a new settlement, started for " The Four Lakes," the present site of Madison. There was then no road, and the party were obliged to make one for themselves. By the aid of an old map and compass, by perseverance and energy, Bird and his party were enabled to pursue their route, chopping their way through the forests, building long corduroy roads over swamps and fording or bridging streams.

In 1851 and 1856, he was chosen to represent the Madison District in the Legislature, and served the city as one of its earliest Mayors, and became well known to all early prominent men of the Territory and State. In the prime of life, he was a man of much energy, and was well fitted, by his hardihood of character, for a pioneer. He passed through many hardships and

On the 25th of February, 1870, he died very suddenly at the residence ol his son-in-law, John Starkweather, in Green Bay, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. He was apparently in good health, and had, less than an hour before, walked home from town, and was sitting at the table, when his head suddenly dropped forward and he was dead.

died August 16, 1843, aged fifty-seven years. He was an elder brother of Ebenezer Brigham of Blue Mounds, and removed to Madison in 1839. He was a graduate of Harvard University in 1810 was tutor in Bowdoin College, and subsequently read law. In 1818, became established in practice at Greenfield, Mass., where he married his wife. The latter - Mrs. Elizabeth Franklin Brigham - died at Madison at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. H..G. Bliss, November 3, 1879, in the eighty-seventh year of her age. Mr. Brigham was a member and officer of the Congregational Church, and at his death was the senior member of the bar. The Dane County bar, at a meeting held the day after his death, passed suitable resolutions on his decease, testifying their respect and regard for their deceased associate, at which meeting Alexander L. Collins was Chairman and L. F. Kellogg, Secretary. Remarks were made by A. P. Field, Thomas W. Sutherland and Alexander Botkin. His son, J. Ripley Brigham, resided at Madison until 1851, when he removed to Milwaukee.

an early settler, died at Sacramento, Cal., February 2, 1859. He was the eldest son of Joel B. Sutherland, of Philadelphia. In 1835, he first came to Indiana with H. L. Ellsworth, Commissioner of Patents, as a Clerk of a commission ta settle some Indian matters. He then crossed the country to St. Louis, thence up the Missouri to Council Blufis, from which place, with a pony, he traversed the then savage wilderness to the upper waters of the Mississippi, at or near the St. Anthony ; from thence he procured a skiff, and floated down the river to the mouth of Rock River, and paddled his skiff up that stream to the mouth of the Catfish , up the Catfish, through the chain of lakes, to the point upon which the city of Madison now stands, then only inhabited by Indians. Here he spent some time in- an Indian camp on the east side of Lake Monona, opposite the capitol, and this he then resolved upon as his future home. After a short visit to Philadelphia, he returned, and, as soon as the lands came into market, made considerable purchases in this neighborhood, and settled at Madison very soon after it was fixed upon as the capital of the Territory, and was elected the first President of the incorporated village.

In 1841, he was appointed United States District Attorney for the Territory, which office he held four years. He was appointed to the same office, by Mr. Polk, in 1848. In the spring of 1849, he took the overland route to California, through the valley of the Gila, and landed at San Diego. He subsequently removed to San Francisco, where he practiced law with success, until he was appointed to the office of Collector of the Port of Sacramento by Mr. Buchanan.

Mr. Stoner was born in Washington County, Md., on the 25th day of December, 1791. When a child, he was taken to Adams County, Penn. ; from this place he went to New York City, and soon afterward to Bufifalo, when that place was comparatively new. The family, leaving Buffalo, settled at Fairport, five miles east of Willoughby, on the lake shore. Here his father died, when, with his mother, he returned to Pennsylvania, and learned the cabinet-makmg trade. Soon after, the war of 1812 broke out, when he enlisted as a private, and at the close of the term of his enlistment he was discharged. He then went to Ohio, was married, and settled in Euclid, eight miles east of Cleveland, where he resided twenty-five years. With a small puce of land, upon which he grew his bread, and working industriously at his trade, he managed to obtain quite a competency for those days, but, his family increasing faster than his dollars and his acres, he was obliged to seek for a wider range for his field of labors, and conceived the idea of seeking a new home in the then " Far-off West."

Husbanding his means, a portion of which he invested in a span of horses and a wagon, he started, with his wife and a family of seven children, for Madison, the capital of the then Territory of Wisconsin, and after a tedious journey of just four weeks, through a new and almost wilderness country, reached his destination on the 6th of September, 1837. His wagon was about the first that came from Janesville to Madison. Janesville then contained but one solitary log cabin, and was occupied by Janes himself The course to the capital was marked by blazed trees a party of Government surveyors having just before run a line between the two points.

Mr. Stoner found but three or four log cabins in Madison. Aside from women and children (few, indeed), the population of the place consisted of but twenty-five or thirty persons, most of whom were employed as laborers on the capitol. Milwaukee and Galena were the points from which provisions must be obtained, and, as the wife and babies had not learned to live without food, Mr. Stoner was obliged to procure it. He concluded to go to Galena, and on foot he started. At the head of Lake Mendota, where the village of Pheasant Branch now is, he struck the military road which led off into the lead mines, and from there he found a wagon track to Galena. Arrived there, he purchased a yoke of oxen and a wagon, and his provisions. Pork was $36 a barrel ; butter, $1 a pound ; sugar, 75 cents ; and everything else in proportion. Returning to Madison he was caught in a heavy fall of snow. When the storm abated, the snow was so heavy that he was unable to travel, and he camped several days and nights, subsisting himself and team as best he could. On reaching home he found a new-born son, which was the first male child born in Madison, and which he at once christened " Madison," in honor of the place.

In 1838, he entered 240 acres of land on what is now called " Stoner's Prairie," a few miles southwest of Madison, in the presedt town of Fitchburg, the prairie taking his name. Leaving his family in town, in order that his children might have the benefit of a school, he kept "bach" on this farm, more or less, for seventeen years ; the first few years his land was without fences, he being annoyed only by deer and wild geese. Finally he sold his farm for |15 per acre ; within a year thereafter the same land was worth $50.

In the spring of 1863, his faithful wife, who had shared his pioneer life, died. His family having grown up, he felt alone in the world. Restless and uneasy, the pioneer spirit revived, and, taking his old sorrel mare, which he had owned when a colt twenty-two years before, and his only grandson, a lad of fourteen summers, he set out for Colorado Territory, where his son Madison had made a home four or five years before. The next year he returned to the " States," going back the same season - coming and returning with the old mare. In 1865, he came again to Madison, returning the same year, after visiting Ohio. He had two daughters, who were married, but they died a few years after, of consumption, as well as two unmarried daughters. His son, George W. Stoner, is still a resident of Madison. Mr. Stoner was a good man, honored and respected by every one. On the 11th of January, 1872, he died at his residence in Madison, in his 80th year.

Alexander Botkin was born in Kentucky, in 1801. At an early age he removed to Ohio, and from thence to Alton, 111., in 1832. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of the Lovejoy riots, and took an active part to preserve law and order. He came to Madison, Wis., in 1841, as Assistant Secretary of State under the Territory, and was for awhile a law partner of Alexander P. Field. He was a member of the Territorial House of Representatives of 1847-48 ; was a State Senator in 1849-50, and a member of the Assembly in 1852. He was a candidate for the First Constitutional Convention of 1846, but was defeated by John Y. Smith, and was voted for by the Whigs in 1849, for United States Senator, against Isaac P. Walker. He died suddenly at Sun Prairie, March 5, 1857, aged fifty-six years.

In the fall of 1847, Botkin, who, by the way, was a great practical joker, was a candidate ibr the Territorial House of Representatives. He was a Whig, and his competitor resided in Marquette County. It was agreed that they would jointly canvass the district ; hence, they were to hold a joint discussion at Baraboo. Public notice having been given, nearly all the inhabitants turned out, so that Mrs. Peck's hall was well filled. By agreement, it was Botkin's privh^ *k°^^° ^^^ discussion. He commenced by complimenting the intelligence of his auditors, whom he flattered up to the highest notch, and in eloquent and glowing terms, eulogized the beautiful valley of the Baraboo, dwelling on its magnificent advantages, its water-power itg great manufacturing privileges, its romantic scenery, its productive soil. Then he paused and at length exclaimed : " One thing you especially need, and you are justly entitled to it; and that is, a good road over the bluffs. How can you procure it ? How can that most desirable end be attained ? I will tell you how ! If, through your sufferance, I have the honor to represent you in the Territorial Council, send me your petition to organize a company for the purpose of macadamizing the highway over the bluffs. You don't desire to subject the inhabitants of Sauk Prairie to pay toll on the way to your mills, nor persons coming to transact business at the county seat. Hence, I shall endeavor to get an appropriation from the -Territorial treasury to macadamize that road." Of course, cheers rolled up for Botkin. His competitor hemmed and hawed, and assured them if .they voted for him, he would do all for them that Botkin could do or had promised to do. The meeting closed with a speech from William Welch, of Madison. Then Jim Badger struck up on the violin, many joined in the dance, and did not go home till morning. The next discussion between these two gentlemen was at Prairie du Sac. Botkin's competitor led off, and he thought he would take all the wind out of his antagonist's sails. He started in, deprecating their condition, being shut out from communication with the beautiful valley of the Baraboo, and having to pass over such a miserable, dangerous road. If he should be elected, he would put a bill through the Legislature appropriating a sum toward macadamizing the bluffs. At that time, Prairie du Sac was smarting under the removal of the county seat, and hoped to get it back again ; hence, anything that would contribute to the advancement of Baraboo, Prairie du Sac was decidedly opposed to. Botkin rejoined ; " Fellow-citizens : I am astonished at the diabolical proposition made by the gentleman. What is it that he proposes ? Why, that you shall be taxed to build up a town in a barren, worthless, rocky, stone-bound region, where there is no town, nor never ought to be one ! When I look upon your beautiful, rich prairie, your magnificent river, the trade and business which must necessarily center here, I think with indignation of the proposition made by my opponent, that you should be taxed to help build up a competing town, where neither God nor any sensible man ever intended there should be one." Botkin was overwhelmingly elected. He carried both sides of the bluffs.

He was in many respects a most peculiar man, and was well known to all who visited the State capital with any frequency through the last ten or twelve years before his death. He possessed an inexhaustible fund of anecdote and rough humor that made him an entertaining companion in he circles in which he moved. He frequented places of amusement, and was always ready to join in them - was occasionally seen at the dances and by the friendly card table - but never could be induced to violate his habits of the strictest abstinence. He had not received the benefits of a highly polished education, which sometimes caused him to make serious blunders in the use of language. Upon one Occasion, in the Senate, he proceeded to speak against some measure adopted by the opposition in secret caucus, protesting strongly against the secrecy which had characterized their proceeding, and said, " Mr. President, we want a fair fight. We don't want to go crawling around in the brush about this measure ; but we want action on it to be sub rosa and above board." Upon another occasion, in. one of the Justices' Courts of the county, he was arguing some question of law or fact, and attempted to quote lago, as follows : " He who steals my purse steals trash ;-but he who filches me of my good name, steals that which not enriches him, and makes me - gentlemen of the jury - makes me feel - disagreeable."

A laughable anecdote is told of his electioneering tours. He called upon a Norwegian family, for he was an accomplished master of electioneering arts. He was invited to eat, and at once accepted the invitation. Among other Norwegian delicacies provided was a quantify of pickled ripe cucumbers - yellow and plethoric, with their intestinal contents. They were urged upon the Colonel by his officious hostess until he could no longer refuse without hazaiding the vote of the head of the family. He at length attacked a monstrous specimen, and. with tears m his eyes, induced by the sharpness of the vinegar, and the contents of the enormous pickle running out of both corners of his mouth and down his protuberant vest, insisted upon her -giving him a recipe for the picMes that he could carry home and get some more made like them.

The last convivial occasion at which he was seen was at a dinner, given by Mayor Fairchild to the Common Councils of Watertown and Madison, and those interested in the W. & M. R. R- H^ was then called out, and delighted all by his humorous accounts of his efforts as riffht-of-way agent to secure the best possible terms for the railroad. He related his system of doing his business with an unction and humor that were in the highest degree entertaining. Botkin had a good and manly heart. No acquaintance that he ever had in this State will charge him with a mean or dishonest act. His goodness of heart was as unbounded as his humor' he was everybody's friend ; "had no arts but manly arts;" and, if merit that received the qualities that make a man generous, patient, honest, forgiving and good, constitute a gentleman and a Christian, the subject of this sketch was both.

Mr. Parkinson was born on the 25th day of September, 1815, in White County, West Tennessee, and was the second son of Daniel M. Parkinson, so long and well known in that county and State.

In the year 1827, he came with his father to the Galena lead mines, amid the wild tumult and excitement incident upon the discovery and early occupation of that all-important mining district, where vice, corruption, and almost every species of immorality prevailed. Card- playing, horse-racing, drinking, quarreling and fighting were the common order of the times ; and, though he was but a stripling of a boy, without education, without experience, and without moral instruction or example, he steered his way clear and came out unscathed of all these vices and immoralities. He played no cards, run no horse-races, drank no whisky, fought no fights, nor quarreled with those with whom he came in contact, but lived in peace and friendship with all.

In the winter of 1828, without the influence and promptings of temperance efforts, he became fully impressed with the terrible effects and pernicious consequences of whisky-drinkin;:, and resolved never to drink any strong drink, which resolution he most faithfully maintained until the day of his death, never drinking a drop unless prescribed as a medicine.

In the year 1837, he removed to Madison, the new seat of Territorial Government, when he was appointed by Henry Dodge (then Governor of the Territory of Wisconsin), Sheriff of Dane County, which oflSce he filled most acceptably for three years.

In 1841, he was married to Miss Louisa M. Briggs, of Jefferson County, Wis., and immediately upon this event he returned to his farm on Duke's Prairie, the same farm which he and his elder brother Peter commenced malting in 1832, and on which they afterward lived for many years, when Nathaniel removed to the farm on which he died, it being the old homestead of his father.

While making a living on the Duke's Prairie farm, he and his brother Peter lived together and kept bachelor's hall for six years, the nearest woman (their mother)living five miles distant.

By his first wife (Miss Briggs) he had four children, two of whom still survive - Frank E. Parkinson, Attorney at Law, Madison, Wis., and Mrs. Riley T. Scott, of Yellow Stone, Wis.

On the 3d of August, 1851, he was married to Mrs. Ann Stursiker, of Willow Springs, of which marriage there were born seven children, six of whom still survive.

n ^\°^" *^^ ^^^^ i^i^, he embraced Christianity, and united with the Methodist Episcopal Uuroh of layette, and was, from that time forward, one of its most zealous, persistent, straio;httorward and useful members. ", - ' o

His house and his table were always free to the hungry and needy, i As a citizen, friend and neighbor, he stood in the front rank. He neither lawed nor