Grant County, Wisconsin - Chapter 17: Wingv1lle, 1900

Chapter 17: Wingv1lle

History of Montfort - Fires - Schools - Post-office - Newspapers - So¬ cieties - Churches - Centerville - Organization, Population, and Officers of Wingville.

In the spring of 1827, Richard Palmer (known in this region as "Uncle Dick"), in company with two or three other prospectors, started from Southern Illinois with an ox-wagon for the lead mines. After many days of slow travel they reached Galena, where they halted for a time, but then concluded to push on northward. One summer evening they unyoked their cattle by the side of a fine spring in a little hollow on the north side of the Military Ridge. It was a perfect solitude, but a beautiful one. They concluded to halt there and prospect. They did so, and found mineral just over the crest of the ridge on the south side. The spring at which the prospectors lo¬ cated was on the present site of Montfort. In. the fall of 1827 Thomas J. Parrish came and built a cabin on a branch of Blue River north¬ west of the present village. Dawson E. and others of the Parrish family came the next year, and by 1832 there was a considerable min¬ ing settlement and the mines were fairly paying. During the Black Hawk War a fort was built at the settlement and manned by volun¬ teer soldiers, but who they were and who commanded them cannot be

In the thirties the principal improvements were made by Thomas J. Parrish. He had a'store, a water-blast furnace, and a large dwelling which also served as a hotel. Considerable mineral was taken out. It took nearly a ton of mineral to pay for a barrel of flour. In 1836 a Mr. Popejoy built a house, the first on the site of the present village. It was standing a few years ago.

The village was laid off April 3, 1848, Ben. C. Eastman, of Platteville, and Francis J. Dunn being the proprietors. The plat occupied five acres and contained twenty-eight lots. At the time there were about 125 residents in the settlement. Among them were William McGonigal (afterward County Judge), Dr. Rickey, Jacob Benner, Mar¬ shall Key, Moses Darnell, John Shepherd, Asaph Leadbetter and John Crippen. On the village site were then standing the Washington Hotel (on the site of the later Frankland House) conducted by Jacob Benner, Leadbetter's tavern, conducted by James Basve and Claibourn Chandler, a miner's cabin north of the Washington Hotel occu¬ pied by Thomas Hitchcock, John Milburn, William Hudson, and Wil¬ liam Ballard ; a miner's cabin south of the hotel, occupied by William Kinney, Daniel Thorp, and James Sandrum. There was then not a single house on the road between Lancaster and Wingville. Jesse S. Jones, Henry Bohun, and William McGonigal in company with Levi Sloan, had put in stores. In the spring of 1849 John Shepherd laid off an addition to Wingville north of the village, including eight acies. It was afterward known as Shepherd's Valley.

In 1850 a great many of the miners had left for California, and the little village was further depopulated by the ravages of cholera. A party of emigrants were passing through the place and one of them was taken sick with what proved to be the cholera. He was attended by a resident of the village, and this good Samaritan whose name Fame failed to preserve, was taken down with the scourge and died. He was attended by a man named Storms, who, with his child, was soon attacked and died. Isaac Goodin and McMurtry were the next victims. It appears that there was no resident physician, the sick being attended by Drs. Hamilton and Moffatt, of Highland, and Dr. Sibley, of Dodge ville. The inhabitants became panic-stricken and most of them fled. The few left to take care of the dead were William Ballard, John Adney, Thomas Kelley, Edward Bouchard, R. Duncan, David Gard, William McGonigal, and a German named Fich. Among the victims was Dr. Sibley.

In 1851 Thomas Laird and Thomas Kirkpatrick came in and built dwellings in Shepherd's Valley, and Joseph H. Lincoln came in and established a blacksmith and wagon-shop which he still continues to carry on. The same year Edward Bell came in and took charge of a furnace which Louis Palliser had built. James S. Chandler put in a store which he ran for several years, in company with S. D. Green. Some time before 1855 G. D. Jencks and A. F. Schnee put in stores. In that year the town had a dauguerreotyper, but no "grocery," nor law¬ yer, nor. doctor. The last want was supplied the next year by the

Little further improvement was made in the village until the ad¬ vent of the railroad, which reached the place November 23, 1879. The next year the depot was built and the march of improvement began.

Montfort has usually been a quiet and orderly place. The only fatal affray to be recorded occurred a few years ago between two men named Waffler and McAlvey who got into a dispute about some small articles of property, and then got into a fight, the former with a knife and the latter with a club. McAlvey was cut so badly that he died in a few days. It does not appear that any legal proceedings were had.

of the whirlwind was very narrow and fortunately it passed through a scattered portion of the village. The house of Charles Hess was de¬ stroyed. The roof was carried several hundred yards and struck the gable end of C. E. Roberts's store with such force as to knock the whole building three or four feet forward. Mrs.*Hess and her children were in the kitchen and were left sitting there uninjured, the floor remaining while all the rest of the house was taken up and carried away. Sev¬ eral other buildings were somewhat damaged.

At midnight, March 22, 1893, fire was discovered in the basement of the large brick store building of Johnson & VanBuren. The building and its contents were soon destroyed, as was Muender Bros.' hardware store, and a building belonging to P. T. Stevens, in which was the Monitor office. The loss of Johnson & VanBuren was about $20,000 and of Muender Bros, about $4,000.

Between 11 and 12 o'clock, on the night of May 17, 1893, the greatest fire in the history of Montfort began. It was generally sup¬ posed to have originated in the hardware store of Stevens Bros. It burned everything on the west side of the street that had been left by the fire of some weeks before, in the business part of the village, and several houses westward, and damaged some of the buildings on the east side of the street. The losses were: Stevens Bros., hardware store, $12,000, insurance $7,000; P. T. Stevens's bank $2,500, in¬ sured; J. H. Fosbinder, boots and shoes, $4,000, insurance, $2,500; Orlando Thomas, grocery, $2,500, insurance, $1,000; Gibson & De- Long, grocery, $2,000, insured; J. A. Thomas, drugstore, $2,700, insurance, $1,200; J. B. Doran, residence, $1,200; Dr.VanDusen, office and contents, $800; George Chandler, barber shop, $250; John Stephens, restaurant, dwelling, and barn, $2,000; Monitor office, $800; Joel Eastman, harness-shop James Blunt, residence; and millin¬ ery, $1,500; M. Howard, barber shop, $500; Allie Palmer, tobacco, $150 ; Town safe, $200 ; Mrs. Grace Stevens, residence, $500 ; Henry Eastman, bank building damaged, $100 ; J. F. Schenck, store building damaged, $100 ; Frankland House damaged, $150.

The history of the early schools of Wingville was recorded only in the memory of those who have passed away. The 6rst one remem¬ bered was taught in 1848* by David Bunyan in a log cabin which stood on the site of DeWitt's residence. The next year Bunyan was succeeded by a man named Petello. In 1850 school was taught in "the old fort house," by Mr, Edgington, and later by John Adney and others. In 1855 a frame school-house 18X22 was built on a lot in Leadbetter's Addition. The teachers in this old building were John Adney, Rob¬ ert Gill, Smith Johnson, Mary Clark, Mrs. S. T..York, Mrs. Lord, and others. In 1863 the Methodist church was purchased and used for a school building In 1870 a commodious two-story frame building 28X60, was built at a cost $3,500, and a school of two departments established. The building was burned in 1886.

In 1896 a handsome two-story building. 35X45, of red brick trim¬ med with white brick, was built for the High School at a cost of $4,000, the ground and furnishing costing $1,000. The primary de¬ partments are housed in a commodious frame building in the north part of the village.

Post-Office

Some time in the forties the post-office was removed from Center¬ ville to Wingville and Robert Langley appointed postmaster. In 1854 S. D. Green succeeded, keeping the post-office in his store until 1863, when W. 0. Thomas succeeded, and served two years. Mr. Green then took another turn of four years and was followed by W. O.

Thomas again. In 1873 John A. Thomas was appointed. C. G. Van Boren was postmaster daring both of Cleveland's terms and I. G. DeWitt during Harrison's term. In 1897 J. A. Thomas was again appointed and served until his death, when his widow was appoiqted.

The first newspaper to be published in the village was the Montfort Independent, the first number being issued March 31, 1880. It was a seven-column folio, independent in politics. It was suspended after a short time of publication. W. A. Thompson was publisher.

The Monitor was started by C. T. Stone in August, 1880, and conducted by him until 1884, when publication was suspended and the material sold to I. G. DeWitt and S. H. Taylor, who revived the paper and continued its publication until May 23, 1890, when they were succeeded by Green & Palmer. The publication was suspended in May, 1891. In June of that year it was revived by J. F. Streeter, who continued its publication until September 23, 1892, when he sold it to Bresee Brothers. They were burned out in the great fire in May, 1893, and once or twice more and finally suspended publication about the close of 1893.

The Sentinel was started December 6, 1894, by Ernest Brooks on the material of one of the defunct papers he had purchased. It was published under the name of the Sentinel Company until May, 1896, when E. L. Howe purchased it and conducted it a short time until he consolidated with his Reporter at Lancaster.

The Mail was started February 2, 1899, by Hartsook, Irvine, & Co. Mr. Hartsook died in August of that year, and at the begin¬ ning of 1900 Dr. Irvine became the publisher and Rufus D. Quick managing editor. It is a six-column quarto, with six pages readyprint.

Methodist Episcopal Church. - This society was organized about 1845. In 1850 a frame church building was erected, which served as a place of worship until 1863, when it was sold for a school-house and the present frame church erected at a cost of $1,200. The old building is now used by J. T. Taylor as a furniture warehouse.

east side of the street. The losses were: Stevens Bros., hardware store, $12,000, insurance $7,000; P. T. Stevens's bank $2,500, in¬ sured ; J. H. Fosbinder, boots and shoes, $4,000, insurance, $2,500 ; Orlando Thomas, grocery, $2,500, insurance, $1,000 ; Gibson & De- Long, grocery, $2,000, insured; J. A. Thomas, drugstore, $2,700, insurance, $1,200; J. E. Doran, residence, $1,200; Dr. VanDusen, office and contents, $800; George Chandler, barber shop, $250; John Stephens, restaurant, dwelling, and barn, $2,000; Monitor office, $800; Joel Eastman, harness-shop James Blunt, residence; and millin¬ ery, $1,500; M. Howard, barber shop, $500; Allie Palmer, tobacco, $150 ; Town safe, $200 ; Mrs. Grace Stevens, residence, $500 ; Henry Eastman, bank building damaged, $100; J. F. Schenck, store building damaged, $100 ; Frankland House damaged, $150.

The history of the early schools of Wingville was recorded only in the memory of those who have passed away. The first one remem¬ bered was taught in l848*by David Bunyan in a logcabin which stood on the site of DeWitt's residence. The next year Bunyan was succeeded by a man named Petello. In 1850 school was taught in "the old iort house," by Mr, Edgington, and later by John Adney and others. In 1855 a frame school-house 18X22 was built on a lot in Leadbetter's Addition. The teachers in this old building were John Adney, Rob¬ ert Gill, Smith Johnson, Mary Clark, Mrs. S. T..York, Mrs. Lord, and others. In 1863 the Methodist church was purchased and used for & school building In 1870 a commodious two-story frame building 28X60, was built at a cost $3,500, and a school of two departments established. The building was burned in 1886.

In 1896 a handsome two-story building. 35X45, of red brick trim¬ med with white brick, was built for the High School at a cost of $4,000, the ground and furnishing costing $1,000. The primary de¬ partments are housed in a commodious frame building in the north part of the village.

Some time in the forties the post-office was removed from Center¬ ville to Wingville and Robert Langley appointed postmaster. In 1854 S. D. Green succeeded, keeping the post-office in his store until 1863, when W. 0. Thomas succeeded, and served two years. Mr. Green then took another turn of four years and was followed by W. O.

Thomas again. In 1873 John A. Thomas was appointed. C. G. Van Buren was postmaster during both of Cleveland's terms and I. G. DeWitt during Harrison's term. In 1897 J. A. Thomas was again appointed and served until his death, when his widow was appointed.

The first newspaper to be published in the village was the Mont - fort Independent, the first number being issued March 31, 1880. It was a seven-column folio, independent in politics. It was suspended after a short time of publication. W. A. Thompson was publisher.

The Monitor was started by C. T. Stone in August, 1880, and conducted by him until 1884, when publication was suspended and the material sold to I. G. DeWitt and S. H. Taylor, who revived the paper and continued its publication until May 23, 1890, when they were succeeded by Green & Palmer. The publication was suspended in May, 1891. In June of that year it was revived by J. F. Streeter, who continued its publication until September 23, 1892, when he sold it to Bresee Brothers. They were burned out in the great fire in May, 1893, and once or twice more and finally suspended publication about the close of 1893.

The Sentinel was started December 6, 1894, by Ernest Brooks on the material of one of the defunct papers he had purchased. It was published under the name of the Sentinel Company until May, 1896, when E. L. Howe purchased it and conducted it a short time until be consolidated with bis Reporter at Lancaster.

The Mail was started February 2, 1899, by Hartsook, Irvine, & Co. Mr. Hartsook died in August of that year, and at the begin¬ ning of 1900 Dr. Irvine became the publisher and Rufus D. Quick managing editor. It is a six-column quarto, with six pages readyprint.

Methodist Episcopal Church. - This society was organized about 1845. In 1850 a frame church building was erected, which served as a place of worship until 1863, when it was sold for a school-house and the present frame church erected at a cost of $1,200. The old building is now used by J. T. Taylor as a furniture warehouse.

Among the ministers have been the following: E. B. Russell, William M. Osborne, Edwin Buck, J. Sims, E. S. Bunce, William Semple, P. E. Knox, E. McGinley, C. Hendra, W. Cook, John Steele, James Jefferson, William Shepherd, J. McManus, J. C. Gordon, Frank Bell.

Free Methodist Church. - This society was organized in 1884 and the same year a frame church building, costing $1,800, was erected. In 1894 a parsonage was built. The ministers have been : Revs. M.

Ferrin Lodge, No. 165, A. F. & A. M. - In 1866 a dispensation was granted under which this lodge worked. Under charter dated June 11, 1867, the lodge was duly organized with the following officers: - S. A. Ferrin, W. M.; E. T. Comfort, S. W.; G. Hess, J. W.; James Chandler, Secretary; Samuel Taylor, S. D.; Myron Sylvester, J. D.; Martin VanBureo, Tiler. Meetings were held in a vacant building in the western part of the village, until 1869, when the lodge occupied a hall on Main Street which it had erected. The present officers are:

Montfort Camp, No. 4795, M. W. A. - Was organized June 30 1898, with the following officers : J. T. Biddick, V. C.; H. E. Muender, Adviser; H.W. Snyder, Banker; F. E. Parish, Clerk; W. R. Johnson, Escort; K. Frankland, Sentry; George Chandler, Watchman. The present officers are: F. T. Blake, V. C.; W. H. Irvin, Adviser; H. W Dieter, Banker; L. D. Eastman, Clerk; Jas. Letcher, Escort; E. Mathews, Watchman ; B. Cook, Sentry.

The early settlement of this village was just across the line in Iowa County. An addition to the plat was filed in April, 1841, in Section 12, of what is now the town of Wingville, immediately on the county line. The main street of the village was then on the county line. There were some good mines in the vicinity of the village. Frank Kirkpatrick and William S. Madden sold their mines there in 1838 for $10,000, to Thomas J. Parish. Captain Wobn, Hohlsauser,

& Co., H. M. Billings, and Hollenback & Underwood all had valuable mines. Thomas Parrish and Prentice had stores there. L. J. D. Par¬ rish and Mrs. H. Townsend kept hotels. Moses M. Meeker had a fur¬ nace on Blue River about a mile from the village. In 1842 William Garland and Hugh McCracken had a store there and C. G. Rodolf, of Muscoda, put in another. A post-office was established there in 1837 but a few years afterward it was removed to Wingville. In territorial times this village gave its name to the precinct which included the sur¬ rounding country in Grant County.

Organization, Population And Officers

1849 - Supervisors, William Clifton, William Kinney, Louis A. Samuel; clerk, A. Griswold; treasurer, A. D. Mills; assessor, James Hudson ; supt. of schools, James F. Brown ; justices, Jacob D. Merritt ; Jesse H. Matthews, William Kinney, James Moore; constables, James Hudson, John S wager, L. J. D. Parrish.

1851 - Supervisors, David Thompson, George Schnee, Jacob Ben¬ ner; clerk, Thomas N. Kelly; treasurer, Henry Schnee; assessor, A. D. Mills; supt. of schools, Thomas Thomas; justices, David Thompson, A. Griswold, A. F. Schnee; constables, Thomas N. Kelly, James Tin¬ dall, L. J. D. Parrish.

1852 - Supervisors, Thomas Laird, George Schnee, John Thomp¬ son; clerk, and assessor, A. F. Schnee; treasurer, D. S. Benner; supt. of schools, Thomas Thomas; justices, Thomas Laird, James Gaston ; constable, Thomas W. Lewis.

1854 - Supervisors, A. D. Mills, Moses W. Darnell, Stephen Knowlton; clerk, A. F. Schnee; treasurer. John Thompson; assessor and supt. of schools, Thomas Thomas; justices, Thomas Laird, William

1859 - Supervisors, G. J.Biddick, Thomas Lincoln, Ajalon Wright; clerk and treasurer, same as in 1858; assessor, Thomas Lincoln; supt. of schools, W. 0. Thomas ; justices, Thomas Thomas, W. R. Gaston ; constables, John Locey, Almeron S. Newell, John C. Bowden.

1860 - Supervisors, A. F. Schnee, W. F. Hartsook, A. D. Mills ; clerk, T. |. Greene; treasurer, John Thompson; assessor, Wm. Gaston ; supt. of schools, Eli C. Jones ; justices, John G. Allen, A. D. Mills, T. J. Greene ; constables, A. S. Newell, J. C. Bowden, David Kitch.

1866 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as in 1865; justices, Thomas Laird, James B. Laird ^constables, Joshua Watson, Daniel Wilkinson.

1869 - Supervisors, Thomas Laird, Robert Chandler, Thomas Gainforth ; clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as in 1 868 ; justices, none qualified; constables, John Kendrick, John C. Bowden.

1870 - Supervisors same as in 1869 ; clerk, I. G. DeWitt ; treasurer, James S. Chandler; assessor, Thomas Laird; justices, Thomas Laird, Charles Muender, A. D. Mills, Henry Eastman; constables, Robert Moran, John C. Bowden.

1871 - Supervisors, treasurer, and assessor same as in 1869 ; clerk, J. T. Taylor; justices, Edward Taylor, S. S. Brooks, J. N. Keith ; con¬ stables, Robert Moran, John Galloway, Louis Samuels.

1872 - Supervisors, Thomas Laird, Joseph Chandler, A. D. Mills; clerk, treasurer, assessor, and constables same as in 1871; justices, Thomas Laird, Thomas Thomas, A. D. Mills.

1875 - Supervisors, Thomas Laird, David Kitch,J. P. Chandler; clerk, treasurer, assessor, and constables, same as, in 1874; justices, J. N. Kitch, Moses Reese, J. C. Bowden.

1876 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same is in 1874; justices, Thomas Laird, Peter DeWitt ; constables, J. T. Kendrick, Samuel Rowden, J. E. McDonald.

1877 - Supervisors, Thomas Laird, David Kitch, Thomas Gainforth; clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as in 1874; justices, J. T. Taylor. Moses Reese; constables, J. T. Kendrick, J. E. McDonald, John S. Galloway.

1884 - Supervisors, J. B. Johnson, Eric Gilbertson, John Kadlitz; clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as in 1883; justices, J. S. Gallowaj, A. Krueger; constables, Frank Parrish, Thomas Kelly, W. W. Pettis.

1892 - Supervisors, clerk, and treasurer, same as in 1891; asses¬ sor, J. P. Chandler; justices, J. A. Thomas, L. A. Olson, Frank Bell; constables, Frank Parrish, A. 0. Mills, Emory Newell.

1895 - Supervisors, clerk, and assessor, same as in 1894; treasurer, George S. Bell ; justices, Emory Newell, Joel F. Eastman ; constables, E. L. Carrington, A. 0. Mills, J. W. House.

1875 - Supervisors, Thomas Laird, David Kitch, J. P. Chandler; clerk, treasurer, assessor, and constables, same as, in 1874; justices, J. N. Kitch, Moses Reese, J. C. Bowden.

1876 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same is in 1874; justices, Thomas Laird, Peter DeWitt ; constables, J. T. Kendrick, Samuel Bowden, J. E. McDonald.

1877 - Supervisors, Thomas Laird, David Kitch, Thomas Gainforth; clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as in 1874; justices, J. T. Taylor, Moses Reese ; constables, J. T. Kendrick, J. E. McDonald, John S. Galloway.

1884 - Supervisors, J. B. Johnson, Eric Gilbertson, John Kadlitz; clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as in 1883 ; justices, J. S. Gallo¬ way , A. Krueger ; constables, Frank Parrish, Thomas Kelly, W. W. Pettis.

1892 - Supervisors, clerk, and treasurer, same as in 1891; asses¬ sor, J. P. Chandler; justices, J. A. Thomas, L. A. Olson. Frank Bell; constables, Frank Parrish, A. 0. Mills, Emory Newell.

1895 - Supervisors, clerk, and assessor, same as in 1894; treasurer, George S. Bell ; justices, Emory Newell, Joel F. Eastman ; constables, E. L. Carrington, A. 0. Mills, J. W. House.

1897 - Supervisors, David Eastman, C. Rodolf, C. Guthrie; clerk, treasurer, and assessor, same as in 1896; justices, J. F. Eastman, Em¬ ory Newell; constables, Oscar Mills, John House, John Quick.

Village Officers

1894 - President, P. T. Stevens; trustees, John Brechler, H. J. Gould, G. P. Smith, W. H. VanDusen, H. Muender, A. Matthews; clerk, A. T. David; treasurer; John Fossbinder; marshal, A. 0. Mills.

1895 - President, 0. A. Eastman; trustees, 0. P. David, Eligha Carrington. H. Muender, David Kitch, G. H. Gibson, A. Matthews; clerk, A. F. David ; treasurer, John Allen; marshal, J. M. Quick; police justice, Joel Eastman.