Marathon County, Wisconsin - Chapter 7, 1913

The Town of Big Bull Falls Organized - Marathon County Organised - Election of County Officers - The First Term of the Circuit Court - Action of the County Board - Nezi' Commerce - ^United States Land Office Lolocated at Stevens Point.

The situation in Marathon county as described in the foregoing chapter and the depressing conditions under which lumber business was carried on remained substantially the same for some years yet to come. There being no prospect of a change for the better in the near future, some of the pinery men who had come with high expectations of gathering wealth in a short time, became discouraged and departed, but others took their places and there was also a slight annual increase in the output of lumber.

One of the newcomers at that time was Walter D. Mclndoe, of St. Louis, Missouri. In 1845 he came up here to take lumljer from James L. Moore for a loan of $500 made to him in St. Louis, and in the following year ( 1846) Mclndoe returned, bringing with him John Boid, Louis Kraft, John Emmons and several others, and twelve yoke of work cattle for Moore.

A large amount of logs were put in, being all cut on the area of the original plat of the city of Wausau, sawed during the winter in the Moore mill and run down in the spring to St. Louis. In the fall of the same year (1847) Walter D. Mclndoe returned with his fair young wife and installed her in the house already built for her, standing on what is now Mclndoe park, half way between the south comer and tlie library building on Main street. It was small at first, was enlarged in later years, but remained the home of W. D. Mclndoe and his widow until the end of their lives.

Walter D. Mclndoe was the first man who came with the intention of making here his home; he came with a determination to stay and grow up with the country. He, better than anybody, appreciated the immense resources, and he forecast the splendid future of this region. He saw that first of all, highways were needed, which all could see ; but it was he who set in motion the activities of men to accomplish the desired object. He devoted his time

The community was a peaceable one; no breaches of the law had yet occurred except sporadic personal encounters of no consequence, no crimes that required the interference of a court, which by the way, was far away in Dane county; there was really nothing here to excite the cupidity of men; all were poor, all had the same simple fare, lived in similar huts or shanties or log houses; the employer worked as hard and got no more pleasure out of life than the employee.

There being no government, there was consequently no concerted move for municipal or communal improvement ; there was no feeling of solidarity of interests, and it was the great merit of Walter D. Mclndoe of having first undertaken the arduous task of welding the different settlements into one harmonious community for their mutual advantages.

With this end in view, he threw his whole personality in favor of the adoption of the constitution which made Wisconsin a state in 1848. Next a town government was established, an order to this effect having been obtained from the county board of Portage county.

John Stackhouse, chairman; E. A. Pearson, Hiram Martin, supervisors; Levy Flemming, overseer of highways ; D. R. Clement, tow n clerk ; D. R. Clement, town treasurer; Henry Engler, assessor.

There were also elected four justices of the peace, and two constables, but only Charles Shuter and Alva Newton qualified as justice and constable, respectively, and the records show that the others were fined ten dollars each for failing to qualify; but there is no record to show that one ever paid the fine.

The town board organized November 10, 1849, and elected Robert Frazer as treasurer in place of D. R. Clement, resigned. At its next meeting, on November 20th, it was "Ordered, that a road be laid out commencing at the forks of the road about one-half a mile from the village of Big Bull Falls, and running thence to and crossing the Eau Clair river at or near Martin's mill (at the site of the Brooks and Ross Lumber Co. now), running thence to or near to Blodgett's house at the Rothschilds rapids, thence southerly and crossing Cedar creek where the bridge now stands, thence southerly to the south line of the town."

Warren, Jr.'s, by the nearest and best route to Pine river, crossing said Pine ri\er at or near D. Warren's mill, thence by the best route to Trappe river, thence by the nearest and best route to Big Bull Falls."

These were the first attempts to lay out roads in Marathon county. The first one mentioned became in time the South Line and Wausau Plank road, so-called, although no part was ever planked; the other was the road from Merrill to Wausau, crossing Stiensfield creek and coming down on what became later Main or First street.

It will be noticed that no section corners are mentioned, nor lines. The land w as then all unsurveyed and only such visible marks as houses, bridges, buildings or trees would serve as monuments.

This was a good enough beginning, had the roads been actually laid out, or even cut out. They may have been located, perhaps blazed out, but they were not even cut out, and these orders like many others, failed of execution for want of money. There was no other road tax except the poll tax, one dollar and fifty cents for each man, which did not go far to cut out a road; and lands not being taxable, only improvements such as houses, mills and personal property could be taxed.

At a special town meeting held on the nth day of December, 1849, a special tax of $300 was levied for the purpose of building a "Suspension Bridge" across the Eau Claire river at or near Martin's Mill - the vote being 19 in favor, and i against, the proposition.

What the assessment for the year was can be judged from the pay of the assessors ; Henry Engler, assessor, and John Stackhouse, deputy assessor, each received $6.75 for four and one-half day's work making the assessment, making nine days' work for one man in assessing the whole town with all mill settlements.

During this time Walter D. Mclndoe had become the owner of the mill on the east side of the pond, tore the old mill down and erected a new one a little further down, where it still stands. It was a great improvement on the old mill. By moving further down it ga\e more storeroom in the pond and a higher fall with correspondingly more power. Muley saws were installed in the new mill and shortly thereafter in all others, and business assumed a different aspect.

In the general election of 1849, Mr. W. D. Mclndoe had offered himself as a candidate for member of assembly, and was elected, although the far greater vote of the district was south of Stevens Point, against which he had to contend. He was a Whig, and in the minority party in the assembly ; but his courteous bearing, his tact and good sense, together with his broad information as to the needs of the state, made him a prominent and influential member. Through his efifort the bill introduced by him to detach territory from Portage county and create the county of Marathon became a law, and the act provided for the organization of the new county in the spring of 1850. For its name he selected the name of "Marathon," probably as indicative that this new county was destined to play a prominent part in the sisterhood of counties, conquering the obstacles in its progress as the ancient Greeks had conquered over its would-be oppressors on the fields of Marathon.

To the county seat he gave the name of "Wausau," a Chippewa ideom, meaning Far Away, as it was indeed far away from their ancient homes and hunting grounds in the far east from whence they had come.

The house of John Stackhouse at Wausau, the house of George KoUock at Little Bull (Fall House), the house of Goodhue at Eau Clair river, and the shop of Davies at Big Bull Falls (on Plumers Island).

The house of John Stackhouse is one of the small houses standing yet on Main street between W^ashington and Jefferson streets, and was smaller at that time.

The election was held on the 2d day of April, 1850, and resulted in the election of the following named persons, to wit : For sherifif, John Wiggington; for coroner, Timothy Soper; for clerk of circuit court, Joshua Fox; for clerk of board of supervisors, Joshua Fox ; for county surveyor, Henry C. Goodrich ; for register of deeds, Joshua Fox ; for county treasurer, John Stackhouse; for district attorney, John Q. A. Rollins.

These officers were elected to hold until the general election of 1850. at which officers were elected to hold for two years, to wit : For sherifif, Charles A. Single ; for coroner, Timothy Soper ; for clerk of circuit court, John A. Corey; for clerk of board of supervisors, John A. Corey; for register of deeds, John A. Corey ; for county treasurer, Morris Walrad ; for county surveyor. Henry C. Goodrich.

Thomas Hinton and Milton M. Charles were, at a special election, elected as supervisors for the town of Big Bull Falls, which included the whole county. On the 24th day of February the town board resolved to lay out the road from Point Washington to the south line of this county "as soon as practicable," which shows that this road had not been touched, although it was ordered to be laid out a year ago.

At the anual meeting of the town board on April i, 1851, Thomas Hinton, M. M. Charles and J. S. Snow were elected as supervisors, and among other officers Philip D. Marshall was elected as superintendent of public schools, which shows that schools did receive attention even in early times when but very few children (if any) of school age were here; but Marshall failed to qualify and the office was vacant for a year or more.

The Eau Clair river as well as most other rivers were narrower than now. The going out of the dam at that river washed away the bank in the course of time and the bridges became longer.

There were four election precincts in the county in 185 1 ; one at the house of Thomas Hinton on Jackson street, one at Dennis Warren on Pine river, one at George J. Goodhue at Eau Claire, and one at the house of George W. Kollock at Little Bull Falls.

There was some change in county officers in the election of 185 1, as shown by the result, namely : For clerk of circuit court, Asa Lawrence ; for county clerk, Asa Lawrence; for register of deeds, Asa Lawrence; for district attorney, Hiram Calkins; for county treasurer. Reuben M. Welch.

The county having been organized for all purposes, it became necessary to hold a circuit court, and court was to convene on the 25th day of August, 1 85 1. But where to hold the session was the question which agitated the mind of the members of the county board. There was no building big enough to accommodate court, officers, clerk and jurors, in fact all buildings had no more space than for a kitchen, dining and sleeping room, and the mill boarding houses could accommodate no more than the crew and hardly that, but court had to be held somewhere, and they thought of a bowling alley, standing on the block and near where the Alexander Stewart lumber office now is, and that roughly boarded-up bowling alley was selected and the first term held therein, and the clerk's minutes show that there were present on the second day of the term when court opened :

G. W. Kollock, Erastmus Sprague, James L. Moore, D. A. A. B. Barnes, John Le Messurier, N. Cheney, W. S. Hobart, Joseph Barnard and P. S. Call, John Black, E. Phelps, N. Sikes, Rob. Walrad, John Boyd, N. Hubbard, M. D. Corey, M. Mills. Perley Dodge and U. E. Main.

The record of the proceedings of the county board show that Walter D. Mclndoe had very much to do with the government of the town, as well as the county; he served as deputy county and town clerk in the first years of the organization, not being too proud to help out and assist the new officers when they needed assistance.

The newly elected county treasurer, Reuben E. Welch, evidently did not qualify, or resigned, anyway for some reason he did not serve, and the county board on the 30th- day of January, 1852, appointed \V. D. Mclndoe as county treasurer.

As county officers were elected : For sheriff. Thomas Hinton; for coroner, Joseph Barnard : for clerk of circuit court, Asa Lawrence ; for county clerk, M. D. Corey ; for register of deeds, there was no choice ; for county treasurer, Charles C. Wilson ; for county surveyor, Asa Lawrence ; for district attorney. Hiram Calkins.

On the 29th day of August. 1853. the county board let the contract for a bridge across Pine river for $440. and one across Trappe river for $625, the first to Bosworth and Armstrong, and the last one mentioned to C. Fletcher.

On the 15th day of November, 1853, the county board purchased from Mclndoe & Shuter block No. 17 of the original plat of Wausau for a place to erect a court house thereon, for one hundred dollars, and it has always been understood that Alclndoe. so far as he was interested, gave the deed to the county without consideration.

The county had no court house up to that time, nor until 1868, when the first court house was completed. Two years pre\ious to that, the county paid to Thomas Hinton the sum of $98.78 for an office building for the county clerk, which up to the erection of another building served for all county officers. It was located on Jackson between Main and Second streets. After the court hofise ground was purchased, the contract for building a county house for the officers was let to \V. D. Mclndoe; the price is not mentioned in the proceedings, but it was small, less than $900. The building was one story high, with an office for the clerk, treasurer and register of deeds, and years afterwards a vault was added as a protection of the records from fire. This little building served its purpose until 1868, when the first court house was completed and the old building sold for two hundred dollars and moved to the west side of Main street, nearly opposite the store of. R. E. Parcher, where it was used as a saloon and burned down in the later seventies. The fire broke out in daytime, and though closely between two other frame buildings, the volunteer fire company with a hand engine, which they put upon the ice in the pond, succeeded in putting the fire out without any damage being done to the neighboring buildings.

A curious order was made by the county board on the 29th day of March, 1853, which is reproduced here, because of its originality, and as. showing that these pioneers were actuated to do the fair thing to all the people and that equity was the basis of their acion. And this is the order :

"Whereas an unavoidalile discrepancy of great magniture exists in relation to the taxes of 185 1, therefore for the purpose of equalizing the same with the least possible expense to the county, It Is Ordered, by the board that the tax paid for the year 185 1 be refunded to the diflferent persons who paid the same respectively upon satisfactory evidence of the fact being adduced to the board of supervisors."

It does not appear what the una\oidable discrepancy of great magnitude was, but evidently it was of such a nature as would cause great inequality to the persons who had already paid their taxes, and to equalize it the county board ordered all taxes which had been paid to be returned so as to put everybody on an equality. This may have been bad law, but it was good sense and equity.

It does not appear when the town of Big Bull Falls ceased to exist by name ; but in the year 1853 the town of Marathon was organized, which included in its territory the whole county, and is the successor to the town of Big Bull Falls, as it was organized as a town in Portage county.

On the 5th day of April, 1853, the voters of this town voted a tax for the support of common schools of one mill on the dollar, which seems to have been an unanimous vote, while on a vote for a road tax there were 28 for and 7 against it.

The supervisors for town were : Charles A. Single, chairman ; A. S. Weston and B. F. Berry, supervisors. Hiram Calkins was elected as county superintendent of schools.

On the 29th day of August "It was ordered by the county board that the settlement made by Messrs. Berry and Weston on the part of Marathon county with the supervisors of Portage county, be accepted, which settlement was as follows : Marathon county will relinquish all right and claim to the county buildings in Portage county, and the supervisors of the said county of Portage do release the county of Marathon from their share of the debts of Portage county and Marathon county, contracted before the division of Portage county."

On the 26th day of March, 1854, the county board met and decided that the assessment made by the assessor, P. D. Marshall, was illegal for the reason that it was not made in time prescribed by law, and the board then assessed the property themselves, the valuation as fixed by the board being $227,252, then levied a tax of two cents on the dollar for county and town purposes and six mills for state tax and one mill for school purposes.

At the meeting of the town board of the town, a tax of one-half a mill additional was raised for schools and three mills on each dollar for road purposes.

The county tax for all general purposes was $3,802.28, out of which the salaries, court expenses, bridges ordered to be built and what little office furniture was needed, had to be paid, making it evident that no money was left for making roads. There was something which had the semblance of a road, from Wausau to Merrill north, and to Little Bull south, but it was winding, using every bit of available logging road as part, and there was also a trail from Wausau to Little Rib, where Benjamin Single had his mill and living there with his wife, so that the mill settlements were connected in a sort of a way, but there was still nothing resembling a wagon road. But the village of Wausau had increased somewhat ; the mills had been improved and the output was larger, which necessitated more men to run the lumber to market. Muley saws had been installed in most mills. They would make two cuts at a time, thus increasing the output of lumber. A larger amount of shave shingles too was made, and they became an important article of export, nearly as much so as lumber.

The first Germans coming to Wausau were Jacob Paff and Henry Treibel ; they opened a carpenter shop, making furniture in a little building back of the J. Paff corner store on Third street. x'\nother newcomer was W. H. Kennedy. He had been a delegate to the second constitutional convention in 1847, his postoffice address being given at tliat time as Plover Portage. After Marathon county was set off as a separate county, or some time before, he came to Wausau and took up his residence in the new county. He was admitted to the bar in Marathon county and formed a partnership with Hiram Calkins for the practice of law, but was also engaged in lumbering; he was elected the first county judge of Marathon county, and he was also the first man to clear a space of ground for raising vegetables and planting. It was near Half Moon lake close to the city limits. He was succeeded as county judge by his partner. Hiram Calkins, in 1858, and died of cholera in St. Louis in 1859, while there attending to the sale of his lumber. At the time of his death his residence was on Shingle street.

In 1852 Burton Millard appeared and opened a wagon shop on the corner of Third and Washington streets. The property is still owned by his children and is one of the most valuable commercial business sites in the city. He married Miss Harriett Crown, now the widow of Dr. T. Smith. Mr. Burton Millard enlisted as a volunteer in the war in 1861. and was the first man from Marathon county that was killed by a shot from the enemy.

Meanwhile John Le Messurier had come back from Pine river, wliere he spent some time to help Grundy and Isaac Coulthurst build their mill, and commenced the building of the Lake Superior House, to which additions were made from time to time, until it was for a long time the largest hotel in Wausau. Among other newcomers at that time was William Gowan, for many years the foremost millwright in the pinery.

Walter D. Mclndoe had built a store on Main street with an office for Charles Shuter, which stood nearly opposite the Alexander Stewart Lumber Co. office, and B. Barnes also had a store on Plumers Island, in fact each mill had a sort of store or warehouse of their own, but the stock consisted only of provisions and probably blankets. The first postoffice was in Mclndoe's store.

In 1849 two young men had come to Wausau who in time became the largest business men on the Wisconsin river. They were the brothers, John and Alexander Stewart. They came from New Brunswick, were familiar with logging and the running of lumber. They commenced to work for Goodrich, Fehely and Flemming, taking their pay in lumber as was the rule, rafted it and with the lumber of some other men run it to market on the Mississippi. They returned working on, and running their lumber down until after several years they were able to put in logs themselves on their own account, and by carefully husbanding their resources, never branching out beyond their means, laid the foundation to the wealth which became theirs in after years. Another store, probably the first general store in Wausau, was kept at that time by Doolittle, after whom the Doolittle place near the Brokaw dam is named. It stood on the side afterwards occupied by the August Kickbush retail store.

Doolittle soon returned to Pennsylvania, and in 1910 his son, who had become a circuit judge in \\'est Virginia, came here to see the place where he was born and where his father had attempted to make a farm in the wilds of Marathon county. Among newcomers were John Dobbie and Louis Lenneville, rivermen who built their houses on what is now ]\IcClellan street, and W. W. Wilson, who located on corner of Fourth and Scott streets ; but there was no semblance of a street at that time.

John Dern came in 1853 and William Gouldsbury, a milhvriglit, came in 1854 with his family. He lived first in a house belonging to John Tuttle, standing where the Sauerhering flat stands now. There was not even a bridge across the slough to the island in 1852, and people had to cross on the boom sticks. A bridge across the Wisconsin at the falls was built but on trusties, which was swept away in a few years by a flood.

Mr. Poor lived on Shingle street, but as early as 1855 built a residence on the west side of the river a little north, where Elm street strikes First avenue. In 1853 I. E. Thayer was a practicing physician here, and at one time lived on land now owned by Mrs. Aug. Kickbusch, the house standing nearly opposite the north gate of the fair grounds.

A brother of Dr. Thayer, Lyman Thayer, father of E. B. Thayer, had come; he was a lawyer by profession and brought with him his family; he lived on the corner of Forest and Fourth streets, where Mr. Seini's house now stands. Law business was less than dull, and for a few years he took to teaching in Wausau.

In 1853 there were four fair-sized hotels at Wausau, the oldest one the "Blue Eagle," next the Lake Superior House, and about the same time the Riverside House, which still stands, and the Forest House.

^^'ith the creation of Marathon county and Wausau as its county seat, there was an influx of new blood, young men who made their mark in later years. First among them must be mentioned Rufus P. Manson, then nineteen years old. who had a good education, but commenced like everybody else here, ax in hand.

Michael Stafford was another; he came in 185 1, and Charles Winkley. The last one mentioned opened the first butcher shop in Wausau (in 1853), but he soon discovered that the town could not yet afford such a luxury and closed the shop, and later built the "Winkley House" - a hotel.

A saloon was located on Plumer's Island between the bridge and the mill boarding house, kept by a Canadian, and Mr. Philbreek had put up a little log house, and fenced a small place with slabs, which stood there until 1874, when it was found to Ije in the way of the railroad track which was laid down upon the island, and was then torn down.

Lawyer Hiram Calkins, too, lived on Shingle street, and it may seem curious how so many people would locate on that street so near the river, exposed to floods, but it must be remembered that the dam across the Wisconsin river was not so high as at present and the water could flow ofif without rising to the heights it rose in later years.

Young America, too, had made its appearance in Wausau, and the settlers were not backward in providing means for their education, of course not in regular school houses built for the purpose, but they did the best they could, and results were obtained which can compare well enough with results in later years.

The first school was taught in a building owned by Thomas Hinton on Jackson street, with Dr. W. A. Gordon as teacher. He taught school while preparing himself for the study of medicine, and was later admitted to the practice of medicine, practicing in Wausau for a while.

The following year Miss Mary E. Slosson taught school in a vacant tailor shop on the same street to a class of six, and a daughter of William Gouldsbury, now Mrs. \V. W. DeVoe among them, and also Edward Nicholls, and afterwards Mr. Lyman Thayer taught school in a room in the store building of Lyman on Forest street west of the present city hall site. These were the earliest schools in Wausau; a little later there was a small schoolhouse on Harrison boulevard, facing Forest street in the east. They were all temporary, but years expired until the first schoolhouse was built.

The bulk of the town was still on Clarks Island, on Shingle street, and Main and Jackson streets with a few scattering buildings further north, but there was no semblance of any street except Shingle street.

The energies of the population were expended in logging, sawing and running out lumber and making shingles, and all farming was limited to the cutting of the blue joint and red top standing in profusion in the river bottoms and on islands. But on the logging road where manure was dropped there sprang up clover and timothy, much to the astonishment of the men. That, and the fact that cattle turned out in the woods after camps broke up, were found in the fall sleek and fat for butchering, convinced the pinery men that at least grasses could be raised here with advantage, and some employed their spare time in clearing land for farming. The first land cleared here for farming, was the Joseph Dessert farm near Marathon City, the Marshall fann, on top of Marshall Hill (now Graff farm), the Dodge (now Treu farm), the Norwegian fami (now Roder), both in town Settin, the Armstrong and Main farm, both in town Main (now owned by Fitzke and M. Callon respectively), and the Hogarthy fann in town Harrison.

The returns proved satisfactory enough, but it was hard, slow work and did not appeal to the lumbermen generally. The hardwood timber which was cut down had to be put in piles and burned, because it could not be floated out, and was of no value otherwise. It was too costly to hire the work done to make farming profitable, but it established the fact that the land was good for agricultual purposes and disposed forever of the slander of the poverty of the soil which had been spread broadcast by the fur and Indian trader. But lies travel fast and far. and to disprove them takes much longer. And it took a long time here until the fertility of Marathon county was generally acknowledged.

and 1857, when there was a large influx of farmers, who came here with the determination to get land and make homes for themselves and their families. They could get eighty acres of land for $100, the government price, upon which they intended to make themselves independent and comfortable in old age. They were not disappointed in their hopes, although it took all their industry, economy and frugality to accomplish their object. These first farm settlements deserve a separate chapter.

In 1852, W. D. Mclndoe had the village part surveyed and plotted out, the plat of the original part being recorded March 26, 1852. It included all the territory from the mill pond, or slough, east to Fifth street, and from Forest street to McClellan street, and about one and one-half blocks on the south side of Forest street from the south end of Fifth street.

The government had established a United States land office at Stevens Point in 1853, ^"^ the land boom which had spread all over the southern part of Wisconsin made itself somewhat felt even in this farofT region; but the by far largest portion of lands entered in Marathon county was entered by actual settlers, those that were already living on the land before it was surveyed, and lands in their immediate neighborhood.

The location of the land office at Stevens Point was of great material benefit to the people here and in Portage county, as theretofore they had to apply at the land ofiice in Mineral Point far away from here. It caused farmers to emigrate to Marathon county, who otherwise would have remained in the southern part, and they became a large factor in after years in opening up the resources of the county.

That for the first ten years at least, the pinery settlement was regarded by the settlers themselves as only temporarily, appears from the fact that not even a postofiice was established, although there were then a number of little saw mills in operation within a radius of twenty miles from \\'ausau, mostly too on a north and south line from Wausau.

No road, no postofifice until 1850, although lumber and shingles had been made and exported on the Wisconsin river for eight or nine years, both from Wausau and Mosinee; what more can be said or shown to prove the temporary character of the settlement, the absence of all comfort, than being almost completely cut off from all means of communication with the outside world ?

But with the establishment of a county in 1850, there was also established a postoffice, and Charles Shuter was appointed the first postmaster on the 4th day of May, A. D. 1850, opening an office in the W. D. Mclndoe store. Up to that time the mail was brought first from Plover and later from Stevens Point by courtesy of the traveling public.