Liberty, Wisconsin

Tliat part of Vernon county known as the town of Liberty,i8situated in congressional township 12, range 3 west, and contains about twenty-four sections of land. It is bounded on the north by the town of Webster, on the east by Kichla;id county, on the south by the town of Kickapoo, and on the west by the town of Viroipia. This town is watered by the Kickapoo river and its braiiches,which flow in a southerly direction. In the eastern part of the town there is a very heavy growtii of timber, while in tin u-estern there are more prairie openings. On( of the striking features of the town is its numei ous springs which gush out from the sides o the high bluffs and rocky ridges, their water finally terminating in streams having sufficieM fall to give fine mil! power.

Passage source: History of Vernon County, Wisconsin .., published 1884.

Among what may be termed the early set tiers of the town of Liberty, are the following: G. W. Wise, Allen Rusk, George P. Martin, Jonas Groves, John R. Joseph, James Gilman, Samuel Graham, Samuel Fish, Stephen A. Fish, James Schoolery, James W. Hunter, John W. Church, Frederick Groves and Stanley Stout. The first settler was James Gilman, who settled on section .5, in 1853, where he lived for many years, and then moved to Viro(|ua, where he died.

Passage source: History of Vernon County, Wisconsin .., published 1884.

In December, 1S.52, Allen Rusk, then a resident of Lancaster, Grant county, hauled a load of merchandise to Liberty Pole, for Henry McCiulley, who kept a store at the latter phut . ACter delivering the goods, Mr. Rusk went to Virocjua to visit some of his old acquaintaMces who had settled there some time previous. While on this visit, accompanied by some of his friends, he started out to look up a location for his future home. They went east as far as the Kickapoo, then followed the stream down to the mouth of Bishop branch, and the latter stream back to Viroqua. Mr. Rusk did not select any particular piece of land at this time, but concluded that in the near future he would become a resident of the county. He then returned to Lancaster, and in October, 1853, removed his family to Viroqua. In the spring of 1 J54 he pre-empted the southeast quarter of section 10, town 12, range 3 west, of the iouith principal meridian and at once commenced improviiig the same but did not settle here until .\|iril, lsr)5. Allen Rusk is a brother of Gov. .1. M. Rusk, and was born in Perry Co., Ohio, on the 6th day of February, 1S25. When he u as three years of age, the family removed to Morgan county, where the subject of this sketch received a common school education, helped till the soil, and also worked at p'astering. Oct. 23, 1843, he married Mary Newton. She was born in Harrison Co., Va., Nov. 6, 1818. In IsjJ he emigrated to Lancaster, Grant Co., Wis., fidm whence he came to Vernon county, as above stated. Mr. Rusk is a man of considerable natural ability, and no sooner hail he scttiiMl in ihe county, than he was looked ui)on as a leading citizen. It was through his efforts that the territory in which he resides was set off from Viroijua, and organized as the town of Liberty. The n.ame was suggested by Mr. Rusk, and at the first election he was elected chairman of the town board and justice of the peace; he has since held various local offices, and for two terms represented his district in the Assembly. In liJ80 he took the census of the town of Liberty, and is at present postmaster at Liberty Thus it can be seen tliat he possesses the confidence of his fellow men and is highly esteemed, which is far more desirable than riches. In September, 1864, he enlisted in company I, 42d regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served until mustered out of service, participating in all the engagements of his regiment. He is a republican in politics, to which party he has adhered since its organization. The children are - Henry M., Hannah Jane, deceased ; Albert J., Jasper B., Jeremiah N. and Romulus A.

Passage source: History of Vernon County, Wisconsin .., published 1884.

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 Liberty Town - it names this place 16 more 16 times.