Avon, Wisconsin

The qtiestion of providing a court house was agitated about this time. A committee was appointed to inquire for the best terms on which they could negotiate a loan of $1,000, and report at the annual meeting. That in case such loan should be perfected, the amount so raised was to be appropriated to the erection of a court house, measuring 60x40 feet ground measure. What success attended the efforts to effect this loan is not known, as the records show no report from the committee. The next report that appears is one from a building committee composed of Albert Pinney, B. Funk, James Noble, H. F. Striker and George Schellenger. On their recommendation, Block 12, in the village of Avon, formerly Hamilton, town of Centre, was selected as the site of the future county seat; $2,000 were appropriated, and proposals invited for the work. The specifications of E. Weisen, the architect, called for a building 44x60 feet, with stone walls ; the foundation to be eight feet below the principal floor, the walls to be three feet thick in the clear, with two and one-half feet thickness above. The second story was to be twelve feet clear, with walls two feet thick, with arched ceiling. The work on the interior to be plain and of substantial build. The cornice pillars and outside wood-work were to be of the Doric style, with caps and bases. The work was to be completed November, 1,1851. G. W. Gates and W. L. Glidden's proposal to execute the work for $4,550, was accepted. The rumored change of the county seat provoked a tumult of angry passions in the breasts of those who had been instrumental in securing the prize for Shullsburg. Litigation was resorted to and a mandamus obtained to prevent further prosecution of the work. This act was the initiative in an internecine conflict that was waged long and energetically by the adherents who supported the respective claims of the rival town. In the height of the trouble. Rev. Mazzuchelli and Mr. Ryan donated Lot 10 in Shullsburg to the county for the erection thereon of a county court house and jail. The sum of $2,000 was appropriated in favor of this project. A building committee, composed of J. H. Earnest and J. W. Blackstone, reported back to the Board of Supervisors, declining to act in the premises, as the sum of $2,000 was insufficient, and only hampered their freedom of action. An additional sum of $2,000 was thereupon granted, conditioned on Shullsburg subscribing $1,500 for the establishment of the court house in their midst. The contractors were McKidney & Townshend, who turned over the first county edifice to the Board of Supervisors, on June 2, 1853. Insurance policies covering the building were accepted by the ^tna and Protection Insurance Companies, for a premium of one per cent.

Passage source: History of Lafayette County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources; an Extensive and Minute Sketch of Its Cities, Towns and Villages ... Its War Record, Biographical Sketches ... the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution, and of the Constitution of the United States, published 1881.

The deep dissatisfaction of Avon, which had been brewing in ominous quiet, found expression in 1855, when a resolution, passed at the Town Board, was presented to the Board of Supervisors at their November session. The resolution recommended that a bill be presented to the Legislature at its next session, to secure the passage of an act submitting the location of the county seat to the people. It was urged that the jail was worthless, and the court house needed constant repairs. It was also claimed that by removing to Avon, the geographical center of the county, the traveling expenses attendant on court terms would be diminished, thereby effecting a saving of the county funds. These resolutions may be assigned as a reason for the non-adoption of a report providing $200 for jail repairs.

Passage source: History of Lafayette County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources; an Extensive and Minute Sketch of Its Cities, Towns and Villages ... Its War Record, Biographical Sketches ... the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution, and of the Constitution of the United States, published 1881.

The vexed question was submitted to the people to decide on the 1st day of April, 1856. The total vote polled was 3,389, of which number 1,774 were in favor of removing to Avon ; 1,615 were opposed to the movement. The Board of Canvassers were Henry H. Ensign. M. Hollister, J. P., William W. Forbes, J. P. Conformable to this ruling, the county oSicers were transferred to Avon, or Center, where they were located in the old schoolhouse. The act of Legislature under which the voting was conducted, specified, as an express qualification, that each voter must have resided in the county for forty days. Strongly impressed with the illegality of this clause, in direct conflict with the liberal doctrines of the Constitution, James H. Knowlton appealed to the Supreme Court to settle the validity of the election. In an exhaustive treatise on the question, the Chief Justice delivered his judgment, declaring the election null and void. In rendering this decision. His Honor assumed, that, as the Legislative act prohibited persons from voting who were fully qualified by the Constitution, the act was unconstitutional. On January 6, 1857, it was moved, at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, that the District Attorney of La Fayette County be authorized to draw a petition to the Legislature for the vacation of the village plat of Avon, and that said village be annexed to Darlington, and that the county seat be removed to Darlington, from Shullsburg, providing that the county buildings be built from the proceeds of said property.

Passage source: History of Lafayette County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources; an Extensive and Minute Sketch of Its Cities, Towns and Villages ... Its War Record, Biographical Sketches ... the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution, and of the Constitution of the United States, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Darlington City - it names this place 11 more 11 times.