Grant County, Wisconsin - Lancaster) General History, 1900

First Comers

The first white men to reside within the limits of the present city and township of Lancaster were Nehemiab Dudley, Thomas Segar, and Ben Stout, who came some time in 1828. They built a cabin near the Big Spring (and it was then in fact a large spring), about where the electric light plant i? now located Segar and Stout soon de¬ parted, probably to prospect, but Dudley remained a year, when he sold his claim to Aaron F. Boyce (the name is always spelled thus in the deeds given by this person and his brother), and went away to tbc mines. In 1828 William Morrison located on the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 36, about two miles and a half from the present city, and lived there many years. The same year Henry C. Bushnell came with his family1 and located in Bnshnell Hol¬ low, near the upper spring. He bttilt a rough log cabin (which was standing not many years ago) and lived there many years. His daughter Harriet was bom here March 18, 1888. She died in Beetown, February 9, 1898, as Mrs. Greenlee. During the Black Hawk War in 1832, these settlers <J forted " at Cassville and Prairie du Chien, but returned at the close of the war.

Boyce, a Kentuckian, came from Cassville in 1829 and bought out Dudley, occupying his cabin. He cultivated a few acres of ground, as was the wont of Kentucky frontiersmen. In 1836, the year before the village was laid out, he was induced by the high price of onions to put in five acres of the pnngent bulbs on the ground soon afterward occupied by the court-house. It was a bad speculation. The ensuing winter was terribly severe and Boyce's onions all froze. In November, 1834, Boyce entered his claim : the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 3, Town 4, Range 3 west. In August, 1836, G. M. Price entered the west half of the same quarter section. Agriculture in the county in the thirties was generally confined to vegetable patches around the miners' cabins, but the fertile prairie near Lancaster seems to have attracted several settlers. Henry Hodges and Thomas Shanley lived on the prairie south of the present city in 1831 ; D. R. Burt, Lucius Ashley, and Fitzgerald in the summer of 1835. James Bon¬ ham seems to have entered the southwest quarter of Section 3 (within the present city limits) in 1835, and probably lived there before he went to his Hurricane home; but he sold to Price in-1837. In 1831 Harvey Pepper came and settled about a mile west of the present site of the court-house. In 1832 he and his family took refuge from the Sauks at Mineral Point. In 1836 he, with his family, settled on Pigeon Creek and built the mill known as the "old Calder Mill.*'' In 1832 James P. Cox, afterward prominent in the politics of the county, set¬ tled on his farm about four miles south of the present city. Dr. A. W. Morrow located in 1835 on what is known as the Rhodes place, three miles southwest of town. Edmund and Elijah Harelson and Henry Wood came in 1832 or 1833. In 1835 Abram Miller located on Pig¬ eon Creek. Cutler Salmon, James Boyce, Joseph McKinney, and Mr. Warfield came the same year. Five or six miles southwest of the present city a group of settlers located in a neighborhood called Hur¬ ricane, but a separate history of this neighborhood will be given.

Hodges and Shanley built a large double log cabin which became the resting-place for many a weary traveler, long before there was a hotel in the region. Shanley was a Missourian, a man of good parts, and he soon took a prominent part in the public affairs of the county. Thomas Elliott located just east of the present city in 1836. Thomas J. Taylor located in 1836 on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 3, but sold out the next year and removed to the Hurricane.

According to the reminiscences of Jerry Garner, an old pioneer of Lancaster, the old Pigeon mines were discovered in June, 1839, by Harvey Miller, father of Montgomery Miller, now living in Lancaster, by finding some float mineral in a spring. This induced Joseph Bon¬ ham and John Brown (better known in those days as General Brown) to prospect in that vicinity. They struck what proved to be the Bon¬ ham Lead. Major Garner, who had just arrived in Lancaster, heard of the discovery and went down to see it. They had taken out about two thousand pounds of mineral. He bought one-fourth, paying for it with a span of horses and two hundred dollars. Just at this time

The next discovery was made by Shanley and Hodges and was about fifty thousand. This proved to be only the float from the main body that was discovered and worked by John Dobbs, of British Hol¬ low. The next discovery was made by George Cox, Harrison Adams, and Frank and William Clark, and was known as the Blackleg Lead. The next was Cox and James Groshong; next the Scott Range; next the Water Range, struck and worked by Major Garner and his son ; next the Sheet Lead, struck by Sam Johnson and Harry Jones, mostly worked out by them and sold to Captain Craig for three thousand dollars. The ore lay in the form of a horizontal sheet, about a foot thick, from twenty to thirty feet wide. The yield of this lead was es¬ timated at three million. Besides these ranges, there were many small bunches. The mineral from Pigeon was all hauled to Potosi, but Thomas Taylor, a smelter at Osceola, afterward moved up to Pigeon.

Lancaster Laid Out

As elsewhere stated, the county seat was located in the spring of 1837 at Lancaster, a village which had been laid out on the southeast quarter of Section 3, Town 4, Range 3, March 1, 1837, the plat recorded in May. The county seat was not located without competition. Ed¬ mund Harelson and Major Rountree had entered land and platted a town just north of what is now the line between the towns of Lan¬ caster and Potosi, near the Rock School-house of later times. An¬ other site was platted a mile or so east of the present city on land owned by Thomas Elliott. The two principal towns in the county, Platteville and Cassville, were not formidable competitors, not only on account of their unfavorable geographical position, but because the leading man in each, Rountree and Price', both were interested in other competing sites. The only building on the site of Lancaster when it was laid out was the cabin of Aaron Boyce. This pioneer soon after¬ ward left for Texas, where, it is said, he was killed by Indians. His name is perpetuated in Boice Prairie. Mr. Price proposed to call the new town Ridgeway, but there was already a town of that name in Iowa County, and one of his friends, Charles Wooster, persuaded him to call it after the friend's old home, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Very soon after the county seat was located work was begun on the court-house. A log building was put up and occupied as a store by Ira W. Brunson with a small stock of goods. A log building, with a subsequent frame addition, was put up by Major Price a few rods northwest of the Big Spring and a stock of goods was put in, under the charge of George Cox and John S. Fletcher. A man named Rich¬ ards started a boarding-house or "tavern' ' in the Boyce cabin, but the boarders "kicked" vigorously at the fare, formed a club, and engaged a cook of their own, a Frenchman named James Jetty - at least, that is what the Americans called him, but his name was probably some¬ thing unpronounceable by the American frontiersmen. He is said to have been a good cook, but, as one of the boarders expressed it, would "weep into the soup-kettle." Whether this was because be was afflicted with weak eyes, or only because the chimney smoked, cannot now be told. The club-room was a log cabin on the site of the Wright House. The boarders were relieved by the arrival of Robert Reed and his wife, who took the cabin vacated by Richards and opened a board¬ ing-house. Mrs. Reed was a good cook, and "Captain" Reed was a jolly, sociable Englishman, who was called "Old Human Nature;" He was appointed Sheriff that same year, 1837; he afterward removed to Iowa.

Among the new-comers to the village that year were J. Allen Bar¬ ber, Stephen Mahood, and Richard Raines and bis wife. Raines was a carpenter and worked on most of the frame buildings that were put up in the village until 1840, when he was killed by falling from a house. His widow afterward married a Mr. Berks and they lived in a log house a little east of the site of the Wright House. Other oomers.to the village thisyear were John C. Harris, George Moore, Peyton Mc¬ Millan, and James Ivey, a carpenter. Those who bought laud in the vicinity were Joseph. H. D. Street (then Sheriff of the county). George Hardy, Stillman Harvey, Martin V. Burris, Henry Toland, Paul God¬ dard, Charles Wooster* Hugh R. Cotter, and Abner Dyer. Some of these remained only a little while.

Early in the spring of 1638 Harvey Pepper and his wife moved into the village from Pigeon, and in the fall put up an addition to the frame house juet mentioned and opened a "tavern." It was the Delmonico of Lancaster for some time. Dr. Hill, a son-in-law of Captain Reed, moved in from Beetown and built a small frame house on the Wright House corner. Nelson Dewey came from Cassville in the fall of 1837 as the' first Register of Deeds. In the spring of 1838 the

"Blockhouse" was erected on the corner where the Meyer-Sho waiter bank now is. The upper story was occupied as a law-office by Dewey & Barber until Dewey's election as Governor. Among the new-comers that year were T. M. Barber (afterward a prominent business man, and still a resident of Lancaster, tbe last remaining of the old land¬ marks), J. T. Mills, Wm. D. Day, Joseph Morrill, Nehemiah Bonham, and Darius Bainbridge. Bonham, Bainbridge and Morrill afterward settled in the Hurricane. "Thode" Barber relates that when he left his home in Vermont, his folks thought he would go no farther than Burlington, Vermont, but the next they heard of him he was in the lead mines of Potosi. He walked five hundred miles of the way "afoot and alone."

That year a two-story frame was built on the southwest corner of Maple and Monroe Streets, opposite the present Lancaster House. A two-story log house was built on Cherry Street, nearly opposite the rear of the City Hall. In this building was held the trial of the mur¬ derers of Jim Crow that year (see history of Potosi, Chapter V, also p. 102). The case created great excitement and the village was filled with people who came in to witness the trial. The building was guarded by an armed posse under the command of Ira W. Brunson.

In 1839 John P. (or " Dick") Tower came in and put up a building on the comer of Maple and Monroe Streets, the site of the Callis resi¬ dence, and leased it to one Scott as a tavern. Ellison McGee put up a log house on Maple Street near Washington Street. Among the new¬ comers who took up land in the neighborhood were Charles Blandford, Section 8, Durrett and Douglas Oliver, Section 4, and William Y. Decker, Section 25, North Lancaster.

In the lack of other exciting incidents in that year, it is related that tbe worthy- ex-Sheriff and ex-landlord, "Captain" Reed, was struck by lightning, but was too tough for the bolt. He was sitting at the breakfast table bolding out his cup for coffee, when the bolt passed through the room. Both cup and coffee-pot were knocked from the holders' hands and carried out through the open door into the garden. The undismayed Captain got up, went out and got the cof¬ fee-pot, and poured himself a cup of coffee.

A post-office was established at Lancaster in 1838, with George H. Cox as postmaster. The next year John S. Fletcher was appointed. An early number of the Herald relates that he carried the mail around in his hat, which would have been inconvenient if he had moved about much, but be was not much on the move; that he neglected to make out his returns to the Department and received several reprimands, until he finally bundled up all the papers in the office and sent them to the Postmaster-General, with a request to that official to "make out the bill himself."

In 1841 Daniel Banfill built a two-story frame house on the Wright House corner, which he occupied as a hotel. This hotel was long a famous one in the county. In later times Banfill went to Potosi and opened another "Banfill House, " which long retained the name. Mar¬ tin Teal with his family (which included two or three young ladies) came in 1840. The same year John Day, father of Hon. R. M. Day and step-father of Johnson McKenzie, settled about three miles west of town. He died in 1842. Henry Callis, father of Gen. J. B. Callis,

Wvalusing. David Gillespie in 1841 settled in Town 5 (since North Lancaster). In 1841 John Stewart, a new-comer, was appointed post¬ master, retaining the office for a little more than a year, when he went to Monroe County and was succeeded by James M. Otis, who had opened a store in the building on the southwest corner of Monroe and Maple Streets.

In 1842 Harvey Pepper died. He was one of the first settlers of Lancaster and one of its most popular men. J. T. Mills, writing of him in the Herald a year or two later, said : " He was a man obliging, active and talkative, but one who took the world easy, who, in the hurly-burly of life, hardly knew, when he was called on to hang a man, whether he was acting in the capacity of sheriff or landlord, and when he called a witness into court, to the third repetition of the name would add : * Come in to your dinner,' instead of, ' Come into court,' " He left a wife and several children. In 1845 Mrs. Pepper married L. 0. Shrader. She resided in Lancaster until her death March 10, 1887.

Upon Mr. Pepper's death, Mr. Scott, the landlord of the house on the corner of Monroe and Maple Streets, took charge of Mr. Pepper's hotel, and Benjamin Forbes, who had lately come from Cassville, took the house vacated by Mr. Scott. In a short time the Pepper building was sold to James Otis, who converted it into a store and opened the most extensive stock of goods yet brought to Lancaster.

In 1843 T. M. Barber and James Ward opened asecond store. The settlement was still small and the two stores had a rather hard time, as they could not hope to draw trade from the south, west, and east,

This year James Otis was removed as postmaster and Benjamin F. Forbes appointed in his place. Otis had made a most efficient post¬ master and the people of the town were almost unanimously in favor of retaining him; but he was not in sympathy with the Tyler admin¬ istration, and he paid the penalty with his official scalp. The wishes of the people cut no figure. The matter created considerable excite¬ ment in Lancaster.

Among the new-comers in 1843 were L. 0. Shrader (who soon be¬ came Clerk of the Court), Jesse Miles (a Baptist preacher), and An¬ thony Crosby, who started a tailor shop opposite the east front of the court-house, where he remained until a few years before his death, in February, 1895. James Treloar came that yearand settled on a farm about two miles southwest of the village, where he remained until his death, September 10, 1892, aged 72 years.

In December Barber & Ward moved their stock of goods into a new frame building east of the court-house, about where the Ziegler hardware store now stands.

In 1844 several men afterward prominent came in. James M. Goodhue, afterward well known as an editor, came as Distict Attor¬ ney, and also began the practice of law. William N. Reed came and settled on a farm in the edge of the village on the Beetown road. He was a man of superior intelligence and afterward became somewhat prominent. He was appointed in 1863 by the Governor to select the 240.000 acres of land donated to the Agricultural College of Wiscon¬ sin. He died in Washington, D. C., December 21, 1887. Hugh A. Moore, long afterward a prominent citizen, came this year and resided on his farm near the city till his death in 1896. James N. Borah set¬ tled on his farm in Town 5, Range 3, (afterward North Lancaster) this year and remained there till bis death, January 18, 1891. Samuel Walker settled on his farm on Boice Prairie south of the village and lived there until his death in December, 1888. William Walker settled on hi s farm five miles south of the village this year and resided there until his death, January 20, 1895; and Benjamin E. Quincy settled on a farm in Section 29 this year. Dr. M. Wainwright came in May and opened a drug store on the southwest corner of Monroe and Maple Streets. A stage line making weekly trips from Cassville to Platteville by way of Lancaster was put on.

Early in 1845 Dr. Cowles located in the village with his office at the Banfill House. George H. Cox put up the building known for many years afterward as the Mansion House. In November William Hodge opened a tailor shop in the rear of Otis's store. In August Barber & Ward moved into their new store near the corner of Maple and Monroe Streets. Among the new-comers this year were John J. Barber, brother of J. Allen, who continued to be a resident of the place until his death in 1898, at the age of 91 ; Jesse Miles, F. P. Liscum, and William Alcorn, a carpenter. Thomas Weir settled on Grant River, in what is now North Lancaster.

The First Fire

The first fire in the new and thriving village occurred in December, 1845. Benjamin Forbes was keeping the hotel on the site of the Callis residence. The house caught fire and was totally destroyed. The fire spread so rapidly that many of the boarders had to jump from the upper windows upon beds placed for the purpose. It was supposed that the fire originated from sparks escaping from a defective flue into the attic, where several bundles of brooms were stored, and into these it is supposed the sparks fell. Little except clothing was saved from the house. After the fire Mr. Forbes removed to Iowa, but afterward kept a hotel in Cassville.

There were several improvements in 1846. A. S. Berryhill opened a harness and saddler shop in a building adjoining the store-room of James Otis. Thomas Scott also started a saddler shop. Dr. John D. Wood came in and began practice; also Dr. John Dewey, brother of Nelson Dewey, but the latter left the next year in September for St. Paul, where he died in 1891 ; also Rev. S. W. Eaton, for forty years Congregational minister in Lancaster; also D. H. Budd, who after¬ ward did a large business in the manufacture of wagons and agricult¬ ural implements, but was at first more prominent as leader of the Presbyterian church choir ; also Dr. Rickey, who formed a partnership with Dr. Wood ; also James Spencer, who, at the age of fifty, enlisted in the Fourth Wisconsin during the war and died July 11, 1888 ; and George R. Stuntz, who was assistant to the County Surveyor. John Boright opened a blacksmith and wagon-shop just south of the Mills residence. James M. Ward was appointed postmaster in the place of Benjamin F. Forbes. N. H. Suttle opened the Grant County House this year. John M. Otis also started a hotel or boarding-house in June. Mr. McClanathan also kept a boarding-house. Dwight Parker, afterward a prominent business man of Fennimore and Boscobel, and Arunah A. Parker, afterward County Clerk, came about this year, al¬ though perhaps Dwight was here in 1845. John Alcorn, a carpenter, also came this year.

In 1847 Andrew Barnett came in and for several years kept a ho¬ tel called the Telegraph House, afterward the Lancaster House. A writer of the time described him as "a fine old man of forty-five with ten children." A German named Buchholder also kept a hotel called the Wisconsin House. In March of this year N. W. Kendall, from Platteville, and Dwight T. Parker bought the store of Barber & Ward and continued business at the old stand. T. M. Barber was ap¬ pointed postmaster in place of Ward, who returned to the East. Enos P. Wood, who had come in as County Clerk, and sometimes preached in the lack of regular ministers, left the county this year and A. A. Parker was appointed in his place. On June 19 an incident occurred showing the unsettled condition of the country surrounding Lancas¬ ter, the country being a mingling of prairie, small oak groves, and hazel thickets. Miss Maria Colter, daughter of Judge Colter, got lost while out picking strawberries, and a large part of the people of the village turned out in an excited and extend¬ ed search for her.

The Fourth (or rather, the fifth, as the fourth came on Sunday) of July was celebrated in good style in Lan¬ caster this year. The oration was by Daniel Banfill and speeches were also made by Dr. John D. Wood and My¬ ron Wood.

One of the few shooting affrays we hear of in Lancaster occurred July 1, this year. Enos S. Baker, ex-Sheriff of the county (about whose ap¬ pointment the quarrel arose in which Vineyard shot Arndt in the legislature of the Territory)., had got into a lawsuit and J. T. Mills was the opposing Attorney. The caustic tongue of the little lawyer left some sore spots on the burly ex-Sheriff, who thought they coaid be salved only by cowhiding Mills. The latter had not the stalwart frame for which the Kentuckians are famous, but he had the fiery spirit. He sprang into Dr. Rickey's office and snatched up a doublebarreled shotgun, went into the street, and finding Baker, told him to defend himself. Baker drew a pistol and raised it ; but Mills put a load of shot into Baker's pistol-band. The latter then dodged into the parlor of the hotel, where there were several ladies, and the affray ended. On the 6tb of October Mills was tried for assault with intent to kill and acquitted.

J. W. Seaton thus describes his first impressions of Lancaster, in the latter half of the forties : " The cottages white and brown nestled among the native trees, with the bright autumn foliage, and flowers blooming in the front yards was a pleasure and a surprise to one who had just come front a mining village paved with rough stones and stained with ocher, and gave the place an unlooked-for charm and at¬ traction that was most agreeable. In the center of this charming picture were four public buildings : the Banfill House, Mansion House, court-house, and jail. The first was the most popular of the four.'J

The year 1848 was apparently a prosperous one for Lancaster. The Herald of May 20, 1848, says : " Lancaster contains more capital than almost any other village of its size. Every habitable roof covers one or more families. Our chief want is tenements for families who wish to move into town. If buildings could be had, our population would be doubled in a few months. Many buildings are in process of construction, but not half as many as are now required. All our house-builders are employed and more are wanted."

The population of the village was 833 - 49ft males and 437-females. This way in strong contrast to the mining towns, where the males very largely preponderated in numbers; also, while the population of the>mfainp*towns was largely Missourians, Kentuckians, "Suckers," and Counishmen, the population of Lancaster was mostly from the Eastern States and largely from Vermont.

T. M. Barber this year finished a new brick store building (long afterward occupied by Ivey & Webb) and opened the " Ready-pay Store " Dr. Wood opened a drug stoitvopposite the north ride of the eotfrtohousej whilfe-Dr. Ritkeyi his former 'partner,- moved his stock of goods into e-building by theaidemf KendaR&tPafket-is store. Dwight

Parker was postmaster. In July P. Darcey announced in the Herald that he had started a shoe-shop. Dr. H. H. Lewis began practice in the village this year. William Roberts settled on his form a mile or so east of the village, where he lived a great many years until his death. William Macanley took charge of the Grant County House. John M. Coombs opened a gun-shop on Cherry Street south of the hotel jnst mentioned. Charles Blandford started a blacksmith shop opposite the Telegraph House. The telegraph line was opened for bus¬ iness this year with Joe Barnett as operator. A history of the line will be found on page 74.

A small emigration to the California gold-fields began in 1849 and increased in 1850. The cholera and the small-pox came into the county in 1850, but those dreaded plagues spared Lancaster that year.

Charles Ashley opened a wagon-shop and Mrs. Rynerson a millin¬ ery store in 1850. Myron Tuttle took charge of the Wisconsin House ; the firm of Kendall & Parker was dissolved and Parker moved his stock into the store building of J. M. Otis, who went ont ; Reuben Thomas (afterward of Cassville) took charge of the Grant County House.

In August, 1850, during a heavy thunder storm, the unfinished Baptist church was struck by lightning and considerably damaged, and the house of Dr. Roberts, on the corner of Cherry and Adams Streets, was struck, damaging the building slightly, but not injuring any of the inmates.

On Christmas day of this year there was a bear-baiting in the vil¬ lage - a common sport in early days, but one which was discontinued soon after this year, an account of a lack of bears. The bear was chained to a post and dogs set upon him. The sport was not very prolonged, as the dogs did not hold out long enough. When a dog got a cuff from the dumsy-looking but really dextrous paw of the bear, he wanted no more of the sport, if he lived to want anything. A great deal of rum and whisky was drunk, but not much drunken¬ ness and little quarreling resulted. The sport of wolf-baiting lasted a good deal longer, as wolves remained, and are still far from extinct in the rougher parts of the county. As late aft 1882 wolves frequently serenaded the d wellings in the edge of the village and were seen in the daytime coming to drink at the little creek running along the eastern edge of t.he village.

In 1851 the Methodist and Congregational churches were built and the Baptist church, which had stood some years unfinished, com¬ pleted. John Alcorn became a partner with T. M. Barber in his store early in the year, and when spring opened Mr. Barber went to Califor¬ nia, as did J. B.Callis, Willis Huston, Robert Allens worth, and others. P. P. Liscum & Co. opened a general merchandise store in the summer in the building formerly occupied by Kendall & Parker. In October Myron W. Wood took charge of the Wisconsin House.

The lack of transportation facilities handicapped the merchants and other business men in their competition with the flourishing min¬ ing towns of Potosi, Beetown, and Platteville, the first of which had river transportation. The people of Lancaster were at this time very enthusiastic about a railroad, first from Milwaukee, on the route now occupied by the C. &. N. W. road, and afterward about a rail¬ road from Potosi to Dodgeville.

In 1852 the California fever reached its highest point. Charles Ashley advertised teams to take passengers through to California for $125, but most of the gold-seekers went in covered wagons of their own. A train of such emigrant wagons left Lancaster April 13, 1851, a large crowd being collected to bid them good-bye and many friends accompanying them to the Mississippi ferry. This emigration is de¬ scribed more at length on page 55. It did not affect Lancaster nearly as much as it did the mining towns, which before that had flourished more than the county seat, but which now, all except Platteville, fell behind Lancaster. Immigration from the Bast turned toward Lan¬ caster. The Herald of May 19, 1852, said : " In the last week or two we notice a good many strange faces about Lancaster. A shoemaker, blacksmith, and wagon-maker have just set up in business. Boss car¬ penters are equal to the demand - in their own opinion - but a tew more ought to come in for the sake of competition." Agriculture was not yet much developed. It was noted that more than two thousand barrels of flour were imported at the port of Potosi alone this year. Cuvier K. Thomas opened a hardware store in the village this year. Henry Austin came in and settled on his farm near the village, where he still resides. John Hooper settled in the village.

In 1853 G. Maiben started a store in the building long afterward occupied by John P. Lewis. A new law firm, Barber & Lowry, occu¬ pied the upper story of the " Blockhouse" on the corner of Madison and Maple Streets. Mr. Benner, who had bought out T. M. Barber, sold bis interest to Mr, Alcorn. The Herald estimated the population of the town at about one thousand, one-third of the number in the In September there was considerable excitement about the loss of a three-year-old daughter of Albert Bark. When last seen she was near a well, and it was feared she had fallen in, but an examina¬ tion of the well showed that she was not there and the inhabitants all turned out in the search. After two days' search she was found sit¬ ting in the shade of a tree half a mile from home.

In 1854 Lancaster suffered from two of the dread plagues which had for years been expected : small-pox and cholera. The former soon yielded to energetic treatment; the cholera was much worse. The vil¬ lage was shunned by the inhabitants of the surrounding country. Two deaths occurred quickly after the first attack. The only physician in town was quickly worked to prostration. In this emergency two men came forward and worked heroically through the plague as am¬ ateur physicians and nurses: J. Allen Barber and William McGonigal. Mr. McGonigal had passed through an epidemic-of cholera in WingviHe and learned how to treat the disease.

Geo. W. Ryland & Co. (the Co. being Simon E. and John P. Lewis) opened a general merchandise store in the post-office building, where Joekel Brothers now have their stand. S. Hyde &Co. started a black¬ smith shop in December. Anton Schmitt came from Beetown this year and purchased of J. Allen Barber the grist-mill and attached farm on Grant River about three miles west of the village, keeping possession until 1869,. when he came to the city and became a horticulturist.

In 1855 there were many improvements in the village. A new brick school-house was built. In May George E. Howe began a mer¬ cantile business that, with many changes of firm, has ever since been one of the leading business houses of Lancaster. The first stOTe was north of the court-house. T. M. Barber was afterward taken into partnership and the firm became Howe & Barber. Afterward it was Howe & Burr; then Jas. A. Jones became junior partner; then Charles H. Baxter, Mr. Howe's son-in-law, became a partner. The firm is now Baxter & Draper. It has for nearly twenty years been located on the southeast corner of Madison and Maple Streets. Colter & Bradshaw a drug store in August, and in September J. B. Callis and John Pep¬ per began a general merchandise business in the store occupied by T.

The population of the township was 1,622, 8 of whom were col¬ ored. The population of the village was 446 - less than one-third of that of Platteville. There 275 families in the township.

In December Daniel Banfill sold the Mansion House, on the north¬ east corner of Madison and Cherry Streets, to Luther Hyde, who had lately come from Vermont, and who kept it till his death, January 11, 1861. The house remained in possession of his family until it was torn down to make room for improvements, being conducted by his sons, C. Jehiel and A. E., and his son-in-law, Ira Bellows.

The Herald commented on the injury done to the place by the spec¬ ulators in land thus: "Soon after Lancaster was made a county seat, speculators entered all the good lands in the vicinity and held them at prices beyond the reach of incoming immigrants. In 1854 they be¬ came alarmed and sold at from $4 to $10 an acre. In 1855 all the lands in the vicinity are owned by actual residents. This spirit of spec¬ ulation left Lancaster behind in the mercantile and business- interests, and it must take some time to come up. Last year many wanted to build in Lancaster, as well as in the vieinity, but it was impossible to procure materials, hence it was deferred to another season. It is to be regretted that this prospective demand for building was not seen as clearly a year or two ago as at present, and then Lancaster would be in a fair way to add to her population and wealth fourfold by next fall." And again: "The high price of lots around the court-house is causing the town to movedown into the valley toward Judge Colter's spring."

The immigration was considerable, but most of it was farmers who settled in the surrounding country. The county was then having a phenomenal development in agriculture and the fertile prairies of Lancaster township were rapidly filling up. Among these farmers was Calvin Curry, who settled on Section 35 and lived there until his death at an advanced age.

In February, 1856, the More of Callis & Pepper was destroyed by fire. The fire originated, probably, in a room over the store used as an office and bedroom. A large part of the stoek was- Saved. With re¬ markable energy the proprietors cleared off the site and put up an¬ other building, which was so pushed as to be completed in April. George H. Cox was appointed postmaster in August. Late in the fall the small-pox again entered the village and three deaths resulted from it;butit was soon stamped out and the panic Subsided . A steam sa'W'-mill was erected this year by Griswold & Meyer, with the inten¬ tion to add the machinery for a grist-mill. In November the railroad was completed to Boscobel and a tri-weekly stage line to the new rail¬ road station was established by Elliott A. Liscum. Prom 1954 to this time Lancaster had had its nearest connection with the raHroad at Galena.

The famous panic of 1857 did not affect Lancaster as much as it did many communities, because the town depended more on agricul¬ ture than on manufactures and commerce for its prosperity, and wheat. Which was then the staple, was in great demand and corn and oats also brought a high price.

In 1860 the log house known as the " Blockhouse,'' referred to on a previous page, was removed and a frame building put up in its place. The first story bad served as a store and the second story as a law-of¬ fice, as before stated. The first story of the new building was occu¬ pied as a store by Addison Burr, who did a large business there until his death in 1878. The second story was occupied as a law-office by J. Allen Barber and BfiTbei & Cfementson, until it was burned in the fire of 1888 The population of the township in 1860 was 1,960.

The war period, notwithstanding the fierce excitement of its be¬ ginning and the strained anxiety of its continuance, was one of con¬ siderable business prosperity, owing to the high price of produce, but there was little improvement to note in 'Lancaster. The population of the village in 1865 was 853, and of the township 2,111.

In 1866 J. C. and Lewis Holloway started a linseed oil mill there being a good deal of flax then raised in the county. The enterprise flourished for a time and then languished- and was abandoned .

There was considerable building in 1869. Besides the new sehoolhousedlid the woolen mill (which will be described under their appro¬ priate heads) the 'Phelps House, a large three-story brick building, was built on the site of the old Banfill House, afterward known as the Barnett Corner. This hotel was for some years conducted by Fred Phelps, and was afterward taken charge of by John Wright, and called the Wright House. In 1870 C. Horstman erected a large threestory brick building adjoining the Phelps House on the east and occu¬ pied it as a hotel called the Horstman House. In about ten years he it and Jesse Wagner and Israel Roberts conducted it as the Wag- ner House until Mr. Wagner's death a few years ago. It is now the Philipps House. In 1884 Horstman erected a very large threestory brick building on the corner of Washington and Maple Streets. The grounds occupied an entire square, of which it was the intention to make a park. It was called the Grand Central Hotel. It was de¬ cidedly a losing venture and soon passed into the hands of Mr. Horst¬ man 's creditor's. In 1891 a branch of the Keely Cure was established in the house and continued some time. After that the hotel passed through various hands, and for the last three years has been conducted by Charles Stephens.

In 1872 D. H. Budd erected a large brick building of two stories and basement on the west side of Madison Street north of the corner on which the Meyer-Showalter bank stands. It was intended as a factory for agricultural implements. Mr. Budd went to California in 1 852 and returned in 1856 and put up a blacksmith and wagon-shop on Maple Street below Monroe, afterward occupied by Charles Belz. About 1862 he moved into a large stone shop by the side of which he built the brick block. Only the basement of this block was occupied for manufacturing. The first floor was occupied by the hardware store of T. F. Baldwin and the furniture store of James Woodhouse. In 1874 part of the second floor was occupied by the Advocate office and in 1876 the other part by the Argus office. The Herald office was in this building when it was destroyed by fire in 1888. Mr. Budd went to Kansas in 1878 and died there in 1893.

In March, 1872, a fire destroyed the "Callis Corner," and threat¬ ened to take the whole row of wooden buildings. The fire was dis¬ covered about 10 p. M. on the roof of a building, a part of which was occupied by Max Nobis as a barber shop, and was supposed to have caught from a defective flue. The loss in stock was about $6,000.

The greatest fire in the history of Lancaster occurred on the morn¬ ing of August 30, 1888. It started at 3 a. m. in a shed in the rear of the Jones Block, north of the court-house square. In a few minutes it spread eastward to Ivey & Webb's warehouse and next to Mrs. Reed's stable and the John P. Lewis building, occupied by Willey & Needham as a meat market. Continuing through other small buildings, it took Stone & Hassell's drug store and a wooden building in the rear of Budd's Block and north of Simison's store. Ressmeyer's harness- shop, north of Budd's Block, was nearly pulled away, and thefiremen and bucket brigades, by desperate work, kept the Hyde & Hurley building flooded, and thus stopped the work of the fire in that direc¬ tion. The buildings totally destroyed were: Mrs. M. A. Reed's barn, value $150, insurance $100; J. P. Lewis's store building, value $3,000, insurance $2,000; W. P. Stone's building, value $1,200, insurance $750; J. Sitnison's store, value $1,500, insurance $1,000; the Mc¬ Donald Block, value $7,000, insurance $4,000; Knapp, Burgess & Ed¬ wards's saloon, value $2,200, insurance $1,500; the Budd Block, value $5,000, insurance $2,500. Other buildings were more or less damaged. The losses of the occupants of the buildings were large, al¬ though most of the goods were carried out of the stores. The fire was first discovered by Mrs. Reed from the light shining in at her bed¬ room window. The little hand engine, then the only means of throw¬ ing water, except by buckets, Lancaster had, had no effect in checking the flames. The total loss was estimated at $40,000.

The house of Richard Meyer, Sr., an old landmark of the city, was burned March 24, 1892, the engine being unable to check the flames, the cistern and hose being frozen.

On the morning of May 20, 1893, the new flouring-mill a little northwest of the railroad station, and a large barn on the opposite side of the street belonging to the Philo Stephens estate, were burned. The origin of the fire was unknown. It was first discovered by Mr. Morrell, a very feeble old man, but before the alarm could be given it was too late. The barn was said to have been built in 1846 by the hotel-keeper Burkholder. The mill is described in the next chapter.

On the morning of December 23,1897, about five o'clock, afire was discovered on the roof of the frame building on Maple Street near Jef¬ ferson. The building was occupied by the Racket Store of John Burns and the dental office of Dr. John H. Reed. The alarm was promptly given and after considerable delay the engine was got out and began playing on the fire. Thanks to the waterworks, a good stream of water was available and the fire was put out without spreading to other buildings.

There was the beginning of a fire in the Methodist church on the night of June 23, 1897, but it went out without doing much damage. By some it was thought to be incendiary.

In the afternoon of February 4, 1895, a steam boiler in the base¬ ment of the store of Joseph Nathan & Sons exploded, doing consider¬ able damage and scalding Wm. Benn, Art Benn, and John Stephens.

Murders And Suicides

Few towns of its size have had so few great crimes to chronicle in the last sixty years as Lancaster. The two executions which oc¬ curred in the town were for murders committed elsewhere.

In early days there was a mysterious murder within the limits of the present town of Lancaster. Madison J. McKay, a miner of Beetown, started from his cabin, October 14, 1845, to go to Lafayette County. Nothing was heard of him until the next December, when Elijah Harelson found the body of a man about five miles south of Lancaster. The head was gone and the body mutilated by wolves or hogs. By the boots the body was identified as McKay's. N W. Ken¬ dall accidentally found the head. There was a bullet wound in the forehead and what appeared to be a wound made with a club on the back of the head. A pistol of Chris Eversoll, one of McKay's neigh¬ bors, was found near the body. T. M. Barber and Stephen Mahood found a trail along which the body had apparently been dragged. Mc¬ Kay was known to have had considerable money, estimated at from $700 to $1,800, when he left Beetown. Henry Richardson, a resident of Pigeon, but then absent, saw the accounts in the papers, came back, and on his evidence John M. Chandler was arrested and had a prelim¬ inary trial. There was much contradictory testimony and Chandler was committed. The grand jury stood eleven to one for indictment, but not being unanimous, Chandler was not indicted. He brought a prosecution against Richarson for perjury, but Richardson was ac¬ quitted and left the country. When seen, afterward he appeared to have a haunting fear that Chandler was dogging him to kill him

Chandler afterward went to Hazel Green, where he resided until his death a few years ago, becoming a prominent business man and a highly respected citizen.

In August, 1893, the little daughter of George Moelle, residing near the scene of the . murder, found fourteen gold English sovereigns in a ravine near the house. The latest date on the coins was 1843. They were supposed to be a part of McKay's money. About seven years before the Moelle girl's discovery H. Smith found a number of sil- ver coins - French, Spanish, and American, all being dated earlier than 1845, near the scene of the murder. If the murder was committed with a view to robbery, the fact that the murderer did not get all the money adds to the mystery.

On the 28th of April, 1893, John J. Humphrey, a business man of Lancaster, but long a resident of Patch Grove, committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol. He had been a farmer and a merchant. It was supposed that business troubles preyed upon his mind so as to unbalance it. His life was insured for $9,000.

William Westing, an old citizen of the town, residing a few miles south of the city, committed suicide November 14, 1894, by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. He had recently sold his old homestead and very much repented the transaction. This is the only known cause of the act.

A very sad suicide was that of Mrs. Lucy Strong, widow of Dr. F. E. Strong, which occurred March 26, 1899, and was accomplished by taking chloroform. It is supposed that grief on account of the recent death of her husband had distracted her.

Various Matters

The population of the township in 1875 was 2,742, a gain of only 26 in five years. The village and surrounding country were still hand¬ icapped by the lack of transportation facilities. It was a cold day when Lancaster got her railroad, but it was a lucky day - the New Year of 1879. A "boom" immediately began. The census the very next year showed a population, of 2,810 in the township and 1,069 in the city. There was something of a reaction after a time, and then a steady growth set in and has since continued. The census of 1885 showed 3,333 in the township and 1,410 in. the city. In 1880 there were 3,289 persons in the township and 1,543 in the city. While the city was gaining the country was losing; but then, the population of the whole county was decreasing. In 1895 the population was 3,355 in the township and 2,174 in the city.

The equalized assessment roll of 1899 shows that the town con¬ tained 45,547 acres of land valued at $432,696 ; city lots valued at $210,000; personal property valued at $243,126. Of course, the as¬ sessed value was far below the real value. The town had 1,499 horses, 5,448 cattle, 2 024 sheep, and 4,154 swine.

of February a party of fiPy-four men started from Lancaster to the Klondike, under the leadership of Daniel Needham, a lawyer of Lan¬ caster. The party came very close to being buried in an avalanche on one of the mountain passes. Considerable money had been invested in the expedition by people who did not go. Most of the members of the party came back in a year or so, one or two at a time. How much gold they found cannot be told, but it is safe to say, not half as much as they spent.

Lancaster contributed a little more than a third of a company to the army during the Spanish War, but the boys got no farther than Anniston, Alabama. The matter has been described on pages 393 and 394>

The town of Lancaster was organized in 1849. It is the central town of the county, a "double" town, that is, containing seventy-two square miles. In territorial times the justices of the peace were ap¬ pointed, and we find the following: 1843, Samuel Tompkins, Arthur W. Worth ; 1844, John Boright ; 1846, Jo W. Blanding, Sam E. Burks, Philo J. Adams; 1847, Horace Liscum.

Town Officers

1860 - Supervisors, J. C. Holloway, Wm. Richardson, J. B. Harel¬ son; clerk, Joseph Holroyd; treasurer, D. H. Budd; assessor, H. A. Moore; supt. of schools, A. A. Drown ; justices, Ira Bellows, A. Burr, L. O. Shrader; constables, Elliott Liscum, W. W. Ward, Wm. Walker.

1866 - Supervisors, Addison Burr, Shaler Wells, F. H. Bonham; clerk, J. W. Blanding; treasurer, David Schreiner; assessor, Franklin Halbert. The record for several years is defective as to justices and constables.

1874 - Supervisors, George W. Ryland, W. P. Stone, Fred Divall ; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurer, Charles A. Cox; assessor, W. W Robe; justices, A. Burr, Richard Meyer, Abner Dyer; constables, Charles Bennett, H. W. Case, Abe Decker.

1876 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year ; justices, Addison Burr, T. F. Baldwin ; constables, D. H. Budd, Daniel Decker, George Marlow.

1878 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, Addison Burr, T. F. Baldwin; constables, Charles Ben¬ nett, George Marlow, Daniel Decker.

1880 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year ; justices, T. F. Baldwin, David Schreiner; constables, Chauncey Pierce, H. P. Greene, George Hood.

1887 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as previous year ; justices, J. A. Coombs, E. S. Morse, George B. Wheeler ; consta¬ bles, George Marlow, Caleb Taylor.

1888 - Supervisors, clerk, and treasurer same as previous year; as¬ sessor,^ T. Howdle; justices, T. F. Baldwin, George B. Wheeler; con¬ stables George Marlow, Caleb Taylor, Charles Bennett.

1890 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, George B. Wheeler, Charles W. Hill, George Dyer, Louis Gelsbach ; constables, Richard Huftil, Charles Govier, John Pink.

1892 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justice, Chas. J. Woodward; constables, Richard Huftil, James Walker.

1895 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, George E. Taylor, Thomas Beetham ; constables, John F. Taylor, Fred Orton, John Rowden.

1896 - Supervisors, clerk, and treasurer same as previous year; as¬ sessor^. R. Place; justices, George B. Wheeler, W. F. McGonigal, Thos. Beetham, Loui9 Gelsbach; constables, John Jarrett, George Marlow.

1897 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year ; justices, V. H. Kinney, John Jarrett; constables, John Taylor, George Dyer, Ed Taylor.

1899 - Supervisors, clerk, and treasurer same as previous year; as¬ sessor, E. E. McCoy ; justices, V. H. Kinney, John Rowden ; constables, John F. Taylor, George Marlow, George Jarrett.

1900 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as previous year; justices, T. F. Baldwin, V. H. Kinney, David Schreiner, Robert Godfrey ; constables, John F. Taylor, George Marlow, George Jarrett.

Village Officers

1858 - President, L. 0. Shrader; trustees, John B. Callis, Charles Langridge, 0. B. Phelps ; treasurer, George W. Ryland ; assessor, Ste¬ phen Mahood; marshal, John Pepper; clerk, William F. Carter. O.B. Phelps refused to qualify and E. G. Beckwith was elected in his place. W. E. Carter was removed for non-attendance and L. J. Woolley ap¬ pointed in his place.

1874 - President, Addison Burr; trustees, Charles H. Baxter, P. H. Parsons, V. F. Kinney, H. B Fisher; treasurer, D. H. Budd: marshal, Thomas R. Cheseboro ; clerk, R. E. McCoy ; street comm'r, Franklin Halbert. For supervisors of village and city, see roster of County Board, Part II.

1875 - President, J. Allen Barber; trustees, Franklin Halbert, Lew¬ is Holloway, John Schreiner;Henry Muesse ; treasurer, Richard Meyer; clerk, A. Michaelis; marshal and street commissioner, S. Mitchell.

1877 - President, J. Allen Barber; trustees. David Schreiner, Wil¬ liam H. Haynes, John Oswald, William Richardson; treasmer, Rich¬ ard Meyer; clerk, A. Michaelis; marshal, S. Mitchell; street commis¬ sioner, John Oswald.

By an act of the legislature of 1778 Lancaster was incorporated as a city. The first election under the new charter was held May 6, 1878, and the roster of officers from that date is as follows:

1878 - Mayor, A. R, Boshndl; cotmcil, James Woodhoose, Geoi^e D. Utt, James Kilbourn, Joseph Nathan ; justice, James A. Jones ; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurei, Richard Meyer; marshal, S. Mitobdl.

1881 - Mayor, John G. Clark; council, William P. Stone, Herman Buchner, W. T. Orton, Lewis Holloway - the last two refused to qual¬ ify and John P. Lewis and John Street were appointed in their places ; clerk, A. Michaelis; treasurer, Richard Meyer; marshal, S. Mitchell.

1885 - Mayor, Lewis Holloway ; council, Charles R. Thomas, Wil¬ liam E. Webb, William P. Stone, F. W. Bryan ; clerk, Aug. Michaelis. Lewis Holloway resigned December 2, and John P. Lewis was ap¬ pointed in his place.