Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - Chapter 3, 1880 (part 4 of 15)

Deeds and County Superintendent. The second floor is the court room. It takes up the entire of the building, with the exception of the vestibule. At the west end is the bench for the Judge. It is built of solid granite, trimmed with pearl and Mt. Ophir gold, the seat being hollow for ice in summer and hot air or coals in winter. Under the desk is a large cupboard with time-lock, for bottles and demijohns, and a newly invented beautiful spirit lamp ingeniously arranged for making toddies. These are all out of sight of the audience. On the right of the bench is a monster pair of highly finished and perfect scales, in which every case is weighed by the Judge ; and on the left a dungeon in which refractory witnesses are confined until they will swear as they have been instructed. The garret is used for empty bottles.

" The dome is a beautiful piece of workmanship, something of which the tax-payers should be proud, for it is not every county that can boast of a steeple 400 feet high and surmounted by a bronze statue. The whole building is carpeted and richly furnished, and is lighted with electricity.

"It is indeed a magnificent pile, shimmering in the sunlight like a mountain of jewels, and giving all better thoughts by its striking resemblance to the walls of the City of Life. It is the temple of justice, whose glittering dome shines like a beacon far over the prairies, rivers and lakes, guiding the benighted travelers from Green Bay, Sheboygan, Madison and Milwaukee to the Second City, with all her splendors and purity of politics."

The County Register's office, which may be called an appendage of the Court House, a one-story building of brick, stone and iron, was finished in 1854, by John Nichols, and cost about $1,200. It is fire proof, the floor and walls being stone and roof being covered with :ashes to the depth of two feet. There were no fire-proof rooms in the Court House, which fact made necessary the erection of this building, which stands on the northwest corner of the lot donated in 1844 by Dr. Mason C. Darling to the county for county buildings. It is now as full of records as is convenient, and if a- new Court House is not built apon, a new Register's office will be required.

When the Court House was erected, it combined a court-room, offices for all county officials and a jail in the heavy stone basement. After a few years, this basement not only got out of repair, but was too small for all intended purposes, namely, a place of confinement for prisoners and a residence for the Sheriff and Jailer. Therefore, in 1869, the County Board made an «.ppropriation for the erection of a county jail building, and the contract was let to Theodore Eul. The superintending architect was Thomas H. Green, of Fond du Lac, but the specifications and plans, which required that the structure should be of stone and iron, were by G. P. Randall, of Chicago. It was finished ready for occupancy in 1869 ; is located on the west side of Linden street, not far from Western avenue, in the city of Fond du Lac, and cost $42,000. The main walls are of Fond du Lac gray limestone, with dressings for the doors and windows, -of Joliet stone. The cells, of which there are twenty-eight single and six double ones, arranged in two tiers, are inclosed by slabs of Joliet stone. The portion of the jail building used as a residence and office by the Sheriff, is 34x45 feet, and two and one-half stories high, with basement for kitchen and storerooms. The prison proper is 34x58 feet, two stories high and very strongly built. The outer walls, through which prisoners have several times made their escape, were strengthened with iron in 1878. No prisoners ever escaped when locked in their cells.

County Pooe Fakm And Buildings

The County Poor Farm consists of 172 acres of as good farming lands as exist in Fond du Lac County, situated in Sections 21 and 28, town of Fond du Lac. The first purchase of land for the purpose of supporting and furnishing a home and a place to work for the indigent inhabitants of the county, was made in December, 1856, being seventy acres of the present farm. The cost was $2,640. Other tracts have since been added, flhe last being by M. W. Simmons, -of twenty-six acres, at a cost of $1,040. Thus the whole farm embraced 176 acres, less the .right of way for the Chicago & North- Western, and the Fond du Lac, Amboy & Peoria (narrow gauge) Rail-ways. The farm is in an excellent state of cultivation, nearly enough potatoes, wheat, oats, rye, corn and vegetables for the paupers and insane being produced from it. Cows are also kept, which produce milk and butter, and, in 1879, 10,000 pounds of pork and 2,000 pounds of beef were produced and packed on the farm. To do this, not a dollar was expended by the county for labor, the paupers under Michael Gaertner, Overseer of the farm, being able to perform all the work of tilling, seeding, harvesting and storing. This is a better showing than, for previous years, because never before had there been so many paupers able to perform manual labor sent to the Poor Farm.

The buildings, except the Insane Asylum, erected in 1878, are not worthy of extended mention. The building occupied by the Overseer of the Poor Farm is of wood, and those occupied by the paupers are of gravel and considerably out of repair; that is, they are old and cracked. They were all erected by the county. Until 1878, the incurably insane and all the paupers, whether sick or not, were confined together. This was a source of trouble to the Overseer, of danger to the paupers, and of annoyance and continued irritation to the demented. Therefore, during 1878, under the statutes which grant authority to each county to provide for the incurably insane by and within its own borders, a commodious, substantial and beautiful building of brick, iron and stone was erected. The architect was Thomas H. Green, of Fond du Lac, and the cost about $7,000. It is a model building for asylum purposes, and its inmates are as comfortable, safe and well cared for as those of the State hospitals for the insane. The main building is 28x70, with thirty-two dormitories, arranged in two tiers, sixteen on each iioor. The building is two stories high, with basement. On the west side is a wing 14x17^^ feet, used as a reception room below and for the attendants above. The entire building is ceiled with matched and beaded oak, and is provided with an admirable system of ventilation. It contains two Boyanton furnaces for warmth, in which wood cut on the farm is burned. Although in use only one year, the asylum is nearly full of incurables. At the beginning of 1880, the county poor buildings had fifty-eight inmates. Of these, thirty-one are insane. The list shows that twenty-one are chargeable to Fond du Lac City, three to Fond du Lac Town, two to Ashford, three to Auburn, three to Alto, one to Calumet, two to Friendship, one to Forest, three to Eldorado, four to Lamartine, one to Metomen, two to Ripon, three to Oakfield, two to Osceola, two to Waupun, two to Taycheedah, and three are "transients."

Up to the December session of the County Board in 1879, the general system of supporting the paupers of the county had been in vogue. That is, all the expenses of maintaining the Poor Farm and its inmates, as well as furnishing fuel, clothing and food to those indigent persons who did not live at the farm, was charged to the whole county in a general tax. This was not satisfactory to all cities and towns, as some of them had no paupers and others had a large number of them. Under this system, the county was divided into three districts, and the County Board, by statute authority, elected a Superintendent of Poor for each district. This was supplanted by the town system in December, 1879. The Superintendents offices were abolished and the Chairman of each town and ward charged with looking after the poor of his precinct. The County Farm is kept up, but the expense of running it and supporting the paupers is charged to the towns or wards which have paupers thus maintained, in proportion to the number each has been credited with at the farm. The average cost of supporting the paupers and incurably insane, including all salaries, medical attendance and aid furnished to families not at the county farm, has been about |12,000 per year. It is thought the new system will reduce these figures somewhat.

Before the county purchased a Poor Farm in 1856, its paupers were cared for at certain, rates' by C. D. Kendall, who lived near the present Poor Farm.

He who follows agriculture is the pioneer in all new countries, .and prepares the way for lawyer, editor, miller, minister, blacksmith, and all others who depend upon anything but farming for a livelihood, and who never fail to come after them when the soil has been made sufficiently productive. The early settlers of Fond du Lac County were no exception to this rule. On the 21st of April, 1837, Colwert and Edward Pier turned the first furrow in the county about one mile south of where the Court House now stands in the city of Fond du Lac. Six days later, they sowed wheat, oats and peas. The year before this, a few potatoes and garden vegetables were raised near the corner of Brooke and Rees streets, in the city of Fond du Lac, by Colwert Pier. In the town of Waupun the work of tilling the soil was begun in the spring of 1839, by Seymour Wilcox, John N. Ackerman and Hiram Walker. They raised no wheat, but had potatoes, corn and roots enough for their own use.

From these small beginnings agriculture has grown to astonishing proportions in Fond du Lac County, and, although considerable attention is given to manufacturing, still represents the bulk of capital and population. Any other condition of things would be unnatural, as, with its rich soil and good markets, the county has always furnished a field for the most profitable returns of 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. Winter wheat was largely sown at first and returned profitable yields, especially in the " openings." Spring wheat throve better on the prairies, where the soil was less adapted to winter grain, and the winter winds were more severe. Winter grain was abandoned almost entirely, and for twenty-five years, up to 1879, spring wheat haa taken the lead. In the fall of that year, owing to the unprofitable returns from an overworked soil, and the disastrous effects of drought, chinch-bugs and weevil, large quantities of winter wheat were put in everywhere in the county.

The nine towns constituting the western portion of the county of Fond du Lac - Ripon, Metomen, Alto, Waupun, Springvale and Rosendale - in soil and surface, differ somewhat from the towns lying east of them. Nature seems to have indicated this difference by extending Lake Winnebago southward, in part dividing the east from the west on the borders of the timber and prairie. In the nine towns just named, there are prairies, openings and marshes, and originally, there were groves of heavy forest trees. The territory is well watered by springs and brooks, by Silver Creek, and by branches of Rock, Fond du Lac, and Grand Rivers. The soil is an argillaceous loam, moderately mixed with sand and lime, and resting on a thin layer of limestone much broken and occasionally interspersed with knobs of gravel ; underlying the whole is a red sandstone which occasionally crops out in the ravines. On a few of the highest points on the prairies, mostly in the towns of Ripon and Metomen, the limestone comes to the surface, but, in some of the higher points in the openings, the gravel appears at the surface. This portion of the county, as elsewhere explained, dates the commencement of its settlement virtually in the years 1844 and 1845, although there were a few settlers there before those years. Most qf the first farmers came from New England, and adopted, generally, the mode of farming then practiced in the East. Since that time, experience as to the capacity of the soil and as to the climate, has caused, of course, considerable change in the methods of farming in this region as it has elsewhere.

The towns in the eastern portion of the county have more lime in the soil, more swamps of tamarack and aSh, more glades of wild hay, more tracts of heavy timber, more hills, more gravel beds and more heavy outcroppings of limestone. In short, the soil and capacity of farms are more diversified.

The towns through which the "Ledge" extends are more adapted to the successful raising of sheep than those which have more glades and meadow lands. Some portions are also well adapted to the dairying and stock raising, and the profit of adding these departments of farming to that of simple plowing and sowing has recently become apparent. Nearly every town now has one or more cheese factories, and some have creameries also, factories for making first butter and then "skimmed" cheese from the same milk. The quality of the butter and cheese made in Fond du Lac County is first-class. Wheat and hay produced here are second in quality to the products of no other county, and large quantities of pork, wool and beef, of excellent quality, are annually exported. The city of Fond du Lac is one of the best and most extensi .e wheat and wool markets in the State, while the city of Ripon is a leading point in the exporti.- tion of live stock.

The town of Ripon leads all other towns in fruit raising, although producing orchards may b.) found in all sections of the county. Grapes, cherries and all kinds of berries are grown with profit wherever the farmers are disposed to devote the necessary labor and skill to their culture.

The business of breeding thorough-bred stock of all kinds has also got a strong foothold. In the cattle department, B. C. Matteson, of Rosendale, stands at the head, while A. Hargrave, of Ripon, Dorian Mihills, of Taycheedah, and Sexmith Brothers, of Fond du Lac, are engaged in the same line. In the sheep department Henry Corliss, of Ripon, Ben. J. Gilbert, of Fond du Lac, and Bushnal Dodd, of Rosendale, are the leading breeders of blooded stock.

Farmers have recently turned their attention to raising sugar cane, and the contracted crop for 1880 is a large one. The plan is for farmers to contract with the owners of sugar factories for any number of acres at $25 per acre, provided the crop averages, for instance, five stalks to the hill and the rows of hills are only three feet apart. The syrup made from amber sugar cane is pleasant to the taste, very sweet, of a beautiful amber color and commands a ready sale, being adapted to nearly all- the departments in which sugar is used.

Number Op Bushels

The farmers of Fond du Lac County support one agricultural paper, the Farmer, at Fond du Lac, and have several brisk and well-attended farmers' clubs, with more in process of organization.

The dairying interests of Fond du Lac County have grown to dimensions of importance, second, perhaps, to those of but one other county in Wisconsin. It is the pioneer county in dairying, and would be second to none except for the rich returns of other agricultural pursuits. The soil is not especially adapted to grazing and to nothing else, as is the case with dairying sections outside of Fond du Lac County, but is simply good, rich soil, suitable for grazing or grain.

The first factory cheese shipped out of Wisconsin, the first cheese |,factory and the first Dairyman's Association in the State, all belonged to Fond du Lac County.

The very first cheese made, as the beginning of an experimental business enterprise, was made in the spring of 1844, by Chester Hazen, in the town of Springvale. In 1850, he kept twenty cows for their milk, and made the product into cheese, after the improved plan, using vats. During thirty years from that time, cheese-making as a business for profit has been continued on that same farm by the same man, and always with satisfactory results.

In 1852, Warren Florida, of the town of Waupun, began making cheese from a small dairy of cows; and George D. Curtis, of Rosendale, began also in a small way the same season. About the same time, perhaps a year later,' Henry Bush, of Byron, put a dairy of cows on hi* farm, and began making cheese. From that period on, home dairying increased more or less rapidly in Fond du Lac County, until the days of cheese factories. During the war, owing tothe high price of cheese, new dairies sprang into existence in almost every portion of the county, and made money for their proprietors.

The first cheese factory erected in Wisconsin was built by Chester Hazen, in the town of Springvale, Fond du Lac County, and put in operation in the season of 1864, with the milk from 100 cows. The factory was a great curiosity, and was considered an experiment. The next season, 1865, he had the lacteal product of 200 cows ; that of 400, in 1868, and of 1,000, in 1870. Business of an equally large scale was continued by Mr. Hazen's factory four or five years after 1870, until other factories began to be built around him, when it dropped to 500 cows, the product of which number is now made into cheese at his factory.

The second cheese factory in Fond du Lac County was erected in 1866, in the north portion of Springvale, by Vincent & Waterman. Later in the same season. Strong & Hammond built a factory in Oakfield, and during the following fall or winter it was ready for milk. During the season of 1867, J. J. Smith built a factory in Ripon. This is now but little used, the farmers about Ripon having recently very largely dropped the dairying business, owing to the unprofitable price of cheese. During the next four or five years, a comparatively large number of factories were built, and most of them did a flourishing business. The report made for 1870 showed the following factories in operation that year : Ladoga factory - 625 cows, 1,923,264 pounds of milk, made into 194,544 pounds of cured cheese ; Brandon factory - 423,719 pounds of milk, 42,058 pounds of cured cheese; Rosendale factory - 475 cows, and made 44 tons of cured cheese; Waupun factory - 150 cows, 76,954 pounds of green cheese; Treleven's factory, in Fond du Lac - 150 cows and 31,108 pounds of cured cheese; Ripon factory - 300 cows, 63,454 pounds of green cheese; Oakfield factory - 800,000 pounds of milk, which made 88,889 pounds of cheese; Alto factory - 175 cows, 290,561 pounds of milk, and 31,092 pounds of cheese; J. A. Smith's factory, in Fond du Lac - 56 cows, from which were made 15,000 pounds of cheese in ninety days; Spafibrd's factory, in Fond du Lac - 100 cows, from which were made 16,908 pounds of cheese; Ellsworth's factory, in Metomen - 150 cows, from which were made 14 tons of cheese.

In 1870, the first factory cheese shipped from Wisconsin in car lots, was sent from the Hazen factory, at Ladoga, Fond du Lac County. Since then the practice of shipping and boxing at the factories has become common.

In 1879, there were thirty cheese factories in operation in Fond du Lac County, in which were manufactured 2,244,000 pounds of cheese, which, although a falling-ofi^ of nearly 25 per cent from the product of 1878, is still four times as great as the product of 1870. To make this amount of cheese in 1879, required the milk of 4,500 cows.

At the International Dairy Fair held in December, 1878, at the American Institute, New York, the first prize for Wisconsin factory cheese, was awarded to Chester Hazen, of Fond du Lac County. '

In 1870, the first Dairyman's Association ever organized in the State of Wisconsin was formed in Fond du Lac County. Chester Hazen was President, and H. C. Strong, Secretary. At its second meeting, held February 10, 1871, Chester Hazen was re-elected President; F. S. Jenkins and W. J. Jennings, Vice Presidents ; H. D. Hitt, Treasurer, and H. C. Strong, Secretary. A Board of Directors, consisting of William Knight, of Alto ; Charles Norris, of Brandon ; James Cornell, of Byron ; D. D. Treleven, of Fond du Lac ; A. C. Whiting, of Springvale ; Abel Bristol, of Oakfield ; H. C. Waterman, Rosendale ; William Starr, of Ripon ; John Howard, of Waupun, and Ed Reynolds, of Metomen, was also elected. A neat report in pamphlet form was published, and the Association was in a healthy condition. In 1872, the State Dairyman's Association was formed, and Chester Hazen was its President, the Fond du Lac County Association being merged with the State Association. Chester Hazen, who is now Vice President of the State Dairyman's Association, was its President during 1872, 1873 and 1874. He has done much to make a reputation abroad for Fond du Lac County cheese and butter,- which now bring the highest market price in all the Eastern cities.

While Fond du Lac County does not lead all other counties at the present time in the value of her butter and cheese products, she has the honor of first demonstrating that dairying could be successfully followed in Wisconsin, and thus put other localities, where grain raising was more unprofitable, in possession of knowledge that has since made them richer, and also made Wisconsin famous for the very finest quality of butter and cheese. Dairying has fallen ofi" since the beginning of 1879 in Fond du Lac County for the very best of reasons, viz., the ruinously low prices paid for butter and cheese. During that year, butter could actually be bought for 7 cents and cheese for 4J to 5 cents per pound, and those who could contract their butter for 10 cents or 12 J per pound thought themselves exceedingly fortunate. Many farmers would not sell at such insignificant prices and dropped at once the business of making butter and cheese. At the beginning of 1880, however, both these articles rose to much higher prices, cheese bringing from 14 to 16 cents and butter 20 to 22 cents per pound, and the outlook for dairy keepers is again bright.

Not all the factories in Fond du Lac County mentioned as cheese factories are used in the manufacture of cheese alone, some of them being creameries where butter alone, or both butter and cheese are made. Perhaps the most novel and finest equipped cream'ery in the county is near the farm of 'A. Atwood, in the town of Waupun. The milk in this creamery is cooled by draughts of cold air which have passed into a large tunnel made for the purpose and passed many rods under ground to the building. These currents are sufiiciently cold and always steady and reliable, the earth at the depth to which the tunnel was dug being always cool. This was the first creamery of the kind ever erected, and was first run during 1878 by W. T. Brooks.

County Asricultukal And Mechanical Society

The Fond du Lac County Agricultural and Mechanical Society was organized on the 5th of July, 1852, at Rosendale, and the first fair was held there on the 26th and 30th days' of September following. The amount of premiums awarded that year was $261.50, but the spirit proved to be willing and the flesh weak in the distribution, for the amount actually realized and divided was only 13 per cent of the awards. The next year, 1858, the fair was held at Fond du Lac, and, being instructed by the result of the year before, the Society's Committee made the more modest award of $199, and managed, from the receipts, to pay 87| per cent of the awards. The next year, 1854, by a judibious compromise, the premium obligations appear to have been fully discharged by the distribution of $78 in cash and twenty-six volumes of the transactions of the State Agricultural Society. In 1855, the fair was held at Fond du Lac, and showed an encouraging degree of improvement - ^the premiums awarded being $160 in cash and several volumes of Patent Office Reports. In 1856, the figures, for some reason, show a slight falling-off - the amount of awards being $157.50. The year 1857 was a little better, and shows premiums to the amount of $192.50 ; and from this date the fairs and affairs of the society show a decided recuperation. The fair was held at Ripon on the 23d and 24th days of September, 1858, and was a success, the total receipts amounting to $282.07, of which there was awarded and disbursed as premiums, $245.50. In 1859, was the "big year " - the Society having realized frdm admission, membership tickets and subscriptions, the snug sum of $452.15, of which $211.75 was invested in conveniences and fixings, then much needed by the Society, and $252.60 disbursed as premiums. This fair was held in Fond du Lac. Last year, 1860, the Society was also selfsustaining, and held an interesting fair at Fond du Lac, paying from its own resources $276 cash premiums. As to the fair of 1861, " It is not unfair to presume that with ordinary fair-play it would have proven a successful affair, but unwelcome warfare interfered sadly with its welfare."

All succeeding fairs after the first one have been held in the city of Fond du Lac. The Society leased grounds on the southern limits of the city which had been purchased and fitted up as a race track by the " Fond du Lac Stock Growers' Association." The Society erected an exhibition building, and the necessary appurtenances for holding fairs. There the annual shows were held with varied success and reverses until 1874, when, on the 20th of June of that year, a re-organization of the Society was effected, on the stock plan, and the following By-Laws were adopted :

Section 1. The annual meeting of the Society shall be held in the city of Fond du Lac on the first Wednesday succeeding the first Monday in January, in each year, at 12 o'clock noon.

Sec. 2. The affairs of the Society shall be under the direction of a Board of thirteen Directors, who shall be elected by ballot at the annual meeting. A majority of all the votes cast shall be necessary to an elgction, and no person shall be eligible to election as a Director unless he is a stockholder, and has paid all assessments made upon the shares of stock held by him.

Sec. 3. Shares of stock on which assessments shall have been paid, shall be entitled to one vote, but no stock shall be represented by proxy.

Sec. 4. The Board of Directors, on receiving official notice of their election, shall within one week after receiving such notice, meet and elect from among their number a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of five, including the President and Secretary, who shall be ex officio members of said committee. '

Sec. 5. The Executive Committee shall have, under the direction of the Board of Directors, general supervision of the affairs of the Society, and perform such other duties as may be imposed upon them by the Board of Directors.

Sec. 7. No moneys shall be paid out of the Treasury unless appropriated by a majority of the Executive Committee, and on the warrant of the President, attested by the Secretary, except the premiums awarded may be paid upon the certificate of the Secretary.

Sec. 9. The Secretary shall cause to be published in at least two newspapers published in the city of Fond du Lac, notice of all regular meetings of the Society, at least two weeks prior to such meeting.

Sec. 14. Each stockholder shall be entitled to one ticket, admitting himself to the grounds at all times, when under the control of the Society, which ticket shall be forfeited when in any hands except his own.

Sec. 16. No certificate of slock shall be transferable except on the books of the Society, and in case of transfer, the President and Secretary shall cancel the old certificate and issue a new certificate to purchaser.

Under the new order of things, George Keys, of Empire, was elected President, H. G. Halsted, of Rosendale, Treasurer, and Dana C. Lamb, of Fond du Lac, Secretary. The capital stock was fixed at $15,000, in shares of $25 each, and more than $10,000 was subscribed. The new company, jn consideration of the improvements made by the old organization, assumed to pay jts debts, including the premium-list of 1873. The grounds were put in good condition, a fine amphitheater and numerous cattle and horse sheds built, wells sunk, the track put in order, and preparations made for a grand exhibition, and the hopes of the new directory were not disappointed, as the fair of 1874 was acknowledged to have been one of the finest exhibitions ever held in the State. The next year, under the same ofiicers, the fair was again successful. In 1876, the following named gentlemen were elected as officers : President, Chester Hazen, Springvale ; Vice President, John H. Martin, Fond du Lac ; Secretary, Dana C. Lamb, Fonddu Lac ; Treasurer, Henry G. Halsted, Rosendale. That year, the receipts of the fair, shown by the report of the Treasurer, reached nearly $3,000. The fair of 1877, by the same oflBcers, nearly or quite eb[ualed the former ones under the re-organization. The ofiicers for 1878 were : H. D.. Hitt, of Oakfield, President ; F. B. Hoskins, of Fond du Lac, Treasurer, and Gustavo de Neveu, of Empire, Secretary. Owing to bad weather, the receipts of the fair for 1878 were light, and no premiums were paid. The fair of 1879 was blessed with fine weather, and the receipts were sufficient to meet all demands.

Bipon Agricultural Association

The Ripon Agricultural Association was undertaken by Ripon in its mature years, but it was indebted for its establishment, in great part, to the same men who had carried forward earlier enterprises of a public nature to success. It originated in the "Farmers' Club" - a voluntary institution, which had been in successful operation for two years or more - in the summer of 1866. Like all American operations, it elicited a world of talk, and, like most Ripon operations, that talk resulted in successful action. The usual machinery of public meetings, committees and subcommittees, was resorted to - nothing' can be done in this country without public meetings and committees - and, as ever, the question of first importance was that of ways and means. Upon a careful comparison of views, it was decided that it would be practicable to organize and commence business on a paid-up capital of $5,000. But how to obtain the $5,000 was the question. It was a very considerable amount of money to raise when there was no immediate prospect of a return. It was thought that a subscription of $25 by each citizen interested would be most available ; and it was, therefore, resolved that the capital of the Association should be divided into shares of $25 each ; and, as a special inducement to subscribers, it was proposed that each holder of paid-up stock should be eiititled to a free ticket, giving himself and family free access to the fair grounds on all occasions whatever. This was, undoubtedly, the proposition which made the movement a success.

The irrepressible D. P. Mapes went to work to obtain subscriptions ; and, if any one thinks it is a small piece of work to sell two hundred shares of stock in an agricultural association, for $26 each, and get his money as he goes along, just let him try it; his efiforts will probably result in taking a large share of conceit out of him. It was, indeed, a great amount of labor ; but it was accomplished in the course of five or six weeks.

An organization was effected under the general law ; a board of directors elected -; the money was paid into the hands of a treasurer; and, in point of fact, the victory was won. Then came the question of location, the size and shape of the grounds, length of the trotting-course - or whether there should be a trotting-course at all - fencing the grounds, making sheds, stalls and what not ; and, after a decision was reached on these innumerable questions, there was still an immense amount of actual work to be done to carry the decision into effect. It was, in fact, nothing short of a summer's work for the men engaged in it. But the end was at last reached, or "straining full in view," and then there arose another very important question - " Can the work be finished up in time to hold a fair during the fall of 1866 ?" The majority of the Directors responded ''doubtful! " But two or three said there should be no doubt about it ; it must be done, and it was done. The fair was held very late - on the 11th, 12th and 13th days of October, of that year. This was the first fair of the Ripon Agricultural Association, and it was a success.

On the 9th of November, 1866, the Association purchased for their grounds seventeen acres, in the northeast part of the city, about a mile from the business portion of Ripon.

Fairs have been held each year since the organization of the Association with uniform success. The buildings upon the grounds are in excellent condition and well adapted for the purposes intended ; there is also a fine half-mile race-track. Other improvements are in good order; in short, the grounds are complete in all their arrangements.

Plank Roads

To secure firm and smooth thoroughfares for the transportation of their produce, the attention of the people of Fond du Lac County was early called to the necessity of constructing plank roads. Companies were chartered and the work commenced. In 1852, a plank road was finished and brought into use from the city of Fond du Lac to the city of Sheboygan on Lake Michigan. In 1853, this road was continued northwesterly from Fond du Lac to Rosendale, and although contemplated to pass through the villages of Ripon and Ceresco to Fox River, it was never completed farther than the east line of the town of Rosendale. After being used a few years, it was suffered to fall to decay and was finally declared by the proper authority a free public highway and such it has since remained. "This road, ""wrote a citizen of Fond du Lac, in 1854, " is well graded and covered with solid oak plank, possesses firmness and promises durability. It affords an easy transit to the traveller, altogether preferable to the hemlock-knot roads of the east."

That the citizens of Fond du Lac County may now fully appreciate the struggles and anxieties of a quarter of century ago - before the era of railways - to insure cheap transportation for produce and easy means of communication, the following account is reproduced from a publication of that time relative to plank road projects :

"There is a company organized with a charter for the construction of a plank road from Milwaukee to Green Bay. The work is already commenced, and some fifteen or twenty miles of the road now in use between Calumet and Green Bay. The line of this road runs through the entire width of Fond du Lac County, passing through the towns of Calumet, Taycheedah, Fond du Lac, Empire, Eden, Ashford and Auburn. The plank road from Fond du Lac to Waupun commenced the present season [1854], will pass through the intermediate towns of Lamartine and Oakfield. The line of the Sheboygan and Mayville plank road passes through Fond du Lac, and thence on the line between Byron and Oakfield into the county of Dodge. Omro and Waupun plank road will run through Rosendale and Springvfde to Waupun. Port Washington and Fond du Lac plank road will pass through Osceola, Auburn, Eden and Empire, to Fond du Lac. Fond du Lac and Waukau plank road will run from Fond du Lac through Eldorado and Rosendale into the county of Winnebago. Oshkosh, Algoma and Ripon plank road will run through the north part of Rosendale to Ceresco. Plymouth and Waupun plank road will pass through Osceola, Eden, Byron and Oakfield to Waupun. Fond du Lac and Oshkosh plank road on the west shore of Lake Winnebago, will run through the town of Friendship. How soon and how many of the roads will be constructed is for the future to disclose ; yet one thing is certain, the will and the capacity to accomplish are adequate to supply all the real necessities of the community in respect to plank roads."

And, notwithstanding all these schemes and all this labor, there is not now a plank road in the county of Fond du Lac. The era of those roads was brief and spasmodic ; it soon gave way to more important railway enterprises.

As introductory to the sketch of the railways of Fond du Lac County, it will be profitable to copy from an article of a quarter of a century ago, an account of the improvements of the line then existing, bringing at once to the attention of the reader what had, at that early day, become a reality, and the numerous projects already agitating the public mind. The writer says :

" While the people of Fond du Lac County have been active in securing the advantages derived from good plank roads through its various sections, they have not been indifferent to the more important enterprise of connecting the great producing portions of the county with the ' port towns ' and principal markets, by the construction of railroads.

" The Rock River Valley Union Railroad is the only one which has been brought (1854) into use in Fond du Lac County. This was completed in 1858, from Fond du Lac through Oakfield to near the village of Waupun, on the line of Dodge County. The length of the road now in use is about twenty miles. Two trains run daily each way. The Horicon & Berlin Railroad is now in process of construction, and will accommodate the western part of the county, passing through Waupun, Alto, Metomen and Ceresco [now Ripon]. There are, also charters obtained and companies organized for the construction of the Milwaukee, Fond du Lac"& Green Bay Railroa,d, the line of which runs through the towns of Auburn, Ashford, Eden, Fond du Lac and Friendship, in this county ; for the Port Washington & Fort Winnebago Railroad, running through Auburn, Ashford, Byron, Oakfield, Waupun and Alto ; for the Sheboygan & Mississippi Railroad, passing the entire length of the county from east to west, running through the towns of Forest, Empire, Fond du Lac, Eldorado, Rosendale and Ceresco [now Ripon].

" These constitute the principal railroads now contemplated to pass through this county. Great interest is manifested and proportionate exertions made for the completion of some of these roads, and should the agricultural interests bf the county continue to enjoy the prosperity which has attended them for the two past seasons, it will not be long before the county will possess sufficient wealth, without difficulty to construct all the roads that necessity demands. Some of these roads will probably never have but a chartered existence, while others are as sure of being brought into actual and profitable use as that common prosperity attends the exertions of the people."

Having thus presented a general view of the railway enterprise in Fond du Lac County, as it existed a quarter of a century ago, it is necessary to call the reader's attention to the rise and progress of each road actually constructed and now in operation within the limits of the county, and to such other facts as may tend to recall the interest attaching to them from the ^date of their inception to the present time.

The Chicago ^ North- Western Railway. - Portions of what now constitute this line of railway were built before any work was done in Wisconsin, but the first work done on the Chicago & North-Western Railway line proper was in the city of Fond du Lac, in 1851. The year before, a line was built from Chicago to Elgin, 111., but not by any of the builders of what is now the Chicago & North-Western Railway ; hence, Fond du Lac is really the birth-place of this mighty fan of railway lines.

The people of Fond du Lao County had thought but little about- railways, most of their time, attention and spare money being devoted to plank roads. There were, however, a few far-seeing men who looked forward to a time when travelers, merchants, miners, lumbermen and manufacturers would need something better than plank roads for their accommodation, and to them Fond du Lac was indebted for a line of railway at an early date. They worked with an enthusiasm and persistence truly remarkable, when it is known that little or no encouragement was received from the masses, whose heads had been turned by plank roads.

John B. Macy and T. L. Gillet, of Fond du Lac, and A. Hyatt, Smith, of Janesville, were leading spirits in the formation of the Rock River Valley Union Railroad Company, as the road and corporation were first named.

They met with numerous obstacles, some almost insurmountable, as they had not suificient means to build -& railroad over the contemplated route, and the inhabitants, had they been able to subscribe for stock, seemed to have little interest in the success of the project. Of this feature, J. A. Watrous wrote in the Fond du Lac Appeal: '

"As early as 1849, there was some talk of iron rails for Fond du Lac, but those who had any faith in the attempts were very few in number. The local papers held out no inducements, in which respect they differed radically from modern local papers. Columns of space were devoted to plank-roads in process of construction, and to giving proceedings of meetings called for the purpose of devising ways and means for starting new ones, while a short paragraph sufficed for the railroad enterprise. This seems almost unaccountable to people of the present day, in view of the decayed and almost forgotten plank-roads, their short lives and little service."

Discovering that nothing could be done in Fond du Lac without outside aid, John B. Macy went East several times, with maps and plans, and finally succeeded in getting Robert J. Walker, of Washington, interested in the enterprise. Late in 1850, a contract was let to Bradley & Co., of Vermont, practical railroad builders of large experience, to construct a certain portion of the road. T. F. Strong, Sr., of the contractors, came West in 1850, and looked the route over, riding the entire distance from Chicago to Fond du Lac on horseback. He then returned to his home in Burlington, Vt., but removed to Fond du Lac early in 1851. When the people saw him enter the village with 160 horses, followed soon after by loads of shovels, picks, wheelbarrows and other tools, they aroused from their lethargy. Then there was faith ; then there was enthusiasm ; then there was railroad on the brain.

On the 19th of December, 1850, T. L. Gillet advertised that the stock-books of the new railroad were open at his store. Five per cent of the stock was to be paid in advance, and the balance in 8-per-cent installments, quarterly. July 10, 1851, was fixed upon for breaking ground, and arrangements were made for celebrating the event in true Western style. People along the proposed line, from as far south as Sharon, were present. The State officials were to be present. Members of the bar and officials of the various counties through which the road was to run were to come. At an early hour the morning of the 10th, teams began to pour into the village from all directions. Walworth, Rook, JeflFerson and Dodge Counties sent large delegations. Waupun's delegation came in many conveyances, with flags flying and band playing. Most of the State officers were present. The starting of the immense procession was announced by the booming of the village cannon. A. Hyatt Smith, President of the Rock River Valley Union Railway, headed the procession. Then came the Directors and other officers of the Company, and the contractor, T. F. Strong, Sr., followed by the State, village, and county officials, the judges, members of the bar from the various parts of the State, and the people generally, in large numbers. Peter V. Sang was Marshal of the Day, and William H. Ebbetts Robert Conklin and Isaac S. Tallmadge, Assistants. The oldest inhabitants speak of that memorable railroad celebrating procession as one of the largest and most enthusiastic ever seen in Fond du Lac County. Preceded by the bands, the procession marched to the spot where work was to begin - a few rods north of the passenger depot, on West Division street, and formed a hollow , square. The President of the Day, M. C. Darling, opened the ceremonies with a brief but elegant address, and introduced A. Hyatt Smith, the President, to whom was handed the spade carried in the procession by Tim F. Strong, son of the contractor, and, as he cut the tough sod and tossed it into the air, a shout went up that made the earth tremble. When quiet was restored, Edward S. Bragg, toast-master, read the regular toasts, as follows :

Walworth County - Though last on the line of the road in Wisconsin, may she be first in her contributions for the great enterprise of the State.

Jefferson County - Not unlike the illustrious statesman after whom she was christened, she loves freedom and is bound to pursue it with an iron horse.

The toasts were appropriately responded to by parties from the various counties named. Brief speeches were made by Attorney General S. Park Coon and others. The procession was re-formed and marched back to the village, where it was dismissed, and as many as the Lewis House would hold gathered for a banquet which was an elaborate afl"airand participated in with much spirit. The speeches of prophecy made on that occasion were considered very extravagant, and only one or two had the faintest idea they would ever be verified.

John B. Macy, who had labored for years in behalf of the enterprise, and had given the whole subject much thought, assumed the garb of a prophet on that occasion in this toast :

The Rock River Valley Union Railroad - It will be the connecting of the great chain of railroads between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. The present generation will see this prediction fulfilled.

For various reasons work on the new road could not be pushed with any- great degree of effectiveness. The grading was not difficult, but the almost impassable condition of the roads rendered it exceedingly difficult to get the iron, which came by the way of Green Bay, and a portion of it by teams and wagons as far as the north end of Lake Winnebago. This was a very costly mode of transportation, as the road, being broad gauge - six feet between rails - required heavy equipages.

The first engine came by water from Buffalo to Sheboygan and was hauled by teams to Fond da Lac, in 1852, requiring a fair-sized brigade of oxen and horses, and several weeks to accomplish the work. It was named the " Winnebago," in honor of the lake from which it drank. It weighed fifteen tons. It was used for a long term of years on the road, and then as a switch-engine at Fond du Lac, after being changed to standard width. It is now in good condition and doing good service in the yards at Green Bay, under its original name. The second one came from Taunton, Mass., and landed at the same point - Sheboygan. To transport this engine to Fond du Lac, there were secured fourteen yokes of oxen and seven spans of horses, and it took six weeks to make the trip of forty-five miles. Some days it was not possible to haul it more than eighty rods between sun and sun.

It was purchased in 1853, by T. F. Strong, Sr., who had leased the road. It cost ^10,000. It was a muddy piece of machinery when it reached Fond du Lac, having passed through more sloughs than any other locomotive which ever came to the State. It was named " The Fountain City," in honor of Fond du Lac, and is now owned by the Erie Railway.

When, in 1853, the track was laid a distance of fifteen miles out of Fond du Lac, and the grading nearly completed to Chester, in Dodge County, the corporation failed, largely in debt to the contractors among others. Mr. Strong leased the road, purchased strap-iron at Chicago, completed the line to Chester, added the engine just mentioned, and commenced operating the road. The travel became quite an item, ks did, the freight, but it was soon found that it would not warrant him in running, so he purchased a large quantity of pine and other logs, transported them by car to Rock River, a few rods north of Chester station, and floated them down stream. They met with ready sale at the mills along the river, and not a few of them went as far as Janesville. Before the strap-iron was put down, the wooden sleepers upon which it was placed answered for a track a considerable length of time. In fact, the first logs ever transported by rail in the State, or in the West, were hauled on cars which ran a portion of the distance between Fond du Lac and the Rock River on wooden rails. For successful railroading purposes these would suffer materially by a comparison with the steel rails of the present time. The rate of speed made on them was very slow, the number of miles an hour hardly exceeding the number of times a day some portion of the train was off the track.

In 1855, the city of Fond du Lac voted $350,000 aid ; the company was re-organized and the road pushed on to La Crosse (now Minnesota) Junction, in Dodge County, under the name of the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railway. Hard times were not to be overcome by a change of name, and the road moved slowly. The same contractors and company, under an Illinois charter, had built a road as far as Janesville from Chicago.

Early in 1859, the Legislatures of Illinois and Wisconsin authorized a re-organization of the company, which then took the present name of Chicago & North- Western.

The road was rapidly built, that year, between Janesville and Minnesota Junction, thus opening a line of 177 miles, in a few months more than eight years from the time ground was broken at Fond du Lac.

iMr. Strong completed the road and ran trains to Oshkosh, in 1860 ; to Appleton, in the early part of 1861 ; to Green Bay, in 1862, which was the terminus until 1871, when the road was pushed on to Ishpeming, Mich., its present terminus, before the close of 1872, when it connected with lines running to Lake Superior.

Once upon John B. Macy's return from one of his New York trips in behalf of the Rock River Valley Union Railway, a number of his warm friends gave him a reception dinner. In his speech, he predicted that within twenty years the road would extend from the Indiana line to

Lake Superior. At this same dinner, an ardent Whig offered as a toasts A. Hyatt Smith, our next Governor ; John B. Macy, our next Congressman. Macy afterward went to Congress, but Smith (A. Hyatt) has not yet reached the executiye chair.

In 1859, before the two divisions met, the track was reduced from " broad " to " standard " guage, that is, from six feet to four feet eight and one-half inches, and celebrating excursions were had in honor of the completion of the connecting link, ending, as elsewhere described, in the terrible " Belleville Disaster."

It may be truthfully said that the Chicago & North- Western Railway originated in Fond du Lac, and the corporation now owns more niiles of railroad in Fond du Lac County than all the other railway corporations combined. The old line passes through the towns of Friendship, Fond du Lac, Oakfield, Byron and Waupun, and its lines in the county are nearly one hundred miles in length.

The Sheboygan ^ Fond du Lac Railroad. - This road is now a part of the Chicago & North- Western Railway, it having been purchased by that corporation early in 1879. In Fond du Lac County it is a modern railway, so far as road-bed and rolling-stock are concerned, but its originators were Fond du Lac County men. and the enterprise was one of the very earliest of its kind in the Territory of Wisconsin. Early in 1846, agitation of the matter of a raih-oad between the villages of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan was begun, resulting in a charter passing the Legislature in the winter of 1846-47. About the 1st of February, 1847, Dr. Maion C. Darling, N. P. Tallmadge, John A. Eastman and Moses S. Gibson, of Fond du Lac, and Messrs. Harriman, Farnsworth, Conklin and Moore, of Sheboygan, were appointed Commissioners to take subscriptions, issue stock and organize the company. The capital stock was to be not over $500,000, divided into 10,000 shares" of $50 each, work to be commenced when 200 shares had been taken. Those who subscribed for stock were to pay 10 per cent down, and the balance in installments when called for. On Thursday, March 11, 1847, a mass convention was held at the building called the Court House, in the village of Fond du Lac, which was largely attended by citizens of Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Counties. Nothing was done, except to make speeches, adopt resolutions and pledge faith. That was too early for the construction of a railroad from local resources, and no work was actually done at that time. Agitation of the subject never ceased, however, and March 8, 1852, the Legislature chartered the Sheboygan & Mississippi Railroad Company, with the privilege of building a road from Sheboygan to the Mississippi River.

In 1853, an act empowered the company to build a branch to the Fox River, and on April 5, of that year, the organization of the company was effected. There was a mutual understanding between the prominent citizens of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties that if the city and county of Sheboygan, with such local aid as might be obtained along the route, would build the road to Glenbeulah, on the western line of the county, the city and county of Fond du La 3 would furnish means for its continuation. Therefore, the city and county of Sheboygan and the villages of Plymouth and Sheboygan Falls voted aid, and a contract to construct the line from Sheboygan to Glenbeulah was entered into by Edward Appleton and Theodore Atkinson, of Boston, and Van Epps, Young, now of Grand Rapids, Mich., under the firm name of Edward Appleton & Co. Ground was broken under this contract at Sheboygan on June 4, 1856. Work was suspended in the fall of 1857, but resumed the following summer, and, with what skill was then known in railroad building, was pushed with such vigor as to have the cars running to Sheboygan Falls January 17, and to Plymouth June 6, 1859 - a total distance of fourteen miles. Work was then temporarily dropped on account of the refusal of the towns of Sheboygan Falls and Plymouth to grant the aid expected from them. An arrangement was made, soon after, however, with capitalists at the East, known as "The Loan Company," of Yarmouth, Mass., by which means enough money was obtained to complete the line to Glenbeulah, which was accomplished March 29, 1860. Here the road rested from further construction, and Edward Appleton, its first Superintendent, began to operate it, his line being twenty miles in length. All further efforts to secure the continuation of the road proved unavailing, as it had fallen mostly into the hands of Eastern capitalists, thus alienating its local friends. Therefore, on the d of March, 1861, the company was re-organized and named the Sheboygan k Fond du Laclailroad Company, with Samuel P. Benson, of Winthrop, Me., as President ; John 0. Thayer^ f Sheboygan, as Secretary and Treasurer, and Edward Appleton as Superintendent. But even his was not satisfactory, and the western terminus of the road remained at Glenbeulah until 868, after the complete withdrawal of the Eastern parties. The city of Fond du Lac, wherehe enterprise originated in 1846, had become anxious for the completion of the road to that loint at least. A proposition to furnish the necessary aid was submitted to a popular vote, and [efeated by a small majority. A. Gr. Ruggles, of Fond du Lac, took hold of the matter, and, n April, 1867, procured the passage of a bill authorizing the county of Fond du Lac to aid the- Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Company, by the payment of $30,000 in county orders when the line hould be built to the west line of the town of Marshfield ; $30,000 more when it reached the rest line of the town of Taycheedah ; $30,000 when it was in running order to the city of Fond [u Lac ; $30,000 more when it was finished half the distance to the city of Ripon, and $30,000 acre - a total of $150,000 - when the road was built and ironed ready for cars to Ripon. At he vote taken November 5, 1867, there was a majority of 673 in favor of the proposition, but he towns of Eldorado, Alto, Waupun, Springvale, Calumet, Lamartine, Forest, Metomen, Jyron, Auburn, Taycheedah, Ashford and Osceola gave majorities against the proposed aid. On he strength of this promised aid a contract was let April 14, 1868, with Wild, Peck & Bruett, or the construction of the road to the city of Fond du Lac. Work was immediately begun, and lushed with great energy, as it was thought the county orders could be used as cash at once, the ounty's credit being good and the orders being drawn to bear 7 per cent interest until cashed. Jut when work had so far progressed as to entitle the Company to the first installment of 130,000, Warren Whiting served an injunction through the Circuit Court, on the County Treasirer, to restrain him from payment of the amount promised and then due. The decision of he Court upon hearing was adverse to the Company, being virtually, " that a tax for a irivate purpose is unconstitutional ; " and that .the public use of a railroad is not such as to Qake the levy of a' tax in aid of its construction valid. But the matter did not rest there, as the ounty had issued bonds which were in the hands of innocent purchasers. An action in the Jnited States Court was commenced by a holder of these bonds against the county of Fond du Lac. The case subsequently reached the United States Supreme Court. The most important point lecided was that a railroad is a public highway, so that a State may levy a tax for its construcion, although built and owned by a private corporation, thus overruling the decision of the 5tate Supreme Court. In the Whiting case, a levy was made under the Olcott judgment, and he County Treasurer's safe and the poor-farm were each sold, for $1, after which the Court louse was put up. The sale was only a formal aflFair, but a patriotic son of Erin who was iresent did not propose to see this famous relic thus sacrificed, and bid it up to $11, at which t was struck oflF to him. This property was afterward redeemed by the county and the bonds iroperly met. Trains were regularly running between Fond du Lac and Sheboygan soon after anuary 1, 1869. The completion of the road to the city of Fond du Lac secured to the Comlany $90,000 of aid, but the further extension of the line as the Company's charter permitted, ras then dropped, although negotiations were continued with the Wisconsin Central Railroad [lompany. Finally, in September, 1871, T. F. Strong, Sr., of Fond du Lac, then President of hat road, opened negotiations with Wells, French & Co., of Chicago, for the completion of the oad to Princeton, on the Fox River, in Green Lake County. This portion of the line was lore rapidly constructed than any other, and Princeton was reached May 20, 1872. The disance from Princeton to Sheboygan is seventy-eight and one-half miles, and from the time the irst charter was granted in the winter of 1846-47, to the completion of the road to the former lace, was nearly twenty-six years. In 1879, the road was sold to the Chicago & North- Western lailway Company, by whom it is now owned and managed. The Sheboygan & Fond du Lae lailroad, as it is yet known, passes through the towns of Marshfield, Taycheedah, Fond du jac, Lamartine, Eldorado, Rosendale and Ripon, a distance, with all the deviations to avoid larshes and hills, of nearly thirty-nine miles. The general ofiices, since the road was completed to Fond du Lac, have been located in that city, and the officers since the organization of the Company in 1861, with the dates of their election, have been as follows :

Vice Presidents - E. L. Phillips, of Fond du Lac; J. L. Moore, of Sheboygan; A. G. Ruggles, of Fond du Lac ; Edwin Slade, of Glenbeulah, and John A. Bentley, of Sheboygan.

Superintendents - Edward Appleton, of Sheboygan ; S. M. Barrett, of Cincinnati, Ohio ; Harrison 0. Barrett, of Glenbeulah; Timothy F. Strong, Jr., of Fond du Lac; Charles C. Smith; Brandon Mozley, of Detroit; John A. Bentley, of Sheboygan; Edwin C. French, 'of Fond du Lac ; George P. Lee, of Fond du Lac, and L. R. Emmerson, of Fond du Lac.

The Chicago, Milwaukee ^ St. Paul Railway. - The prosperous and well-managed railroad which accommodates the western portion of Fond du Lac County was not known as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway until 1875, nor did it belong to that corporation. It was chartered in 1852 as the Milwaukee & Horicon Railroad, to extend from Horicon, Dodge County, on the Milwaukee & La Crosse road, through Fond du Lac County to Berlin, in Green Lake County, a distance of forty-two miles. The charter was obtained and the work begun by John B. Smith, Jasper Vliet, Daniel A. Richards and others, of Milwaukee, who furnished the capital, so far as their private fortunes went, and secured means from other sources to complete the road. The most prolific of these sources was the farm-mortgage system, the first one of which for this road was given by David P. Mapes on his homestead in Ripon. These mortgages were sold, most of them at a discount, and money enough was finally secured to complete the line of railway. When it reached Ripon and cars were running to that city, an elaborate railway celebration was indulged in by a large concourse of people. The road was finished to Waupun February 15 ; Brandon, October 15 ; Ripon, in November, 1856. It was completed to Berlin early in 1857.

The line of this road extends across the towns of Waupun, Metomen and Ripon. It opened the trade of these towns to the markets of Milwaukee, as the Milwaukee & La Crosse road had already been built and connections were made at Horicon. But the road could not be made to pay. John B. Smith, its first President, and his associates had put all their property into the enterprise, and as there were large debts unpaid from the construction and equipment, and others -for ordinary running expenses accumulating, suits were begun against the Company by its creditors, and a flood of litigation was added to its already overwhelming burdens. One of these suits, begun in 1858 and .1859, resulted in the "Horicon Railroad war."

The railroad finally passed into the hands of L. Ward, as Receiver, who held it with its appurtenances until 1863, when it was sold to Russell Sage, Washington Hunt and others, of New York. -Soon after, in the same year, these parties sold the road to the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, which had just been organized. This was the first of that Company in JFond du Lac County.

The Milwaukee & Horicon road made its original projectors and builders poor. When it passed, in 1860, into Lyndsey Ward's hands as Receiver, it was in debt $10,000 for running expenses, besides all other debts for construction and equipment.

The present corporation was organized under the name of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company May 5, 1863, as the successor by purchase of the La Crosse & Milwaukee, the Milwaukee & Western, the Milwaukee & Horicon, and the Ripon & Wolf River Railways, a total of 233 miles of railroad. The first officers were D. M. Hughes, President; G. W. Rogers, Vice President ; E. H. Grood'rich, General Manager ; S. S. Merrill, Superintendent ; Russell Sage, Jr., Secretary ; Alanson Cary, Treasurer. The Company owned 43 locomotives, 29 passenger coaches, 11 baggage and express cars, 662 box cars, and 132 flat cars, all worth $1,200,800. D. M. Hughes was President from July, 1863, to July, 1864 ; Russell Sage from July, 1864, ta July, 1865, and Alexander Mitchell continuously since that time. S. S. Merrill has been General Manager since 1865. The other officers are John W. Cary, Solicitor, A. V. H. Carpenter, General l^assenger Agent.

The name was changed by an act of the Legislature, in February, 1875, to, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, on account of the construction of the line between the cities of Chicago and Milwaukee.

The Ripon & Winnebago Railroad Company was organized in 1856, principally at Oshkosh and Ripon, for the construction of a line of railroad between these two cities. About two-third& of the necessary grading was done when the financial depression made it impossible for the Company to finish the work. In 1870, the right of way, grade and other real property of this road was purchased by a company, and the name of the road and corporation changed to the Oshkosh & Mississippi, but only the grading was finished when it was leased to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, which corporation laid the iron, put the road into running order, and still retains control of it. To complete the Oshkosh & Mississippi line, the city of Ripon voted and paid $15,000, and the town of Ripon $5,000, each receiving therefor stock of the road at par, and in amounts equal to the aid voted.

The " Air Line" road to Milwaukee from Fond du Lac, now owned and controlled by the Chicago & North- Western Railway Company, was originated by C. J. L. Meyer, of Fond du Lac, who thought that Fond du Lac City and County should have a nearer and more direct connection with Milwaukee over a competing line of road. He secured a charter for the line in 1871, under the name of the Milwaukee & North- Western Railway, the first officers of the Company being : President, Charles J. L. Meyer, of Fond du Lac ; Vice President, Harrison Ludington, of Milwaukee ; Secretary, John S. McDopald, of Fond du Lac ; Treasurer, William H. Hiner, of Fond du Lac. In 1872, the name was changed to the North- Western Union Railway Company. Mr. Meyer secured the right of way ; had $75,000 of aid voted by the city of Fond du Lac ; $55,000 by Washington County ; $15,000 by the village of Kewaskum, Washington County ; $25,000 by West Bend, and $15,000 by Barton, in the same county, and $15,000 by the town of Ashford, in Fond du Lac County. He began the construction of the line at Milwaukee, in 1872, and for a time pushed the matter with great energy ; but the Company had not the means to finish sixty-three miles of first-class railroad, and was therefore compelled to sell to the Chicago & North- Western Company, already a heavy holder of Northwestern Union Bonds, which was done the same year. The road was finished in 1873, and passes through the towns of Fond du Lac, Eden, Ashford and Auburn. Although the exclusive property of the Chicago & North- Western Railway Company, the Air Line, or North- Western Union road maintains a separate organization, holding annual elections. Its officers, however, are all officers of the Chicago & North- Western Company. The formality of a separate organization for ten years was required by the Air Line charter.

The Fond du Lao, Amhoy ^ Peoria Railway. - This, a narrow-gauge railway, extends from Fond du Lac, through the towns of Fond du Lac and Byron, in Fonddu Lac County, to Iron Ridge, in Dodge County, a, distance of twenty-eight miles. Alonzo- Kinyon, a prominent citizen of Lee County, 111., who originated the Chicago & Rock.

River Railroad, and was its President, conceived the plan of connecting the iron, copper, lumber and manufacturing regions of Wisconsin with the corn and coal regions of Illinois, by a more direct route than any then in existence. He was one of the earliest advocates of the convenience and economy of the narrow-gauge system of railways, and decided to connect, if possible, the two sections of country mentioned, by the narrow-gauge railway. Accordingly, on the 30th of May, 1874, at Amboy, 111., the Articles of Association of the Fond du Lac, Amboy & Peoria Railway Company were signed by Alonzo Kinyon, of Amboy, and Egbert Shaw, of Lee Center, 111., W. P. Wolf, of Tipton, Iowa, and T. H. Mink and B. A. Mink, of Clarence, Iowa. Soon after, these Articles of Associg-tion were recorded in the office of the Secretary of State of Illinois, and in Lee, Bureau, Peoria, Marshall and Ogle Counties of that State.

In December of the same year, the same parties organized under the laws of Wisconsin, for the purpose of building and operating a narrow-gauge railway from Fond du Lac to the line between Illinois and Wisconsin, and connecting with the lines projected in the former State. The Wisconsin Division was to extend through the counties of Fond du Lac, Dodge, Jefferson, Waukesha, Milwaukee and Walworth or Rock ; and on December 26, 1874, Gov. William R. Taylor issued the necessary patent. Alonzo Kinyon was chosen President of the Illinois, and W. P. Wolf, President of the Wisconsin Division.

The construction of the road was to begin at Fond du Lac, but at the same time, right of way and the lease of several thousand acres of coal-fields were obtained in Marshall, Bureau, and Peoria Counties, 111. After the preliminary survey had been made, it was found the laws of Wisconsin did not provide for the consolidation of corporations or associations existing in different States. Mr. Kinyon thereupon proceeded to Madison, with a bill obviating this, which the Legislature promptly passed. The towns along the proposed line took active steps to give aid, but the city of Fond du Lac was unable to furnish further railway aid on account of the law limiting municipal indebtedness. The Legislature, therefore, passed a bill allowing municipalities to extend aid to railroads by guaranteeing the interest on the bonds of the road to be aided.

The consolidation of the two companies was effected March 22, 1875, by the choice of Alonzo Kinyon, President ; the Board of Directors being W. P. Wolf, Egbert Shaw, T. H. Mink, B. A. Mink, Joseph T. Kinyon and Clark Sprague. The various towns in Dodge County voted aid in town bonds, and gave, also, the grade of the old Mayville & Iron Ridge Railroad, while the city of Fond du Lac guaranteed the payment of interest for ten years on $200,000 of the first-mortgage bonds of the Company, $30,000 of which were to be appropriated for the erection of railroad-shops in that city. In June, 1875, Mr. Kinyon was authorized to locate the line of the road, and John S. McDonald, of Fond du Lac, I. M. Bean, of Milwaukee, and Samuel A. White, of Whitewater, were chosen trustees of the mortgage, the amount of bonds being limited to $10,000 per mile. Soon after, the Company contracted with D. E. Davenport & Co. for the construction of the road from Fond du Lac to Milwaukee, by way of Iron Ridge. The Company afterward canceled their contract. Mr. Kinyon then resigned the presidency to take the contract of finishing the road, thinking this would best protect the interests of the Company. It was understood, however, that, when finished, he should be re-elected President of the road. The contract provided that the Company should pay for the construction and equipment of the road, $10,000 per mile, in bonds; $3,000 per mile in stock and whatever aid could be secured. At this time, S. W. Lamoreux, of Dodge County, and George P. Knowles, of Fond du Lac, were added to the Board of Directors. W. P. Wolf was elected President, and George P. Knowles, Assistant Secretary, with the custody of the books and records at the city of Fond du Lac. A great amount of trouble iand litigation now followed. Finally, after all matters had been settled, the Railway Company took possession of the road on the 1st day of May, 1878. Its entire cost was $200,000.

The Company, thinking the contract under which aid had been secured from the city of Fond du Lac had not been completely fulfilled, proposed to the City Council to cancel it and destroy the $2p0,000 of guaranteed bonds. This proposition -was promptly accepted, as these bonds had been made an issue in the municipal election of 1878, resulting in the election of Orrin Hatch - who favored " burning the narrow-gauge bonds" - as Mayor. The bonds were therefore burned in the furnace of Robert A. Baker's bank early in 1879, with much ado, in presence of the city officers, and quantities of the ashes were preserved in glass vessels.

Thus the road was secured to the city without the expenditure of a dollar of aid or the burden of a single bond. The Company also relinquished $30,000 in subscriptions for bonds made by citizens of Fond du Lac, which, with the surrender of all claim to the city -bonds, gained the confidence and good Tvill of the community.

At the annual meeting of the stockholders, in May, 1879, Alonzo Kinyon, of Fond du Lac, and W. P. Wolf, of Tipton, Iowa, who had devoted their time, energy and means to the construction of the road, were made, respectively, President and Vice President of the Company. Mr; Kinyon was also elected Superintendent, and Mr. Wolf, Secretary. George P. Knowles, Fond du Lac, was chosen Solicitor, the balance of the Board of Directors consisting of E. N. Foster, Alexander McDonald and M. D. Moore, of Fond du Lac; J. A. Barney of Dodge 'County, and S. V. Landt, of Tipton, Iowa.

The Fond du Lac, Amboy & Peoria Railway, notwithstanding its trials and tribulations, is pn a paying basis, paying its interest in advance. It is the only competing line running into the city of Fond du Lac, and affords a valuable outlet, by the way of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, for the many manufactories of the city.

"In general appearance," says a writer in 1854, "this county presents one vast undulated field of marsh, prairie, openings, and timber lands, covered with an infinite variety of grass, herbs, shrubs and plants. It is ornamented with the most luxurious and beautiful flowers, and watered with innumei-able flowing streams, seeking the level of Michigan and Winnebago Lakes, or uniting to make the Rock River a common channel through which to pour their waters into the Mississippi."

The enthusiastic writer continues : " Perhaps the eye of man has never rested on a spot of earth which, for beauty, fertility, health and convenience, is better calculated to meet his wants and supply his necessities, since shut out from the primeval garden. Moderate climate, exhilarating atmosphere, and Water of unequaled purity, have given to this county the rapid growth and unrivaled prosperity, which has, without revulsion or even check, marked its progress from its first settlement. Each successive year contributes to develop the advantages enjoyed in this county, and at no time have the inducements to the agriculturist, the mechanic and the capitalist, been greater to establish themselves in this county than the present year. This county does not present as great a variety of soil as many other sections of country ; about all portions even to the black mold prairie, partaking largely of argillaceous properties ; yet all the varieties of the grains, grasses, roots and fruits common to Northern latitudes are produced in abundance when judiciously cultivated."

" No doubt," continues the writer, "there are districts of country which can produce greater crops of some of the grains and with less labor ; but here pure air and wholesome water, so necessary to health of body and mind, give vigor, elasticity, and hardihood to the entire constitution, and a zest to industry ; so that without overtasking the natural powers with excessive toil, the amount of exercise necessary to the development and health of the physical and moral powers wisely and justly directed are sufficient to abundantly supply all the necessities of life, many of its luxuries, and make constant improvements in its conveniences."

In speaking of Winnebago Lake, he says : " This beautiful sheet of water, thirty -five miles in length from north to south, eight to fifteen in width from east to west, reclines its head in the bosom of this county - the city of Fond du Lac lying at its crown, as the name signifies

Head or extremity of the Lake.'* Upon the west side, near its center, this lake receives the water of Fox and Wolf Rivers, at the city of Oshkosh. Wolf River, descending from the great " pinery," furnishes the common highway for the transportation of boards, logs and timber, immense rafts of which are annually floated down to the [Winnebago] Lake, towed by steamboats to Fond du Lac and manufactured by steam mills into such form as the wants of the city [of Fond du Lac] and country require. An extensive surrounding district is thus supplied with pine lumber at a small advance above its value in its native forest. There is also an immense amount of logs and sawed lumber carried by railroad from this place [Fond du Lac City] to Rock River, thence floated to Janesville to supply a large district destitute of pine.

"In return for this lumber, Fond du Lac contributes largely to furnishing the provisions and clothing for the vast army of laborers who are constantly employed in the various branches of labor, which brings the treasures of the far distant forest to the city market or farmer's door. It also furnishes axes, saws, chains, and all kinds of implements necessary to the various branches of the work, constituting a commercial interest of great importance. To the cheap and safe communications between the fertile fields of Fond du Lac County and the almost inexhaustible pineries, this county is largely indebted for the rapid and continued increase of its population and wealth which has marked its progress, year by year, from its first settlement up to the present time. And yet its present improvements and wealth are but the developments of an insignificant portion of its capacity. Its surface of more than seven hundred square miles is only dotted with comparatively small improvements, while vast unfurrowed fields of prairies, openings, and woodlands, like a wide-spread garden clad in nature's beauty, are inviting the tiller's hand. Improvements here can receive no check from exhaustion until the agricultural, mechanical and commercial operations are quadrupled, and quadrupled again, which, according to the ratio of the past and the prospects of the present, cannot be many years. In contemplating the growth of this county in population, wealth and improvements, public and private, the mind is unavoidably driven to the conclusion, that Fond du Lac possesses natural advantages and facilities for the promotion of the prosperity and happiness of man seldom found in other parts of the world."

" The Indian's trails," continues the writer, "are obliterated - have long since ceased to guide the traveler. The whole county, like a vast checkerboard is now cut into squares and triangles by smooth, graded roads over which heavy-burdened wagons roll with steady pace, and vehicles of pleasure glide with rapid motion.

> " There is a first-rate plank road from Fond du Lac to Sheboygan and another to Rosendale. There is in contemplation a railroad from the head of Lake Winnebago to Rock River in the county of Dodge, with others to be built, and plank roads also, in almost every direction, having Fond du Lac for one terminus. Vast fields of wheat, corn, oats and barley, bowed with the weight of substantial wealth, wave their rich treasures where so lately wild flowers bloomed alone. The howling of wolves and savage yells of the Indian no longer rend the air and chill the blood with sensations of horror. The wigwam and its inmates, with all the associations of rude and savage life, have disappeared, as the tide of civilization, like a prairie fire, has swept over the country. Wild plums, apples and cherries, like wild men who plucked them, have given place to those which are more refined and the highly cultivated. Many thousands of apple trees of choice varieties have been planted within the past year [1854].

" Encouraged by the luxurious growth and abundant productiveness of those which were early cultivated, agriculturists are now beautifying and enriching their farms with the best varieties of apple, pear, plum and cherry trees. While the citizens of this county have manifested so much zeal and energy in the cultivation of their farms, they have not neglected the moral and intellectual field, but have exhibited their high sense and active appreciation of the cultivation of the youthful mind in common schools, by the erection of 141 schoolhouses in the various districts, most of which are both convenient and elegant, while a 'few yet remain of the

* This definition of " Fond du Lac " is not strictly correct. For the literal as well as figurative meaning of the word, the reader is referred to the article already given, entitled, " Origin of the name Fond du Lac."

rude edifices hastily thrown up to serve a temporary purpose. At an average cost of $200 these' buildings would amount to $28,200. In them have been taught the past year [1853], 4,866 scholars ; average time in the districts, about eight months."

In speaking of the health of the county at that date, 1854, the writer says : " Some idea of the salubrity of the atmosphere and purity of the water may be formed from the healthfulness of the inhabitants. The pale face, sunken cheek, cadaverous countenance and hectic cough are seldom met with in this county. Butchers are patronized far more liberally than physicians. The unusual absence of disease in this county was noticed more particularly by the early settlers, from the fact that they anticipated the visitation of those bilious diseases so common in new countries. The Fond du Lac Journal of May 4, 1849, contained the following remarks on the subject of health : ' We can assert without fear of contradiction that the climate of Wisconsin is healthier than that of any Eastern State, and Fond du Lac County far more healthy than any Eastern county. In proof of this, we have the universal affirmation of the old residents here. For three years (1842, 1843 and 1844), when the population of the county ranged from 300 in 1842 to 1,500 in 1844, there was not a single death from disease in Fond du Lac County. We do not believe another like instance can be found in the world. Since that time, sickness has been almost a stranger here. Up to the present time, this place [the village of Fond du Lac] has never been visited with any general sickness. Disease and death have followed the transgression of the natural and Divine laws here as in other places, but the inhabitants are abundantly warranted in their fixed belief, that this is a very highly favored part of the world as regards health.' "

The abundantly satisfied writer continues his discourse thus : " It has already been said that ' the present improvements in this county wiere but the development of an insignificant fraction of its capacity.' Every new facility for communication or transportation between this and the Atlantic States adds to the value of the products of this county, increases the agricultural interests, and advances the market value of the soil. The construction of the plank road from Fond du Lac to Sheboygan, opening an easy land communication to Lake Michigan, advanced the value of wheat and other grains in this county at least 20 per cent, and reduced the cost of transporting freight from Sheboygan to Fond du Lac 75 per cent. But a new era is just dawning in the improvement of the Fox River between Winnebago Lake and Green Bay, which must result in advantages to the city and county of Fond du Lac far greater than any other improvement either accomplished or contemplated."

" In forming an estimation of the future of Fond du Lac County," continues the writer, " some guidance may be found in the brief records of the past ; the actual enuff Stations taken at the different periods show clearly that the increase of its population has been b_, 'no wild panic rush, but by an ever-increasing stream. In 1840, the number of its inha;bitants was 139 ; in 1842, the number was 295 ; in June, 1846, it was 3,544 ; in December, 1847, it had increased to 7,459 ; in June, 1850, to 15,448 ; and it is confidently believed that at the present time [1854] it is more than 30,000.

" It is now [1854] about ten years since the Indians were removed from this county. Up to that time, there were only a few scattering pioneer settlements of a few individuals. In the short space of ten years the inhabitants have multiplied to probably more than 30,000. In 1850, the real estate was valued at $1,473,197; personal, at $32,956; total, $1,606,153. Bince that period, the property has undoubtedly more than doubled ; and the rapid progress of public improvements and individual enterprise warrants the belief that, if there should be no providential calamity or revulsion of business, both population and wealth will increase for the next decade at least as fast as that of the past."

On the 12th day of October, 1859, one thousand people froni Chicago, Janesville, Watertown and other places along the line of the Chicago & North-Western Railway reached the city of Fond du Lac. They came in twenty-five passenger cars, the occasion being the celebration of the completion of the road from Chicago to Fond du Lac. A banquet was had at the Lewis House ; every house and street in the city was illuminated, and a grand ball was given in Amory Hall, then the most elegant finished place of entertainment in this part of the State.

An eye-witness says : " As the noble span of iron horses drew the twenty-five cars proudly into Fond du Lac, no town, I think, could look more beautiful. It was thoroughly illuminated. It seemed that not a window had been neglected. The long streets, up and down, at right angles, were walled on either side with a sheet of pearly light, sending up a soft shine over the whole city, blending with the subdued moonlight, through the slight haze and mild atmosphere of Indian summer, in a fine mellow glare that was enchanting.

" The Zouave Cadets, proceeded by the Chicago Light Guard Band, were escorted through the streets by the Fond du Lac Fire Department, with torch-lights. The cadets are a company of much more merit than most youthful military bands possess. Their uniform is partially of the Turkish costume.

".Main street was thronged with people and vehicles, having more the appearance of Broadway than any other street that I have ever seen in the West.

" The tallest kind of a supper was in readiness at the Lewis House and over three hundred partook of it. Mr. Ewen, the landlord, was quite efiicient in making all comfortable who could get under the roof of his spacious house, though the regular beds were all given up to the ladies. About one-third of the excursion party were ladies. All the hotels were filled 'jam full.'

" The committee of arrangements, in behalf of the citizens of Fond du Lac, provided for all who were the invited guests of the railroad, free of charge, and when the hotels could hold no more, we were packed away in private houses and churches. It fell to my lot to get room to indulge in a horizontal position at Plymouth Church, where a hundred or so of us went to sleep ' after the revel was done,' as quick as if a person had been discoursing.

" The ball at Amory Hall was well enjoyed, and rather too well attended for the dance to go off easily. All who had tickets of invitation to the excursion were admitted to the ball free, so there was not a sufficient general acquaintance among those attending to relieve it. of its awkwardness. And then some of the cadets who were quite soldierly in the streec, at the ball reminded me o supernumeraries in the grand ball of the Capulets. The music by the Light Guard Band, of Chicago, was as fine as ever I heard in a ballroom. Amory Hall has, without question, the most elegantly finished interior of any hall in the State, and is one of the largest and loftiest.

" The main expense of the whole affair, as far as Fond du Lac was concerned, was defrayed by her own citizens, and their endeavors, for the most part, showed excellent taste."

On Tuesday morning, November 1, 600 people in twelve coaches, left Fond du Lac to return the visit of the Chicagoans. At Watertown, two more coaches were added and more passengers were taken aboard. Although the cars were crowded, it was a happy throng. The train was running slowly, at a rate of speed not exceeding ten miles per hour. When eight miles below Watertown, a heavy ox which was drinking near the unfenced track, frightened at the approaching train, sprang directly in front of it and was caught in a culvert. The pilot of the locomotive struck the firmly fastened obstruction instead of pushing under it and the locomotive and five cars were thrown from the track. A scene of indescribable confusion, horror and suffering, instantly supplanted mirth and gayety. No one could tell how many lives were lost, for there were at least 200 persons in the demolished cars, from the wreck of which it did not appear possible for one of them to escape alive. T. F. Strong. Sr., at once sent his son, Timothy

* Although this disaster occurred in another county, it is a p^rt of the History of Fond du Lac, because* it resulte 1 In the death of seTen of its citizens.

¥., to Watertown for physicians, liquor, bandages, beds and assistance. Young Mr. Strong appropriated without permission the first horse and vehicle he could find, and ran them to Watertown, where a gravel train just unloaded was found. He made known his errand, and the cars were soon laden with everything the village contained that would be of service on such an occasion. He then telegraphed to the Chicago office. Fourteen were actually killed or died soon after, of whom seven were from Fond du Lac. These were Major J. Thomas, United States Marshal, who was plunged into a mud-hole and held there by the wreck until he drowned ; Timothy L. Gillet, one of the first directors of the road, who was crushed, torn in twain and disemboweled ; Jerome Mason, express agent and telegraph operator, who was thrown across the stove at the middle of his body and burned in a most shocking manner, and only recognized by his boots; John Boardman and Isadore Snow, carpenters, who were both instantly killed ; Edward H. Sickles, a book-binder, who had the lower portion of his body crushed, and who lived several hours ; Van Buren Smead, of the Democratic Press, who had his skull fractured, and did not die until November 29. The balance of those killed were four from Oshkosh, and three from Watertown and other places. Those from Fond du Lac who were seriously injured were Robert Flint, Mrs. R. M. Lewis, Mrs. James Kinney, Mrs. John Radford, Edward Beeson, J. Q. Griffith, James W. Partridge, A. D. Bonesteel ; others were bruised and cut.

Strangely enough. Dr. A. D. Raymond had a presentiment that something would happen, and took with him a case of surgical instruments and lint, as did also Dr. T. S. Wright. The Fond du Lac Oommonwealth of November 2, said :