Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - Chapter 3, 1880 (part 8 of 15)

" The triumph of slavery had been so complete in the slaughter of 1852, that its cohorts thought themselves strong enough to do anything, so they laid their hands on the oldest and most sacred of the compromises. The shock was tremendous. Instantly the whole North was in a flame of indignation and rage. The hour had struck. This was the tempest that was to sweep from our sight not only the Whig organization, but also all those little fragments of parties. Free Soil and the like - that had grown out of the slavery agitation in years that were past. The time had come for all liberty-loving Whigs to dismantle their house. As for me, I did not propose to wait for the passage of the Nebraska Bill. It was fore-ordained to pass ; then why wait? I felt "in my bones," as old Oandace said, that the righteous rage of the time ought to be turned to some permanent account, and not permitted to effervesce in useless foam. I set to work in the most systematic way that I could contrive, to dissolve the Whig party, and to organize the Republican party right here, fully convinced that others would do the like elsewhere, and, that in a few months we should have a great, irresistible Northern party, organised on the single issue of the ' non-extension of slavery.'

" This is the point at which the late Vice President takes notice of our movement. His history is very brief, but substantially correct. Jehdiah Bowen was my chief helper ; a merchant of High standing, a man of intelligence, position and influence, his assistance was of the utmost importance. One part of the work was specially difficult. All the people, except the most hardened Democrats, responded to my appeals with the utmost avidity, up to a certain limit. They said, ' Oh, yes, oh, yes; we are with you in denouncing this thing. It is a great outrage ; it is a swindle ; we will protest ; we will resolve ; we will sign all the remonstrances you can think of.'

" But - and just here came the pinch - a good many of the old Whigs begged hard for the Whig party. ' Spare the party ; spare the party. Let all the outside elements come to us ; our party is good enough ; we will fight the Democracy on this ground ; we will triumph.' The good souls; they had to be told squarely that the ' Whig party must go ;' that the very heart and core of our movement was that to which they could not agree. To let the Whig party stay was to insure permanent power to the Democratic party. To retreat from the formation of the new party was to surrender to the slave power. They came to the meetings, and wete respectfully heard, but the large majority had made up their minds. The hour was late, the candles

" I remember every word and act, as if the time was but yesterday. The election of that first Republican Committee - A. E. Bovay, Jehdiah Bowen, Amos Loper, Jacob Woodruff and Abraham Thomas - was a solemn act. Every man present fully believed that he was helping to make a permanent piece of history. And he was. Yes ; that point ought to be clearly underT stood. This was no blind, unconscious movement, of which the human family make so many. We did not build better than we knew, as some have supposed ; we built precisely as we knew ; and there stands the edifice. Look at it. It will bear examination. It was no fragmentary movement. It contemplated the combination of all shades of anti-slavery sentiment in the country in one grand organization to resist the encroachments of slavery, under the name Republican.

" The name was as well settled in my mind as the organization, and I took what seemed to me the most effectual course to secure its general adoption. Republican; the commonweal; an old and cherished name in our own political history, and the name which is owned, as theirs, by all liberal men and liberal organizations throughout the world. The adoption of this name was as much inevitable as was the nomination of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. In both of these cases, a wise choice meant success, and an unwise one meant defeat ; no more, no less. That I was advocating this name for the great party which I saw looming in the near future above the horizon, as far back as the autumn of 1852, there is abundant evidence.

"Were Horace Greeley living, I could readily convince any one that I was contemplating this identical state" of things in the political world, name, organization and all, as early even as May, 1852 ; but, as Mr. Greeley's testimony is not now attainable, and as I have but one living witness to this latter fact (which witness I do not choose to call), I must rest upon the autumn of 1852.

" And, perhaps, the autumn will do as well as the spring. That gives Ripon a precedence of nearly two years (or, to be exact, nineteen months) in the matter of the name ; for it was not until June, 1854, that the name, ' Republican,' was adopted formally, and that was by the State Convention of Michigan."

" I take pleasure in referring to one of our oldest and most prominent citizens. Judge E. L. Runals, who took no part in the movement, but was cognizant of it all. This is his testimony:

'Dear Sir: I remember well a converBation I had with you in the fall of 1852, not more than two or three weeks, I should think, after the election of Franklin Pierce to the Presidency, in relation to the political affairs of the country. Tou, in substance, said that the Whig party, to which you belonged, could not survive such an overwhelming defeat as it had just suffered ; that it could never rally again ; that it would have to abandon its organization and its name ; that the country had ceased to care for the old Whig issues ; that slavery had become the all-absorbing that on some phase of this question a new party would probably soon be formed at the North, which would combine Whigs, Free-Soilers, and all the outside elements against the Democracy, which was the great pillar and support of slavery ; that the selection of a name would be an object of the first importance to, this new party ; and that, in your opinion, it sliould be called the ' Republican ' party. You also gave your reasons at considerable length for so thinking.

' You said that as this was the name by which the party of Jefferson had been called from its foundation up to Jackson's time, it would possess a charm, by reason of these old associations, for all Americans, and that it would be attractive to men of foreign birth by reason of its general use amongst the liberals of Europe - and much more to the same effect. Having known you in politics as a Whig, I was rather surprised at these predictions as coming from you, and it is probably owing to this fact that they made so firm an impression on my mind.

On the 25th day of January, 1854, Jehdiah Bowen, then (as now) a citizen of Ripon - a Democrat with Free-Soil proclivities - caused to be published in the Ripon Herald, a Democratic paper, the following communication :

" Mr. Editor : - Nothing indicates more clearly the truth of these words of Jefferson's - 'Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty' - than the course pursued in Congress by the, committee to which was referred the call from Nebraska for a Territorial Government.

" It is well known that the Territory is intended to be bounded on the south, at farthest, by the old Missouri Compromise line of 36° and 30' north latitude. It is a portion of that vast territory ceded to the United States by its treaty with France, by which the present State of Louisiana was secured to us. It is a portion of that territory which, by the Act known as the Missouri Compromise, was to be forever free from the introduction of slavery or involuntary servitude, except in punishment of crimes.

" Mark, then, the appropriateness of Jefferson's maxim, when we find that Senator Douglas, as head of the above-mentioned Committee, reported a bill for a Territorial Government, in which is a clause prospectively annulling that clause of the Missouri Compromise act, mentioned above, relating to slavery in that Territory. Douglas' bill provides that should any portion of the Territory, upon application to Congress for admission into the Union as a State, [have permitted involuntary servitude, it] shall not be rejected by reason of the establishment of slavery therein, by virtue of its constitution.

" One might think from the wailings and threats of the Southern press and politicians, and the echoes by their servile friends at the North, that peace was all that they demand for their peour liar institution; but it is not so; not satisfied with the triumph obtained over the North by the passage of the most odious law that encumbers the statute-books of any Christian nation, they now demand that they shall not only enjoy in peace their favorite slavery at home, and its further security under the Fugitive Slave Law, but that the whole country shall submit to the extension of slavery into territory, which, by right and solemn compact, has been consecrated to liberty.

" What do our great men do in view of this demand? Do they not indignantly frown upon such barefaced impudence ? Surely one might expect to learn, that at least the Representatives of States free from the incubus of slavery would protest against so glaring a wrong to our honor and to humanity. But what do we see ? One of the highest in our national councils - the chief leader of the ' Young Democracy ' - one who aspires to the chief magistracy of this great nation, bending, cringing, licking the dust at the very feet of this Moloch ! - groveling in the mire before it, to gather the withered laurels cast away from the nation's brow by reason of this insatiate monster. Is there no shame left, that a man pretending to represent a free- State should thus so degrade his constituents and humanity itself ? ' Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.' It cannot be otherwise than that these men, pandering to the worst sins of a people to obtain an ephemeral fame, are deluded by their own depravity to their own ruin ; God forbid that it be the nation ! Can it be supposed that the cry of - ' Down with agitation and agitators ! ' will avail in the face of so gross an offense as is here offered to a people awakening to the inconsistencies and oppression of slavery ?

- " So long as Senator Douglas, or any other man, shall defend what, by compact and right, pertains to the Slave States, as such, we would not refuse to him his just meed of honor ; but when he stoops so low as to bend the knee to slavery and to discard the approbation of free men, let no lover of his country's honor fail to point the finger of scorn at him, and indignantly blot his name from the list of our country's friends."

This communication was published over the signature " X," but Mr. Bowen was not at all disposed to deny its paternity, notwithstanding his affiliation with the Democratic party : he was not averse to being classed among Anti-Nebraska Democrats. The editor of the Ripon Herald in his issue of February 1, in commenting upon Bowen's article, said : " We inserted in our last a communication over the signature of 'X,' upon the subject of Senator Douglas' Nebraska bill, passing severe strictures upon the Senate [Senator] and his bill. We should then have said that we were not prepared to indorse the grounds taken by 'X.' For ourselves, we will siay that we measure much of our political creed by the doctrine of State rights."

"A few days (perhaps a week) after the appearance of the article containing some strictures upon the course of Senator Douglas, in the Ripon Herald of January 25, 1854, I was called upon by A. E. Bovay, who requested an interview, if I could spare the time, to talk over the subject of that article and what ought to be done in furtherance of its purposes.

"As Mr. Bovay had widely differed with me on some of the political questions that had been under discussion during the three years of our acquaintance, he expressed some surprise and gratification at -the publication of the sentiment contained in the article by me, and yet, as I then thought, not without some doubt as to my earnestness. However, he soon became convinced on that point. We talked for some time upon the probabilities of the future, in view of the excitement caused by the advocacy by Senator Douglas of the Kansas and Nebraska act, for there seemed to be no adequate power to oppose his measures successfully, the Whig party being as much divided in Congress as the Democrats. We argued that the only hope of defeating the extension of slavery, lay in the outspoken sentiment of the people, irrespective of existing parties. Then came the proposition of Mr. Bovay, to endeavor to crystallize public feeling by calling a meeting to discuss the question of organizing a new party. I hesitated; my faith was not strong that we could effect the object. I represented the sparseness of our population ; we were in a small rural village, remote even from the county seat, and upon no great line of travel ; could we make ourselves heard by the public at large ? To this, Mr. Bovay replied, that there would be no question about it. The conclusion was that we should try it. Then followed the question of method of proceeding and the name by which to call the party - which Mr. Bovay suggested. Some estimates were attempted to be made as to what would be the relative proportion of the two parties who would give in their adherence to the new party. We agreed in the main, as to the classes of men that we had hopes of. We went to the house of Amos Loper, living some three miles north of the village, laid the matter before him in all its bearings, Mr. Bovay taking the lead in the conversation. Mr. Loper was not long in making up his mind, and we agreed to make a call for a meeting, to be held at the Congregational Church, on the last day of February.

"I cannot recall the exact language used by either of us. The subject occupied all our thoughts. We looked upon the movement as of considerable importance in a personal point of view, touching our relations with the citizens ; for, to make a move and fail, would probably bring obloquy, and I was not prepared financially to court such a state of things ; but, concluding that we were in the line of duty, it was undertaken in a hopeful and cheerful spirit. We were afterward astonished at the progress made, and watched with intense interest the spread of themovement through all the Northern States."

The Moderator of the meeting was William Dunham ; W. N. Martin was Secretary. Theburden and drift of the speeches were, as Mr. Wilson truthfully says, "the hopeless subserviency of the national parties to the behests of the slaveholders, the necessity of abandoning them, and the proposed policy of constructing a party from the materials thus set at liberty." The following preamble and resolutions were freely discussed and unanimously adopted :

Whebeas, The Senate of the United Slatea is entertaining, and from present indications is likely to pass, bills organizing governments for the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, in which is embodied a clause repealing the Missouri Compromise act, and so admit into these Territories the slave system with all its evils; and, -whereas, we deem that compact irrepealable as the Constitution itself: Therefore

Resolved, That of all outrages hitherto perpetrated or attempted upon the North and freedom by the slaveholders and their natural allies, not one compares in bold and impudent audacity, treachery and meanness with this, the Nebraska bill, as to the sum of all its other villanies it adds the repudiation of a solemn compact held as sacred as the Constitution itself for the period of thirty-four years ;

Resolved, That the Northern man" who can aid and abet in the commission of so stupendous a crime, is none too good to become an accomplice in renewing the African slave trade, the serfice which, doubtless, will next be required of him by his Southern masters, should the Nebraska treason succeed ;

Resolved, That the attempt to overthrow the Missouri Compromise, whether successful or not, admonishes the North to adopt the maxim for all time to come, "No more compromise with slavery; "

Resolved, That the passage of this bill (if pass it should) will be the call to arms of a great Northern party,, such an one as the country has not hitherto seen, composed of Whigs, Democrats and Free-Soilers ; every man with a heart in him united under the single banner cry of ' ' Repeal ! Repeal ! ' '

Resolved, That the small but compact phalanx of true men, who oppose the mad scheme upon the broadest -principle of humanity, as well as their unflinching efforts to uphold public faith, deserve not only our applause, but our profound esteem ;

Resolved, That the heroic attitude of Gen. Houston, amidst a host of degenerate men in the United States Senate, is worthy of honor and applause.

Then and there was born the Republican party of the United States ; the time was the evening of the last day of February, 1854, the place, the frame Congregational Church, which is still standing in the city of Ripon.

The Nebraska Bill. - A bill expressly intended to extend and strengthen the institution of slavery has passed the Senate by a very large majority, many Northern Senators voting for it, and many more sitting in their seats and not voting at all. It is evidently destined to pass the House and become a law unless its progress is arrested by the general uprising of the North against it.

Therefore we, the undersigned, believing this community to be nearly or quite unanimous in opposition to the scheme, would call a public meeting of citizens of all parties to be held at the sohoolhouse in Ripon, on Monday evening, March 20, at 6:iJ0 o'clock, to resolve, to petition, and to organize against it. Signed, J. Bowen, A. Loper, T. L. Reynolds, A. E. Bovay, and fifty others.

The fifty-four citizens - Whigs, Democrats and Free-Soilers - who signed the call, understood perfectly that, in so doing, they were pledging themselves to join the new party. It will "be remembered that Mr. Wilson says of the meeting which followed, that "by formal vote, the town committees of the Whig and Free-Soil parties were dissolved, and a committee of five, consisting of three Whigs, one Free-Soiler and one Democrat, was chosen." A. E. Bovay, J. Bowen, Amos Loper, Abram Thomas and Jacob Woodrufi" constituted the committee. Then and there the Republican party of the United States was christened, and these men were its godfathers. " The actors in this remote little eddy of politics," afterward wrote Mr. Bovay, "thought at the time that they were making a bit of history by that solitary tallow candle, in the little white schoolhouse on the prairie ; and whether ever recognized and published or not, they think so still."

On the evening of the 12th of October, 1874, a meeting was held at the Patty House, in the city of Fond du Lac, temporary oflScers were appointed, and steps were taken for a permanent organization of the Old Settlers' Club of Fond du Lac County. On the 22d of June, 1875, at a meeting called for that purpose - there being present about sixty of the earliest settlers, with many of their ladies - a permanent organization was perfected by the Club, having for its object, as expressed in the preamble to their constitution, to perpetuate the history of the early settlers of the county of Fond du Lac, by collecting and preserving personal reminiscences thereof, and with a view to a renewed acquaintance with their fellow-pioneers. The date of eligibility was fixed at 1850. All who were present and eligible subscribed to the constitution and became members. Their wives were declared by the by-laws to be honorary members. At the same time, steps were taken looking to a social picnic gathering, early in September following. At that meeting there were present three - Edward Beeson, Charles Olmsted and William Stewart - who settled in the county prior to 1840. There were nineteen in attendance who came between 1840 and 1845 : L. F. Stowe, A. C. Whiting, William Galland, Thomas Worthing, Gilbert M. Lee, C. E. Woolridge, Peter V. Sang, David Lyons, Chauncey Griswold, C. P. Phelps, Joseph Stowe, D. D. Trelevan, Charles Clark, G. W. Carter, Elihu Colman, C. N. Kendall, J. Carter, Chas. Olmsted, J. C. Wedge, J. A. Watrous and Dr. Don A. Raymond.

On the 1st day of September, 1875, the first social picnic gathering took place at the fair grounds, in the city of Fond du Lac. The affair was a grand success, exceeding the expectations of the most sanguine. There were admirable addresses by Gustave de Neveu, Capt. D. P. Mapes, Dr. Elliot Brown, and C. K. Pier. In September, 1876, another picnic took place, but not upon so extensive a scale as the previous one. The result was a variety of styles and dishes, from corn bread and baked beans on tin plates, to the daintiest viands served with all the latest silverware accompaniments, representing the simple habits of 1836, by the side of the aristocratic styles of 1876. The affair, notwithstanding an adjournment on account of the unfavorable condition of the weather, was in all respects satisfactory and enjoyable.

Gustave de Neveu delivered another excellent address, and Edward Pier, while protesting that he would not make a speech, addressed the attentive audience for an hour or more, during which he related the interesting story of his own experiences in this uninhabited country.

From year to year since the event last described, officers of the Club have been elected. There have also been gatherings with the usual festivities and speeches. The members of the Club, with the years of their arrival in Fond du Lac County, are as follows :

* Those who settled in the State prior to or during 1850, were eligible to the Old Settlers' Olub, even if they had not resided in Fond du Lac County until more recently.

" Of Joseph Stowe and Priscilla, his wife : Joseph Stowe was born at Springfield, Vt., October 7, 1795. My father, Joseph Stowe, Sr., was born at Concord, Mass., in 1750, and was a Revolutionary soldier. I settled in Fond du Lac in 1844. There were four houses here at that time. Thomas Green kept the post office in his desk drawer. I built the largest house in the county, five miles west of the village, where we had preaching every Sunday by Baptist, Congregational and Methodist ministers. At my house, Edward Beeson and others being present, we organized the first temperance society. Eli Hooker (now of Waupun), Elliott Brown and E. W. Drury were the first temperance lecturers. The first school teacher in our neighborhood was Ezra Crofoot. Selim Newton, a man from Taycheedah, and myself, were the first County Highway Commissioners. We surveyed the highways leading from the west, north and east county lines to the village. I suppose I am the oldest man of the old settlers now living, being thirty-nine days short of 80 years of age. I settled in Fond du Lac with a family of ten children. That family has increased until (August 30, 1875,) they number about seventy-

Common Schools

Fond du Lac County, although well supplied with high-school, academy and college advantages within her own border, has not neglected her common schools. The State made liberal provision for the district schools, setting aside one section of land in every town, in addition to the general income from school lands, and in most instances. Fond du Lac County has taken judicious advantage of these provisions.

In the summer of 1842, the first schoolhouse ever erected in the county was built by James Duane Doty, J. L. and B. F. Moore and Henry Conklin, in the village of Taycheedah. A school had been opened in 1840 by Harriet Harding in Edward Pier's residence, and another in a private residence at Taycheedah, a few months afterward ; but as they were supported by private donations, they could not be properly called public schools. In 1879, thirty-seven years after the first schoolhouse was built, Superintendent McLoughlin's report shows that the county contains 124 "regular" school districts; 53 parts of districts and 43 "joint" districts. In these districts, which do not include the city of Fond du Lac, the college at Ripon or any of the numerous private, select and parish schools, 8,492 children of school age, and 62 not of school age, were registered. The whole number of teachers employed was 307, who taught 124,524 days, and received as salaries, ^37,840. There were in the county in 1879, outside of the city of Fond du Lac, 14,485 children of school age, of whom 10,941 can be accommodated in the various schoolhouses. The whole amount of school money received from all sources was $58,444, of which $37,840 was expended for teachers, fuel, repairs, libraries and all other expenses.

Good teachers have been employed, considering the small wages paid, as the examinations by the County Superintendents have been made more rigid each year, and teachers' institutes have been held once or more each year for practical training in the art of teaching.

Up to 1862, the system of town superintendents of school had been in vogue from the organization of the State. At the November election of that year a school superintendent for the whole county was elected for the term of two years. There was a good deal of clamor against the change, the reason offered being that each town knew and could supply its own wants best and cheapest. In 1871, the county was divided into two districts, and a superintendent was elected for each. The Eighteenth Senatorial District, or the western portion of the county comprised one district, and the six towns in the eastern portion, comprising a portion of the Twentieth Senatorial District, constituted the other superintendent's district. In 1875, this plan was done away with, and the whole county made to constitute one district, except the city of Fond du Lac, which has a school superintendent of its own. Since the town system was abolished, the different county superintendents have been as follows :

The salary of the County Superintendent is f 1,200. He is required to visit all schools, attend all teachers' institutes, examine all applicants for teachers' certificates, and make annually a report of all matters pertaining to the public schools of the county.

" Connected with our school work, are teachers' institutes and associations. The former is held once a year, for two weeks ; and the latter once a month, on Saturdays, in four different parts of the county. Their object is the better preparation of the teacher to manage, instruct, and discipline his school. One fact we much regret is, that pupils of more than ordinary promise are taken from the rural district school and sent to some high school or college, when, by providing teachers, the entire school would be immeasurably benefited by their remaining."

Eleazer Root, of Ripon, was the first County Superintendent. He was also the first State Superintendent of Wisconsin, serving three years. He was a member of the second Constitutional Convention, and drew up the article on education which was adopted by that Convention as a portion of the State Constitution.

Literature And The Fine Arts

In all comparatively new countries, where men are compelled to build homes for their children and fill the coffers for the future rather than luxuriate in the accumulations of the past, less attention is given to literature and the fine arts, than in^older localities where the forest has been felled, the glebe overcome and homes established. There is not less of genius, or poetry, or music in the sturdy inhabitants of new countries, nor less inclination to cultivate and enjoy the beautiful; but there are fewer leisure m,oments and less opportunity for improvement. The pioneer poet must repeat his lines as he treads the furrow, and the artist stiffen his joints with the ax or spade.

The first volume to attract attention, and the largest of any published by a resident of Fond du Lac County, was "The Healing of the Nations," by" Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, which was finished in November, 1854. It contained 537 pages. The book was published by Mr. Tallmadge for the purpose of placing before the public what were described as the "inspired utterances " of Charles Linton, a young and uneducated Pennsylvanian. The book attracted considerable attention. Mr. Tallmadge was one of the founders of the Episcopal Church of Fond du Lac, but the " Healing of the Nations " was Spiritualistic in its tendencies and argument. The following paragraph will indicate the manner in which his doctrines were presented :

" I have always maintained, and still maintain, the Bible is the word of God ; and I agree with that accomplished scholar and jurist. Sir William Jones, who declared that the Scriptures contain, independently of their divine origin, more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, more important history, pure morality and finer strains both of poetry and eloquence, than could be collected within the same compass from all other books that were ever composed in any age or idiom. And where I hear clergymen denouncing Spiritualism as denying the truths of the Bible,

I can only say, 'they know not what they do.' They might, with greater propriety, denounce all denominations of Christians, except their own, because they differed from each other as to what are the truths of the Bible. The Roman Catholic believes in transubstantiation - in the real presence - that the real body and blood of Christ are contai?5ed in the consecrated wafer. He goes to the Bible for the truth of this doctrine. Some Protestants go to the same book to prove this doctrine rank blasphemy. Most of the Christian world finds in the Bible the doctrine of the Trinity, while the Unitarian sect, one of the most intelligent and intellectual in this country, finds in it the unity of the Godhead. The same might be said of all the various doctrines, of the different religious sects and denominations; they are all according to their respective advocates, to be found in the Bible, however inconsistent or antagonistic they may be. Whpn then, these reverend gentlemen tell us that Spiritualism denies the truths of the Bible, will they be so good as to agree upon and inform Tis what these truths are? Christ never taught sectarianism. That has been taught by the creeds of men. Out of these creeds has sprung the antagonism of the Christian world - an antagonism which brought Cranmer and Latimer and Ridley and Servetus to the stake - and which would bring Spiritualists to the stake also, if we were not so far advanced in the light and progress of the nineteenth century. Every real Christian looks forward to the time when this antagonists shall be done away, and we shall stand on one broad platform, founded on the doctrines taught by Christ, instead of the doctrines taught by the creeds of men."

In 1854, Martin Mitchell, a man prominent in the affairs of Fond du Lac City and County, compiled and published a history of the towns and county - the first and last given to the public up to date. It contained about 100 pages, and was printed by J. A. Smith, then publishing the Western Freeman newspaper at the city of Fond du Lac. The work was quite an undertaking at that period, and contained some information which might not otherwise have been preserved. It was the first book published in Fond du Lac County.

Mr. Whinfield has been a prolific writer. Some of his favorite themes were reform in spelling and punctuation, protection, political economy and manufacturing. He wrote a pamphlet in 1867, upon iron industries and iron manufacturing in the Western States, T\hich contained valuable information. It was written, the author advertised, " with a view to the establishment of iron works in the Western States, and the use of peat as a fuel." From his work this quotation is made:

"It may be asked how one who has written and argued so much upon the injustice of protection, can now consistently come forward with a proposition to partake in the profits assured by that inj ustice ?

"To this there are various and sufficiently satisfactory answers. In the first place, without protection, the wealth of these Western States in ores, and the best and cheapest of fuel, would enable us to compete with European manufactures and leave a large margin of profit, to which must also be added, the cost of transportaton and other incidental charges upon importations.

"Again, the pertinacity of Eastern manufacturers, and the excess of wealth they have already acquired, through protection, to the vast cost of the West, will for a long time defeat the desultory efforts of the advocates of free trade. It behooves the West, therefore, for selfprotection alone, that it should make an effort in its own behalf, and that it can do so and profitably compete, in this field of enterprise with the East, will be shown in the text.

" But there is another and more generous motive to excite Western minds - a natural desire for, and a pride in, the progress and prosperity of their country.

" To the -writer, something may be allowed for old associations - as the old hunter pricks his ears to the music of the hounds - something for a desire to bring his property into profitable use, but chiefest of all - for the time with him has long passed when any of the selfish pleasures wealth can purchase could be much appreciated - a pardonable ambition to be numbered among those who have been of service to their generation."

This last paragraph in the extract refers to the author's efforts to secure the establishment of iron-works near the deep peat beds on the " Ledge," a short distance east of the city of Fond du Lac. A further quotation is made :

" The production of a superior quality of pig-iron, peculiarly calculated for stove work, hollow-ware and all kinds of fine castings, holding out inducements to the makers of such articles to settle here.

" The production of heavy castings from the blast, or first smelting, at a much cheaper rate than from the cupola, which necessitates a second melting.

" The production of a superior quality of merchant iron, equal to Juniata iron, and manufactured at a much less cost. The ductility of this iron, the economy with which it may be worked, the saving in cost and in working, from the abundance of the cheapest and best fuel for their purposes, would gather round the supply iron-workers in every department of ironware/ and consequently a large working population would be brought into the country.

"The first work of this description, would be the forerunner to many others of alike character, still adding to the smaller factories and multiplying the population, to the permanent benefit of the agricultural interest, the vast increase in the value of property, and the rapid and permanent improvement of both city and country.

"Those great undertakings, which only wealth profitably invested can accomplish, would be carried out to their full extent - drainage and roadmaking in particular - would be among the first improvements.

" The contemplated railways - the Sheboygan, and the Air Line to Milwaukee, with others in addition-^would become a necessity, and for all which our own resources would be sufficient for providing material and converting it to the difi"ercnt purposes required.

"To have a just idea of what iron-works would do for Wisconsin, it is only necessary to call to mind Belgium, and, indeed, England, and ask the question - What would either of these countries have been without her iron-works ?"

In 1873, David P. Mapes, the "founder of Ripon," published a volume of nearly three hundred pages, entitled, " History of the City of Ripon and of its Founder." The peculiarity of his style may -be discovered from an extract, taken from the preface :

" Before writing this history of myself and of the towns I have aided in building, I will say that I have been frequently asked to write it out and get it into book form. If there is anything in my long life and experience worth keeping on the shelves of the book-case, or taking down and reading, here it is ; and you who have had my acquaintance will see it is the 'old Captain,' right over. I have not attempted to show the scholar or the statesman, but simply to give a true history of myself and times, as I have seen them, for I have learned that those who attempt to pass themselves off for something they are not, are discovered at once by the discriminating public. * * * So here it is. As thoughts have come to me I have penned them ; and you, critics, take them and deal gently with the old man, for such now they call me, if I do feel young. I have written this without gloves, for I meant it should, come barehanded, if the hand may appear." The book has met with a liberal sale.

In musical circles, on both sides of the Atlantic, the name of Fond du Lac is familiar as the birthplace and home of Abbie Beeson Carriugton. She was born June 13, 1866, and up to August, 1876, was a pupil of C. F. Kumlau's, in Fond du Lac. - She then went to Boston, and entered the New England Conservatory of Music, graduating from that institution in June, 1877. Being encouraged by the professors of the Conservatory to study in Italy for the opera, she sailed with her parents (Edward and Susan E. Beeson) September 1, 1877, for Milan, where she became the pupil of Signer Guiseppi Parini and Madame Marini, in vocal culture ; Madame Boreome, in language, and Signer Ranconi, in elocution. After studying one year in Milan, Mrs. Carrington accepted an engagement under the nom de plume of lola Barbo, and sung as prima donna in several of the cities in Northern Italy during the fall and winter. Returning to Milan, she continued her studies until July, 1879, when she sailed for New York, where she now resides.

Mrs. Carrington's first appearance after returning to America was on Wednesday evening, October 7, 1879, at Boston. This paragraph, from the Musical Record, of that city, is only one of scores of similar import published on that occasion :

" Abbie Carrington achieved an immediate and triumphant success. She sung the ' Shadow Song' from Meyerbefer's 'Dinorah,' and for an encore the ' Bolero,' from Verdi's ' Sicilian Vespers.' She also sung ' Hear Ye, Israel.' Her voice is rich, sweet and flexible. She is very artistic in her method. The former selections were sung with the utmost ease, grace and fluency, while in the latter she evinced rare dramatic skill. Her debut was a complete triumph."

Soon after, she engaged with Theodore Thomas, in New York, where her success was equally flattering, and also filled several engagements with the most popular concert companies, and now with the Mendelssohn Quintette Club. The commendation she received from the musical and secular press of Italy and America would make a volume ; the Italians, the most severe musical critics in the world, being even more enthusiastic in her praise than her own countrymen. While Mrs. Carrington was singing in Italy, the Boston Folio published a lengthy article upon her success in that cradle of music and artj of which this is an extract :

"An Italian impressario, desiring a soprano prima donna, after a hearing, chose her from several applicants, offering her a lucrative engagement, including two benefits, and in one year from the time she entered Milan she made her debut in ' Traviata,' making an almost unparalleled success for a debutante. She was called before the curtain nine times, and in the confusion, ' Brava ! brava ! ' could be heard from all parts of the house. During her stay in Piacenza, the scene of her first triumph, she was visited by many citizens and musicians, congratulating her upon her grand success. She was at once offered engagements by several impressarii. During this engagement, she constantly gained in the favor and admiration of the critical Italians, both for her singing and her acting, and at the close c^f the engagement she was waited upon by a committee of citizens, who thanked her for the great satisfaction and delight she had given them.

" At Cervia and Ravenna, Italy, she made her grandest success in the part of Gilda, in ' Rigoletto,' which gave an opportunity to show her great dramatic powers, and her success can best be imagined from the fact that at the conclusion of her engagement there she was escorted from the Opera House with a military band, mid cheers and shouts of ' Bravo ! bravo ! Long live lole Barbo, the American nightingale!'

" At the time of writing this sketch, Mrs. Carrington is singing in Ravenna, in the operas of 'Faust,' 'Traviata,' 'Lucia,' ' Puritana' ' Rigoletto,' and the ' Bohemian Girl.' Her voice is a high dramatic soprano, ranging from G below to E flat in alt, sustaining the high E flat with perfect ease. All the tones are pure and even throughout the entire compass of her voice. She is twenty-two years of age, tall, with a fine figure, and large physical powers."

No man in Fond du Lac County has done so much to make the name of Wisconsin familiar in all the great wealth-centers of America and Europe, as Mark R. Harrison, of Fond du Lac. His paintings are hung and admired in all the leading art galleries of the world, and rare descriptions of their beauties grace the journals of Canada, the United States, England, Germany and France. He has done much to establish the reputation of the West as the home of genius and art; done much for his profession, but more for posterity. He rescued from oblivion the forms and hues of a hundred varieties of wild flowers, which are seen no more in Wisconsin - which have been trampled under foot, and crushed out fbrever by the destructive march of civilization. The prairies no longer blossom as when the Indians - who turned no furrows - were their only occupants, and no pen could picture the bewildering beauty of a whole county blossoming like the rarest garden in paradise. Mr. Harrison sought out the hiding-place of every bud and blossom, transferring their varied hues to canvas, as the magic power of dew and sunlight gave them birth. In after years, when wheat and corn and cities cover the land, its inhabitants can find on his canvas, everything but the delicious fragrance of a prairie in full bloom.

When Mr. Harrison began to paint in Fond du Lac, in 1852, he was too poor to take his pictures to market or even send them. Permission was asked to hang them in offices and stores, where they remained until some traveling stranger recognized their merits, and secured them at his own figures, for Mr. Harrison was at work for money, as he says now, "to keep from starving." That he was a cultivated artist then, and even before, while a resident of Canada, is apparent from the Toronto, Canada, Mail, of September 5, 1879, which described his " Cain and Abel," painted in 1835, and now owned by the Canadian Government.

Perhaps more valuable even than his rescue of the flora of the primitive West for the generations of the future, are Mr. Harrison's historical paintings, representing the habits, customs and rites of the uncivilized Indians, in love, marriage and at the grave. From a thorough search of aboriginal history ; from persons well acquainted with the tribal traits and characteristics of the Indians, as well as from Longfellow's legendary poems, Mr. Harrison obtained correct ideas for his pictures, and those who live after the last vestige of the red man has disappeared, can turn to these paintings, and observe the features, dress Und ceremonies of the original lords of the American soil.

The "Burial of Hiawatha," painted for William Lucas, of St. Louis, Mo., is the representation of a scene which no beholder can easily forget or describe. In the fringe of a grand old hemlock forest, through whose gloomy aisles and snow-bent boughs the shadows of evening are silently advancing, stands a group of Indian men and women. It is the time of famine, so graphically described by Longfellow, and in the midst of the group of mourners, lies one of its victims. The stern, strong faces are pinched by hunger and clouded by woe. The dead alone is without sorrow - without the expression of sufi"ering. A hollow has been scooped in the virgin snow and neatly lined with evergreens; and around the grave, in front of those whose unfathomable but stoical sadness seems to impregnate the very air and every surrounding object, are scattered sprigs of the fragrant hemlock, in accordance with the Indian custom. The pallbearers, dressed in their most gaudy attire, as they always are at the burial of a distinguished member of the tribe, have lowered the chieftain's dead wife, "Minnehaha, Laughing Water, loveliest of Dacotah women," into her snow-made tomb. She is richly dressed in pure white garments, in accordance with the usages of her people.

Near by, seated upon a fallen .hemlock, his partially shaded face resting upon his hand, is Hiawatha, her husband, the mourning chieftain. He is overwhelmed with grief. Across his knee is thrown the last garment made by Minnehaha, it being the custom for the husband to bear to her final resting-place the last garment made by his deceased consort. Still nearer to the grave of snow, is old Wokomis, wrapped in sorrow - prostrate with her last earthly grief. She rocks feebly to and fro, and wails :

This is one of Mr. Harrison's best pictures, and one of the finest productions of Western art. It is not superior, however, in historical value or artistic merit, to others of the same class, three of which are conceived from Longfellow's same poem. Mr. Harrison had beautiful photographs of large size, taken of these paintings, and sent them to Mr. Longfellow as a Christmas gift and art souvenir, for 1879. Another painting of considerable power in this series, is the gathering of the warriors before the battle of the Rose Bud, at which Gen. Custer fell. The scene is a rich and beautiful valley, at the base of a high and barren mountain, around whose brow a mighty storm is gathering, and the picture was taken just as Crazy Horse addressed - while standing in his saddle - the assembled chiefs and warriors :

" The pale-face hath driven us from the graves of our fathers - from the rising to the setting sun. They have driven us to these barren hills [with a' gesture toward the beetling crag], and here they will not let us have a home."

The faces of Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Black Dog and other leading chiefs, were taken from life, gleaming with that fierce anger and malignity seen only in the countenance of an Indian.

Mr. Harrison's paintings, which have attracted most local attention and advertised abroad the unsurpassed beauties of Wisconsin scenery, are such pictures as "Elkhart Lake," a rare sheet of water in Sheboygan County; " Sandstone Blufi"," a bold, rocky clifi' on Green Lake, and several other scenes from Green Lake, the gem of all Wisconsin waters, situated in the county of the same name.

What has been pronounced in England Mr. Harrison's most powerful painting, is his " Cromwell's Charge at Marston Moor," which has been owned in that country during many years.

But one of his modern master-pieces on canvas, is a picture finished in 1879 - " Cleopatra's Triumph." It is of large size, and represents more labor than almost any other painting produced in America. It contains 300 figures, all richly but differently dressed ; scores of columns with sculptured bases and ornamented capitals, boats, buildings, the sea, flowers and every detail pertaining to the Egyptian court at the time it represents. At the left rises the stupendous pile called Cleopatra's Palace (begun by Alexander the Great, and finished after his death, B. C., 323, by Ptolemy Soter, the first Greek ruler of Egypt). Its length was more than four thousand feet, and its elevation a wilderness of columns, statuary, pillars, emblems, deities and ornamental sculpture piled tier upon tier in solid, shining marble, to a dizzy height, and reaching down to the sea. At the base of the gigantic columns which guard the entrance to the palace, are slaves feeding serpents, Egyptian gods, and to the left the Sphynx, while at the right swarm the royal guards, harpists and banner-bearers, dresse^ in purple and white, ready to welcome their beloved and beautiful Queen. On the steps of the palace stands a beautiful figure, like that of an angel, called the Goddess of Peace, holding in one hand the white dove of welcome, and in the other the scepter - symbol of power - to be delivered to the Queen. Beyond the Goddess lie the terrible Egyptian deities, with wings and claws, and still farther on the magnificent malachite obelisk, whose polished surface of blue and green carbonate of copper shimmers in the sunlight, and which is surmounted by the god Apis. In the centre of the picture, and under a gorgeous canopy of feathers borne by a slave, is the Queen Cleopatra, with a rich crown sparkling and flashing on her brow.

By her aide waMcs that great Roman warrior and statesman, Mark Antony, humble and subdued in the presence of her genius and beauty. He goes to her palace a willing captive - 'tis " Cleopatra's Triumph. ' ' Behind follows Antony's helmet-bearer ; near by is a richly attired Egyptian priestess, presiding at an altar of burning incense; farther on, a swarthy slave is guarding the golden vessels landed from the galley, and far out to sea is the Pharos, 500 feet in height, one of the Seven Wonders, whose light guided ships across the Mediterranean Sea. The golden galley, impelled by silver oars in the hands of Nubian slaves, and alive with harpists, naiads and cupids, lies near in all the magnificence which the wealth and skill of Egypt could bestow. " Castle Canyon," painted by Mr. Harrison in 1862, is now in Paris, and held at $25,000.

Edwakd G. Ma.Scraft

Mr. Mascraft, who has been Mark R. Harrison's student a number of years - and the only student Mr. Harrison ever had - although a young man, has a reputation abroad as an artist of rare genius and promise. He is not a copyist, as so many are who claim to be artists, but sketches from nature. He is an enthusiastic and patient worker, a lover of his profession and has painted many pictures of great merit. Those which sold for the highest figure and gave him the best reputation among artists abroad were, " The Morning Mist," " Cattle in a Storm," " Lost in the Snow," and "Around the Canip Fire." The last one has received especial praise, being a strong and vivid picture of camp life as Mr. Mascraft recalled it from his own experience as a soldier in the rebellion. His pictures have nearly all sold in the East, where they are in demand, and where he is well known as an artist of genius, truth and skill. He makes frequent trips for the purpose of making new sketches from nature, and always with rare success. He is modest, and never mentions his profession or work, preferring to let his paintings win their own way on their merits.

A prominent Eastern journalist known as " Waldemere," in a series of able papers upon " Our Coming Men and Women," devoted a lengthy critique to "Lisle Lester's" writings, and her promise as an author, from which the following is extracted :

" The writings of this lady have been almost exclusively confined to magazine and newspaper literature. Now that she has paused in this work, and will soon publish in more solid shape, the result of her researches, it is quite proper to review what she has done, and examine the quality and power that will guide the future labor.

" As a writer she may be called versatile, yet there are classes of literary work she never touches, and has a strongly developed taste for certain specialties ; prominent of all, the historical and descriptive. Under this classification, she has given to print extensive papers on California, Oregon, Nevada and the Pacific Coast Territories, Peru, Mexico and the West Indian Islands. These papers embrace history, biography, description, adventure and relic lore.

" Her descriptive faculties are the best ;, her language is rhetorically able and fluent. Some of the most admirable specimens of her authorship in this class of writing are a series of papers entitled 'Pencilings of the Pacific,' ' Two Years in Jamaica,' and 'Lisle thread.'

" The second prominent feature of her writings, after the historical, is dramatic journalism. She has published and editorially conducted two drafnatic papers, dramatized considerably, and contributed largely to dramatic publications. As a theatrical essayist and correspondent, her opinions command a high estimate from the profession. The 'Life of Charlotte Cushman,' written and compiled during the years 1877 and 1878, will soon be sent to press. It is apparent that some of her most eminent efforts will be found in the dramatic literature of the future.

" The next most sparsely indulged feature of her literary work is satirical humor ; com-> bined with it, a defense of principles and people, that has conspired to bring out from her pen some very strong, caustic, independent articles from time to time.

- The most important of these papers already current, was a series of articles published in the Washington Chronicle in 1877, entitled, ' Only-a- Woman Series.' "

The pearl of all "Lisle Lester's" writings is the limiced poetical thought that has found expression in print. These poems remind one of the stifling sobs of a child, struggling in suppressed weeping.

The saddest of these are gems, and every line seems drenched with tears - no doubt they conceal the key to the heart-side of her life, that the world is not admitted to. Illustrative of the emotional-friendship verse, written under what may be denominated the " indulgence of affections," the following is given :

" Sometimes I look into a glorious face - Into a soul-lit, gentle eye - That mirrors Nature's loveliest grace Clear as a summer's morning sky.

"Lisle Lester" never dabbled in political writing, nor lent her pen to any of the " hobbies " and " isms " with which the world is well supplied at the present time. She never wrote a novel nor a romance of any kind. At the present time, she is putting into shape for the press, some important works that will decide her position in literature. She has not hurried into print, nor sought premature fame, and in this she has exhibited good judgment, and, doubtless, laid a solid foundation for the future.

Under this romantic name. Miss Elizabeth Farnsworth, now Mrs. Mears, of Oshkosh, wrote more voluminously than any other Fond du Lac County lady author. She began early to write rhymes, ditties and acrostics for the press, some of which were sweet and musical. In addition to poetry, "Nellie Wildwood " dipped into romance and the drama - one play, entitled " Black Hawk," drawing good houses at Madison and other places in the State. Her most elaborate work was a sixty-page book, entitled, " Voyage of Pere Marquette, and Romance of Charles de Langlade ; or, the Indian Queen. An Historical Poem of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries." It was written for Harrison & Stevenson's " Art Union," in 1860. From this book, as descriptive of the approach on the shores of Lake Winnebago, before the coming of white men, of such a glorious morning as could only be seen in the unsettled West, is taken the following :

" 'Tis early morn - ihe heavens are softest blue, And the broad lake has caught the same fair hue ; While from the dreamy West the cooling breeze Waves the green drapery of the lofty trees. Amid whose cool and leafy shade is heard The matin-song of many a bright-winged bird. The robin's note from hedge of wilding rose - The mourning dove pours forth her loving woes - The thrush, with joyous gratitude elate - The speckled partridge, whistling to its mate -

And all the feathered choristers of song, Rouse the clear echoes, vales and groves among. The fragrant zephyrs, 'mid the flowers that sleep With morning freshness on the senses sweep. The rising sun gilds tree and headland tall^ The crimson beams soft ling' ring where they fall, Till earth and arching skies in splendor bright Mingle in one, thus bathed in golden light."

Mrs. Fisher has never published anything in book form, although she has written much of such preservation. She writes for the Phrenological Journal and various other publications. From the Fond du Lac Reporter of February, 1877, is taken the following :

In 1868, Maurice McKenna, who had written for the press and various periodicals, published a small volume of poems entitled, " Elva Lee." The principal feature of the work was a romance after the style and meter of Walter Scott's " Lady of the Lake," which was presented, with this :

To The Readek

Of all the poets - or those who have dropped into verse for the amusement of friends or in response to that inspiration which no pen can describe but which occasionally bursts into a glow with all persons of genius, throwing their very souls into a dance of rhythm and transport of beautiful thoughts - none claimed by Fond du Lac County have become so widely known as Alice Arnold Crawford. Her beautiful life, attractive personal and mental attributes and premature death add a peculiar interest to her productions for even those who care nothing for the intrinsic merits of poetry. She furnished articles in prose and verse for the leading publications of the day, and, in 1875, after her death, an unrevised collection of her writings, making a book of nearly two hundred pages, mostly in verse, was published in elegant style by Jansen, McClurg & Co., of Chicago. The two distinct and unlike moods or styles in which Alice- Arnold Crawford wrote, are well illustrated by two poems here reproduced :

Blind Handel

He sat alone - his solemn service o'er ; No muffled footfalls sounded on the floor ; The distant clangor of the closing door From arch to arch leaped down the low octave Of dying echoes, and within the nave Dropped into silence.

Calm and sweetly grave, As one in whom some joy and sorrow blend. The blind old man, beside his timeworn friend, Still lingered lovingly. Across the keys t e felt the warmth of stinshine, and the breeze

At play upon the silver of his hair. And, down the aisles, he knew the list'ning air In conscious emptiness hung dead and still, But waiting for the soul of melody to thrill Its silence into life.

As one who loved them much, He sought the keys. They yielded to his touch, And by some strange intelligence they caught The thrilling impulse of their master's thought, And followed sofily, or in cchnes rang Their sweet response, while he, trembling, sang His life-song unto them ;

" We are alone Oh, voices of my soul! andj jy unknown To those who know and love you less than I, Is borne to me upon the melody That wakens at my will. I fell no need of sight ; But, reaching forth, I draw my warmth and light From out the world of sound. That fine and mystic senso Vouchsafed to me makes more than recompense For outer darkness ; since the shadowy line That shuts me from the world wins the divine To blest communion until life grows swqet From hidden springs, and makes itself complete From sources of its own.

" Men pity me ; And little eyes that mine shall never see Turn tenderly to watch the groping feet That, hesitating, tread the aisle and street. They look on me as one whose night and day Are wearily the same, and sadly say My blindness is my prison, and no star That, key-like, hangs without the dungeon bar. Shall ever turn or open unto me The royal dawn, or noontide majesty.

" And yet I sorrow not. No life is dark Whose inner cliambers hold the vital spark Of heavenly happiness. I only stand Within the shadow of my Father's hand. And list, through all the ling' ring eventide. For loving tones that, comforting, abide Forever in the air. Oh, perfect gift ! Oh, blessing marvellous ! By thee I lift The upper windows of my charmed soul, And let the Iiarmonies of Heaven roll Full-voiced into mine ear.

"And still I wait. My groping fingers clasp the golden gate That bounds the sweet hereafter, while the hymn That trembles from the harps of seraphim Floats out to me ; the soft and mellow pipes Awaked by me are butth' imperfect types Of what 1 hear - the ftiint interpreters Through which I speak to men - sweet messengers From me unto the world. I ask no more Since ' my Redeemer liveth ' to restore In His own time the fullness of my sight. Then, for the loss of earth s imperfect light, The crystal day shall evermore be given. And Handel, ' blind and old,' shall sec in Heaven."

The F0Ke3T Easter

[Thia poem was published at Efister-tide in Harper's Weekly, engraved on a beautiful cross whicb covered an entire page of that publication, and attracted wide attention. The cross was entwined and Irellised with the rich green Tines and bright star-blossoms of the trailing arbutus, bursting through crusts of snow and creeping about pillars of ice, with the deep, gloomy solitude of a Northern foreit for a background.]

Look ! how shadows in the glow. Melted from their icy keeping, out of hidden cells are creeping ; Out of twilight niches leaping at the beok'ning of the light. Has the spring remembered Easter in the Northland still and white ? Have the symbols of the morning deck'd the dim cathedral wobd ? Have they written, " He is risen," in the snowy solitude? Are the lilies incense breathing ? Are the fair camellias wreathing

Robed acres or strewed a shrine." Ay, the Spring has chosen well - better than we understood. Open star and budded bell best befit the cloister cell

Of the templed wood ; Best unfold the mystic story from the secret of its own ; Best proclaim the risen glory from tlie life itself has known. Blossom of the Wilderness! God-child of the snow's caress 1 Heaven shall love thee not the leas, blooming here alone.

The news that Fort Sumter had been fired upon and had surrendered reached Fond du Lac, Ripon and Waupun Saturday evening, April 13, 1861, but was not generally disseminated until Sunday. Everything was dropped, and people rushed to the centers of population and information for the latest news. Newspapers were in demand and commanded almost any price, one man paying a dollar for a copy of the Chicago Tribune. Impromptu meetings to sustain the Government were held everywhere, the first of which any record was left being held Sunday evening, April 14, in the city of Fond du Lac. On Thursday evening, the largest meeting ever held in that city was addressed at Amory Hall, by Edward S. Bragg, J. M. Gillet, S. E. LeflFerts and Mason C. Darling. The intensity of the excitement, patriotism and enthusiasm manifested cannot be despribed. Resolutions upholding the Government, and couched in the strongest possible language, Were adopted. About $4,000 was raised to care for the familiesof soldiers, and pledges were offered on every hand to furnish wood, meat, flour and provisions to soldiers' wives and children. Men offered houses free of rent ; physicians oifered medical attendance free of charge, and the City Council voted, at a special meeting, although it had no right to do so, $5,000 to aid soldiers' families. Patriotism and generosity ran riot. War meetings were appointed in almost every schoolhouse in the county, and speakers were in great demand. The demand, however, was supplied, as men who had never made a speech before, and have not since, proved to be fountains of patriotic eloquence. The Reporter, of Fond du Lac, in its issue of April 27, 1861, thus briefly but graphically describes the excitement of the hour:

" We should, perhaps, make an apology that the Reporter is lacking this week in the usual amount of matter. The events of the week have occupied our whole attention. Our workmen are worn down with night work in getting out extras of telegraphic reports, which we print morning and evening. Nor can we publish all the war news, for want of room and for want of type-setters to get up the type. Two of our workmen have enlisted^

" The war feeling is so intense and absorbing that much of the business of our city has been stopped; men are collected in crowds on the streets, and before the recruiting office of Col. Lefferts. Mechanics have left their shops, clerks their desks, printers their cases, laborers their usual employments, and all are prepared to take up arms in defense of the flag of their country." '

Capt. John McGinnis offered the services of the Hibernian Guards of Fond du Lac, five days aftei* Gov. Randall's proclamation was posted, and they were accepted. This was the first offer of a company from Fond du Lac County. ,It was not the first company to leave for camp, as it was composed of only thirty men who were willing to fight, and some recruiting was necessary to secure the necessary seventy-eight.

The first man to enljst in Fond du Lac County was Colwert .K. Pier, and the second was Christian Klock. This was on Monday forenoon, April 15, and they signed the roll in S. B. Lefferts' ofiice, at 494 Main street.

Party lines were nearly obliterated, old feuds were forgotten, and a new era in good-fellowship and patriotism inaugurated. Old enemies, both political and social, met at recruiting gatherings, and made speeches together.

Patriotism and a desire to do sometKing for their country were not confined to the men- The ladies were busy preparing little things for the soldiers to take with them ; making flag3> committing patriotic songs, making rosettes of red, white and blue, and lending their influence by being present at all war meetings. When the first company left Fond du Lac, each member was presented by the ladies with an elegant silk rosette and a Testament, and the company with a large and costly flag. These were presented at Amory Hall on Tuesday evening, April 31, at which time the company assembled to take the army oath. W. C. Kellogg administered the oath, and so enthusiastic were the spectators, that one and all arose and took the solemn obligation also. Rev. George B. Eastman made a prayer, and E. S. Bragg the following speech:

Citizen Soldiers: la obedience to your own patriotic impulses to defend » ilag liallowed by the blood of patriots, the maintenance of which was bequeathed to you as a legacy of a glorious ancestry, you are about to bid adieu to friends and kindred, to put oiF the garb of peace and assume the " slow-measured tread of grim-visaged war." In days of old, the knight didhis devoir under the colors of his " ladye-love." The remembrance of the sweet, sad parting cheered him when gloom was stealing o'er his spirit, and rendered doubly dear the achievements of his arm. In later days - in the times which tried men's souls - the women of America cheered the soul of the patriot ; the mother gave her husband and son as willing offerings, and the maiden wiped the death-damp from the brow of her lover without a murmur. That race of noble women is not yet extinct. They are as ready now as (hen, at their country's call, to make the sacrifice.

Capt. McCall, through me the women of Fond du Lac bid you and your soldiers God-speed in your holy purpose- By my hand they entrust you with these colors as a parting token. Maintain them in the front of the battle. Let them never be sullied by an ignoble act on the field, or in the camp. Protect them, if need be, with your blood,, remembering always, that they possess the talismanic power of a woman's blessing.

Oq behalf of the Badgers, I tender to the ladies of Fond du Lac our heartiest thanks for this beautiful flag, assuring them that each and all of us, rank and file, will do our utmost to protect it from dishonor. And, whether on the field, or in camp, on duty or oflF, the remembrance of the fair givers will ever be cherished.

Two days after this, May 2, 1861, the company took its departure amid a strange commingling of cheers, sobs and tears. The train left Thursday morning over the Chicago & North- Western Railway, from Fond du Lac, and the city was literally jammed with people from all parts of the county, to whom the idea of war and the sight of soldiers were novel and inspiriting.

Before their departure, a splendid dinner was served by the proprietor of the Lewis House, Mr. B. S. Patty, while the bands discoursed music, and patriotic speeches were made outside of -the hotel. This company (I), called the "Badger Boys," was assigned to the First Wisconsin Regiment ; was the first body of Fond du Lac County men to start for the war, and consisted of the following officers and privates:

Innumerable copies of the " Star Spangled Banner," and miniature flags, on which were printed various patriotic mottoes, and extracts from the speeches of great men, were scattered about the country, and the work of recruiting went on at an astonishing rate, the time of enlistment at first being for only ninety days. Flags floated everywhere. Bulletins naming the prominent men who had enlisted, and scraps containing the seditious utterances of Southern men and officers, were freely circulated to increase, if possible, the enthusiasm for enlisting, and at the war meetings, men who could not enlist would " bid " for volunteers. That is, A would call out, "I will give $50 for the next volunteer; " B would say, "I'll give flOO," and so on until another volunteer was secured, the meetings continuing until late at night. A description of the wild excitement and intense enthusiasm of one war meeting would apply to all of them, and they were held everywhere in the county.

The folloving card, printed on imitation bank paper, was suddenly and unaccountably found in liberal circulation, furnishing the salaries of soldiers in different positions: Colonel, $218 per Lieutenant Colonel, $194 ; Major, $175 ; Captain, $118; First Lieutenant, $108.50; Second Lieutenant, $103.50 ; Brevet Second Lieutenant, $103.50 ; First, or Orderly Sergeant, $29 ; other Sergeants, $27 ; Corporals, $22 ; privates, $20, and musicians, $21 per month.

These figures, though not correct, mixed well with the enthusiasm of the hour, and recruiting went on more rapidly than ever, until it was announced in one of the local papers of May 25, 1861, that " Fond du Lac County has furnished a greater number of volunteers than any other county in the State, not even excepting Milwaukee. We have now nine full companies, and three more nearly full, more than enough for one full regiment. Of these, six companies have enlisted for three years, or during the war. Should the exigencies of the war require it, we are confident the number could be doubled in this county. Our volunteers compare favorably with any in the State. They are a fine, able-bodied set of men, who entered into this business because they felt it their duty to do so, leaving their fields and workshops, and occupations, to be supplied by others. It is an indisputable fact that Capt. McCall's Company stands at the head of the First Regiment for good order, sobriety and military bearing. They have earned a reputation in their short period of camp life, of which they may well feel proud. Should their example be followed by the remaining companies. Fond du Lac will have the proud distinction of having bietter men in the field, as well as more of them, than any county in the State."

In a very few days after the first company was organized under Capt. J. V. McCall, within thirty days from the time Gov. Randall's proclamation appeared in Fond du Lac County, the following six companies had been organized, officers chosen and their services accepted : Capt. Emerson's "North Star Rifles," of Taycheedah ; Capt. John Maginnis' "Union Guards," of Fond du Lac; Capt. Gage's "Hamilton Guards," of the towns of Osceola, Auburn, Ashford and that vicinity ; Capt. E. S. Bragg's " Rifles," of Fond du Lac ; Capt. Bertine Pinkney's " Rosen dale Guards," of Rosendale ; Capt. 0. H. La Grange's "Ripen Rifles," of Ripon; Capt. Clark's " Waupun Light Guards," of Waupun, and the " Oakfield Rifies."

Before this time. Company I had begun to have " some, experience," and it will be interesting to know what it was and how the members liked it. Many of the boys had been accustomed to fine clothes, luxurious homes and plenty of money, and not a few of them took along well-filled trunks. C. K. Pier wrote weekly letters to the Fond du Lac Reporter, signing himself " Trowloc," in one of which he said :

" We have at last received our clothes, which they call uniforms, although one would think to see the company on parade, that the tailor had warranted each uniform to fit the largest man or the smallest boy. The cloth is gray, of various shades ; much of it is of poor quality and will not stand hard service. The pants have a black cord down the sides, and the coats have brass buttons and stand-up collars. On Monday (May 13), Col. Starkweather presented the regiment with a remnant of Washington's flag. Yesterday (May 15), we commenced our second course on soldier's fare. One more, and we will be on regular army rations. The contract has been let to feed us at 39 cents per head. Each man has a metal plate, spoon, k^nife and fork, which he must take care of himself. About 6 o'clock, the Orderly Sergeant calls out, ' Company I, fall in for breakfast,' and, as the calt is passed from tent to tent, you take your plate in one hand, knife, fork, cup and spoon in the other, and step into the ranks. But be careful as you go into the eating-house that you do not slip down in a pool of cofiee. As the boys range themselves along the rough table, the Orderly commands, ' Inward face - take seats.' At first, a teacup of mustard, a box of pepper, salt and vinegar, are the only articles in the line of victuals to be seen; but, immediately, a pan filled with slices of bread an inch or more in thickness, another of boiled potatoes, followed by one filled with meat, come in rapid succession. The bread is 'baker's,' and good ; the potatoes are good enough, and the meat - well, as to meat and gravy, we won't take any this morning. The waiter fills your cup with cofiee, which you sweeten and taste. It is cold, and appears inclined to coagulate. Another waiter appears, and while steam rises in large volumes from his pitcher, cries out, ' Hot coifee ! ' You want some, of course, butwhat is to be done? Your cup is full, you" cannot swallow its contents, and there is no dish into which to empty it/ You look around and find everybody in the same fix. Finally, a sly one comes to an ' about face ' and pours his coff"ee on the ground. In an instant you. follow suit, and so do the others. Now it maybe understood whence came the pools of cofi"ee on the ground. * * * After finishing your meal, should you wish to clear your plate of fragments, you empty them on the table or where you did the cold cofiee. You clean your dish with bread, dip it in a large dish of hot water, and wipe it with paper."

The boys got their pay about the 1st of June, and their genius was taxed to smuggle " liquid dry goods " into camp, as it was against the rules to be caught with a bottle.

On Monday before the First Regiment left Camp Scott at Milwaukee, the death of one Monroe, of Company C, took the spirit nearly all out of the boys. On the 9th of June, they started for the front, and the journey to Maryland was one continuous ovation. Music, cannon, cheers, ice water, hot coffee, lunches, fruits, papers, pretty girls and shouting men met them at every depot. At one village in Ohio, the people were, so enthusiastic as to allow their daughters to board the train and ride with the soldiers until the returning train was met. Some of the Fond du Lac boys put up at hotels, and were liberal with money received from friends and relatives at hoipe. Their first fighting Avas at Falling Waters, in Virginia, July 2, 1861. It was a wild, harum-scarum battle, but the boys thought it was a big thing. The First Regiment lost one man (not from Fond du Lac County), and C. K. Pier wrate home that he saw two of the enemy stretched dead in a field, while David Babcock sent back word that "in the free and rapid distribution of bullets, the reljs had attained to a proficiency that was truly astonishing." Afterward, the battle of Falling Waters was a standing joke among the veterans, and is to this day.

Lyman M. Ward went out from Fond du Lac in the first company of the First Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers. He was the author of - " Dodge the big ones."

After serving with the original First, Col. Ward, as he was familiarly known, helped to organize, and, from the beginning to the end, was identified with the Fourteenth Regiment. At Pittsburg Landing, notwithstanding the terrors and disasters of the first day's fight, the Fourteenth absolutely refused to break or run. Their splendid behavior won for them the title, " Fourteenth Wisconsin Regulars." Three times, during the second day, they charged and captured a rebel battery, and each time, for want of proper supporc, were compelled to let go their prize. Most every one has heard in one shape or another the story of the officer who told his men they might dodge " the big ones," but few are acquainted with the real incident which gave it origin.

While forming the line for the fourth charge, this regiment drew the concentrated fire of all the enemy's guns within range. Shell, grape and solid shot swept over and about them with shriek, hiss and roar, which only one who has been there can appreciate. The Colonel passed along, cautioning the men to stand steady, assured them they had that day made their names immortal, to keep their ranks solid, that a man was as apt to dodge in front of a bullet as to avoid it, and that another hour would surely give them the victory. Just then, a perfect tornado of iron and lead swept over their heads; every man and officer involuntary dodged, when Lieut. Ed. Ferris said: " But, Colonel, when they shoot a cooking stove right past a man's ear, can't he dodge just a little ? "

Five minutes later, the regiment again went for that battery, and never let go of it. As a trophy of that day's service, the Government assigned one of the captured guns to the State, and it is now at Madison.

City Of Fond Du Lac Second Ward

Fourteenth Infantry - Co. A - S. D. Baker, John Brecker, Sterling Peters, A. J. Scott, James Thomas. Co. F - James Gorman. Co. H - James Pound.

Thirty-second Infantry - Co. A - William Higgs, James Hayes, Robert Marsh.all, D. A. Morrison. Co. H - Frank Comsky, James J. Dilley, James D. Dilly, James Hayes, Horace E. Mann, Miles Seeley, A. C. Tucker.

Town Of Ashfor-D

Thirty-second Infantry - Co. A - R. B. Bull. Co. H - William Barnett, Calvin Mills, Dilen Slator, Joshua Helmer, J. A. Lawrence, Merritt Helmer.

Town Of Auburn Town Op Eykon

Thirty-eighth Infantry - Go. A - De Villiers B. Barrows, Joseph C. Devens, Alberat A. Dye, Horace A. Hudson, Lieut. George M. Pier, Charles W. fiobbins, Edgar M. Taylor, Benajah Taylor.

Town Op Lamartinb

Second Cavalry - Co. A - James Carn, IT. H. Stranigan, William H. Stranigan, James McFetridge, Daniel MoFetridge, John McFetridge. Company unknown - -William Lee.

The Draft

There was some excitement in Fond du Lac County when the order for the first draft was promulgated. This was not because of the large number of men to be drawn, for the quotas of most of the towns and wards were pretty nearly full ; but because a local paper had said the Government had no right to " tear men from their homes to be butchered for the tyrants at Washington," which caused a misapprehension to grow up in some quarters as to what a draft really was. Many expected a squad of armed soldiers would appear at their doors with handcuffs and chains, to take all the male inmates at all hazards. When this misapprehension was corrected, there was less excitement and fewer threats of resistance.

The draft was begun by the Sheriff in Fond du Lac County about the 1st of September, 1862. Dr. W. H. Walker was Examining Surgeon, with his office at Fond du Lac. The Ripon Times gave a graphic account of the appalling number of men who were attacked with fatal maladies during August, ivhile the draft papers were preparing, and the Saturday Reporter, of Fond du Lac, in its issue of September 20, said :

"For one whole week, the Draft Commissioner's and Surgeon's office in this city has been crowded with applicants for exemption. The side- walk in front of the stairway in Darling's Block has been crowded, and the passage crammed full. A large number of certificates have been issued, attesting to the great degree of mortality prevailing. No doubt, in many cases the applicants were unfit for military duty, and should not be abused for applying there, but so many robust and healthy men have come up, that some wag put a sign over the door labeled " Cowards' Headquarters," and, no doubt, it was with justice to b-undreds Tve have seen under it."

M. W. Seely was County Commissioner, and had an office at Fond du Lac for the purpose of examining the evidence of those who claimed exemption from military service, under Order No. 99 of the War Department. These exemptions were granted where men had been convicted of felony, or were members of families with a certain number in the service, or were the necessary support of children or aged and infirm.

This was a large draft. About 20 per cent of those who " drew prizes " when the wheel turned in Amory Hall, at Fond du Lac, presented themselvqs for duty. After this draft had been ordered and the enrollment begun, the melancholy feelings of men of sound body and middle age who suddenly received word that their friends in Canada were " very sick - not expected to live," was sorrowful to behold. Twenty who thus suddenly learned of illness among their Canada friends, left Fond du Lac in a single night. Thirteen left Waupun on a certain Sunday evening, and about the same number tore themselves away from Ripon. Canada did not appear to have at that time well ones enough to properly care for the sick, and the good men of Fond du Lac could not see them suffer.

In November, 1863, a Draft Association was formed, with headquarters at Fond du Lac. S. D. Stanchfield was President ; Edward Beeson, Vice President ; Keyes A. Darling, Treasurer, and T. D. Pooles, Secretary. Each member paid a certain initiatory fee, and if the fund thus obtained was not sufficient to pay the $300 for each member drafted, a pro-rata assessment sufficient for that purpose was made.

After the November draft had taken place, Provost Marshal Phillips' office was thronged liight and day. The substitute business was also good, but more than one-half of those hired or purchased as "subs " decamped for Canada as soon as they secured the $300 bounty, with some additional local bonuses. These " bounty -jumpers " were mostly natives of Canada, who made a business of getting money in the manner mentioned,

The next draft was in October, 1864 - the vigor with which recruiting was pushed making Fond du Lac able to escape a draft in January, 1864, even if it had not been postponed. There was another call March 14, 1864, for 200,000 men for the navy, which, with the two previous oalls for 300,000 and 200,000 men, respectively, swelled the number to 700,000. This made the number to come from Wisconsin large ; but Fond du Lac County, as a whole, not only escaped. this draft, but in some towns had credits ahead of her quota.

The Fond du Lac Reporter of April 26, 1864, said : " The Fourth District - Capt. E. L. Phillips, Provost Marshal - is now ahead, as it has been for a year past, of all other districts in the State in filling the calls made. It has furnished, also, a greater per cent of drafted men for duty and of commutation money than any other district in the State. This, we think, is almost entirely to the able management of affairs at the headquarters of the district. The State does not have three more efficient officers than Capt. Phillips, Commissioner Burchard and Surgeon Carey."

The draft of October, 1864, was made in Spencer Hall, Fond du Lac, on Wednesday, October 5, for Fond du Lac County, or rather the towns of Eldorado and Auburn. Eden, Osceola and Ashford were behind, but before the draft for the balance of the district was completefi had filled their quotas and no draft was had for their benefit. For Auburn, 132 names were enrolled as liable to draft, of which 74 were drawn. For. Eldorado, 131 were enrolled and drawn..

On the Saturday succeeding this draft, one of the Fond du Lac papers had the following, giving the names of the drafted : " More than one-half of the men drafted in Eldorado on Wednesday have run away."

On Friday, January 27, 1865, a supplemental draft was made for the more delinquent towns of the Fourth District, and the town of Eldorado was the only one in Fond du Lac County for which the draft wheel was turned. The deficiency was 17 at this draft, but only one man was secured.

The last draft in Fond du Lac County was conducted by Gen. Charles S. Hamilton, who was appointed Provost Marshal of the Fourth District, in place of Capt. E. L. Phillips, about the middle of March, 1865. This draft was for only a portion of the county, many towns and wards having their quotas more than full. The draft was for Eldorado, with a deficiency of 60 ; Forest with 21 ; Auburn, with 14 ; Osceola, with 16 ; Eden, with 11, and Ashford, with 7. The Marshal thought it necessary to post the law against draft riots in some of these towns. The men drafted this time never saw active service, the war closing soon after.

Scraps Op War History

The first man to shed Wisconsin blood on a Southern battlefield in the rebellion, was Lieut. William A. Matthews, of Company G, First Wisconsin Volunteers, who was severely wounded at the battle of Falling Waters, in July, 1861, in Virginia. He enlisted at Fond du Lac, his home. The last Wisconsin blood shed was at the capture of Jefi" Davis, in Irwin County, Ga., May 10, 1865, when several men were wounded by volleys fired by a detachment of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry upon a detachment of the First Wisconsin Cavalry.

The Third Regiment was quartered during several weeks at Camp Hamilton, in Fond du Lac City. Edward Pier and John W. Carpenter had the contract to supply the men with food, which they did for 38 cents apiece, per day. The regiment was commanded by Col. Charles B. Hamilton, and consisted of ten full companies, or about eight hundred men. This regiment broke camp at Fond du Lac and left for the front on Friday, July 12, 1861. The ladies gave to nearly every soldier some article of comfort before the regiment left Fond du Lac.

Capt. Emerson's '"North Star Rifles," of Taycheedah, left for camp Monday, June 24, 1861, and Capt. E. S. Bragg's " Rifles " left July 1, 1861. His company consisted of 120 men. This company was raised by Capt. Bragg.

Company A, of the Thirty-second Regiment, was in camp for a while in 1861, at the fair grounds in Fond du Lac, but soon afterward joined the regiment in Camp Bragg, at Oshkosh.

Col. Edward Colman (Sheriff in 1878 and 1879) had a recruiting oflSce over the office of the Bank of the Northwest. Other recruiting offices were opened by Sergt. M. W. Potters and Sergt. Higgins, during 1862.

The town of Empire held a war meeting August 22, 1862, and voted $3,000 for bounties to those who would enlist before the draft, which was expected to take place on September 1, following.

The " Fond du Lac Mill Boys " composed a company of 104 men, enlisted by Capt. Alexander White, in Fond du Lac, in August, 1862, nearly every one of whom was a mechanic, machinist or millwright. As Capt. White, Deputy Warden of the Wisconsin State Prison since 1878, was a splendid machinist and mechanic, being one of the owners of the Hiner & White Iron Works, it was said of his company, that they could build and equip a railway with cars and locomotives ; build a mill, make a rifled cannon, erect a truss bridge, or do anything in the mechanical line, even to making clocks and watches. In this company, five Derusha brothers and six of their brothers-in-law enlisted. No company in Fond du Lac ever got such a large number from one family. This company went into camp at Oshkosh September 1, 1862.

In October, 1862, nearly one hundred negroes - men, women and children - arrived in Fond du Lac, from Northern Alabama, in charge of the Chaplain of the Fourteenth Regiment. They were mostly taken as servants in the city of Fond du Lac.

Gen. Lyman M. Ward, now of Benton Harbor, Mich., enlisted at Fond du Lac as a private, and won all his promotions by "gallant conduct on the field of battle."

Prairie Grove was one of the hottest battles of the war. Capt. Strong's company, from Ripon, was highly complimented for the part it took in that engagement.

In the Ripon papers of December, 1862, was a long letter giving a description of governing cities in the South by military law, and particularly how Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., were being governed by Maj. Alvan E. Bovay, who was Provost Marshal of those cities until the latter part of 1863.

In February, 1863, Kingman Flint, son of the late Judge Flint, was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the regular army. A few months later, he died at Pensacola, of black vomit. He was a wonderful man, physically.

In December, 1862, the County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to furnish aid after that date to the families of volunteer soldiers. Each person so aided was required to furnish evidence to the nearest Supervisor, that he or she was a relative of a volunteer soldier, and dependent upon him for support.

Gen. 0. H. La Grange, afterward for several years Superintendent of the United States Mint at San Francisco, enlisted at Ripon, and traveled to his final high position from the bottom round of both the military and civil ladders.

The Turners, of Fond du Lac, raised a company for Gen. Sigel's regiment, and turned over every dollar in their treasury to pay bounties for new recruits.

Jerome B. Johnson, now Superintendent of Mails at Milwaukee, was shot through the groin at Bull Run, and lay six days upon the field, without food or attendance. He lived, and, in October, 1862, was g,ble to return to Fond du Lac. But he never was able to return to his regiment.

A Mr. Temple, of Lamartine, anxious to get into the service of his country as soon as possible, went to the front and enlisted, being assigned to Company D, of the Third Regiment. Next day he was shot dead in battle.

In October, 1862, occurred one of the largest funerals in Fond du Lac. It was at theburial of Grier Tallmadge, a son of the late Gov. Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, who died at Fortress Monroe in September.