Waupaca County, Wisconsin - Chapter 21, 1890

Chapter 21

Tow:n^ of St. Lawrence - First Settlement in 1852 - Organized IN 1855 - Its Part in the "County Seat War" - A Correspondent's Account of the Gueat Indian Scare of 1862.

The Town of St. Lawrence comprises Township 23 north, Range 12 east. It is bounded on the north by the Town of Helvetia, on the east by Little Wolf, on the south by Waupaca, and on the west by Scandinavia.

The first postoffice was established in 1856, at Ogdensburg, with N. Livermore for postmaster. The mail was carried at first from Waupaca, by C. S. Ogden. O. E. Druetzer carried it a few weeks.

The first survey was that of the Government, in 1851, by J. Evans. In 1854, G. W. Taggart sur- ^e^'cd the plat of the Village of Ogdensburg.

'' The first election held in town (it then belonged to Scandinavia) was in Ogden's store at Ogdensbnrg, in the Fall of 1854. More than forty votes were polled . Charley Hoeffler was clerk of election . Most of the voters were Norwegians who could not talk English. As they gave their names, Charley would write them as they were pronounced. The clerk being a German, you can imagine how the names read. No one could tell whether such persons lived in town or not.

''The County seat question was before the house, acid we voted strong for the 'No.' We favored Weyauwega, and voted for her candidates. The representatives of Waupaca, who attended the election, were offended, raised a row, and were expelled from the room.

"The next year the people of Weyauwega thought they were strong enough without our help, so we voted for Waupaca. We turned over about every year, and whichever side we supported usually won. We forced both places to respect us.

" The first County convention at which St. Lawrence was represented was held at the Chandler school house. Robert Meiklejohn and Charles Hoeffler represented all of the northern portion of the County. They held leading trumps, and controlled the nomination.* Consequently, O. E.

Druetzer was nominated for Register of Deeds, and R. K. Meiklejohn for Sheriff, which nominations were not satisfactory^ to the voters of the County, and not sustained by them.

'^Ogdensburg was started with the expectation of getting the County seat there. So long as the fight between Waupaca and Wej^auwegaw^as kept up, we felt hopeful. We were compelled to help each place alternately, to keep them by the ears, each of those towns promising to go for us if it failed to get the prize for itself. Finally, Weyauwega failed, and gave up the fight.

"During the County seat fight. New London appeared upon the battle-field. She w^orked under the leadership of Reeder Smith, in building a plank road through the center of the Count^^ Smith selected James Meiklejohn and C. S. Ogden for his * bowsers,' and they worked with great zeal. Meiklejohn invested about $1,000 in that plank road. It proved too heavy a load, and w^as abandoned. It helped to settle the central part of the County more than anything else.

"After the County seat question w^as settled, and the plank road was given up, and during the first of the war, the Rebels, through their agents, nearly depopulated this part of the County. The Indians came in from the Northwest, about 300,000 of them, well armed, and equipped with all the aca jack, and can not give the definition of "trump" without consulting a dictionary ! J. W.

coutrements of war. They camped on an island in a large cedar swamp near Ogdensbnrg, under the command of General Slasher, a brevet-brigadier under Jefferson Davis. The news spread rapidly. The citizens turned out en masse. The women and children took possession of the old red mill. The men, with muskets and rifles, scouted the neighborhood. While out on a reconnoitring expedition, General Slasher fell in with three brave scouts, whOy with Spartan heroism, surrounded and captured him (the General being unarmed!) The brave scouts marched the General into town^ receiving the congratulations of their families and friends. They placed the General in a chamber of the HoefBer House, barricaded the door, and set a strong guard, with swords, pistols, and a bottle of whisky. Then they adjourned until the next morning.

"When they met in the morning to dispose of the prisoner, some were in favor of hanging him, as a spy ; some thought he should be shot, as a soldier; others, that he should be held as a prisoner of war. Before they had finished their business, a scout came in and informed them that the guard had fallen asleep, and that the prisoner had taken the road forW^aupaca at about a 2:40 gait.*

*It mttst not be inferred that our correspondent is a sporting character who understands the slang phrases of the turf! Some jockey has probably been posting him a little ! J, W.

"After the Escape of General Slasher, the alarm spread all over the State. Those who were able, left the Cotinty. Waupaca stationed armed men around the village to keep out the Indians. Ogdensburg sent out a scouting party. It found one Indian family, consisting of one old man, one woman, and three children, all badly frightened, who said there were no more Indians in the neighborhood. This, however, did not deceive the brave scouts, who were sure that there was a large Indian army in the vicinity. Reports to that effect reached Waupaca and Rural, which places in turn sent out scouts. These last reported that, about a mile an a half from Ogdensburg, they found four Indian families, who were so badly frightened that they dared not venture out of their wigwams, for fear of being shot. The people who had left the country soon returned.

" St. Lawrence formerly had the best conducted courts in the County. That was when S. M. Collier was Justice, D. A. Jones, Constable, and Joshua Goodale and C. S. Ogden, attorneys. Any case that they could not handle was not worth attention. The beauty of the thing was, they did not allow any outsiders to win a case ! "

Other towms in the County were ''scared," as w^ell as Ogdensburg and Waupaca. We were at New London one night during the panic. The news came there that "rebel emissaries " had stirred up the different Indian tribes, who had elevated the hatchet, and were within a few hours march of the doomed burg, thirsting for the blood of innocent women and defenceless children. All was bustle and confusion. During the night, trusty scouts were sent out. One of them returned towards morning with the startling intelligence that he had discovered an encampment of painted warriors, consisting of a few old men, women, children, dogs, and ponies - the two latter being decidedly in the majority.

But New London was spared. No chickens were startled on their roosts by the shrill v^hoops of the savage foe, and no ''red nigger" amused himself by pulling a white man's scalp on that eventful night. Thus passed the great "Indian Scare," and the historian has performed his task in duly recording the important event.

Village Of Ogdensburg

The Village of Ogdensburg, in Section 22, was platted in 1854, by Judge Ogden. It contains several stores, a grist mill, a hotel, and the variety

Town officers for 1889 : Chairman - K. B. Knutsen; Supervisors - John Moore, Samuel Petersen; Treasurer - W. A. Mallory; Clerk - E. E. Russell; Assessor - William Pray; Justices of the Peace - Charles Nichols, P. H. Peterson, Edward Lyons ; Constables - O. C. Hermansen, H. J. Pitcher, Charles Eastman.