Dane County, Wisconsin - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 4 of those read), 1880 (part 1 of 4)

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 4 of those read)

County Court Hottse and Jail - Poor House and Parm - Agbicultuee - Dane Cottnty Agricultural Society - Horticulture and Madison Horticultural Society - Flora.

The first Territorial District Court for Dane County was held in the American Hotel. The courts afterward had their sittings in the capitol until the court house was erected.

In January, 1849, the County Board resolved that there be raised $5,000 "on the assessment of that year, to be appropriated exclusively for the payment of the erection of a court house. The purchase of lots on which to erect the building was afterward authorized to be made. A building committee was appointed to receive proposals in March following, for the work. H. C. Parker was the successful bidder for the carpenter-work, at f 5,300 ; and E. L. Varney for the stone and mason work at $6,860. On the 14th of March, the board authorized the building committee, in case of a failure to effect a loan for the purpose of building a court house and purchasing a site for the same, to issue county orders not exceeding $6,000 in amount, bearing interest not exceeding 10 per cent. The specifications for mason-work, signed by E. L. Varney, and of carpenter-work, signed by H. C. Barker, were received, and recorded in the book of records of the board on the 27 th of March. The mason- work was to be finished by the 20th of October, 1850 ; the carpenter-work by the 16th. of March, 1851, according to contracts signed by these parties. The structure was completed in that year. It is situated on Lot 2, Block 68, on Main street, near the corner of Fairchild street. This lot, with Lot 3, same block, was purchased April 6, 1849. The court house has rooms in the first story, now occupied by the County Judge, Sheriff, Treasurer and Clerk of Dane County. In the second story, occupying its entire space, is the court-room, where the Circuit Court for the coi^nty has its sittings. The walls of the building are of stone; and, at the date of its erection, the house was considered a creditable structure for the county ; but it has outlived its usefulness, and will soon give place, doubtless, to one much larger and more architectural in appearance.

A small stone building, nearly in the rear of the court house, was erected after the completion of the last-mentioned structure, on Lot 3, Block 68, and is occupied by the Kegister of Deeds and the Clerk of the Circuit Court.

In 1839, the County Commissioners " Ordered, That the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners be authorized to receive proposals for the erection of a County Jail, in the town of Madison, until the first Monday in August, next, at 10 o'clock A. M., at which time such proposals will be opened and read publicly by the Commissioners. Said jail to be 24 feet long by 18 feet wide, to be divided into two equal apartments or rooms, one story high, to be constructed of square timber, the walls to be eight inches in thickness, and that notice of this order be published in the Wisconsin Mnquirer, up to the said first Monday in August.

" Ordered, That Simeon Mills, Esq., be authorized to make a loan of $1,000, to defray the expenses of building the jail, in such manner as he shall think fit."

Upon examination, it appeared that Jairus S. Potter was entitled to the contract, he having offered the lowest bid, but, he failing to offer suflScient bonds, jt was ordered that the contract be let to the next lowest bidder, whereupon, N. T. Parkinson, having offered tne next lowest bid, appeared, and entered into contract with the Commissioners. The building was constructed of hewed logs, having two rooms, one of which was reached by passing through the first, and the inner room had some of the ancient appliances for securing criminals. It was located on Butler street, in Lot 10, Block 113. The timbers were doweled together with iron pins, and lined inside with two-inch planks spiked with iron spikes every four inches. It was strong and safe, considering the manner of its construction. James R. Vineyard, who shot Arndt in the early part of 1842, was the first prisoner confined in this jail, nearly three years after its erection. It had previously served as a convenient storehouse for the Sheriff. The building continued until the present one was finished.

In 1852, the County Board appointed a committee to fix upon a site and procure a plan, and build a new jail. For the sum of $400, they purchased, early in 1853, Lot 13, in Block 68, in Madison, as a site, for the building. The committee at the same time agreed upon a plan for the house, which the Board authorized the committee to build. On the 3d of May, 1853, they contracted with A. A. Bird, James R. Larkins and Jonathan Larkins, to build the structure, to be completed by December 1, 1853, and to cost $6,950. The building was finished in November thereafter. It is in the same block as the couct house. It is 36x56 feet, two stories high; the front part and basement used as^the Jailer's residence ; the jail proper is divided into fourteen cells, eight below and six above, those in the second story being considerably larger than those in the first. Some improvements were made in 1877, consisting of a jail-yarJ for vagrant labor, costing about |300. This structure, doubtless, will, before many years have elapsed, be replaced by one more secure, and more in keeping with the ideas of the present day.

Poor House And Farm

The Dane County Poor House is located in the town of Verona, on Section 14. It was opened in 18.54 with five inmates, and at that time, consisted of a double log house, with a small frame addition. Soon after, the main building was erected, of brick, which was 40x60, and four stories in height, including basement. A few years later a stone wing was attached, 23x38, and three stories in height, including basement ; also a brick building, 28x32, and three stories high, including basement, so that the present capacity is about ninety. A number of other buildings necessary for the protection of stock, tools, wood, etc., have been supplied, including a frame barn, 38x60 with 22 feet posts, and basement underneath. The Poor Farm, including detached wood-lots, consists of 813 acres ; 153 acres of this amount constitute the Poor Farm proper, this lying in a solid body. The Chicago & North- Western Railroad, now being built, crosses the farm within ten rods of the main building.

Agriculture

, He who follows agriculture as a calling, is the pioneer in all new countries, and prepares the way for lawyer, editor, miller, minister, blacksmith, and all others who depend upon anything Dut tarming for a livelihood, and who never fail to come after them when the" soil has been made sufficiently productive. There are no better agricultural counties in the State than Dane.

With its productive soil and good markets, the county has always furnished a field for profitable returns to industry, skill and means applied to the labor of tilling the ground. The whole county is more than usually well watered. Where there are no springs, lakes and streams, good water is obtained at a moderate depth. Generally speaking, the soil is most suitable for raising wheat, or was when new, and that has always been the principal product. Corn, oats, barley, rye, flax, hops, tobacco, potatoes and other root crops, fruits and grasses, are also extensively cultivated.

The early settlement of Dane County was made by a robust, thrifty, industrious and frugal class of men and women, in their youth and prime of physical life, full of energy and days' work. They found a rich soil, like themsfelves, new and young and full of fertility, yielding readily to the will and wishes of the earnest and ambitious toiler who owned and cultivated it, and rewarding his efforts with abundant harvests of all kinds. The land yielded so abundantly and persistently that the opinion prevailed for many years that the grain-producing qualities ol the soil were inexhaustible ; hence the straw was burned to get it out of the way, and the manure was permitted to go to waste. Crop after crop of grain was taken from the soil, and nothing returned in exchange therefor to preserve its fertility, until, through course of time, the crops became less and less, and less still, so that now lands which at one time would yield with reasonable certainty thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre, cannot be depended upon to yield with like certainty more than ten or fifteen bushels. Meantime, the habits of slothfulness and waste begotten of prosperity, have, in some cases, become a part of the farmers' being, and they seem to have no desire to shake off the wretched and ill-begotten incubus that weighs and keeps them down, and places them at great disadvantage in the general struggle against impending adversity.

The surface of the county is gently rolling, hills and valleys succeeding each other, presenting much such an appearance as we might suppose the ocean would present, if, after being lashed by a tempest, its waters were instantly congealed, and the surface clothed with verdure. Hills are seldom so abrupt that they may not be cultivated, even upon their summits ; valleys, though well watered, are very rarely marshy. There is not a county in the State containing so large a body of good lands as Dane. It is doubtful whether there is a single section not covered by water, which would not be capable of profitable cultivation. The soil is composed, for the most part, of the black deposit of decayed vegetation (which for countless ages has flourished in wild luxuriance and rotted upon the surface), of loam, and, in a few localities, of clay mixed with sand. The deposit of vegetable mold has uniformly several inches of thickness on the tops and sides of hills; in the valleys it is frequently a number of feet. A soil thus created of impalpable powder formed of the elements of organic matter, " the dust of death," we need scarcely remark, is adapted to the highest and most profitable purposes of « agriculture - yielding crop after crop in rank abundance, without any artificial manuring.

The general surface of the country is, as previously stated, of a gently undulating character, the exceptions being found in the vicinity of the Wisconsin River, and such of its tributaries as have their rise within the county. In these localities, particularly along the Black Earth Creeic, are found the bold, precipitous bluffs and deep ravines peculiar to the valley of the Wisconsin ; with these exceptions, there is but very little ground in the county too rough for cultivation.

Prairie and Timber. - In the northern and western portions of the county there are extensive prairies, and, consequently (especially in the northern towns), a scarcity of timber ; but in the eastern and southern portions of the county the burr and white oak openings predominate, and afi'ord an adequate supply of timber, though not of the best quality for building purposes. With the exception of some irreclaimable specimens about the sources of the Koshkonong, in the east part of the county, marshes are not inconveniently numerous or extensive. They are valued for the supplies of hay they furnish, which, when properly cured, is considered nearly or quite as good as English grass.

It is also observable, that the marshes are gradually being recovered from the dominion of the waters, the drier portions becoming susceptible of tillage, and other portions which werefor- merly too wet for mowing, becoming adapted to that process. This change is being effected, not by the expensive process of draining, but as the natural result of opening the soil of the adjacent land for cultivation, in consequence of which it absorbs a large portion of the water which the hide-bound soil was wont to shed off into marshes and streams. And we may confidently expect that this reclaiming effect upon the marshes will continue to be felt until the arable land is all brought under cultivation. The advantage which the farmer will derive from this fortunate circumstance, will be, that much *f his marsh land, which was once too wet even for the wild grass, will be recovered for that product, while the drier portions will become prepared for the reception of English grass, which, if not materially better in quality, will excel the wild grass in quantity, in the ratio of about three to one upon the same area.

General Character of the Soil. - The soil is generally a sandy loam - the proportions of sand, clay and vegetable mold, of which it is composed, vary in different localities, and with the undulations of the surface ; vegetable mold being most abundant in the prairie and bottom lands, sand in the burr oak, and clay in the white-oak openings. As the soil is penetrated, clay becomes more predominant, until, at the depth of from twelve to eighteen inches, a sub-soil of brown clay is reached. This deposit is from two to five feet in depth, and suificiently compact to prevent the leaching of the soil. Below it various formations are found in different localities, but the most common, so far as observations have been extended, is a sandy gravel of great compactness.

As we approach the Wisconsin River, the sandy quality of the soil becomes more predominant. In the eastern part of the county, and extending a little west of the center, granite bowlders of almost every variety abound ; but in the western portions these mysterious strangers disappear.

Limestone, more or less mixed with sand and flint, is very abundant in every part of the county, and the soil, of course, is well supplied with lime. In the vicinity of Madison, and in some other localities, sandstone of excellent quality for building purposes is found.

From the foregoing description of the soil, it will readily be inferred that it produces, in greater or less perfection, all the varieties of grains, grasses, esculent roots and fruits commonly found in the temperate latitudes.

The coarser grains, adapted to the rearing and fattening of cattle and hogs, uniformly succeed well. The yellow dent Indian corn succeeds better in Dane and some of the adjoining counties than in most localities in the same latitude, and is generally cultivated in preference to other varieties. The quantity of black sand mixed with the soil, in the prairies and openings, has the effect to bring forward and mature this crop with great avidity when the warm season arrives. The soil yields large crops of rye, barley and oats, with rare instances of failure. Flax flourishes well.

The usual variety of esculent roots is produced in the county in great abundance and with but little expense, the soil being peculiarly adapted to their growth.

Woman's Life in the Qountry.* - There is no denying the fact that life in the country to many Tvomen is but a ceaseless routine of endless work, care and disappointments, and, as they look into the future, nothing but work, work, work, seems to beckon them on. Is it any wonder that, after struggling on for years against fate, many of them become morbid, fretful and unreasonable, so much so that love is withdrawn from them ; soon health and home are gone forever, and many of them become subjects for the insane asylum, for statistics are showing that a much larger proportion of farmers' wives are becoming insane than of any other class. This is a dark picture, and one I would gladly turn from could I do so.

It IS next to impossible for a man who is out in the open fields, in sunshine and storms, among stock and growing crops, to understand what the needs of his wife are, the routine of whose life must of necessity be monotonous and warping. It has been said of her that it is nothing outside of her that kills, but what is within. She needs more love, sunshine, sympathy, society and books - something for mind as well as body.

Every intelligent and kind-hearted farmer ought to understand this more fully and insist upon his wife's taking respite from care for a certain time each day, if she will not do it, for herselffor he, as well as she, will reap the reward. The body must be recreated after severe toil, and the mind must be wholly freed from care for a time until reaction takes place. Each person must select the kind of recreation most suited to his or her wants.

Every farmer's table should be supplied with the most palatable and digestible food ; good health and common sense teach this, but there is no necessity for a woman's being a slave to pies and cakes. Many women feel that they would be of little value to their households were thev to omit making and baking a ton of cake and a thousand pies a year. Let us be Sensible and adopt' the English and German custom of simple living, and discard, if necessary (which it probably is not), both pies and cakes for freedom and smiling faces. Living to gratify only the animal wants is a very low form of existence. Let us not sell the soul to the body, but have higher aims and aspirations, for God has implanted them in our hearts.

One of the most encouraging signs of the times is that women, as well as men, are becoming deeply interested in self-culture. Thousands of women are taking the Chautauqua or Boston course of study and graduating at home. Clubs or societies for the study of art, history, botany, natural history and household science, are being established in every city and village; and why should the people of the country be behind ? Cannot every country town organize and sustain a society or club of men and women students, who will come together weekly, semiweekly or monthly, on Saturday nights, after the week's work is done, to study from the book of nature, as it is opened and revealed to them day after day ? Nowhere can natural science and natural history be so successfully studied as in the open fields, deep waters and quiet woods of the country. A year's careful study, at times not missed from the daily avocations of life, would give a " paradise of intellectual enjoyment" unknown before.

People living in the country should make friends with nature. Then there can be no such thing as isolation, for nature is a companion and teacher that speaks a thousand tongues to her admirers as she constantly unfolds her mysteries that are so old - ^yet ever new. Wordsworth says :

A host of large-brained men have said that they considered it the best part of an education to have been born and brought up in the country. Some writer has said that "if there is » room in every farmer's house where the work of the family is done, there should be a room in every farmer's house where the family should live, where beauty should appeal to the eye, where genuine comfort of appointments should invite to repose, where books should be gathered, where neatness and propriety of dress should be observed, and where labor may be for- gotten. The life here should be labor's exceeding great reward. A family living like this, and there are families that live thus, ennoble and beautify all their surroundings. There will be trees at their door, and flowers in their garden, and pleasant and architectural ideas in their dwellings. Human life will stand in the foreground of such a home - human life, crowned with its dignities graces, while animal life will be removed among the shadows, and the gross material utilities, tastefully disguised, will be made to retire into an unoffending and harmonious perspective."

However mean and humble life in the country may be, meet it and live it, and love it, and study ways and means to make the children love it. Teach them to interest themselves in everything about them. Train their eyes to see and their ears to hear, and listen occasionally with them in the twilight of the morning to the first bird's call, far, far away, to the answering voices nearer, until hill and dale echo and re-echo with earth's sweetest melody. And, as you listen in this enchanted hour, view with them the sun as it silently rises in the east, p?iinting a picture of wonderful beauty where before all was darkness and desolation.

Everything in nature is awakened by this new force. The nodding flowers shake off the pearly dew and stand erect. Soon are heard the lowing of the cattle, the neighing of the horse, the crowing of the cock, the barking of dogs, the tinkle of the sheep bell, the milk-maid's merry song, the plow-boy's honest laugh, and the earnest voices of the workers, all mingling together in one grand symphony. No earnest, healthy nature can participate in such a scene as this without sending up a prayer of thankfulness to God, the giver and maker.

Chng to the farm, take root and grow there, teach the young people to beautify, adore and adorn it, and to make the home the one sweet spot on earth whose price is above rubies. Take the old German motto for your own : " While I live I ascend " and life will be a success ; and as you advance into the dim autumn of life, time will so mellow and sweeten you, that before you pass to the great beyond, heaven will appear almost in view.

The 'first Dane County Agricultural Society was fully organized on the 13th of September, 1851. The articles of association required an annual meeting of the society to be held at Madison (unless otherwise ordered) on the first Wednesday in October of each year, at which time and place a cattle show and fair were to be held. Special meetings could be called at any time on two weeks' notice.

The following is a list of oflBcers of the society for the year 1851 : President, Thomas T. Whittlesey ; Vice-Presidents, N. J. Tompkins, William H. Fox, Jonathan Larkin, Philo Dunning, Charles Wilson and George Anderson ; Treasurer, Jehu H. Lewis ; Secretary, Robert L. Ream ; Standing Committee on Premiums, Joseph A. Payne, James R. Larkin and Philo Dunning.

The officers elect for the year 1852 were as follows : President, William H. Fox, Vice- Presidents, Reuben Winston, W. M. CoUiday, Adin Burdick, Walter Waddle, William Douglas, Philo Dunning, ; Treasurer, Jehu H. Lewis ; Secretary, Robert L. Ream ; Standing Committee on Premiums, Simeon Mills, William H. Clark and Abel Dunning. A fair was held in Madison, in the fall of 1851, near the Yahara, on Block 212, but was not very extensive, or largely attended. No other fair was attempted to be held until after the re-organization of the society,

Pursuant to previous notice, the citizens of the county met on the 5th of April, 1856, and adopted a constitution, and organized a new county agricultural society, by an election of the tallowing board of officers for the ensuing year : President, P. W. Matts, of Grand Spring ; ViceiTesidents, William A. White,, T. T. Whittlesey and N. P. Spaulding ; Corresponding Secrem.' ^''^^^ ' Recording Secretary, H. F. Bond ; Treasurer, Dr. W. H. Fox..

ihe society held its first annual fair at Madison, the 2d and 3d of October. It was most creaitably attended, considering the newness of the enterprise ; and the number of animals and variety of articles on exhibition both surprised and pleased every one in attendance. The whole affair showed conclusively that there were abundant elements in Dane County for a good agricultural society ; and that nothing was wanting to secure high success but proper effort on the part of those interested, to wit, the farmers.

The gross receipts of the fair were about $650, and the net receipts, after paying all expenses and premiums, were nearly $250, which sum, added to the State appropriation of $100 to county societies, left $350 or thereabout in the treasury at the close of the year, which was put at interest for further use.

The first annual meeting of the society was held at Madison on the 17th of December, 1856 and the following board of officers was elected for the ensuing year : President, P. W. Matts - Vice-Presidents, D. S. Curtis, G. H. Slaughter and J. B. Carpenter; Secretary, H. F. Bond' Treasurer, D. J. Powers ; Executive Committee, Adin Burdick, S. L. Sheldon, J. H. B. Matts.

The official board of this society for the year 1857, was as follows : President, P. W. Matts ; Vice Presidents, D. S. Curtiss, G. H. Slaughter and J. B. Carpenter); Secretary, H. F. Bond (succeeded by J. W. Hoyt) ; Treasurer, D. J. Powers ; Bxecutive Committee, Adin Burdick, S. L. Sheldon and J. H. B. Matts.

At the opening of the year, the officers embarked with zeal and energy in the prosecution of their duties. They got up a revised edition of their constitution and by-laws, together with a circular propounding many important questions for the consideration and answers of the farmers of the county. These documents, in connection with a very ample and complete premium-list, offering some $800 in premiums, were early and widely circulated throughout the county.

The fair was appointed to come off at Madison, on the 22d, 23d, and 24th days of September, and was duly held at that time, upon the same grounds as the year before.

The grounds, located on Wisconsin avenue, in Madison, were well inclosed with a high and substantial close-board fence, and fitted up inside in a snug and ample manner, having a board shed 150 feet long and thirty wide, neatly but cheaply built, under which to display the more substantial articles of production and manufacture ; and, capacious as was the room, it was well and creditably filled with everything in the line that usually enriches and adorns such exhibitions, each excelling in his own particular field of exhibition.

The society held no fair in 1858, on account of the holding of the State fair at Madison. The annual meeting of the society was held on the 8th of December, and the officers were unanimously re-elected for 1858. William R. Taylor, Cottage Grove, President; L. B. Vilas, Madison; J. Greening, Mazomanie, and J. W. Hoyt, Madison, Vice Presidents; E. W. Skinner, Madison, Secretary ; J. H. B. Matts, Verona, Treasurer ; William Coleman, Oregon ; E. D. Montrose, York, and S. W. Fields, Fitchburg, additional members of the Bxecutive Committee.

The weather was quite favorable, and the attendance large. The address was delivered by H. H. Giles, and was an appropriate and able production.

of the State fair in Madison. In 1861, the grounds were used by the General Government for a rendezvous for soldiers ; and, for the next nine years, no county fair was held.

At a meeting of the citizens of Dane County, held at the court house, in the city of Madison on the 14th day of May, 1870, for the purpose of taking into consideration the subject of organizing a County Agricultural Society, the proceedings were as follows :

And William R. Taylor, of Cottage Grove, was chosen as Chairman, and 0. S. Willey of Madison City, was selected as Secretary of the meeting.

Remarks were made by several persons, favoring the formation of such a society, and it was resolved that a County Agricultural Society in Dane County should be formed.

A committee of five, consisting of George C. Russell, of Madison ; Dr. W. H. Fox, of Fitchburg ; E. A. Spencer, of Windsor ; George E. Bryant, of Blooming Grove, and E. Wood Comes, of Mazomanie, were appointed by the Chair to prepare a plan of organization, and draft a constitution for the consideration of a future meeting, when the meeting adjourned until the 28th day of May.

An adjourned meeting was held on the 28th of May, at the court house, William R. Taylor in the chair, and 0. S. Willey acting as Secretary ; when the committee appointed at a previous meeting for that purpose, reported a plan for organization, and submitted the form of a constitution drafted by them, for the consideration of the meeting ; which, on the motion of Thomas S. Allen, was read to the meeting, and, after some slight amendments being made, was, on the motion of William T. Leitch, of the city of> Madison, adopted.

A committee of five, consisting of James P. McPherson, of Springdale ; Joseph Main, of Rutland ; E. A. Spencer, of Windsor ; H. M. Warner, of Black Earth, and W. T. Leitch, of the city of Madison, were appointed to nominate officers for the society, and who reported the followingnamed persons for officers, respectively, and they were elected as officers of the society for the year 1870, viz.:

President - William R. Taylor, Cottage Grove ; Secretary - George C. Russell, Town of Madison ; Treasurer - George A. Mason, City of Madison.

The first meeting of the officers and Trustees was held on the 7th day of June, 1870, at the rooms of the State Agricultural Society, in the State capitol at Madison, at which meeting the premium list was arranged, and September 20, 21 and 22, was fixed as the time, and the fair grounds in the City of Madison, the place, for holding the first fair.

The first fair was held at the fair grounds in the city of Madison, on the 20th, 21st and 22d of September, 1870, and was a gratifying success to the friends of the society, there being _ a good attendance, and a fine exhibition of the general products of the county; the receipts of the society during the fair being $2,111.09. The officers of the society, encouraged by the success of their efforts in their first fair, felt that it was necessary to secure some permanent grounds to hold the annual exhibitions of the society, secured aid from the county in purchasing a tract of about eight acres adjoining the State Agricultural Society's grounds, and the city limits. This tract containing, as it did, most of the stock sheds and stables heretofore used by the State Agricultural Society when holding its fairs at Madison, it places the county society in a position whereby they have permanent grounds and ample accommodations for their future exhibitions. < r o

The society have held annual fairs from 1870 to 1877 inclusive, since which time the State ^airs have been held at Madison, and the county society has maintained its organization, but has held no exhibitions. ' & '

Since the organization of the, society, the annual exhibitions have steadily increased in value, and have become a matter of general interest to citizens of the county, as may be seen by the following table of the receipts and disbursements of the society.

Receipts Premiums Paid

To speak of the history of horticulture in Dane County, a county the existence of vfhioh began, as it were, but yesterday, seems somewhat like pretension. But when we reflect for a moment, that history is often made up in the very briefest periods of time, in the' most circumscribed geographical limits, or observe the eiforts which are everywhere being made to unravol the mysteries of the origin of nations, and, above all, the great interest taken by the wisesi and greatest of our time in such efforts, we need not shrink from recording the progress in any or all the arts, ornamental or useful, of any portion of our people, or of any part, though it be only a small part, of our State of Wisconsin.

Besides, if it were given me to make choice of a subject, by the discussion of which I could best show the progress of our citizens of Dane, I should prefer that of horticulture to any other. For it has ever been found that in proportion as nations become educated, cultured and affluent, they become horticultural. It was the great and wise Lord Bacon who said, " Man shall ever see, that when ages grow into civility and elegance, men come to build stately edifices sooner than to garden finely, as if gardening were the greater perfection."

The art of horticulture is of slow growth, simply because it cannot be taught ; it must be learned. Practically speaking, it is not to be bodily transplanted from one countiy to another, scarcely from one State to another, nor, indeed, always from one county to another, especially in this State. If we seek success in horticulture by imitating the -horticultural processes of other places, we find to our grief that imitition is the mother of ill luck. If we seek success in learning for ourselves by our own labor and thought and close observation, we find, though our progress is slow, it is progress. Nor is there any other wise course open to us. We are, if not a new people, at least a people laboring under new co)iditions. Wisconsin is not horticulturally a California nor a Massachusetts. We cannot take either of these States for our example in horticulture, nor, indeed, as I have already said, can we adopt in this particular any State for our example ; we must learn for ourselves.

For the soundness of this assertion, I would bid you look around over this county, mark the blasted and ruined orchards, and. listen to the stories of fruit-tree failures as told by our people. These trees were brought from the East, from the Middle States, and, occasionally, from the South. Some four hundred varieties of apple trees have thus been tried in this State, and as with the apple tree, so with other fruit trees. This is imitation, and the result disappointment, disgust, and loss of time and money. It is art without science.

Now comes science, taking art by the hand, and saying to her, " Follow me." A new era began in horticulture. Men commenced to learn something of the climate, something of the soil, the aspect, the proper elevation, the best method of treating the tree and the be«t kind of trees to grow. The observer, warned by the folly of imitating men a thousand miles away, began to look over his neighbor's fence, watch his neighbor's success, learn the conditions of that success, and then, and not until then, plant and watch for himself. This is the plan of to-day, and this is the plan that is giving us, in spite of our short doings, fruit, and enough in variety and quantity and quality for our people of Dane County.

Is this historical ? I answer, it is the record of a revolution in horticulture in our county as well as in the surrounding counties, and in its importance deserves to be so considered as a lesson to the future.

The history of horticulture in Dane County would seem to commence in 1845, in which year, as J. C. Plumb informs me, he first peddled fruit trees from a wagon in Madison and through the county.

H. A. Tenney says : " In 1847, there was no such thing, practically speaking, as fruit in Dane County. There came in, soon afterward, a few currants from John Hand's nursery, near Black Earth, and some Fastolf raspberries, which were sold at |3 per dozen canes. A few more currants were brought in by some settlers about the same time, particularly by M. MacFadden, in the south corner of the county. It was about 1854 that Simeon Mills, Alexander Botkin and myself sent to Rochester, N. Y., for some fruit trees, but at that time there were no orchards in bearing in the county, and it was claimed that fruit could not be raised here."

Mr. Ernest Soiiimers, in 1850, planted an orchard of eight hundred trees in Farwell's Addition for ex-Gov. Farwell, and began to plant for himself in 1853.

Mr. Larkins had a small orchard, at the same time, near the present city cemetery. There was also a fair new orchard at Sugar River in 1850. Peter Matts, of Verona, and W. A. Wheeler had young orchards. With these, and perhaps some other exceptions, there were but a few scattering fruit trees. ^

Independent of the above gentlemen, growing fruit trees, but coming later, were John Hand, in the city ; Plumb, Willey & Co. and Chandler, of Rock Terrace Nurseries ; Howie, of Westport ; a nursery at Black Earth ; Bell, of Vermont ; the Turvilles, on Lake Monona; theAdamses, now of this city ; and others.

Says Mr. Plumb : " In 1857, Jonathan French, of Fitchbiirg, was the only exhibitor of apples from Dane County, at the county fair held in Madison, which called for mention in the published report of the Secretary for that year. From 1850 to 1860, the Rev. Mr. Cannouse, 01 Cottage Grove, was a large planter of choice fruit trees, which, however, did not prove successful, his soil not being adapted to the experiment. In the spring of 1858, I started the nirsery northeast of the city, in company with D. J. Powers, and subsequently i'r -Q T ^" ^^'^*y' '''^^-'^ ^'*® continued independently on Lake Monona's shore until 1867. In 18o9, L. B. Chandler started upon the Robbins farm, and continued until his death, in 1867. ihere was a small nursery near Sun Prairie, by a Mr. Swan, from 1859 to 1866, and one also m the town of Blooming Grove for a few years.'"'

Few flowers were grown in those days. The only flower garden proper that I remember belonged to G. P. Delaplaine, and was attached to his cottage on the square ; and the only vegetable and fruit garden to Col. Fairchild, on Monona Lake.

It was reserved for the Madison Horticultural Society to give the needed impetus to fruit planting, flower growing, landscape gardening and rural art in general, for which nature, in the beautiful and scenic surroundings of both city and country, had so bountifully provided.

This society was organized July 17, 1858, and chartered March 29, 1861. It is the parent society of all similar societies in the State. Some of its ofiicers, as William T. Leitch and myself, have been its President or Secretary for over twenty years. The society has invariably held three exhibitions in the year ; and for many years monthly winter discussions of papers always published. It is possessed of ample funds, of which it is proposed to spend in the future a liberal amount in planting shade trees and otherwise beautifying the city.

It may be permitted me to add that it was at one of the meetings, in 1858, of the society that the question was raised as to whether grapes could be grown in this State. Out of the discussion of this question grew my experimenting with the grape. Since then I have tested over 400 varieties, and at the present have some ninety or more varieties in my garden. In order to convince the people of the State that grapes could be grown, and to induce them to grow them, I raised for many years some 400 plants yearly, and scattered them broadcast.

To-day we have an abundance of the best varieties of grape, of the apple, crab, pear, plum, cherry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, currant, etc., by which it can be readily judged that fruit has grown, does grow, and will continue to grow, most luxuriantly in our county, if we only pay it the attention that every living thing, animal or vegetable, requires for its well being.

No one, indeed, can drive through our towns without noticing that every decent-looking, farmhouse has its orchard, large or small, its kitchen-garden, its little sprinkling of flowers, and more or less of that out-door ornamentation that tells of taste and ease and comfort within.

And so, to some extent, with the more primitive log cabin, the pioneer home of the West, Very few of them but what possess some scattering fruit-trees, many of them, especially among the Germans, a little vineyard, all alike struggling into a better state of things.

An article on the horticulture of the county would scarcely be complete without something more than an allusion to its flowers, nor, indeed, without a proper notice of its vegetables. Of the latter it may be justly said that, for years past, no finer varieties, or growth, or greater number of varieties can be found on this side of the Rocky Mountains than are found in Dane County.

And of the cultivated flowers, some estimate may be formed by the statement furnished us by Mrs. Williams,* for years one of the most active and observant members of the city horticultural society. She estimates the number of varieties of flowers at about two hundred. This number is, I think, too low, as I have grown in my own garden one hundred and twenty varieties in one year. Of house plants, over one hundred and fifty varieties; of foliage plants, over one hundred varieties ; of flowering shrubs, hardy, half-hardy and tender, some seven ty-flve to a hundred varieties, and of roses, at least a hundred varieties. This is truly a goodly array, horticulturally considered, for Dane County ; and if, as seems so justly claimed, it be granted that advanced horticulture is one of the best and most constant expressions of a highly advanced state of society, then, indeed, has our county of Dane great reason to be satisfied with its social standing - second to none in the Northwest.

The first flower of spring is generally to be found about the middle of March, on the east hillside. It is the spiritual Anemone Pulsatilla, pasque-flower, supposed to open only when the wind blows. Each flower-stalk bears several gray, silky leaves, crowned with a single large, crocus-shaped flower of white, tinted with pink and blue.

*Mr8. Williams is the owner of the Third Ward Conservatory, so many years saccessfally managed by J. T. Stevens. Mrs. H. M. Lewis, of Madison.

The Hepatica, liver-leaf, is the next comer, with lovely white, delicate purple and pink flowers all crowded together like a pestful of little bii'ds. This dear flower is the sweetest messenger of spring. It should be the American poet's flower. Our two varieties are the H. triloba (round-lobed Hepatica), and H. acutiloba (sharp-lobed Hepatica).

The Sanguinaria, blood-root, with pure white blossom and bud like wax, enveloped in a robe of pale green, is most beautiful. The root is filled with a fluid resembling blood.

Another familiar friend sure to be near (for plants choose their company) is the Anemone Nemorosa wind-flower, wood-anemone of poetic fame, and A. parviflora. We have several varieties coming later.

The Dicentra, Dutchman's breeches, is a_perennial, having finely divided leaves, from the midst of which arises a scape, having a one-sided raceme of white or creamy pendulous flowers. The Corydalis aurea (golden C.) belongs to the same family, and resembles the Dutchman's breeches, only the corolla is golden.

The Claytonea, spring beauty, belongs to the Portulacacese family. The single stem bears a pair of opposite narrow leaves, and a loose raceme of pretty flowers; corolla rose-color, with deeper veins. It was named in honor of Dr. John Clayton, one of our earliest botanists.

Cruciferse Dentaria, pepper-root, is sometimes mistaken for the Claytonea. It blossoms with it, and somewhat resembles it. Caetha, marsh marigold, is a well-known golden-colored flower found growing in wet places. It is commonly called cowslip. The cowslip is a plant not related to the marsh marigold.

The dandelion, Taraxacum, with its familiar face, needs no introduction to us in the Middle Western States, but, in the far Northwest, it is a stranger.

The Ranunculus, crowfoot, buttercup, is a common, well-known flower, named by Pliny for a little frog, the ]^. reptans (creeping crowfoot), R. fasciculares (early crowfoot), R. aquatilis (white water crowfoot), R. multifidus (yellow water crowfoot), R. abortivus (small-flowered crowfoot), are all found growing in and around Lake Mendota.

The Trillium, Wake Robin (name from trilix, triple, all its parts being in threes). It is sometimes called Trinity Flower. The T. grandiflorum, with large, white, beautiful lily, is the one usually seen ; but the T. pectum grows freely in some localities. This variety grows only in North America.

Phlox Divaricata Laphamii (named after our lamented Dr. Lapham) comes in bloom early m May ; stems spreading, color blue, with a purple tinge. P. glabirrima is rose-colored ; comes later. P. pilosa is another fine variety ; color, pink purple.

Aquilegia Canadensis, Wild Columbine, commonly called honey-suckle, from having a drop of honey secreted in the spur of the flower, but it is in reality not related to the honeysuckle family. These beautiful, pendulous, scarlet flowers, yellow inside, are well known, and very generally admired.

The Dodecatheon (name from the twelve gods or divinities), commonly called Shooting Star and American Cowslip. It is well known in the West. An Eastern floral magazine says, " It 18 a rare flower, seldom or never seen in the North," which is a mistake. The flowers are borne

Polygonatum, Solomon's Seal, is a perennial found in rich woods. P. biflorum (smaller Solomon's Seal) and P. gigantelim (Great S. S.) are the true varieties of the false Solomon's Seal. We have three varieties - Smilacina stellata, S. trifolia and S. bifolia. Gerarde said, in 1590, that " the root of Solomon's Seal, stamped while green, and applied, 'taketh away in one night any bruise, black or blue spots, gotten byffalls or woman's wilfulnesse in stumbling upon their hasty husband's fists, or such like."

Castilleia, Painted Cup, is one of the most showy of the Western flowers. Spreading masses, or patches, used to bo seen for miles on our prairies. It will not bear cultivation, as it is a root parasite. The C. coccinea is the variety usually seen, but the 0. sessiliflora and C. pallida are met with occasionally.

The Lupinus perennis, Quaker Bonnets, a few years ago, grew so bountifully that they could be gathered by the armful ; but, alas ! now they are becoming so rare that they are almost unknown, as they grow in the wild state.

Lithospermum is a coarse but showy biennial, of bright orange color, that grows in large clusters ; the L. hirtum (Hairy Puccoon) and L. Canescens (Hoary Puccoon or Alkanet) are the common varieties.

The Cypripedium (name signifying Venus' slipper). Moccasin flower, is curious and beautiful ; the 0. candidum (small white Lady's slipper), 0. pubescens (larger yellow L.), C. parviflorum (smaller yellow L.), and the spectabile, the most beautiful one of the genus, are found within a radius of two miles from Madison.

The Orchis spectabilis. Showy Orchis - the only species of the Orchis proper in the United Seates,is frequently met with. Flower stem about six inches high, flowers rose-color, and white, pretty.

The Hydrophyllum Virginicum, Water Leaf, grows freely in rich woods. The large, green leaf is blotched with white, early in the spring, flowers pinkish-violet, stamens protruding. H. appendiculatum is more rarely, seen.

The Geranium maculatum, Cranesbill, is a showy, well-known rose-colored flower, growing freely in fence-corners and edges of woods. The Arum (name signifying mark), Jack-in-the Pulpit, is a well-known and interesting flower ; color, light green and brown, with deeper brown spots. The legend is that "it was at the foot of the cross, and stained by the dropping blood of Jesus."

Iris, Flower-de-luce (from the Greek, the rainbow deified), is foand growing in water or on low lands, common variety is I. versicolor (large blue flag).

Podophyllum, May Apple, Mandrake. The flowering stem bears two one-sided large leaves with nodding, wax-like flowers from the fork of the leaf

The Mustard family is a large one, many of them Arctic plants, therefore, doubly interesting. Of this family we might mention the Water and Rock Cress, Cuckoo Flower, Pepper-root, Shepherd's-purse and many others, did space permit, but will only specify the Erysimum Arkansanum, Western Wall-flower, the same highly advertised by Viek and others. The color is yellow, very fragrant.

The Tradescantia Virginica, Spiderwort, has intensely blue flowers, produced every morning, from early June to September ; foliage grass-like, cultivated in flower-gardens at the East.

The Rose - the.flower of love, poetry and song, can be found growing over the river banks, the prairies, and by the roadsides, always a thing of beauty. The Blanda (early wild and Lucida (Dwarf wild Rose) are the only native varieties.

I have endeavored to name, as nearly as possible, the flowers in the succession as they appear from March to the middle of June. A few of our most beautiful and noted flowers coming later are, the two Field Lilies, Philadelphicum (Wild Orange, Red Lily), and L. Canadensis (Wild Yellow Lily), Nymphia (White Water Lily), Sarracenia (Side-saddle Flower), four varieties of Gentians, Lobelia (Cardinal Flower), Monatropa (Indian Pipe). In all probability a thousand species of plants could be gathered in Dane County alone, while in the adjacent counties many more could be added, as the flora differs greatly in the counties north and west.

Federal Courts. - By Section 4 of the act of Congress entitled " An act to enable the people of Wisconsin Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union," approved August 6, 1846, it was inter alia provided : * * * " and said State shall constitute one district and be called the District of Wisconsin, and a District Court shall be held therein, to consist of one Judge, who shall reside in said district, and be called a District Judge. He shall hold at the seat of Government of said State, two sessions of said court annually, on the first Monday in January and July, and he shall, in all things, have and exercise the same jurisdiction and powers which were by law given to the Judge of the Kentucky District, under an act entitled ' An act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States.' He shall appoint a clerk for said district, who shall reside and keep the records of said court at the place of holding the same, and shall receive for the services performed by him, the same fees to which the Clerk of the Kentucky District is by law entitled for similar services. There shall be allowed to the Judge of said District Court the annual compensation of $1,500."

Section 5 of said act provides for the appointment of a " person learned in the law to act as attorney of the United States " in said district, and provides that, besides the stated fees, he is to receive a salary of $200. It also provides for the appointment of a Marshal in said district, to perform the duties and services, and entitled to the fees and emoluments given to the Marshals of other districts.

Under this section, it will be seen that the Federal Court was to hold two terms at the times provided, in the city of Madison, which, by Section 6, of Article XIV, of the Constitution, adopted by the convention. February 1, A. D. 1848, was declared to " be and remain the seat of government until otherwise provided by law."

By Section 4 of the act of Congress entitled "An act for the admission of the State of Wisconsin into the Union," approved May 29, 1848, the provisions in the foregoing section of the act of August 6, 1846, were modified so as to read " that the Judge of the District Court for the District of Wisconsin shall hold a term of said court in each year, at the seat of government, to commence on the first Monday of July, and another term of said court in each year at Milwaukee, to commence on the first Monday of January." It also gave him power to hold special terms of court at either Madison or Milwaukee, wherever he should deem that the nature and amount of business should require, the records and papers to be kept at either place, as the Judge might direct.

Pursuant to these provisions, the Hon. Andrew G. Miller, a lawyer of prominence, residing in the city of Milwaukee, was appointed District Judge of the District of Wisconsin, on the 12th day of June, A. D. 1848.

By the provisions of the act of Congress entitled " An act making appropriations for the legislative, executive and judicial expenses of government for the year ending the 30th ot June, 1858," approved March 3, 1857, it was, among other things, provided, "that the annual salary of the District Judge of the United States for the District of Wisconsin shall hereafter be $2,500. This salary was afterward increased, and is now $3,500 per year.

Congress, by an act approved July 15, 1862, amending the act of March 3, 1837, which supplementary to the act establishing the judicial system of the United States, declared that " the districts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois shall constitute the Eighth Circuit ; " and provided that Circuit Courts should be held therein at the same times and places as were then prescribed by law for holding the District Courts of said district, thereby creating a Circuit Court of the United States to be held in Wisconsin; and provided that the same allotment of Justices of the Supreme Court to hold such Circuit. Courts should continue as had theretofore been made. The powers and jurisdiction of a Circuit Court which had previously been vested in the District Court of Wisconsin, was by the same act repealed; and it was provided that each court should have and exercise such powers only as were given to similar courts throughout the other circuits,, repealing all provisions of all laws inconsistent therewith.

The effect of the above was to make Mr. Miller Judge of the District Court purely, with the power given in the statutes to hold the Circuit Court of said district in company with the Circuit. Judge ^nd Circuit Justice, or either of them, or alone in their absence.

By the act approved February 9, 1863, Wisconsin was made a part of the Ninth Judicial Circuit. It was, by a subsequent act, made, and now constitutes, a portion of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, the Hon. Thomas Drummond, of Chicago, Circuit Judge.

The times for holding the Circuit and District Courts for Wisconsin were, by Section 5 of the act of June 27, 1864, changed as follows : To be held at the city of Milwaukee on the second Monday of April and the second Monday of September ; and at the city of Madison on the first Monday of January in each year, respectively.

The business of the United States Courts becoming too large to be easily attended to by a single District Judge, by an act of Congress, entitled " An act to establish the Western Judicial District of Wisconsin," approved June 30, 1870, the State was divided into two districts, the Eastern and Western. That portion of the State comprising the counties of Rock, Jefferson, Dane, Green, Grant, Columbia, Iowa, La Fayette, Sauk, Richland, Crawford, Vernon, La Crosse, Monroe, Adams, Juneau, Buffalo, Chippewa, Dunn, Clark, Jackson, Eau Claire, Pepin, Marathon, Wood, Pierce, Polk, Portage, St. Croix, Trempeleau, Douglas, Barron, Burnett, Ashland and Bayfield, was constituted the Western, and the remainder of the State the Eastern, District. The terms were appointed to be held for the Western District, at Madison on the first Monday in June, and a{ La Crosse the first Monday in December. In the Eastern, they were to be held at Oshkosh on the first Monday of July, and at Milwaukee on the first Monday of January and October of each year. A District Judge for said Western District was provided for, and a Marshal, District Attorney and Clerk at Madison and Clerk at La Crosse. Under these provisions, James C. Hopkins, of Madison, Wis., was appointed Judge of said Western District on the 9th day of July, A.D. 1870, the Hon. A. G-. Miller remaining Judge of the Eastern District. F. W. Oakley, of Beloit, Wis., was appointed Marshal ; and Charles M, Webb, of Grand Rapids, appointed District Attorney, on the 9th of July, 1870. F. M. Stewart, of Baraboo, on the 2d day of August, 1870, was appointed Clerk of both Circuit and District Courts at Madison ; and H. J. Peck, of La Crosse, Clerk at that place, on the 18th of August, 1870. On the 19th of October, 1879, Sidney Foote, of Madison, was appointed a Register in Bankruptcy ; and on the 10th January, 1871, Carson Graham, of Viroqua, was appointed Register at La Crosse.

The terms of court were changed by act of Congress, approved May 9, 1872, and directed to be held at La Crosse on the third Tuesday of September, and abolishing the December term there, but reserving to the Judges the right to appoint special terms as they might deem necessary.

No change occurred in the ofiBcers of the courts until the death of Mr. Foote, the Register m Bankruptcy, which occurred in March, 1877. He was succeeded in office by Mr. S. W. Hotkm, of Madison, the present incumbent.

On the 4th day of September, 1877, Judge Hopkins died, after a service of over seven years. His successor, Romanzo Bunn, of Sparta, Wis., the present Judge, was appointed on the 13th day of October, A. D. 1877.

Territorial and State Supreme Court.* - The history of the Supreme Courts of the Territory and State of Wisconsin belongs rather to the general history of the State than to that ol any one county. Yet, as those courts have held all but three of their terms at the city of Madison ; as their Judges and other officers have either resided in that city, or, at least, spent considerable portions of their time there during their several periods of service ; and as nearly all lawyers of distinction in the State or Territory, as members of the bar of those courts, have resorted, with greater or less frequency, to the capital city to attend the sessions of the supremo tribunal, or to uvail themselves of tlio State law library - it has been thought best to include in this liiatory of Dane County an historical sketch of those courts, in which some facts may be stated in greater detail, and all the important facts bearing upon that particular topic may be grouped together more closely, than in the general history of the State, with which this volume opens.

The act of Congress which provided for the organization of the Wisconsin Territory, declared that the judicial power therein should be vested in a Supreme Court, District Courts, Probate Courts and Justices of the Peace. The Supreme Court was to consist of a Chief Jus- and two Associate Judges, any two of whom should bo a quorum ; and they were required to hold a term of the court annually at the seat of government. The Territory was to be divided into three judicial districts ; and it was provided that "a District Court or Courts" should be held in each of said districts, by one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, at such times and plnces as might be prescribed by law. The jurisdiction of these several courts was to be "as limited by law ;" but the act declared that both the Supreme and District Courts should "possess chancery as well as common-law jurisdiction;" that "writs of error, bills of exceptions and appeals in chancery causes " should be " allowed in all cases, from the final decisions of the District Courts to the Supreme Court," under regulations to be prescribed by law ; and that in no case removed to the Supreme Court should there be a trial there by jury. It further provided that " writs of error and appeals from the final decisions of the said Supreme Court " should be " allowed and taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, where the value of the property or the amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the oath or affirmation of either party," should exceed $1,000. The Supreme Court was further empowered by the act (as waa each District Court) to appoint its own Clerk.

The Judges of the Supreme Court, as well as a United States Attorney and Marsha! for the Territory, were to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate ; the former to hold their offices during good behavior, and the latter, each for a term of four years. In spite of vigorous efforts, by leading politicians of that early day, to induce the President to appoint to all the leading offices of the new government persons then resident in the Territory, President Jackson appointed, as Chief Justice, Charles Dunn, then of Illinois, while for the Associate Judges, he selected William C. Frazer, of Pennsylvania, and David Irvin, formerly of Virginia, but who had been, during the preceding four years, Judge of the additional or Fourth District of the Michigan Territory, which comprised the whole of that Territory west of Lake Michigan. Judge Irvin was, nominally, a resident of the new Territory at the time of his appointment ; but ho was a bachelor, without any permanent home, and, except during short terms at Mackinaw, Green Bay and Mineral Point, is said to have passed his time in some of the older parts of the United States, usually in Virginia or in St. Louis, so that leading and influential persons in the Territory had strongly urged the President to treat the District Judgeship as va ant, by reason of Judge Irvin's non-residence, and to appoint a resident of the Territory to fill the vacancy. William W. Chapman was appointed United States Attorney, and Francis Gehon Marshal of the Territory. On the 4th of July, 1836 (the day on which the civil existence of the new Territory began). Chief Justice Dunn and Judge Irvin, as well as the newly appointed Governor (Henry Dodge), and the Secretary (Robert S. Horner), took the oath of ofBce at Mineral Point, in the midst of great rejoicing and festivities on the part of as large a crowd as could then be assembled at the metropolis of the mining region.

The Chief Justice of the new Supreme Court was then in his thirty-seventh year, of Irish descent, of Virginia ancestry on his mother's side, a native of Kentucky. Having enjoyed the advantage of a nine years' preliminary education at Louisville before he attained the age of eighteen and having read law for about three years with distinguished lawyers of Kentucky and Illinois, he was admitted to the bar in the latter State before reaching his majority, and had practiced there during most of the next sixteen years, except so far as his practice was interrupted by the duties of various civil and military offices. He had taken part in the Black Hfiwk war as Captain of an Illinois company, and had entered Wisconsin with the Illinois forces engaged in the pursuit of the retreating enemy. Within the limits of what is now the town of Dunn, in Dane County, he had been wounded by a blundering sentinel ; and had thus been disabled for further service in the campaign. An able and well-read lawyer, endowed with a fine physique, with a countenance open, ruddy and frank, whose lines were nevertheless strong and indicative of good sense and a strong will, with a firm, manly and dignified bearing, familiar with the habits of border life, yet with the manners of an urbane and cultivated gentleman. Judge Dunn, though still a young man, had little difficulty in commanding the respect or winning the general good will of the people among whom his lot was now cast.

Judge David Irvin appears to have been a man of widely diiferent type from the Chief Justice. A native of the Shenandoah Valley, in Virginia, of Scotch-Irish descent (his father being a Presbyterian minister and teacher of the ancient classics), he was appointed in 1832, by President Jackson, at the suggestion, it is said, of William C. Rives, to succeed Judge Doty in the office of District Judge in the Fourth District of Michigan Territory, already described. Though only thirty-six years old when he first came to Wisconsin, where he had now performed judicial duties and had a nominal residence for four years, he seems never to have been regarded by the people of the Territory as one of their number. He was free from the vices which too often in those days injured or even ruined the most promising men in our Western States and Territories ; and he seems to have been generally regarded as a fair and upright Judge, of respectable ability. The peculiarities of his character, and his entire withdrawal many years ago from all connection with this State, have led to numerous attempts, on the part of early settlfirs, to convey vivid impressions of him by free and minute description. " Judge Irvin," says one who knew him well, " was about six feet in height, very erect and well proportioned. His hair was auburn, not turning to gray ; eyes blue ; features narrow. He was not a laborious Judge, but was attentive to duty, honest and upright in every particular. He was candid and without intrigue or deception. For integrity and moral principle, he enjoyed universal confidence. He was fond of a horse and a dog ; always esteeming Ids horse and dog the finest and best. Being a bachelor, these animals seemed to be the especial objects of his care and attention. He was fond of hunting, particularly prairie chickens ; and frequently took the lawyers with him. * * * jjg ^^g ygj.y economical, but scrupulously just in all his dealings. He indulged in acts of kindness to his relatives, but did not show much sympathy for others. While he treated all with urbanity and respect, he did not form particular attachments for strangers."*

A description by the late Judge C. M. Baker, of Walworth County, seems to be fair and just: " He was a Virginia gentleman of the old school. Social, kind-hearted, aristocratic, as became a Virginian of the F. F.'s, he was a bachelor with his whims and peculiarities. He was a great lover of hunting, particularly of prairie hens, in the shooting of wliich he was an expert ; ^d on this he prided himself, and no one must excel him if he would keep in his good graces. He was also learned in the knowledge of horses arid dogs, as well as in the law ; and his own norse Pedro and his dog York, to whom he was much attached and whose superior blood often ormed the theme of his conversation, were as well known to the bar as the Judge himself. J-hey were necessary appendages to the Judge and the court ; and it was said by the wags, that, if one wanted to win his case before the Judge, he must praise his dog and his horse. But of truth it can be said of hira that he was a lover of justice, detested meanness, was well grounded in the principles of the law, and was possessed of very respectable perceptive and reasoning powers. He seldom consulted law books, with which the bar of those days was poorly supplied but, on the whole, for the times, was a fair and respectable Judge."

At the first session of the Territorial Legislature, held at Belmont from October 26 to December 9, 1836, the Territory was divided into three judicial districts, the first consisting of Crawford and Iowa Counties, the second of Dubuque and Des Moines Counties (west of the Mississippi), and the third of Brown and Milwaukee Counties. Chief Justice Dunn was assigned to the first district. Judge Irvin to the second, and Judge Frazer to the third. At the same session many new counties were formed out of those already named, and it became the duty of the Chief Justice to hold terms in Grant County, of Judge Irvin to hold terms in Lee, Van Buren, Henry Louisa and Muscatine (all west of the Mississippi), and of Judge Frazer to hold terms in Racine. Dane County was created at this session, with its present boundaries, the four eastern ranges of towns being taken from Milwaukee, and the three western ranges from Iowa, but it was attached to Iowa for judicial purposes until the first Monday in May, 1839.

On the 8th of December, 1836, the Supreme Court held its first term in the council chamber of the Legislative Assembly at Belmont. Only the Chief Justice and Judge Irvin were present. Mr. Simeon Mills informs us, as of his personal knowledge, that Judge Frazer was at Belmont at some time during the month of December, 1836. He cannot state why the Judge failed to be present at the organization of the court. He further states that Judge Frazer expressed an intention to spend the remainder of the winter in Pennsylvania, and return to 'Wisconsin the next spring.

We read in the little old journal, still carefully preserved, that " Hon. David Irvin presented a commission from Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, and a certificate of qualification from His Excellency Henry Dodge, Governor of said Territory;" but we do not read that the Chief Justice thought it necessary for him to present any credentials. Justus De Seelhjerst, of Iowa County, was appointed Crier, and John Catlin, Clerk. Mr. Catlin was then thirty-three years of age, and had just settled in the Territory that year as a partner in the practice of the law with Moses M. Strong, at Mineral Point. He became a resident of Madison soon after, and his honorable career, so largely identified with the history of Dane County and of the State, is related elsewhere in this volume. It is sufficient to say here that he withdrew, in the summer of 1839, from the office of Clerk of the Supreme Court and became a practitioner at its bar, taking part in about one-eighth of all the reported causes of the Territorial period. The journal of the earlier terms (from 1836 to 1839, inclusive) are found in a separate book, above referred to. It is a very small, cheap and unpretending book as cokipared with the heavy and handsomely bound folios in which the minutes of the court are now kept; but the entries, though very brief and not always very^ formal, are carefully and neatly made, presumably in the handwriting of Mr. Catlin.

By the organic act, all causes which had been removed from the District Courts of Brown and Iowa Counties to the Supreme Court of Michigan Territory, and which should remain in the latter court undetermined at the time of the organization of the Wisconsin Territory, were to be transferred to the Supreme Court of the latter. It would seem, however, that no such causes were found to exist. No case of that kind, or of any kind, came before the court at this first term; nor have I discovered that any case afterward came before it by transfer from the Michigan Supreme Court.

After appointing its Crier and Clerk, the court, " on motion " (but on whose motion does not appear), admitted to practice as attorneys and counselors, at its bar, the following gentlemen, most of whom were afterward well-known citizens of Wisconsin : Henry S. Baird, James Duane Doty, Barlow Shackelford and John S. Horner, all of Green Bay ; Hans Crocker, of Milwaukee ; Daniel G. Fenton, James B. Dallam, James H. Lockwood and Thomas P. Burnett, all of Prairie du Chien ; William W. Chapman, of Platteville (the United States Attorney for the Territory) ; William R. Smith, f Mineral Point ; Lyman J. Daniels, William N. Gardner and James Nagle, whose residence I am unable to state ; with Peter Hill Engle, of Dubuque, and Joseph Teas, of Des Moines. , ' ^ , , .

Hen-y S. Baird, Esq., who had been appointed by Gov. Dodge the Attorney General of the Territory, then appeared and took the oath of office. Mr. Baird was then in his thirtyseyenth year, having been born in Ireland May 16, 1800. Brought to the United States when only five years old, he had, after many struggles and difficulties, acquired the elements of an English education at Pittsburgh, by the end of his fifteenth year. He had afterward read law, as he could find opportunity, under many disadvantages, chiefly at Cleveland, Ohio, between his eighteenth and the close of his twenty-second year. Starting out to shift for himself, he had landed at the Island of Mackinaw, in what was then the far Northwest, on the morning of June 5 1822 " with about $15 in his pocket, a few law books and a rather scanty wardrobe," having obtained a passage thither oil credit ; had taught school at Mackinaw for some nine months, ending in April, 1823, and had been admitted by Mr. Doty, in June of that year, to practice in the courts of the Judicial District, for which that gentleman had just been appointed Judge. In September, 1824, he had removed to Green Bay, and had been the first lawyer to practice his profession within the present limits of Wisconsin, excepting, perhaps, James H. Lockwood, of Prairie du Ohien.* He had been in the Government service as Quartermaster General of the Militia in the Black Hawk war. He had acted as Secretary to Gov. Dodge when the latter, as United States Commissioner, effected an important treaty with the Menominee Indians, at Cedar Point, on the Fox River, in 1836. He was also a member and President of the Council in the First Legislative Assembly of the Territory, which had not yet finally adjourned. Mr. Baird resigned the office of Attorney General in 1838. His subsequent useful and honorable career as citizen, lawyer and member of the First Constitutional Convention, and in manifold positions of public and private trust, until its close in 1875, need not be described here.f One of his daughters, the wife of Dr. John Favill, has resided in Madison since 1854 ; and both his public duties and his domestic affections brought him frequently among us. His form, sturdy, though not tall, and his countenance so . expressive at once of firmness, goodness and solid sense, were well known to our citizens. The accomplished lady who, when but a school girl in her sixteenth year, was united to him in marriage at Mackinaw, just before his removal to Green Bay, and whose gracious courtesy seconded his simple and patriarchal kindliness in making their home at the latter place for half a century a center of attraction for old and young, still survives him, and is a not infrequent and an ever-welcome visitor here. And all who have known the venerable pair in later years may read with interest the record of that first term of the Territorial Supreme Court, when Mr. Baird, in that little council chamber at Belmont, took the oath of office as first Attorney General of the Wisconsin Territory.

On the same day, in the afternoon, on motion of D. G. Fen ton, Esq., the court appointed Thomas Pendleton Burnett, Esq., to be its official reporter ; and he held that office until his premature and lamented death nearly ten years later. Like Mr. Baird, he was in the thirty-seventh year of his age at the time of his appointment ; and, like him, had struggled up to a creditable standing in the legal profession, in spite of narrow and difficult circumstances. Born in Pittsylvania County, Va., September 3, 1800, he had been reared ftom early childhood on a farm in

ti,'?- ^sq., in remarks made at the bar of the Suprnme Court, relative to the life anl character of Mr. Baird (39 Wis., E,, 27-30), MOM Mat in OctDbBT, 1824, Judge Doty " opened at Green Bay the firet term of court ever held within the present limits of the Stateof Wisconsin. Atuusterm * Henry S. Baird was admitted to the bar, and was appointed the Prosecuting Attorney ^ro Wm., and as such served during the term SdmittS't ffci?"! " ''"''^ °'*^' '"* °* """y *"'°- ^^^ ^'^ **y °' *'"' preceding August, and out of term, J. H. Lockwood had been Bumuiea w fhe ^^^J'y Judge Doty. He had received from the Government a commission as Prosecuting Attorney for the counties of Brown Itadtaofth state -'^'' ^''' ''°°'"'°°* '"'^ *' ^'"*' *» ->« admitted, Mr. Baird was the flrst to practice as an attorney within the present

From Mr'r"'''? ''°?, ""^ ^i«at the "firet term of court" must be understood only of courts of the dignity of District or Circuit Courts. sSir£t.rST " ^ " " ^'""^^ Events in Wisconsin," published in the second volume of the OoUectiona of the Wisconsin He h«rt Sh I """"'y (see PP- 161-2), it would also seem that Judge Doty held a term of his District Court, for Crawford County.in May, 1824. Itwmild»l.n Mackinaw in July, 1823. [See Mr. Draper's note on p. 161 of the volume cited ; and see also 7 Wis. Hist. Ool., p. 430.] thofhrm.r ,5 rn Lookwood had practiced at Green Bay, as well as at Mackinaw, 6e/ore the removal of Mr. Baird from the latter to

Bourbon or Spencer County, Ky. ; had obtained such education as he could by the aid of an academy and of private instruction from neighboring gentlemen, laboring with his own hands and afterward teaching, to acquire the means of support while prosecuting his studies. " While reading law, he was favored with some minor offices, such as Constable, Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff etc., from the fees of which he derived a scanty means of support." Soon after his admission to the bar, he settled at Paris, Ky., where, in the practice of his profession, he is said to have been brought into contact, and often into professional collision, with some of the ablest lawyers in that State. For two years he filled the office of District Attorney. After the accession of Gen. Jackson to the Presidency in 1828, Mr. Burnett, who had been a warm partisan of the General, received, October 15, 1829, the appointment of a sub-agent in the Indian department,/ to reside at Prairie du Chien. Ah accident which occurred soon after, while he was laboring with characteristic zeal and courage to arrest the progress of an extensive fire at Paris, and which resulted in crushing one of his legs, confining him to his bed or to his room, for seven months, and leaving him a cripple for life, determined him to accept the appointment, far as it was below his hopes, rather than attempt to regain his practice after his long illness ; and a severe domestic misfortune aided in producing this decision. Arriving at Prairie du Chien, in June, 1830, he found " but two or three American fiimilies in the place, except in the garrison at Fort Crawford. The major part of the inhabitants, 400 in number, were Canadian-French and half-breeds, who spoke only French with some Indian languages, all of which were to him unknown tongues." Mr. Burnett was at first disappointed in the country, the people, and the duties of his office ; but, upon better acquaintance, became strongly attached to them all. To the employments of his agency (the salary of which was only $500), he was permitted to add the practice of his profession, in which he soon obtained some business, including suits prosecuted in behalf of the Government. In 1834, his connection with the Indian agency ceased, and he devoted himself more completely to the practice of his profession. Some question having been made, as we have seen, as to the existence of a vacancy in the office of District Judge, on account of the alleged non-residence of Judge Irvin, Mr. Burnett's appointment to the office was strongly urged upon the President ; but the latter did not recognize the existence of a vacancy. In January, 1835, Mr. Burnett was appointed by Gov. Mason, of Michigan Territory, District Attorney for the counties of CrawfoVd, Iowa, Dubuque and Des Moines ; and he attended the summer terms of the courts in those counties ; but, finding it " inconvenient and unpleasant," tendered his resignation to Gov. Mason, September 10, 1835. In October following, he was elected to the Legislative Council of Michigan Territory, which was appointed to meet at Green Bay ; and, on the meeting of the Council in December, he was chosen its President ; but the meeting, which was of doubtful legal validity, was a practical failure. Congress was, however, memorialized at this session in favor of a speedy organization of the Territory ' f Wisconsin ; and a neniorial to the President of the United States, in reference to the offices of the contemplated Territory, urged upon him the appointment of its own citizens, in preference to persons from other parts of the country. As it was understood that Gen. Dodge wuld he appointed Governor, Mr. Burnett was urged as a suitable person for the office of Secretary. " If the secretaryship could not be obtained," we are told, " Mr. Burnett desired a Judgeship;" that is, he desired to be appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory ; and his friends in Congress, Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, and Col. George W. Jones,, then Delegate from the Michigan Territory, and, through their influence, Senators Benton and Linn, of Missouri, and Senators Wright and Tallmadge, of New York, earnestly, though unsuccessfully, sought to secure his appointment to one of the two offices named. About the same period, Mr. Burnett is said to have become a member of the Four Lake Company, organized under the lead of Gov. Mason and Mr. Doty, for the purpose of laying out a city in the Four- Lake region, which should become the capital of the new Territory.

By the apportionment of members of the First Legislative Assembly of the new Territory, as made by Gov. Dodge upon the basis of a census taken in 1836, Crawford was allowed two members of the House of Representatives, but no member of the Council. The people of that county claimed that, under the organic act, each county was entitled to be represented in each house - and Mr. Burnett was unanimously elected by them to be a member of the Council. The full number of members authorized by law had, however, been chosen in other counties, pursuant to the Governor's appointment and proclamation ; and very naturally Mr. Burnett's election was not certified by the Governor, nor was he admitted to the seat which he claimed. During that session of the Legislative Assembly Mr. Burnett was nominated by the Governor, and confirmed by the Council, as District Attorney for Crawford County, but this was done without his knowledge, and he subsequently declined the appointment on the ground that the Council " was not lei^ally organized, and that it had not, therefore, the lawful authority to perform any valid and binding act." This characteristic protest echoes the displeasure of Crawford County at the failure of Gov. Dodge to give them a representation in the Council. Whatever may have been the merits of their claim, it is needless to add that the objection of Mr. Burnett, if sound, would have been fatal to the validity of all acts passed by the First Legislative Assembly, which have, nevertheless, always been treated by the courts as valid.

Such had been Mr. Burnett's career prior to his appointment as reporter. The further course of his public life will be briefly sketched hereafter.

Long as we have dwelt on this first term of the Supreme Court, it occupied but a few hours of a single day. By an act of the First Legislative Assembly, the court was required to hold its subsequent terms annually on the first Monday of July at the seat of government. The journal of the court contains the following entry : " Monday, July 3, A. D. 1837. This day being the day appointed by the Legislative Assembly of Wisconsin Territory for holding the Supreme Court at Madison, in Dane County, the seat of government of said Territory, and two of the Judges of the said court not attending on this day ; therefore, the court is adjourned until to-morrow at 11 o'clock A. M. John Catlin, Clerk."

The journal then shows an adjournment from day to day for the same reason, until the 8th of July, when the adjournment was "until court in colirse." The Marshal is stated, in the journal of the 8th, to have been in attendance three days. There is nothing to show whether any other officer or any members of the bar were present, nor which of the Judges it was who persisted so long in waiting for his colleagues to appear. In explanation of this failure to hold a term that year, it has been stated that "no business for the court had matured."* Perhaps the want of any suitable accommodations for the court at Madison was an equally persuasive reason, the only houses then erected at that place being a small log house built for John Catlin (on the present site of the United States Post Office), the interior of which had been badly injured by fire, and apparently not repaired, with the two boarding-houses of Eben Peck and Josiah Pierce, and some rude temporary cabins built for the use of the workmen engaged upon the capitol.f

Judge Frazer held the May term, 1837, of the District Court for Brown County at Green Bay, at which term the Winnebago Indian Mau-zau-mau-nee-kah was convicted of the murder of Pierre Pauquette, which occurred in the preceding October near Fort Winnebago. This cause, which excited great interest in the Territory, was taken by writ of error to the Supreme Court, and in the report of it (now most conveniently found in 1 Pinney's Wis. R., 124), a written opinion delivered by Judge Frazer on denying a motion in arrest of judgment is preserved. He seems to have held the June term of his court at Milwaukee the same year. Probably he was one of the two judges of the Supreme Court whose failure to appear at Madison the next month prevented the holding of the term for that year.

By an act of the Legislative Assembly at its next session (at Burlington), the time for holding the annual term of the court was changed to the third Monday of July. On the 19th of June, 1838, Edward James was commissioned Marshal of the Territory, succeeding Mr. Gehon. t; 1, f u ^'^ of July, 1838, the Iowa Territory became detached from Wisconsin. On the loth of the same month, Moses M. Strong, of Mineral Point, was commissioned United States i^ct Attorney for the Wisconsin Territory, succeeding Mr. Chapman.

+ Tliii-ri«?/'nw'°' ^y F"''»«e, page 36. Mr. Mills la confident that the Judge present on this occasion was Chief Justice Dunn, r A/uiue B jjiBtory of Madison,

On the next day, July 16, 1838, the Supreme Court held its term at Madison. The journal states that " The Hon. William C. Frazer appeared, and, two of the Judges not appearing, the court was adjourned until 3 o'clock, P. M." It then states that at the hour last named, "the court was opened by Francis Gehon,* Marshal of the Territory. Present: Hon. Charles Dunn, Chief Justice ; Hon. William C. Frazer, Associate Judge." I have never seen any reason assigned for the absence of Judge Irvin. This term lasted only one day, and was held, according to Mr Catlin's statement, " at the old Madison Hotel, which was only partially finished. "t William H. Banks and Francis J. Dunn, both of Mineral Point ; Frederick S. Lovell, of Southport (Kenosha) ; and Jonathan E. Arnold and H. ^N". Wells, both of Milwaukee were admitted to the bar of the court. Orders were made in seven cases, all of which were oontinued Four rules of practice were adopted (which will be found in 1 Pinney's Wisconsin R., pp. 5, 6), and then the court adjourned " until court in course."

After this adjournment. Judge Frazer appears to have held a term of his district court at Green Bay. He died at Milwaukee on the 18th of October in that year. His service in Wisconsin was so brief, that only a dim tradition of him remains, and that not of a flattering character. It does not appear that he had ever had judicial experience prior to his appointment to our Supreme Court. He was sixty years old at the time of that appointment, sixty-two at the time of his death. Few men of that age could have been transplanted with success from one of the populous Eastern States to a remote frontier region, such as Wisconsin then was. But, unhappily, the Judge appears to have been disqualified for his ofiSce by grossly intemperate habits still more than by his years. By whose influence his appointment had been procared does not appear ; but he was neither the first nor the last of the unfortunates whose friends have secured for them places of supposed refuge in oflBcial appointments to distant Territories after they had ceased to be useful or successful at home. Mr. Pinney remarks that "his intemperate habits rendered him unfit for the position, though, it is said, that he had been a lawyer of average learning and ability. "J The late Judge Catlin, in some reminiscences written near the close of his life,§ says that- " Judge Frazer was a very able Judge when not under the influence of liquor, and was remarkable for his ability, memory and knowledge of law." Speaking of the term of the Supreme Court held in 1838, he says : " The Judge came on from Pennsylvania to hold the term [?], but the other Judges, did not attend. The Judge insisted on opening the court and holding the term as the law required. I informed him that there was no business and no lawyers in attendance. He said that made no difference. It was necessary to adopt rules, and accordingly the court was opened ; the Judge dictated from memory, and I wrote the rules, but they were not adopted by the other Judges. The climate of Madison, however, at that dry time at the capital, did not suit the Judge, as the " critter" or " 0 be joyful " was not there, except some Chinese cordial in the store of James Morrison, which Mr. Bird had charge of in the absence of Mr. Morrison. This cordial was put up in a very handsome and expensive set of Chinaware representing Mandarins, and, by the liberality of Mr. Bird, the whole set (ahout a dozen bottles) was emptied by the Judge while holding the term. When the cordial had all leaked out, the Judge took his departure, and never held another term."

The very high character of Mr. Catlin, and his relations to the court as its Clerk at that time, would seem to give these reminiscences a peculiar stamp of authenticity. But it is difficult to reconcile this narrative with the facts already stated from the record concerning the term of 1838. If it be true, however, that on the morning of the 16th of July, before the arrival of Chief Justice Dunn, Judge Frazer insisted upon holding the term " solitary and alone," it is only necessary to remark that, by the organic act, the. presence of two of the Judges was requisite to constitute a quorum ; and that, in the face of this express provision, no Judge, whose competency for the position had not been at least temporarily suspended, could possibly have been guilty of such folly.

A paper by A. F. Pratt, Esq., of Waukesha, found in the first volume of the collections of our State Historical Society, contains some further reminiscences of Judge Frazer, harmonizing in their general character with those already given ; but, like those of Mr. Catlin, they were written out after the lapse of many years, without reference to the records, and contain some obvious inaccuracies.

On the 8th of November, 1838, Andrew Galbraith Miller, Esq., of Carlisle, Cumberland Co. Penn., was commissioned by President Jackson as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin Territory, to fill the vacancy caused by Judge Frazer's death. Judge Miller was a native of thecounty in which he was practicing law at the time of his appointment, having been born near Carlisle September 18, 1801. After graduating at Washington College, Pennsylvania, on the day after the completion of his nineteenth year, he had studied law at Carlisle for three years, and had been admitted to the bar in November, 1822. After sixteen years of practice in " the courts of his native and adjoining counties, and in the Supreme Court of the State," being then arrived at his thirty-eighth year, he received the appointment already mentioned, and came to Wisconsin, where he was to fill high judicial positions until the close of his life. The oath of office was administered to him on the 10th of December, 1838, at Milwaukee, by John S. Rockwell, Esq. From the accession of Judge Miller to the inauguration of the State Government of Wisconsin, no change occurred in the constitution of the Supreme Court.

Before the next term of the court, the Territory was redistricted by act of the Legislature, and Chief Justice Dunn was assigned to the First District, consisting of Crawford, Grant and Iowa Counties; Judge Irvin to the Second District, consisting of Walworth, Rock, Green, Dane and Jefferson Counties ; and Judge Miller to the Third District, composed of Brown, Milwaukee, and Racine Counties. Other counties were soon formed from those named, and were included in the several judicial districts which comprised the counties from which they were respectively detached.

The next term of the court commenced July 15, 1839, at the capital at Madison, and continued for three days. According to the recollection of Mr. Mills, most of the sessions of the court during both this and the preceding term, were held in a small frame building known as the Commissioner's Ofiice, which stood on the east corner of King and Pinckney Streets. The room in which the court sat in this building, measured perhaps sixteen by twenty feet, and contained the Territorial Library after its removal from Burlington.