Rock County, Wisconsin - Chapter 10, 1879 (part 2 of 11)

The survey of public lands by the General Government ; the locating and opening of land oflSces at Mineral Point and Green Bay; the erection of Milwaukee county from a part of Brown, to include all the territory bounded on the east and south by the east and south lines of the present State, on the north by what is now the north boundary of Washington and Ozaukee counties and farther westward on the north line of township numbered twelve, and on the west by the dividing line between ranges eight and nine ; and the changing of the eastern boundary of Iowa county to correspond with the western one of Milwaukee county; - are some of the important events following the close of the Black Hawk war. There was an immediate and rapid increase of immigration, not only in the mining region but in various other parts of what is now Wisconsin, more especially in that portion bordering on Lake Michigan. The interior was yet sparsely settled. By the act of June 28, 1834, congress having attached to the Territory of Michigan, for judicial purposes, all the country "west of the Mississippi river, and north of the State of Missouri," comprising the whole of what is now the State of Iowa, all of the present State of Minnesota west of the Mississippi river, and more than half of what is now the Territory of Dakota, the legislative council of Michigan Territory extended her laws over the whole area, dividing it on the 6th of September, 1834,. by a line drawn due west from the lower end of Rock island to the Missouri river into two counties : the country south of that line constituting the county of Des Moines; north of the line, to be known as the county of Dubuque. This whole region west of the Mississippi was known as the Iowa district. Immediately after the treaty of 1832 with the Sacs and Foxes, the United States having come into ownership of a large tradt in this district, several families crossed the Mississippi, and settled on the purchase, but as the time provided for the Indians to give possession vi^as the first of June, 1833, these settlers were dispossessed by order of the General Government. So soon, however, as the Indians yielded possession, settlements began, but, from the date just mentioned until September, 1834, after the district was attached, for judicial purposes, to Michigan Territory, it was without any municipal law whatever. The organization of the counties of Dubuque and Des Moines on the sixth of that month, secured, of course a regular administration of justice. In 1835, in order to facilitate intercourse between the two remote military posts of Fort Howard at Green Bay, and Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, a military road was commenced to connect the two points ; so, one improvement followed another. On the 9th of January, 1836, a session (the first one) of the seventh legislative council of Michigan Territory - that is, of so much of it as lay to the westward of Lake Michigan - was held at Green Bay, and a memorial adopted, asking Congress for the formation of a new Territory west of that lake ; to include all of Michigan Territory not embraced in the proposed State of Michigan. Congress, as will now be shown, very soon complied with the request of the memorialists.

The establishing of a separate and distinct Territory west of Lake Michigan, was the result of the prospective admission of Michigan into the Union (an event which took place not until the twenty-sixth of January, 1837), as the population, in all the region outside of the boundaries determined upon by the people for that State, would otherwise be left without a government, or, at least, it would be necessary to change the capital of the old Michigan Territory farther to the Westward ; so it was thought best to erect a new territory, to be called Wisconsin (an Indian word signifying wild rushing water, or channel, so called from the principal eastern tributary of the Mississippi within its borders), which was done by an act of congress, approved April 20, 1836, to take effect from and after the third day of July following. The Territory was made to include all that is now embraced within the States of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and a part of the Territory of Dakota, more particularly described within boundaries commencing at the northeast corner of the State of Illinois, running thence through the middle of Lake Michigan to a point opposite the main channel of Green bay ; thence through that channel and the bay to the mouth of the Menomonee river ; thence up that stream to its head, which is nearest the lake of the Desert ; thence to the middle of that lake ; thence down the Montreal river to its mouth ; thence with a direct line across Lake Superior to where the territorial line of the United States last touches the lake northwest ; thence on the north, with the territorial line, to the White Earth river ; on the west by a line drawn down the middle of the main channel of that stream to the Missouri river, and down the middle of the main channel of the last mentioned stream to the northwest corner of the State of Missouri ; and thence with the boundaries of the States of Missouri and Illinois, as already fixed by act of congress, to the place or point of beginning. Its counties were Brown, Milwaukee, Iowa, Crawford, Dubuque, and Des Moines, with a portion of Chippewa and Michilimackinac left unorganized. Although, at this time, the State of Michigan was only engaged, so to speak, to the Union, to include the two peninsulas (many of its citizens preferring in lieu thereof the lower one only, with a small slice off the northern boundary of the State of Ohio as now constituted), yet the marriage ceremony was performed, as has been stated, a few months afterward.

The act of congress establishing the Territorial government of Wisconsin was very full and complete. It first determined its boundaries; then it declared that all authority of the government of Michigan over the new Territory should cease on the fourth day of July, 1836, with a proper reservation of rights in favor of the Indians. It provided for subsequently dividing the Territory into one or more, should congress deem it wise so to do. It also declared that the executive power and authority in and over the Territory should be vested in a governor, at the same time defining his powers. It provided for the appointment of a secretary, stating what his duties should be. The legislative power was vested in the governor and legislative assembly, the latter to consist of a council and house of representatives, answering respectively to the senate and assembly, as states are usually organized. There was a provision for taking the census of the several counties, and one giving the governor power to name the time, place, and manner of holding the first election, and to declare the number of members of the council and house of representatives to which each county should be entitled. He was also to determine where the first legislative assembly should meet, and a wise provision was that the latter should not be in session in any one year more than seventy-five days.

One section of the act declared who should be entitled to vote and hold office ; another defined the extent of the powers of the legislature, and a third provided that all laws should be submitted to congress for their approval or rejection. There was a section designating what offices should be elective and what ones should be filled by the governor. There were others regulating the judiciary for the Territory and declaring what offices should be appointed by the United States, providing for their taking the proper oaths of office and regulating their salaries. One, perhaps the most important of all, declared that the Territory should be entitled to and enjoy all the rights, privileges, and advantages granted by the celebrated ordinance of 1787. There was also a provision for the election of a delegate to the house of representatives of the United States ; and a declaration that all suits and indictments pending in the old courts should be continued in the new ones. Five thousand dollars were appropriated for a library for the accommodation of the legislative assembly of the Territory and of its supreme court.

For the new Territory, Henry Dodge was, on the 30th of April, 1836, by Andrew Jackson, then President of the United States, commissioned governor. John S. Horner was commissioned secretary; Charles Dunn, chief justice; David Irvin and William C. Frazer, associate judges; W. W. Chapman, attorney, and Francis Gehon, marshal. The machinery of a territorial government was thus formed, which was set in motion by these officers taking the prescribed oath of office. The next important step to be taken was to organize the Territorial legislature. The provisions of the organic act relative to the enumeration of the population of the Territory were that previously to the first election, the governor should cause the census of the inhabitants of the several counties to be taken by the several sheriffs, and that the latter should make returns of the same to the Executive. These figures gave to Des Moines county, 6,257 ; Iowa county, 5,234; Dubuque county, 4,274; Milwaukee county, 2,893; Brown county, 2,706; Crawford county, 850. The entire population, therefore, of Wisconsin Territory in the summer of 1836, as given by the first census was, in precise numbers, twenty-two thousand two hundred and fourteen, of which the two counties west of the Mississippi furnished nearly one half. The apportionment, after the census had been taken, made by the governor, gave to the different counties thirteen councilmen and twenty-six representatives. Brown county got two councilmen and three representatives ; Crawford, two representatives, but no councilmen ; Milwaukee, two councilmen and three representatives ; Iowa, Dubuque and Des Moines, each three councilmen ; but of representatives, Iowa got six ; Dubuque, five, and Des Moines, seven. The election was held on the tenth of October, 1836, exciting considerable interest, growing out, chiefly, of local considerations. The permanent location of the capital, the division of counties, and the location of county seats, were the principal questions influencing the voters. There were elected from the county of Brown, Henry S. Baird and John P. Arndt, members of the council; Ebenezer Childs, Albert

Wisconsin Territoet

G. Ellis and Alexander J. Irwin, members of the house of representatives;, from Milwaukee, the councilmen were Gilbert Knapp and Alanson Sweet ; representatives, William B. Sheldon, Madison W. Cornwall and Charles Durkee : from Iowa, councilmen, EbenezerBrigham, John B. Terry and James R. Vineyard ; representatives, William Boyles, G. F. Smith, D. M. Parkinson, Thomas McKnight, T. Shanley and J. P. Cox : from Dubuque, councilmen, John Foley, Thomas McCraney and Thomas McKnight ; representatives, Loring Wheeler, Hardin Nowlin, Hosea T. Camp, P. H. Engle and Patrick Quigley : from Des Moines, councilmen, Jeremiah Smith, Jr., Josephs. Teas and Arthur B. Inghram ; representatives, Isaac Leffler, Thomas Blair, Warren L. Jenkins, John Box, George W. Teas, Eli Reynolds and David R. Chance : from Crawford, representatives, James H. Lockwood and James B. Dallam.

Belmont, in the present county of LaFayette, then in Iowa county, was, by the governor, appointed the place for the meeting of the legislature ; he also fixed the time - the twenty-fifth of October. A quorum was in attendance in both branches at the time decided upon for their assembling, and the two houses were speedily organized by the election of Peter Hill Fngle, of Dubuque, speaker of the house, and Henry S. Baird, of Brown, president of the council. Each of the separate divisions of the government - the executive, the judicial, and the legislative - was now in working order, except that it remained for the legislature to divide the Territory into judicial districts, and make an assignment of the judges ; and for the governor to appoint a Territorial treasurer, auditor and attorney general. The act of congress establishing the Territory required that it should be divided into three judicial districts. The counties of Crawford and Iowa were constitued by the legislature the first district, to which was assigned Chief Justice Dunn. The second district was composed of the counties of Des Moines and Dubuque ; to it was assigned Associate Judge Irvin. The third district was formed of the counties of Browri and Milwaukee, to which was assigned Associate Judge Frazer.

Governor Dodge, in his first message to the Territorial legislature, directed attention to the necessity fo'r defining the jurisdiction and powers of the several courts, and recommended that congress should be memorialized to extend the right of pre-emption to actual settlers upon the public lands and to miners on mineral lands; also, to remove the obstructions in the rapids of the Upper Mississippi, to construct harbors and light-houses on Lake Michigan, to improve the navigation of Fox river and to survey the same from its mouth to Fort Winnebago, to increase the amount of lands granted to the Territory for school purposes, and to organize and arm the militia for the protection of the frontier settlements. The. first act passed by the legislature was one privileging members from arrest in certain cases and conferring on themselves power to punish parties for contempt. The second one established the three judicial districts and assigned the judges thereto. One was passed to borrow money to defray the expenses of the session; others protecting aj lands donated to the Territory by the United States in aid of schools, and creating a common school fund. A memorial to congress was adopted requests ing authorization to sell the school-section in each township, and appropriate the money arising therefrom for increasing the fund for schools.

During this session, five counties were "set off " west of the Mississippi river: Lee, Van Buren, Henry, Louisa, Muscatine, and Cook; and fifteen east of that stream : Walworth, Racine, Jefferson, Dane, Portage, Dodge, Washington, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Calumet, Manitowoc, Marquette, Rock, Grant and Green.

The principal question agitating the legislature at its first session was the location of the capital. Already the people west of the Mississippi were speculating upon the establishment of a Territory on that side the river, prospects for which would be enhanced evidently, by placing the scat of government somewhat in a central position east of that stream, for Wisconsin

Territory. Now, as Madison was a point answering such requirements she triumphed over all competitors ; and the latter numbered a dozen or more - including, among others, Fond du Lac, Milwaukee, Racine, Belmont, Mineral Point, Green Bay, and Cassville. The struggle over this question was one of the most exciting ever witnessed in the Territorial legislature. Madison was fixed upon as the seat of government, but it was provided that sessions of the legislature should be held at Burlington, in Des Moines county, until the fourth of March, T839, unless the public buildings in the new capital should be sooner completed. After an enactment that the legislature should thereafter meet on the first Monday of November of each year, both houses, on the ninth day of December, 1836, adjourned sine die.

In the act of congress establishing the Territory of Wisconsin it was provided that a delegateto the house of representatives of the United States, to serve for the term of two years, should be elected by the voters qualified to elect members of the legislative assembly; and that the first election should be held at such time and place or places, and be conducted in such manner as the governor of the Territory should appoint and direct. In pursuance of this enactment, Governor Dodge directed that the election for delegate should be at the time and places appointed for the election of members of the legislative assembly - the loth of October, 1836. The successful candidate for that office was George W. Jones, of Sinsinawa Mound, Iowa county - in that portion which was afterward "set off " as Grant county. Jones, under the act of 1819, had been elected a delegate for Michigan Territory, in October, 1835, and took his seat at the ensuin"g session, in December of that year. By the act of June 15, 1836, the constitution and State government which the people of Michigan had formed- for themselves was accepted, ratified and confirmed, and she "was declared to be one of the United States of America, so that the term of two years for which Jones had been elected was cut short, as, in the nature of the case, his term could not survive the existence of the Territory he represented. But, as he was a candidate for election to represent the new Territory of Wisconsin in congress as a delegate, and was successful, he took his seat at the commencement of the second session of the twenty-fourth congress - December 12, 1836, notwithstanding he had been elected only a little over two months.

The first term of the supreme court of the Territory was held at Belmont on the 8th day of December. There were present, Charles Dunn, chief justice, and David Irvin, associate judge. John Catlin was appointed clerk, and Henry S. Baird having previously been commissioned attorney general for the Territory by Governor Dodge, appeared before the court and took the oath of office. Causes in which the United States was party or interested were looked after by the United States attorney, who received his appointment from the president; while all cases in which the Territory was interested was attended to by the attorney general, whose commission was signed by the governor. The appointing of a crier and reporter and the admission of Several attorneys to practice, completed the business for the term. The annual term appointed for the third Monday of July of the following year, at Madison, was not held; as no business for the action of the court had matured.

At the time of the complete organization of the Territory of Wisconsin, when the whole tnachinery had been put fairly in motion; when its first legislature at its first session had, after passing forty-two laws and three joint resolutions, in forty-six days, adjourned; - at this time, the entire portion west of the Mississippi had, in round numbers, a population of only eleven thousand; while the sparsely settled mineral region, the military establishments - Fort Crawford, Fort Winnebago, and Fort Howard - and the settlements at or near them, with the village of Milwaukee, constituted about all there was of the Territory east of that river, aggregating , about twelve thousand inhabitants. There was no land in market, except a narrow strip along the shore of Lake Michigan, and in the vicinity of Green bay. The residue of the country south and east of the Wisconsin and Fox rivers was open only to preemption by actual settlers. The Indian tribes still claimed a large portion of the lands. On the north and as far west as the Red river of the north were located the Chippewas. The southern limits of their possessions were defined by a~line drawn from a point on that stream in about latitude 46" 30' in a southeasterly direction to the head of Lake St. Croix; thence in the same general direction to what is now Stevens Point, in the present Portage county, Wisconsin ; thence nearly east lo Wolf river; and thence in a direction nearly northeast to the Menomonee river. The whole country bounded by the Red river and Mississippi on the east ; the parallel of about 43" of latitude on the south; the Missouri and White Earth river on the west; and the Territorial lino on the north, was occupied by the Sioux. In the southwest part of the Territory, lying mostly Bouth of latitude 43" - in the country reaching to the Missouri State boundary line south, and to the Missouri river west - were the homes of the Pottawattamies, the lowas, and the Sacs and Foxes. Between the Wisconsin river and the Mississippi, and extending north to the south line of the Chippewas was the territory of the Winnebagoes. East of the Winnebagoes in the country north of the Fox river of Green bay were located the Menomonees, their lands extending to Wolf river. Such was the general outline of Indian occupancy in Wisconsin Territory at its organization. A portion of the country east of Wolf river and north of Green bay and the Fox river; the whole of the area lying south of Green bay. Fox river and the Wisconsin ; and a strip of territory immediately west of the Mississippi, about fifty miles in width, and extending from the Missouri State line as far north as the northern boundary of the present State of Iowa, constituted the whole extent of country over which the Indians had . ho claim.

The second session of the first legislative assembly of the Territory began at Burlington, now the county seat of Des Moines county, Iowa, on the 6th of November, 1837. The governor, in his message, recommended a codification of the laws, the organization of the militia, and other measures of interest to the people. An act was passed providing for taking another census, and one abolishing imprisonment for debt. By a joint resolution, congress was urged to make an appropriation of twenty thousand dollars in money, and two townships of land for a " University of the Territory of Wisconsin." The money was not appropriated, but the land was granted - forty-six thousand and eighty acres. This was the fundamental endowment of the present State university, at Madison. A bill was also passed to regulate the sale of school lands, and to prepare for organizing, regulating and perfecting schools. Another act, which passed the legislature at this session, proved an apple of discord to the people of the Territory. The measure was intended to provide ways and means whereby to connect, by canals and slack- Vater, the waters of Lake Michigan with those of the Mississippi, by way of Rock river, the Catfish, the four lakes and the Wisconsin, by the incorporation of the Milwaukee and Rock river canal company. This company was given authority to apply to congress for an appropriation in money or lands to aid in the construction of the work, which was to have its eastern outlet in the Milwaukee river, and to unite at its western terminus with Rock river, near the present village of Jefferson, in Jefferson county. The result was that a grant of land of oddtiumbered sections in a strip of territory five miles on each side of the line of the proposed canal Was secured, and in July, 1839, over forty thousand acres were sold at the minimum price of two dollars and fifty cents per acre.- However, owing mainly to the fact that purchasers were compelled to pay double the government price for their lands - owing also to the circumstance of an antagonism growing up between the officers of the canal company and the Territorial officers intrusted with the disposition of the lands, and to conflicts between"the beneficiaries of the grant and some of the leading politicians of the time - the whole scheme proved a curse and a blight rather than a blessing, and eventuating, of course, in the total failure of the project. There had been much Territorial and State legislation concerning the matter ; but very little work, meanwhile, was done on the canal. It is only within the year 1875 that an apparent quietus has been given to the subject, and legislative enactments forever put at rest.

Fourteen counties were set off during this session of the legislature at Burlington - all west of the Mississippi. They were Benton, Buchanan, Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Fayette, Jackson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lima, Slaughter, Scott and Clayton. One hundred and five acts and twenty joint resolutions were passed. On the 20th of January, 1838, both houses adjourned until the second Monday of June following.

The census of the Territory having been taken in May, the special session of the first legis^ lature commenced on the eleventh of June, 1838, at Burlington, pursuant to adjournment, mainly for the purpose of making a new apportionment of members of the house. This was effected by giving twelve members to the counties east of the Mississippi, and fourteen to those west of that stream, to be contingent, however, upon the division of the Territory, which measure was not only then before congress, but had been actually passed by that body, though unknown to the Territorial legislature. The law made it incumbent on the governor, in the event of the Territory being divided before the next general election, to make an apportionment for the part remaining, - enacting that the one made by the act of the legislature should, in that case, have no effect. Having provided that the next session should be held at Madison, the legislative bodyadjourned sine die on the twenty-fifth of June, 1838, the public buildings at the new capital having been put under contract in April, previous. Up to this time, the officers of the Territory at large, appointed by the president of the United States at its organization, had remained, unchanged, except that the secretary, John S. Horner, had been removed and his place given to William B. Slaughter, by appointment, dated February 16, 1837. Now there were two otherchanges made. On the nineteenth of June, Edward James was commissioned marshal, and on the fifth of July, Moses M. Strong was commissioned attorney of the United States for the Ter. ritory. By an act of congress, approved June 12, 1838, to divide the Territory of Wisconsin,, and to establish a Territorial government west of the Mississippi, it was provided that from and. after the third day of July following, all that part of Wisconsin Territory lying west of that river and west of a line drawn due north from its headwaters or sources to the Territorial line, for the purposes of a Territorial government should be set apart and known by the name of Iowa. It was further enacted that the Territory of Wisconsin should thereafter extend westward only to the Mississippi. It will be seen therefore that all that portion of the present State of Minnesota, extending eastward from the Mississippi to the St. Croix and northward to the United States boundary line, was then a part of Wisconsin Territory, even after the organization of the Territory of Iowa. The census taken in May, just previous to the passage of this act, gave a total population to the several counties of the Territory, east of the Mississippi, of 18,149.

On the third Monday of July, 1838, the annual terms of the supreme court - the first one after the re-organization of the Territory of Wisconsin - was held at Madison. There were present Chief Justice Dunn and Associate Judge Frazer. After admitting five attorneys to practice, hearing several motions, and granting several rules, the court adjourned. All the terma of the Supreme Court thereafter were held at Madison.

At an election held in the Territory on the tenth day of September, 1838, James Duane Doty received the highest number of votes for the office of delegate to congress, and was declared by Governor Dodge duly elected, by a certificate of election, issued on the twenty-seventh day of October following. Upon the commencement of the third session of the twenty-fifth congress on Monday, December lo, 1838, Isaac E. Crary, member from Michigan, announced to the chair of the house of representatives that Doty was in attendance as delegate from Wisconsin Territory, and moved that he be qualified. Jones, the former delegate, then rose and protested against Doty's right to the seat, claiming that his (Jones') term had not expired. The basis for his claim was that under the act of 1817, a delegate must be elected only for one congress, and not for parts of two congressional terms; that his term as a delegate from Wisconsin did not commence until the fourth of March, 1837, and consequently would not expire until the fourth of March, 1839. The subject was finally referred to the committee of elections. This committee, on the fourteenth of January, 1839, reported in favor of Doty's right to his seat as delegate, submitting a resolution to that effect which passed the house by a vote of one hundred and sixty-five to twenty-five. Whereupon Doty was qualified as delegate from Wisconsin Territory, and took his seat at the date last mentioned.

On the 8th of November, Andrew G. Miller was , appointed by Martin Van Buren, then president of the United States, associate judge of the supreme court, to succeed Judge Frazer, who died at Milwaukee, on the i8th of October. During this year, Moses M. Strong succeeded W. W. Chapman as United States attorney for the Territory.

On the 26th day of November, 1838, the legislature of the re-organized Territory of Wisconsin - being the first session of the second legislative assembly - met at Madison. Governor Dodge, in his message, recommended an investigation of the banks then in operation, memorializing congress for a grant of lands for the improvement of the Fox river of Green bay and the Wisconsin; the revision of the laws; the division of the Territory into judicial districts; the justice of granting to all miners who have obtained the ownership of mineral grounds under the regulations of the superintendent of the United States lead mines, either by discovery or purchase, the right of pre-emption ; and the improvement of the harbors on Lake Michigan.

The attention of this Legislature was directed to the mode in which the commissioners of public buildings had discharged their duties There was an investigation of the three banks then in operation in the Territory - one at Green Bay, one at Mineral Point, and the other at Milwaukee. A plan, also, for the revision of the laws of the Territory was considered. A new assignment was made for the holding of district courts. Chief Justice Dunn was assigned to the first district, composed of the counties of Iowa, Grant and Crawford ; Judge Irvin to the second, composed of the countie.i of Dane, Jefferson, Rock, Walworth and Green; while Judge Miller Was assigned to the third district, composed of Milwaukee, Brown and Racine counties - including therein the unorganized counties of Washington and Dodge, which, for judicial purposes, Were, when constituted by name and boundary, attached to Milwaukee county, and had so remained since that date. The legislature adjourned on the 2 2d of December, to meet again on the 2ist of the following month. "Although," said the president of the council, upon the occasion of the adjournment, "but few acts of a general character have been passed, as the discussions and action of this body have been chiefly confined to bills of a local nature, and to the passage of memorials to the parent government in behalf of the great interests of the Territory; yet it is believed that the concurrent resolutions of the two houses authorizing a revision of the laws, is a measure of infinite importance to the true interests of the people, and to the credit and character of the Territory.''

The second session of the second legislative assembly commenced on the twenty-first day of January, 1839, agreeable to adjournment. The most important work was the revision of the laws which had been perfected during the recess, by the committee to whom the work was intrustedj consisting of three members from each house : from t'r.e council, M. L. Martin, Marshall M. Strong, and James Collins ; from the house of representatives, Edward V. Whiton, Augustus Story, and Barlow Shackleford. The act legalizing the revision, took effect on the fourth day of July following. The laws as revised, composed the principal part of those forming the Revised Statutes of 1839, a valuable volume for all classes in the territory - and especially so for the courts and lawyers - during the next ten years. The sine die adjournment of this legislature took place on the nth of March, 1839.

On the 8th of March of this year, Henry Dodge, whose term for three years as governor was about to expire, was again commissioned by the president of the United States, as governor of the Territory of Wisconsin. At the July term of the supreme court, all the judges were present, and several cases were heard and decided. A seal for the court was also adopted. The attorney general of the I'erritory at this time was H. N. Wells, who had been commissioned by Governor Dodge, on the 30th of March, previous, in place of H. S. Baird, resigned. Wells not being in attendance at this term of the court, Franklin J. Munger was appointed by the judge attorney general for that session. The clerk, John Collin having resigned, Simeon Mills was selected by the court to fill his place. From this time, the supreme court met annually, as provided by law, until Wisconsin became a State.

The next legislature assembled at Madison, on the second of December, 1839. This was the third session of the second legislative assembly of the Territory. The term for which members of the house were elected, would soon expire ; it was therefore desirable that a new appor. tionment should be made. As the census would be taken the"ensuing June, by the United States, it would be unnecessary for the Territory to make an additional enumeration. A short session Avas resolved upon, and then an adjournment until after the completion of the census. One of the subjects occupying largely the attention of the members, was the condition of the capitol, and the conduct of the commissioners intrusted with the money appropriated by congress to defray the cost of its construction. The legislature adjourned on the thirteenth of January, 1840, to meet again on the third of the ensuing August. The completion of the census showed a population for the Territory of thirty thousand seven hundred and forty-four, against eighteen thousand one hundred and thirty, two years previous. Upon the re-assembling of the legislature - which is known as the extra session of the second legislative assembly - at the time agreed upon, some changes were made in the ^apportionment of members to the house of representatives ; the session lasted but a few days, a final adjournment taking place on the fourteenth of August, 1840. At the July term of the supreme court, Simeon Mills resigned the office of clerk, and La Fayette Kellogg was appointed in his place. Kellogg continued to hold the posi, tion until the state judiciary was organized. At the ensuing election, James Duane Doty was re-elected Territorial delegate, taking his seat for the first time under his second term, on the eighth day of December, 1840, at the commencement of the second session of the twenty-sixth congress.

The first session of the third legislative assembly commenccv- on the seventh of December, 1840, with all new members in the house except three. All had recently been elected under the new apportionment. Most of the session was devoted to the ordinary routine of legislation, There was, however, a departure, in the passage of two acts granting divorces, from the usual current of legislative proceedings in the Territory. There was, also, a very interesting contested election case between two members from Brown county. Such was the backwardness in regard to the buildingof the capitol, at this date, that a large majority of the members stood ready to remove the seat of government to some other place. However, as no particular point could be agreed upon, it remained at Madison. The legislature adjourned on the nineteenth of February,

Wisconsin Territory

Francis J. Dunn, appointed by Martin Van Buren, was commissioned in place of William B. Slaughter, as secretary of the Territory, on the 25th of January, 1841, but was himself superceded by the appointment of A. P. Field, on the 23d day of April following. On the 15th of March, Daniel Hugunin was commissioned as marshal in place of Edward James, and on the 27th of April, Thomas W. Sutherland succeeded Moses M. Strong as United States attorney for the Territory. On the 26th of June, Governor Dodge commissioned as attorney general of the Territory, M. M. Jackson. On the 13th of September following. Dodge was removed from office by John Tyler, then president of the United States, and James Duane Doty appointed in his place. The appointment of Doty, then the delegate of the Territory in congress, by the president of the United States as governor, and the consequent resignation of the latter of his seat in the house of representatives, caused a vacancy which was filled by the election of Henry Dodge to that office, on the 27th of September, 1841; so that Doty and Dodge changed places. Dodge took his seat for the first time, at the commencement of the second session of the twenty^ fifth congress - Monday, December 7, 1841.

About this time, the Milwaukee and Rock river canal imbroglio broke out afresh. The loan agent appointed by the governor to negotiate a loan of one hundred thousand dollars for the work, reported that he had negotiated fifty-six thousand dollars of bonds, which had been issued ; but he did not report what kind of money was to be received for them. Now, the canal commissioners claimed that it was their right and duty not to recognize any loan which was to be paid in such currency as they disapproved of. This dispute defeated the loan, and stopped all work on the canal. During the year 1841, Thomas W. Sutherland succeeded Moses M. Strong as United States attorney. The second session of the third legislative assembly begar^ at Madison, on the sixth of December, 1841. Governor Doty, in his message to that body, boldly avowed the'doctrine that no law of the Territory was effective, until expressly approved by congress. "The act,'' said he, "establishing the government of Wisconsin, in the third section, requires the secretary of the Territory to transmit annually, on or before the first Monday in December, ' two copies of the laws to the speaker of the house of representatives, for the use of congress.' The sixth section provides that 'all laws of ^the governor and legislative assembly shall be submitted to, and, if disapproved by the congress of the United States, the same shall be null and of no effect.' " "These provisions,'' he added, "it seems to me, require the laws to be actually submitted to congress before they take effect. They change the law by which this country was governed while it was a part of Michigan. That law provided that the laws should be reported to congress, and that they should ' be in force in the district until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of by congress.' " The governor concluded in these words : " The opinion of my predecessor, which was expressed to the first legislature assembled after the organization of this government, in his message delivered at Belmont on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1836, fully sustains this view of the subject which I have presented. He said: 'We have convened under an act of congress of the United State? establishing the Territorial government of Wisconsin, for the purpose of enacting such laws as may be required for the government of the people of this Territory, after their approval by congress.'" This construction of the organic act resulted in a lengthy warfare between the governor and the legislative assembly.

At this session, the Milwaukee and Rock river canal again raised a tumult. " Congress had made a valuable grant of land to the Territory in trust. The Territory was the trustee ; the canal company the cestui que trust. The trust had been accepted, and a large portion of the lands had been sold, one tenth of the purchase money received, and ample securities held for the balance." The Territory now, by its legislature, repealed all the laws authorizing a loan, and all which contemplated the expenditure of any money on its part in constructing the canal. The legislature resolved that all connection ought to be dissolved, and the work on the canal by the Territory abandoned, and that the latter ought not further to execute the trust. They resolved also that the congress be requested to divert the grant to such other internal improvements as should be designated by the Territory, subject to the approval of congress ; and that, if the latter should decline to make this diversion, it was requested to take back the grant, and dispose of the unsold lands. On the eleventh of February, 1842, a tragedy Was enacted in the legislative council, causing great excitement over the whole Territory. On that day, Charles C. P. .^rndt, a member from Brown county, was, while that body was in session, shot dead by James R. Vineyard, a member from Grant county. The difficulty grew out of a debate on motion to lay on the table the nomination of Enos S. Baker to the office of sheriff of Grant county. Immediately before adjournment of the council, the parties who had come together, after loud and angry words had been spoken, were separated by the by-standers. When an adjournment had been announced, they met again ; whereupon Arndt struck at Vineyard. The latter then drew a pistol and shot Arndt. He died in a few moments. Vineyard immediately surrendered himself to the sheriff of the county, waived an examination, and was to jail. After a short confinement, he was brought before the chief justice of the Territory, on a writ of habeas corpus, and admitted to bail. He was afterward indicted for manslaughter, was tried and acquitted. Three days after shooting Arndt, Vineyard sent in his resignation as member of the council. That body refused to receive it, or to have it read even ; but at once expelled him. The secbnd and last session of the third legislative assembly came to a close on the eighteenth of February, 1842.

The first session of the fourth legislative assembly commenced on the fifth day of December, 1842. The members had been elected under a new apportionment based upon a census taken in the previous June, which showed a total population for the Territory of forty-six thousand six hundred and seventy-eight - an increase of nearly ten thousand in two years. A political count showed a decided democratic majority in each house. Governor Doty's political proclivities were with the whig party. The contest between him and the legislature now assumed a serious character. He refused to "hold converse " with it, for the reason that, in his opinion, no appropriation had been made by congress to defray the expenses of the session, and, as a consequence, none could be held. The legislature made a representation to congress, then in session, of the objections of the governor, and adjourned on the tenth of December, to meet again on the thirteenth of January, 1843. It was not until the fourth of February following that a quorum in both houses had assembled, when the legislature, through a joint committee, waited on the governor, and informed him that they had again met according to adjournment, and were then ready to proceed to business. Previous to this time, congress had made an appropriation to cover the expenses of the legislature now in session, which it was supposed would remove all conflict about its legality. But the governor had, on the thirtieth day of January previous, issued a proclamation, convening a special session of the legislature on the sixth of March, and still refused to recognize the present one as legal. Both houses then adjourned to the day fixed by the executive. A final adjournment took place on the seventeenth of April following.

The term of two years for which Henry Dodge was elected as delegate, having expired at the close of the third session of the twenty-seventh congress, he was, on the twenty-fifth of September, 1843, re-elected, taking his seat for the first time on his second term at the commencement of the first session of the twenty-eighth congress, Monday, December 4, 1843. On the thirtieth of October of this year, George Floyd was commissioned by President Tyler as

The second session of the fourth legislative assembly of the Territory, commencing on the fourth of December, 1843, and terminating on the thirty-first of January, 1844 - a period of fiftynine days - accomplished but little worthy of especial mention, except the submission of the question of the formation of a State government to a vote of the people, to be taken at the general election to be held in September following. The proposition did not succeed at the ballotbox. The third session of the fourth legislative assembly did not commence until the sixth of January, 1845, as the time had been changed to the first Monday in that month for annual meetings. Governor Doty having persisted in spelling Wisconsin with a "k" and an "a" - Wisfensan - and some of the people having adopted his method, it was thought by this legislature a matter of sufficient importance to be checked. So, by a joint resolution, the orthography - WisiTons/n - employed in the organic act, was adopted as the true one for the Territory, and has ever since been used. Before the commencement of this session Doty's term of office had expired. He was superseded as governor of the Territory by N. P. Tallmadge, the latter having been appointed on the twenty-first of June, 1844. On the thirl y-first of August, Charles M. Prevost was appointed marshal of the Territory, in place of Daniel Hugunin. There was the utmost harmony between Governor Tallmadge and the legislature of the Territory at its session in 1845.

His message, which was delivered to the two houses in person, on the seventeenth of January, was well received. Among other items of interest to which he called the attention of the legislative assembly, was one concerning the construction of a railroad to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi. "The interests of the Territory," said he, " seem inperiously to demand the construction of a railroad, or otter communication, from some suitable point on Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river. Much difference of opinion seems to exist as to what it shall be, and how it is to be accomplished. There is a general impression," continued the governor, "that the construction of the Milwaukee and Rock river canal, which was intended to connect those waters, is abandoned. It remains to be seen what shall be substituted for it." The session terminated 6n the twenty-fourth of February, 1845.

James K. Polk having been inaugurated president of the United States on the fourth of March, 1845, Henry Dodge was again put into the gubernatorial chair of the Territory, receiving his appointment on the eighth of April, 1845. Other changes were made by the president during the same year, John B. Rockwell being, on the fourteenth of March, appointed marshal, and W. P. Lynde, on the fourteenth of July, United States attorney for the Territory, Governor Tallmadge, on the twenty-second of January of. this year, having commissioned the latter also as attorney general. On the twenty-second of September, Morgan L. Martin was elected delegate to the twenty-ninth congress, as the successor of Henry Dodge.

The fourth and last session of the fourth legislative assembly was organized on the fifth of January, 1846. This session, although a short one, proved very important. Preliminary steps were taken for the formation of a State government. The first Tuesday in April next succeeding Was the day fixed upon for the people to vote for or against the proposition. When taken it resulted in a large majority voting in favor of the measure. An act was passed providing for taking the census of the Territory, and for the apportionment by the governor of delegates to form a State constitution, based upon the new enumeration. The delegates were to be elected on the first Monday in September, and the convention was to assemble on the first Monday in October, 1846. The constitution when formed was to be submitted to the vote of the people for adoption or Tejection, as, at the close of the session, the terms of members of the council who had been elected for four years, and of the house, who had been elected for two years, all ended. The legislature re-organized the election districts, and conferred on the governor the power and duty of making an apportionment, based on the census to be taken, for the next legislative assembly, when, on the third of February, 1846, both houses adjourned sine die. On the twenty-second of January, Governor Dodge appointed A. Hyatt Smith attorney general of the Territory. On the twenty, fourth of February, John Catlin was appointed Territorial secretary by the president.

The census taken in the following June showed a population for the Territory of one hundred and fifty-five thousand two hundred and seventy-seven. Delegates having been elected to form a constitution for the proposed new State, met at Madison on the fifth day of October. After completing their labors, they adjourned. This event took place on the sixteenth of December, 1846. The constitution thus formed was submitted to a popular vote on the first Tuesday of April, 1847, and rejected. The first session of the fifth legislative assembly com. menced on the fourth of January of that year. But little was done. Both houses finally adjourned on the eleventh of February, 1847. John H. Tweedy was elected as the successor of Morgan L. Martin, delegate to the thirtieth congress,, on the sixth of September following. On the twenty-seventh of that month. Governor Dodge issued a proclamation for a special session of the legislature, to commence on the eighteenth of the ensuing month, to take action concerning the admission of Wisconsin into the Union. The two houses assembled on the day named in the proclamation, and a law was passed for the holding of another convention to frame a constitution; when, after nine days' labor, they adjourned. Delegates to the new convention were elected .on the last Monday of November, and that body met at Madison on the fifteenth of December, 1847. A census of the Territory was taken this year, which showed a population of two hundred and ten thousand five hundred and forty-six. The result of the labors of the second constitutional convention was the formation of a constitution, which, being submitted to the people on the second Monday of March, 1848, was duly ratified.

The second and last session of the fifth legislative assembly - the last legislative assembly of Wisconsin Territory - commenced on the seventh of February, 1848, and adjourned jzW ///i? on the thirteenth of March following. On the twentieth of the same month, J. H. Tweedy, delegate from Wisconsin, introduced a bill in congress for its admission into the Union. The bill was finally passed; and on the twenty-ninth of May, 1848, Wisconsin became a State. There had been seventeen sessions of the legislative assembly of the Territory, of an average duration of forty days each : the longest one lasted seventy-six days ; the shortest, ten days. So long as the Territory had an existence, the apportionment of thirteen members for the council, and twenty-six for the house of representatives, was continued, as provided in the organic act. There had been, besides those previously mentioried, nine additional counties " set off " by the legislative assembly of the Territory, so that they now numbered in all twenty-eight : Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson, Racine, Walworth, Rock, Green, Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Calumet, Brown, Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Marquette, Sauk, Portage, Columbia, Dodge, Dane, Iowa, La Fayette, Grant, Richland, Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix, and La Pointe.

The boundaries prescribed in the act of congress, entitled " An Act to enable the people of Wisconsin Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union," approved August 6, 1846, were accepted by the convention which formed the constitution of Wisconsin, and are described in that instrument as " beginning at the northeast corner of the State of lUinois - that is to say, at a point in the center of Lake Michigan where the line of forty-two degrees and thirty minutes of north latitude crosses the same ; thence running with the boundary line of the State of Michigan, through Lake Michigan [andj Green bay to the mouth of the Menomonee river'; thence up the channel of the said river to the Brule river ; thence up said last mentioned river to Lake Brule ; thence along the southern shore of Lake Brule, in a direct line to the center of the channel between Middle and South islands, in the Lake of the Desert; thence ''in a direct line to the head waters of the Montreal river, as marked upon the survey made by Captain Cram ; thence down the main channel of the Montreal river to the middle of Lake Superior ; thence through the center of Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Louis river ; thence up the main channel of said river to the first rapids in the same, above the Indian village, according to Nicollett's map ; thence due south to the main branch of the River St. Croix ; thence down the main channel of said river to the Mississippi ; thence down the center of the main channel of that river to the northwest corner of the State of Illinois ; thence due east with the northern boundary of the State of Illinois to the place of beginning." The territory included within these lines constitutes the State of Wisconsin, familiarly known as the "Badger State." All that portion of Wisconsin Territory, as formerly constituted, lying west of so much of the above mentioned boundary as extends from the middle of Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Croix river, not being included in Wisconsin, the limits of the State are, of course, not identical with those of the Territory as they previously existed.

The State of Wisconsin, thus bounded, is situated betweeti the parallel of forty-two degrees thirty minutes and that of forty-seven degrees, north latitude, and between the eighty-seventh and ninety-third degrees west longitude, nearly. For a portion of its northern border it has Lake Superior, the largest body of fresh water in the world ; for a part of its eastern boundary it has Lake Michigan, almost equal in size to Lake Superior ; while the Mississippi, the largest river in the world but one, forms a large portion of its western boundary. The State of Michigan lies on the east ; Illinois on the south ; Iowa and Minnesota on the west. Wisconsin has an average length of about two hundred and sixty miles ; an average breadth of two hundred and fifteen miles.

The constitution of Wisconsin, adopted by the people on the second Monday of March, 1848, provided for the election of a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, members of the State legislature, and members of congress, on the second Monday of the ensuing May. On that day - the 8th of the month - the election was held, which resulted in the choice of Nelson Dewey, for governor ; John E. Holmes, for lieutenant governor ; Thomas McHugh, for secretary of state ; Jairus C. Fairchild, for state treasurer ; and James S. Brown, for attorney general. The State was divided into nineteen senatorial, and sixty-six assembly districts, in each of which one member was elected ; it was also divided into two congressional districts, in each of which one member of congress was elected - William Pitt Lynde in the first district, composed of the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson, Racine, Walworth, Rock, and Green ; Mason C. Darling, in the second district, composed of the counties of Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Calumet, Brown, Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Marquette, Sauk, Portage, Columbia, Dodge, Dane, Iowa, La Fayette, Grant, Richland, Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix, and La Pointe - the counties of Richland, Chippewa and La Pointe being unorganized.

The first session of the legislature of Wisconsin commenced at Madison, the seat of government for the State, on Monday, the sth day of June, 1S48. Ninean E. Whiteside was elected speaker of the assembly, and Henry Billings president of the senate, pro tempore. The democrats were largely in the majority in both houses. The legislature, in joint convention, on the 7lh of June, canvassed, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, the votes given on the Sth of May previous, for the' State officers and the two representatives in congress. On the same day, the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, and attorney general, were sworn into office in presence of both houses. All these officers, as well as the representatives in congress, were democrats. Dewey's majority over John H. Tweedy, whig, was five thousand and eighty-nine. William P. Lynde's majority in the first district, for congress, over Edward V. Whiton, whig, was two thousand four hundred and forty-seven. Mason C. Darling's majority in the second district, over Alexander L. Collins, whig, was two thousand eight hundred and fortysix. As the thirtieth congress, to which Lynde and Darling were elected would expire on the 4th of March, 1849, their terms of office would, of course, end on that day. The former took his seat on the 5th of June, the latter on the 9th of June, 1848.

The constitution vested the judicial power of the State in a supreme court, circuit courts, courts of probate, and in justices of the peace, giving the legislature power to vest such jurisdiction as should be deemed necessary in municipal courts ; also, conferring upon it the power to establish inferior courts in the several counties, with limited civil and criminal jurisdiction. The State was divided into five judicial circuits; and judges were to be elected at a time to be provided for by the legislature at its first session. It was provided that there should be no election for a judge or judges, at any general election for State or county officers, nor within thirty days either before or after such election.

On the 8th of June, 1848, Governor Dewey delivered his first message to a joint convention of the two houses. It was clear, concise, and definite upon such subjects as, in his opinion demanded immediate attention. His views were generally regarded as sound and statesmanlike by the people of the State. " You have convened," said he, "under the provisions of the constitution of the State of Wisconsin, to perform as representatives of the people, the important duties contemplated by that instrument." " The first session of the legislature of a free people," continued the governor, " after assuming the political identity of a sovereign State, is an event of no ordinary character in its history, and will be fraught with consequences of the highest importance to its future welfare and prosperity. Wisconsin possesses the natural elements, fostered by the judicious system of legislation," the governor added, " to become one of the most populous and prosperous States of the American Union. With a soil unequaled in fertility, and productive of all the necessary comforts of life, rich in mineral wealth, with commercial advantages unsurpassed by any inland State, possessing extensive manufacturing facilities, with a salubrious climate, and peopled with a population enterprising, industrious, and intelligent, the course of the State of Wisconsin must be onward, until she ranks among the first of the States of the Great West. It is," concluded the speaker, "under the most favorable auspices that the State of Wisconsin has taken her position among the families of States. With a population numbering nearly one quarter of a million, and rapidly increasing, free from the incubus of a State debt, and rich in the return yielded as the reward of labor in all the branches of industrial pursuits, our State occupies an enviable position abroad, that is highly gratifying to the pride of our people." Governor Dewey then recommended a number of measures necessary, in his judgment, to be made upon changing from a Territorial to a State government.

The first important business of the legislature, was the election of two United States senators. The successful candidates were Henry Dodge and Isaac P. Walker, both democrats. Their election took place on the 8th of June, 1848, Dodge taking his seat in the senate on the 23d of June, and Walker on the 26th of June, 1848. The latter drew the short term; so that his office would expire on the 4th day of March, 1849, at the end of the thirtieth congress : Dodge drew the long term, his office to expire on the 4th day of March, 185 1, at the end of the thirty-first congress. The residue of the session was taken up in passing such acts as were deemed necessary to put the machinery of the new State government, in all its branches, in fair running order. One was passed providing for the annual meeting of the legislature, on the second Wednesday of January of each year ; another prescribing the duties of State officers ; one dividing the State into three congressional districts. The first district was composed of the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Walworth, and Racine ; the second, of the counties of Rock, Green, La Fayette, Grant, Dane, Iowa, Sauk, Richland, Crawford, Adams, Portage, Chippewa, La Pointe, and St. Croix ; the third, of the counties of Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Brown, Winnebago, Calumet, Fond du Lac, Marquette, Dodge, Jefferson, and Columbia. Another act provided for theelection of judges of the circuit courts, on the first Monday of August, 1848. By the same act, it was provided that the first term of the supreme court should be held in Madison on the second Monday of January, 1849, and thereafter at the same place on the same day, yearly ; afterward changed so as to hold a January and June term in each year. An act was also passed providing for the election, and defining the duties of State superintendent of public instruction. That officer v/as to be elected at the general election to be holden in each year, his term of office to commence on the first Monday of January succeeding his election. Another act established a State university ; another exempted a homestead from a forced sale ; another provided for a revision of the statutes. The legislature, after a session of eighty-five days, adjourned sine die on the twenty-first of August, 1848.

The State, as previously stated, was divided into five judicial circuits : Edward V. Whiton being chosen judge at the election on the first Monday in August, 1848, of the first circuit, composed of the counties of Racine, Walworth, Rock, and Green, as then constituted ; Levi Hubbell of the second, composed of Milwaukee, Waukesha-, Jefferson, and Dane ; Charles H. Larrabee, of the third, composed of Washington, Dodge, Columbia, Marquette, Sauk, and Portage, as then formed; Alexander W. Stow, of the fourth, composed of Brown, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Winnebago, and Calumet ; and Mortimer M. Jackson, of the fifth circuit, composed of the counties of Iowa, LaFayette, Grant, Crawford and St. Croix, as then organized ; the county of Richland being attached to Iowa county; the courity of Chippewa to the' county of Crawford ; and the county of LaPointe to the county of St. Croix, for judicial purposes.

In the ensuing Fall there was a presidential election. There were then three organized political parties in the State: whig, democratic, and free-soil - each of which had a ticket in the field. The democrats were in the majority, and their four electors cast their votes for Lewis Cass and William O. Butler. At this election, Eleazer Root was the successful candidate for State superintendent of public instruction. In his election party politics were not considered. There were also three members for the thirty-first congress chosen : Charles Durkee, to represent the first district; Orsamus Cole, the second; and James D. Doty, the third district. Durkee was a free-soiler; Cole, a whig ; Doty, a democrat - with somewhat decided Doty proclivities. The act of the legislature, exempting a homestead from forced sale of any debt or liability contracted after January i, 1849, approved the twenty-ninth of July previous, and another act for a like exemption of certain personal property, approved August 10, 1848, were laws the most liberal in their nature passed by any State of the Union previous to those dates. It was prophesied that they would work wonderful changes in the business transactions of the new State - for the worse ; but time passed, and their utility were soon evident : it was soon very generally acknowledged that proper exemption laws were highly beneficial - a real "good to the greatest number of the citizens of a State.

So much of Wisconsin Territory as lay west of the St. Croix and the State boundary north of it, was, upon the admission of Wisconsin into the Union, left, for the time being, without a government - unless it was still "Wisconsin Territory." Henry Dodge, upon being elected to the United States senate from Wisconsin, vacated, of course, the office of governor of this fraction. John H. Tweedy, delegate in congress at the time Wisconsin became a State, made a formal resignation of his office, thus leaving the fractional Territory unrepresented. Thereupon John Catlin, secretary of the Territory of Wisconsin as a whole, and now claiming, by virtue of that office, to be acting governor of the fractional part, issued a proclamation as such officer for an election on the thirtieth of October, 1848, of a delegate in congress. Nearly four hundred votes were polled in the district, showing "Wisconsin Territory" still to have a population of not less than two thousand. H. H. Sibley was elected to that office. On the fifteenth of January, 1849, he was admitted to a seat as "delegate from Wisconsin Territory." This hastened the formation of the Territory of Minnesota - a bill for that purpose having become a law on the third of March, when " Wisconsin Territory" ceased finally to exist, being included in the new Territory.

The year 1848 - the first year of the existence of Wisconsin as a State - was one of general prosperity to its rapidly increasing population. The National Government effected a treaty with the Menomoneee Indians, by which their title was extinguished to the country north of the Fox river of Green bay, embracing all their lands in the State. This was an important acquisition, as it opened a large tract of country to civilization and settlement, which had been for a considerable time greatly desired by the people. The State government at the close of the year hac been in existence long enough to demonstrate its successful operation. The electric telegraph had already reached the capital ; and Wisconsin entered its second year upon a flood tide of prosperity.

Under the constitution, the circuit judges were also judges of the supreme court. An act of the legislature, approved June 29, 1848, providing for the election of judges, and for the classification and organization of the judiciary of the State, authorized the election, by the judges, of one of their number as chief justice. Judge Alexander W. Stow was chosen to that office, and, as chief justice, held, in conjunction with Associate Judges Whiton, Jackson, Larrabee, and Hubbell, the first session of the supreme court at Madison, commencing on the eighth day of January, 1849.

The second session of the State legislature commenced, according to law, on the tenth of January, 1849, Harrison C. Hobart being elected speaker of the assembly. Governor Dewey, in his message, sent to both houses on the nth, referred to the rapidly increasing population of the State, and the indomitable energy displayed in the development of its productive capacity. He recommended the sale of the university lands on a long credit, the erection of a State prison, and the modification of certain laws. On the seventeenth of January, the two houses met in joint convention to elect an United States senator in place of Isaac P Walker, who had drawn the short term. The democrats had a small majority on joint ballot. Walker was re-elected; this time, for a full term of six years, from the 4th of March, 1849. The legislature at this session passed many acts of public utility; some relating to the boundaries of counties; others, to the laying out of roads ; eighteeri, to the organization of towns. The" courts were cared for; school districts were organized ; special taxo; were authorized , and an act passed relative to the sale and superintendence of the school and university lands, prescribing the powers and duties of the commissioners who were to have charge of the same. These commissioners, consisting of the secretary of state, treasurer of state, and attorney general, were not only put in charge of the school and university lands held by the State, but also of funds arising from the sale of them. This law has been many times amended and portions of it repealed. The lands at present subject to sale are classified as school lands, university lands, agricultural college lands, Marathon county lands, normal school lands, and drainage lands, and are subject to sale at private entry on terms fixed by law. Regulations concerning the apportionment and investment of trust funds are made by the commissioners in pursuance of law. All lands now the property of the State subject to sale, or that have been State lands and sold, were derived from the Gen-

Wisconsin As A State

A joint resolution passed the legislature on the 31st of March, 1849, instructing Isaac P. Walker to resign his seat as United States senator, for " presenting and voting for an amendment to the general appropriation bill, providing for a government in California and New Mexico, west of the Rio Grande, which did not contain a provision forever prohibiting the introduction of slavery or involuntary servitude " in those Territories. The senator refused to regard these instructions. The legislature adjourned on the second of April, 1849, after a session of eightythree days.

In July, 1848, the legislature of Wisconsin elected M. Frank, Charles C. Jordan, and A; W. Randall, commissioners to collate and revise all the public acts of the State, of a general and permanent nature in force at the close of the session. Randall declining to act, Charles M. Baker was appointed by the governor in his place. The commissioners commenced their labors in August, 1848, and were engaged in the revision the greater part of the time until the close of the session of the legislature of 1849. It was found impossible for the revisers to conclude their labors within the time contemplated by the act authorizing their appointment; so a joint select committee of the two houses at their second session was appointed to assist in the work. The laws revised by this committee and by the commissioners, were submitted to, and approved by, the legislature. These laws, with a few passed by that body, which were introduced by individual members, formed the Revised Statutes of Wisconsin of 1849 - a volume of over nine hundred pages.

At the general election held in November of this year, Dewey was re-elected governor. S. W. Beall was elected lieutenant governor ; William A. Barstow, secretary of state ; Jairus C. Fairchild was re-elected treasurer ; S. Park Coon was elected attorney general ; and Eleazer Root, re-elected superintendent of public instruction. All these officers were chosen as democrats, except Root, who ran as an independent candidate, the term of his office having been changed so as to continue two years from the first day of January next succeeding his election. By the revised statutes of 1849, all State officers elected for a full term went into office on the first of January next succeeding their election.

The year 1849 developed in an increased ratio the productive capacity of the State in every -department of labor. The agriculturist, the artisan, the miner, reaped the well-earned reward of his honest labor. The commercial and manufacturing interests were extended in a manner highly creditable to the enterprise of the people. The educational interest of the State began to assume a more systematic organization. The tide of immigration suffered no decrease during the year. Within the limits of Wisconsin, the oppressed of other climes continued to find welcome and happy homes.

On the first day of January, 1850, Nelson Dewey took the oath of office, and quietly entered upon his duties as governor, for the second term. The third legislature convened on the ninth. Moses M. Strong was elected speaker of the assembly. Both houses had democratic majorities. Most of the business transacted was of a local character. By an act approved the fifth of February, the " January term " of the supreme court was changed to December. The legislature adjourned after a session of only thirty-four days. An act was passed organizing a sixth judicial circuit, from and after the first Monday in July, 1850, consisting of the counties of Crawford, Chippewa, Bad Axe, St. Croix and La Pointe, an election for judge to be holden on the same -day. Wiram Knovvlton was elected judge of that circuit.

The first charitable institution in Wisconsin, incorporated by the State, was the " Wisconsin Institute for the Education of the Blind." A school for that unfortunate class had been opened in Janesville, in the latter part of 1859, receiving its support from the citizens of that place and vicinity. By an act of the legislature, approved February 9, 1850, this school was taken under the care of the Institute, to continue and maintain it, at Janesville, and to qualify, as far as might be, the blind of the State for the enjoyment of the blessings of a free government; for obtainingthe means of subsistence ; and for the discharge of those duties, social and political, devolving upon American citizens. It has since been supported from the treasury of the State. On the seventh of October, 1850, it was opened for the reception of pupils, under the direction of a board of trustees, appointed by the governor. The Institute, at the present time, has three departments: in one is given instruction such as is usually taught in common schools; in another, musical training is imparted ; in a third, broom-making is taught to the boys, - sewings knitting and various kinds of fancy work to the girls, and seating cane-bottomed chairs to both, boys and girls. On the thirteenth of April, 1874, the building of the Institute was destroyed by fire. A new building has since been erected.

The taking of the census by the United States, this year, showed a population for Wisconsin of over three hundred and five thousand - the astonishing increase in two years of nearly ninetyfive thousand! In 1840, the population of Wisconsin Territory was only thirty thousand. This addition, in ten years, of two hundred and seventy-five thousand transcended all previous experience in the settlement of any portion of the New World, of the same extent of territory. It was the result of a steady and persistent flow of men and their families, seeking permanent homes in the young and rising State. Many were German, Scandinavian and Irish; but the larger proportion were, of course, from the Eastern and Middle States of the Union. The principal attractions of Wisconsin were the excellency and cheapness of its lands, its valuable mines of lead, its extensive forests of pine, and the unlimited water-power of its numerous streams.

By the Revised Statutes of 1849, Wisconsin was divided into three congressional districts - the second congressional apportionment - each of which was entitled to elect one representative in the congress of the United States. The counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Walworth and Racine constituted the first district; the counties of Rock, Green, La Fayette, Grant, Iowa, Dane, Sauk, Adams, Portage, Richland, Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix and La Pointe, the second district ; the counties of Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Brown, Winnebago, Calumet, Fond du Lac, Marquette, Columbia, Dodge and Jefferson, the third district. At the general election in the Autumn of this year, Charles Durkee, of the first district ; Benjamin C. Eastman, of the second ; and John B. Macy, of the third district, were elected to represent the State in the thirty-second congress of the United States. Durkee, it will be remembered, represented the same district in the previous congress : he ran the second time as an independent candidate. Eastman and Macy were elected upon democratic tickets. The General Government this year donated to the State all the swamp and overflowed lands within its boundaries.

The year 1850 to the agriculturist of Wisconsin was not one of unbounded prosperity,. owing to the partial failure of the wheat crop. In the other branches of agriculture there were fair returns. The State was visited during the year by cholera; not, however, to a very alarming extent.

The fourth session of the legislature of the State commenced on the 8th of January, 1851. Frederick W. Horn was elected speaker of the assembly. The majority in the legislature was democratic. Governor Dewey, in his message, referred to the death of the president of the United States, Zachary Taylor; said that the treasury and finances of the State were in a

Tyiscoxsix As A State. 5&

Found condition; and then adverted to many topics of interest and importance to the people of Wisconsin. It was an able document. One of the important measures of the session was the election of an United States senator, in the place of Henry Dodge, whose term of office would expire on the 4th of March, next ensuing. In joint convention of the legislature held on the 20th of January, Dodge was re-elected for a full term of six years. On the 22d, the governor approved a joint resolution of the legislature, rescinding not only so much of the joint resolu.. tion of the legislative assembly of Wisconsin, passed March 31, 1849, as censured Isaac J. Walker, but also the instructions in those resolutions relative to his resigning his seat in the senate of the United States,

Among the important bills passed at this session of the legislature was one providing for the location and erection of a State prison. Another one - the apportionment bill - was vetoed by the governor, and having been passed on the last day of the session, failed to become a law, The legislature adjourned on the eighteenth of March, 1851, after a session of seventy days.

On the ist day of January, 1851, Timothy O. Howe took his seat as one of the associate judges of the supreme court, he having been elected judge of the fourth circuit in place of Alex-, ander W. Stow. The office of chief justice of the supreme court, which had been filled by Judge Stow, therefore became vacant, and so remained until the commencement of the next term - June 18, 1851 - when Levi Hubbell, judge of the second circuit, was, by the judges present, pursuant to the statute, elected to that office.

By an act of the legislature approved March 14, 1851, the location and erection of a Stata prison for Wisconsin was provided 'for - the point afterward determined upon as a suitable place for its establishment being Waupun, Dodge county. By a subsequent act, the prison was declared to be the general penitentiary and prison of the State for the reformation as well as for the punishment of offenders, in which were to be confined, employed at hard labor, and governed as provided for by the legislature, all offenders who might be committed and sentenced according to law, to the punishment of solitary imprisonment, or imprisonment therein at hard labor. The organization and management of this the first reformatory and penal State institution in Wisconsin, commenced and has been continued in accordance with the demands of an advanced civilization and an enlightened humanity.

On the 29th of September, 1851, Judge Hubbell was re-elected for the full term of six years, as judge of the second judicial circuit, to commence January i, 1852.

At the general election in November, 1851, Leonard J. Farwell was chosen governor; Timothy Burns, lieutenant governor; Charles D. Robinson, secretary of State ; E. H, Janssen, State treasurer; E. Estabrook, attorney general; and Azel P. Ladd, superintendent of public instruction. All these officers were elected as democrats except Farwell, who ran as a whig ; his majority over D. A. J. Upham, democrat, was a little rising of five hundred.

Governor Farwell's administration commenced on the fifth day of January, 1852. Previous, to this - on the third day of the month - Edward V. Whiton was chosen by the judges of the supreme court, chief justice, to succeed Judge Hubbell. On the fourteenth of that month, the legislature assembled at Madison. This was the beginning of the fifth annual session. James McM. Shafter was elected speaker of the assembly. In the senate, the democrats had a majority ; in the assembly, the whigs. The governor, in his message, recommended the memorializing of congress to cause the agricultural lands within the State to be surveyed and brought into market; to cause, also, the mineral lands to be surveyed and geologically examined, and offered for sale; and to make liberal appropriations for the improvement of rivers and harbors. The question of " bank or no bank " having been submitted to the people in November previous.

History Ot Wisconsin

and decided in favor of banks, under the constitution, the power was thereby given to the legislature then in session to grant bank charters, or to pass a general banking law. Farwell recommended that necessary measures be taken to carry into effect this constitutional provision. A larger number of laws was passed at this session than at any previous one. By a provision of the constitution, the legislature was given power to provide by law, if they should think it expedient and necessary, for the organization of a separate supreme court, to consist of one chief justice and two associate justices, to be elected by the qualified electors of the State, at such time and in such manner as the legislature might provide. Under this authority, an act was passed at this session providing for the election of a chief justice and two associates, on the last Monday of the September following, to form a supreme court of the State, to supplant the old one, provision for the change being inserted in the constitution. There was also an act passed to apportion and district anew the members of the senate and assembly, by which the number Was increased from eighty-five to one hundred and seven : twenty-five for the senate ; eightytwo for the assembly. An act authorizing the business of banking passed the legislature and Was approved by the governor, on the 19th of April. By this law, the office of bank-comptroller was created - the officer to be first appointed by the governor, and to hold his office until the first Monday in January, 1854. At the general election in the Fall of 1853, and every two years thereafter, the office was to be filled by vote of the people. Governor Farwell afterward, on the 20th of November, appointed James S. Baker to that office. The legislature adjourned on the nineteenth of April, 1852.

The second charitable institution incorporated by the State was the " Wisconsin Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb." It was originally a private school for deaf mutes, near, and subsequently in, the village of Delavan, Walworth county. By an act of the legislature approved April 19, 1852, it was made the object and duty of the corporation to establish, continue and maintain this school for the education of the deaf and dumb, " at or near the village of Delavan, to qualify, as near as might be, that unfortunate class of persons for the enjoyment of the blessings of a free government, obtaining the means of subsistence, and the discharge of those duties, social and political, devolving upon American citizens." It has since been supported by annual appropriations made by the legislature. A complete organization of the school was effected in June, 1852, under the direction of a board of trustees appointed by the governor of the State. The institute has for its design the eJucation of such children of the as, on account of deafness, can not be instructed in common schools. Instruction is given by signs, by the manual alphabet, by written language, and to one class by articulation. Two trades are taught: cabinet-making and shoe-making.

During this year, considerable interest was manifested in the projecting of railroads. At the September election, E. V. Whiton was elected chief justice of the new supreme court and Samud Crawford and Abram D. Smith associate justices. Under the law, the chief justice was to serve a term of four years from the first day of June next ensuing; while the two associates were to cast lots - one to serve for six years, the other for two years, from June i, 1853. Crawford drew the short term - Smith the long term. At the subsequent general election for members to the thirty-third congress, Daniel Wells, Jr., was chosen from the first district , B. C. Eastman from the second.- and J. B. Macy from the third district. All were democrats. A democratic electoral ticket was chosen at the same time. The electors cast their votes for Pierce and Butler.

During 1852, the citizens of Wisconsin enjoyed unusual prosperity in the ample products and remuneration of their industry and enterprise. Abundant harvests and high markets; an increase in moneyed circulation, and the downward tendency of the rates of interest ; a prevailing confidence among business men and in business enterprises; a continual accession to the population of the State by immigration; the energetic prosecution of internal improvements "under the skillful management of companies ; the extension of permanent agricultural improvements ; and the rapid growth of the various cities and villages ; were among the encouraging prospects of the year.

The sixth session of the Wisconsin legislature commenced on the twelfth of January, 1853. On the twenty-sixth of the same month, William K. Wilson, of Milwaukee, preferred charges in the assembly against Levi Hubbell, judge of the second judicial circuit of the State, of divers acts of corruption and malfeasance in the discharge of the duties of his office. A resolution followed appointing a committee to report articles of impeachment, directing the members thereof to go to the senate and impeach Hubbell. Upon the trial of the judge before the senate, he was acquitted. An act was passed to provide for the election of a State prison commissioner by the legislature at that session - ^to hold his office until the first day of the ensuing January. The office was then to be filled by popular vote at the general election in November, 1853 - and afterwards biennially - the term of office to be two years from the first day of January next succeeding the election by the people. On the 28th of March, the legislature, in joint convention, elected John Taylor to that office. The legislature adjourned on the fourth day of April until the sixth of the following June, when it again met, and adjourned sine die on the thirteenth of July, both sessions aggregating one hundred and thirty-one days.

By an act of the legislature approved February 9, 1853, the "Wisconsin State Agricultural Society," which had been organized in March, 185 1, was incorporated, its object being to promote and improve the condition of agriculture, horticulture, and the mechanical, manufacturing and liousehold arts. It was soon after taken under the fostering care of the State by an appropriation made by the legislature, to be expended by the society in such manner as it might deem best calculated to promote the objects of its incorporation; State aid was continued down to the commencement of the rebellion. No help was extended during the war nor until 1873 ; since which time there has been realized annually from the State a sum commensurate with its most pressing needs. The society has published fifteen volumes of transactions and has held annually a State fair, except during the civil war. Besides these fairs, its most important work is the liolding annually, at the capital of the State, a convention for the promotion of agriculture generally. The meetings are largely participated in by men representing the educational and industrial interests of Wisconsin.

By an act of the legislature approved March 4, 1853, the "State Historical Society of Wisconsin" was incorporated - having been previously organized - the object being to collect, arrange and preserve in authentic form, a library of books, pamphlets, maps, charts, manuscripts, papers, paintings, statuary and other materials illustrative of the history of the State; to rescue from oblivion the memory of its early pioneers.- and to obtain and preserve narratives of their exploits, perils, and hardy adventures ; to exhibit faithfully the antiquities, the past and present condition, and resources of Wisconsin. The society was also authorized to take proper steps to promote the study of history by lectures, and to diff'use and publish information relating to the description and history of the State. The legislature soon after took the society under its fostering care by voting a respectable sum for its benefit. Liberal State aid has been continued to the present time. The society, besides collecting a library of historical books and pamphlets the largest in the West, has published seven volumes of collections and a catalogue of three volumes. Its rooms are in the capitol at Madison, and none of its property can be alienated without the consent of the State. It has a valuable collection of painted portraits and bound newspaper files; and in its cabinet are to be found many prehistoric relics.

Justice Crawford, for two years; Chief Justice Whiton, for four years, Associate Justice Smith for six years as previously mentioned. The first (June) term was held at Madison. La Fayette Kellogg was appointed and qualified as clerk. On the 21st of September, Timothy Burns, lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, died at La Crosse. As a testimonial of respect for the deceased the several State departments, in accordance with a proclamation of the governor, were closed for one day - October 3, 1853. In the Fall of this year, democrats, whigs and free-soilers, each called a convention to nominate candidates for the various State offices to be supported by them at the ensuing election in November. The successful ticket was, for governor, William A. Barstow ; for lieutenant governor, James T. Lewis , for secretary of State, Alexander T. Gray, for State treasurer, Edward H. Janssen ; for attorney general, George B. Smith ; for superintendent of public instruction, Hiram A. Wright; for State prison commissioner, A. W. Starks; and for bank comptroller, William M. Dennis. They were all democrats.

The year 1853 was, to the agriculturists of the State, one of prosperity. Every branch of industry prospered. The increase of commerce and manufactures more than realized the expectations of the most sanguine.

The legislature commenced its seventh regular session on the eleventh of January. Fred* erick W. Horn was elected speaker of the assembly. Both houses were democratic. The legislature adjourned on the 3d of April following, after a session of eighty-three days.

In the early part of March, a fugitive slave case greatly excited the people of Wisconsin.. A slave named Joshua Glover, belonging to B. S. Garland of Missouri, had escaped from his master and made his way to the vicinity of Racine. Garland, learning the whereabouts of his personal chattel, came to the State, obtained, on the 9th of March, 1854, from the judges of the district court of the United States for the district of Wisconsin, a warrant for the apprehension of Glover, which was put into the hands of the deputy marshal of the United States. Glover was secured and lodged in jail in Milwaukee. A number of persons afterward assembled and rescued the fugitive. Among those who took an active part in this proceeding was Sherman M. Booth, who was arrested therefor and committed by a United States commissioner, but was released from custody by Abram D. Smith, one of the associate justices of the supreme court of Wisconsin, upon a writ of habeas corpus. The record of the proceedings was thereupon taken to that court in full bench by a writ of certiorari to correct any error that might have been committed before the associate justice. At the June term, 1854, the justices held that Booth was entitled to be discharged, because the commitment set forth no cause for detention.

Booth was afterward indicted in the United States district court and a warrant issued for his arrest. He was again imprisoned; and a^ain he applied to the supreme court - then, in term time - for a writ of habeas corpus. This was in July, 1854. In his petition to the supremecourt. Booth set forth that he was in confinement upon a warrant issued by the district court of the United States and that the object of the imprisonment was to compel him to answer an indictment then pending against him therein. The supreme court of the State held that these facts showed that the district court of the United States had obtained jurisdiction of the case and that it was apparent that the indictment was for an offense of which the federal courts had exclusive jurisdiction. They could nut therefore interfere ; and his application for a discharge was denied.

Upon the indictment, Booth was tried and convicted, fined and imprisoned, for a violation of th", fugitive slave law. Again the prisoner applied to the supreme court of Wisconsin, - his last application bearing date January 26, 1855. He claimed discharge on the ground of the unconstitutionality of the law under which he had been indicted. The supreme court held that the indictment upon which he had been tried and convicted contained three counts, the first of which was to be considered as properly charging an offense within the act of congress of September 18, 1850, known as the "fugitive slave law," while the second and third counts did not set forth or charge an offense punishable by any statute of the United States ; and as, upon these lastmentioned counts he was found guilty and not upon the first, he must be discharged.

The action of the supreme court of Wisconsin in a second time discharging Booth, was afterward reversed by the supreme court of the United States ; and, its decision being respected by the State court. Booth was re-arrested in i860, and the sentence of the district court of the United States executed in part upon him, when he was pardoned by the president.