Langlade County, Wisconsin - Chapter 50, 1922

Chapter 50

Government Survey in 1860 - Named in Honcr of Governor Wm. F. Vilas - Area of Vilas - Boundaries - Drainage - Surface - Organized in 1886 - Detachments - First Inspectors of Election - Old Road Records - Township Officials, 1887-1823 - Liberty Bell District - Area - Early Settlers - Its Boundaries - Present Officials - Good Luck District - Its Early Settlers - Once in Lincoln County - Hardships of Pioneers - Road to Gleason in 1883 - First Log School - Principal Agricultural Products - 1922-23 Officials of Good Luck - Forest View District - Its Area - School Buildings - Settlers in 1877 - The Log Cabin Homes - Merrill, Nearest Supply Station - Last District Change in 1908 - 1922-23 Officers - Teachers - Elmwood District - Location of Elmwood - Early Settlers - First School in 1882 - Pioneer Teachers - Present School on Section 26 - Industries - Township Hall - Soil - 1922-23 District Officers.

Vilas township was surveyed in September, 1860, by H. C. Fellows, U. S. Deputy Surveyor. The survey commenced on September 21 and ended on September 27, 1860. The township was named in honor of William Freeman Vilas, American lawyer and statesman, who was elected to the United States Senate from Wisconsin in 1891, served as Postmaster General and Secretary of the Interior under President Grover Cleveland and has often been termed the state's most illustrious Democrat. The township is located in the extreme west central part of the county and has an area of 23,040 acres or 36 square miles. It is situated in congressional township No. 32, Range 9 East, is bounded on the north by Summit township, on the south by West Ackley township, on the east by Peck township and on the west by Lincoln County.

Vilas township is well watered and drained by the McCloud creek, flowing through sections 4, 5, 8, 18, 17, 19, 20, 29, 30 and 31. Pine river runs through sections 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 31 and 32. Pratt creek flows through the central part of the township. Many smaller rivulets and streams are also found.

The surface is somewhat undulating. Originally it was covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting principally of hemlock, birch, pine, oak, ash, maple, poplar and other native trees. The lumber industry still exists in this township in isolated groves of forest products. The soil is not naturally as strong and fertile as some other townships, but with drainage and proper cultivation abundant crops can be produced. It is one vast area of Spencer silt loam, a small percentage of which is the level phase. Along the banks of the Eau Claire river (West branch) peat is found in small quantities.

Vilas township is a haven for new settlers, many of whom immigrate to this western part of the county from European Countries and larger cities of the United States.

Organized In 1886

Attorney, was passed by a 10-3 vote of the members of the Langlade County Board. It originally consisted of township 32 of both ranges 9 and 10 east. January 28, 1891, township 32 of range 10 was detached from Vilas township to form Peck township. The township has remained as one congressional township since then. W. H. Dawley, N. Bangs, J. H. Trever and Edward Daskam were members of the settlement committee appointed to ajudicate the affairs of the new township and Ackley. The petition for creation of Vilas was presented to the County Board April 17, 1886. Fiftysix settlers signed it.

The Vilas township petition to the County Board was followed by another remonstrating against any proposed division of Ackley township, until the settlers "knew better what they wanted" and was signed by W. L. Ackley, Charles Ackley, J. De Moss, G. F. Walch, Thomas Bagley, C. Vaughn, Edward Chey and G. W. Schaeffer. They charged that a division such as was proposed would leave the south township of Ackley with an open marshy territory and "old pine choppings that were almost worthless." The remonstrance succeeded in filing the detachment petition for one day, when it was again taken up, and turned over to the District Attorney, who drew up the ordinance at once.

William Hampton, H. W. James and R. Tracy were selected as the first inspectors of election in the township. The County Board designated the Morley postoffice as the first polling station.

The first election was held at the home of W. H. Hampton, section 35. Z. Space and R. Balch were chosen ballot clerks. Then the meeting adjourned to the school house of district No. 6. Seventy-one votes were cast for Chairman, Jonathan Reader receiving 57 and Z. Space 14; 142 votes were cast for Supervisor, of which George Kasper and C. H. Harder, the successful candidates, received 46 and 58 votes respectively, and Richard Tracey and Robert Simms 13 and 26 votes. Elisha Rinney was elected first township clerk. Peter G. Beck, who later became the first Town Chairman of Peck, was chosen first Vilas Treasurer. A. J. Mittemore was elected Treasurer, receiving 48 of 71 votes. William Fick, Nelson Shanks, John Hubbard and J. S. Hughes were elected first Justices. John Barber and Al Hayes were selected as the first law enforcers (Constables) of the new township.

The first act of the township officials was to raise $300 for roads and bridges. Five hundred dollars was appropriated for township and incidental expenses. The town clerk was voted a salary of $75 per year.

Vilas was divided into eleven road districts which were in charge of Robert Sims, Thomas K. Johnson, W. R. Mason, Henry Fryer, John Darrow, Charles Wetzel, Benjamin Miller, W. J. Hampton, E. D. Pratt and George Dufick, April 18, 1887.

May 18, 1887, the Vilas township officials divided the town into seven school districts. Thomas K. Johnson was notified to call a district school meeting for the purpose of electing school officials. Alterations took place each year until Peck township was detached. Then the township was divided into four equal districts.

Old Roads Recorded

In 1887 the town officials authorized the clerk to place all highways legally laid out previously by Ackley or Pine River townships on the town records. Thus ten roads were recorded that were laid out between 1879 and 1887 but were not placed on record. Thirty-one new highways have been authorized and laid out by Vilas since June 21, 1887, up to and including May 10, 1920.

Justices Of The Peace District No. 1

LIBERTY BELL DISTRICT is situated in the northeastern part of Vilas township. Its area consists of 5,760 acres of land or one-fourth of the township. The outline of the boundary commences at the northeast corner of section 1, thence running west on the township line between townships 32 and 33, to the west corner of section 3, thence south to the southwest corner of section 15, thence east to the southeast comer of section 13, thence north to the northeast corner of section 1.

District No. 1 is a part of original district No. 5 of Vilas, created May 18, 1887, and also of the second district of this region, District No. 1 of June 26, 1893. District No. 1 of 1893 consisted of all of its present area together with sections 4, 5, 6 and 9 of the present District No. 2.

This district is bounded on the north by a part of Summit township, on the south by Ackley township, on the east by Peck township and on the west by Pine River township in Lincoln County.

The 1922-23 teacher was Luella Joles. The school officials for 1922-23 were Martin W. Strandberg, Clerk; A. Engles, Director, and W. W. Scott, Treasurer.

GOOD LUCK DISTRICT. The boundaries of this district begin at the northeast corner of section 4, thence run west on the township line between townships 32 and 33 to the northwest corner of section 6, thence south to the southwest corner of section 18, thence east to the southeast corner of section 16, thence north to the northeast corner of section 4, embracing an area of nine square miles or 5,760 acres. Good Luck district was organized in May, 1908, and is a part of the old district No. 7 of 1887 and of old districts Nos. 1 and 6 of 1893.

Early settlers arrived in the district in 1881. George Dufeck, John Zema, and Joseph Zema came into the wilderness and cleared twenty to thirty acres each. Moses Wildfang settled at the same time in the northwestern part of the district on section 5. Joseph Yindra followed, settling on section 8. Other pioneers were J. Jirik, settling on section 4; George Dufeck settled on section 6. Dan Hubbard, another early arrival, settled on section 7. B. Tichacek, another early settled, established his farm a mile and a half west of the Jirik farm. The Ourada farm, section 5, is the former Tichacek property.

In 1883 a road to Gleason was constructed. This opened up an avenue of communication with the outside world, made trade relationship more agreeable and paved the way for the arrival of more settlers.

The first log school was erected in 1891 and was used until 1909 when a frame school house was erected on section 6. The enrollment averaged six to eight pupils in the earliest year. Pioneer teachers in this district were the Misses Molzberger, Gleason and Kettner. The 1921-23 teacher was Blanche Bonnell. The members of the 1922-23 school board were Wm. Anderson, Clerk; John Laughton, Director, and Mrs. M. Jirik, Treasurer.

The first and only store in the district was erected in 1912 on section 3 by Mr. Webster. In the year 1920 he erected a new building on the same location.

Near market places today are Gleason, Dudley, Bloomville and Antigo. Opening of new roads and the automobile make Antigo a convenient trading point, eliminating the disadvantages of distance.

Agriculture and dairying are the principal occupations. Potatoes and grains are the principal products. This district is making noticeable advances in both modern farming and scientific dairying.

FOREST VIEW DISTRICT. In the southwest part of Vilas township is an area of land containing 5,760 acres and consisting of sections 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33, known as the Forest View District. It is well named for the children trudging along to and from their daily tasks at school have a wonderful panorama of nature's art to view. The school is ideally situated on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 29. It is a model building, erected in 1900 by the settlers, who take especial pride in it. Previously a frame structure was used and before then a log cabin.

The first settlers established themselves in this region as early as 1877. The Edward Pratt family came to the district from Hilton, Wisconsin. The trip from Wausau was made by wagon over rough miry roads. Henry Cone was the second settler who came into the district. He was followed by John Hubbard and family.

Log houses were erected, one by one, as the sturdy pioneers arrived and before long the distances between them lessened. They gradually were followed by frame dwellings. However, many log houses are still found, many of which are the original cabins erected nearly fifty years ago. Hewn logs served as floors in these typical backwoods homes.

The early settlers were frugal to the point of parsimony. Necessity made them thus. During* the long winter sieges cord wood was cut, but the market was far away. It did not pay to haul wood such a distance. But logging camps were numerous, affording employment to the settlers. When spring approached the log drives commenced on the Eau Claire river and the men folks received employment on the drives. The Eau Claire river was improved and thousands of logs were driven down it to Schofield. The housewife, anxious to aid her husband, would do much of the garden and field work, planting and cu'tivating in order that a bountiful harvest might be reaped in the fall. Thus the years passed on.

The children in the schools became your.g men and women, taking the places of their fathers ar.d mothers. They filled the district and township offices, managed the farms, irtroduced new ideas into agricultural advancement and by this day the second generation has full command. Many of the pioneers have died or are too advanced in age to actively engage in labor.

The 1922-23 teacher was Leona Polar. The 1922-23 school officials were: Clerk, Charles Hubbard; Director, Jack Danburg; Treasurer, John Cockeram.

ELMWOOD DISTRICT. The last territorial change in Vilas township school districts occured April 14, 1908. The Elmwood district since has consisted of sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36 of the township. It is situated in the southeastern part of Vilas and has an area of 5,760 acres. This district is the southern portion of the original District No. 5, organized in 1887. April 24, 1906, Vilas was re-districted and District No. 3 was eliminated. District No. 4 was enlarged by the addition of sections 28, 32 and 33. This area was not changed until 1908 when District No. 3 was recreated.

Pioneer settlers in Elmwood were Henry Fryer, who cleared a little farm in the wilderness in 1877 after a long and tiresome journey from New London, and Edson Lloyd, who in 1878 brought his family to this district from Oshkosh. With him came Charles Lloyd, his son, who afterwards became prominent in Vilas activities. W. J. Hampton, Mrs. Hayes, A. Space, Frank Locks, William Holland, Ben Miller, M. E. Bessey and Olaf Anderson were early settlers. George Hayes, Edwin Hayes and Al Hayes and John Marlowe are old residents, who came into the district later.

The first school was erected in 1882 on the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 4. It was a one-room log building, which was used advantageously for many years. Early teachers were L. Hermanson, Mrs. M. A. Dexter, Hannah Reader, S. Gunderson, Emma Molzberger, Mary Cadigan, Theresa Wanninger, Ella Rynders, J. Ross, Adell Muscher, AUie Kennedy, Olive M. Space, Alice Casper, Ruth Graves and Irene Marshall. Miss Alfrieda Bruss was the 1921-22 teacher.

On July 5, 1898, the school officials of District No. 4, Charles Lloyd, Clerk; H. 0. Johnson, Treasurer, and Alfred Hayes, Director, decided to locate the new proposed school on the quarter post of sections 25 and 26. The school was completed by October 15, 1898. It cost approximately $375 and was erected by Justin & Jensen, mill men. The frame school was used until 1921 when a modern brick school was erected at a cost of $8,000 by H. Hoffschmidt. This splendid school is located on section 26. The 1921-22 school officials were Charles Lloyd, Clerk; Fritz Weisshahn, Director, and Leon Merry, Treasurer.

About 1899 George Drake and Justin & Jensen erected a sawmill on section 36 in this district. It was operated by Joseph Weir and John Menting for many years until it was moved away.

Louis Henry erected a cheese factory on section 24 in 1917. It has changed hands frequently and is now under the proprietorship of a co-operative concern or- ^ar ized among the neighboring farmers.

The Vilas township hall, located on section 25 (NWVi of NWij), was completed in the summer of 1922. Its cost was approximately $3,000 and it is one of the best town halls in Langlade County. The first meeting was held in the hall (before its completion) in April, 1922. Louis Jacobs was the contractor. Formerly all township meetings were held at the school house in District No. 4.

The 1922-23 teacher was Elfrieda Bruss. The school officials for 1922-23 were : Clerk, Charles Lloyd, who is also Vilas township clerk; Treasurer, A. J. Polar, and Director, Fritz Weisshahn.