Twin Grove, Wisconsin

The villages of Jefferson are two - Juda, in the northeast corner, and Twin Grove, almost in the centre of the township. Jehu Chadwick entered, sold, and bought back again the land on which Juda is built, after which he sold several lots and gave lots for a cemeterv and Baptist church. The first building there was a log school house, called, for the old home of the settlers, the Pennsylvania school house. The first person buried in the cemetery was James Chadwick, who died in September, 1846. People who had moved their dead from farm to farm, as their own homes had changed, now brought the precious remains to the new cemetery; so that when, a few years later, the growth of the unexpected village necessitated the removal of the cemetery, some coffins were taken up for the third time. The church was b'uilt in 184S by the society which was organized by Elder Wm. Stilwell, September 19, 1840. This was the first Baptist society organized in the county, and it numbered thirteen members. Elder Stilwell lived in Illinois, but for four years preached to the society once in two months. As he was not willing to give up his other churches, and as .all were anxious to have preaching every week, Deacon Davis went to Pennsylvania in 1845, t° ^n<^ a minister. Elder G. R. Patton, who had charge of five churches, -was induced to give them up, sell his home, and come to Wisconsin. While he was selling his property Deacon Davis came home, and found that during his absence the people had engaged another minister, Elder Lewis. Deacon Davis remonstrated, but the desire to have Elder Lewis was by that time so great that remonstrance would have been in vain, had not the Elder himself been touched by the injustice to his brother minister., and refused to stay. Elder Patton arrived in October, 1845, and is still the pastor of the church. In 1S64 it was necessary to build a larger church. Since then, letters have been given to a great many who were going west, or who wanted to form other churches. The number of members is now two hundred and fifty-one. The first dwelling house in Juda was that of George Debolt, who built a dwelling and a blacksmith shop about the time the first church was built. The next comer -was Garrett Clawson, who built a wagon shop. The third dwelling was Edward Tenney's, and through his efforts a postoffice named Juda was established there in 1849. Soon after this, Robe'rt Hanna came from Pennsylvania, bringing with him a few groceries and dry goods, which he kept for sale in his house. A little village. Two hotels, kept respectively by Robert Hanna and John Overton, sprung into existence and into rivalry with each other; and when the coming of the railroad was foretold, Barney Taylor and John Overton platted the place as Springfield, a name now used only by lawyers and scribes, for, as the postoffice department refused to change the name of the office to Springfield, the people have refused to call the village anything but Juda. Soon after Springfield, or Juda, was platted, a number of enterprising business men were numbered among those interested in her improvement. Prominent among these were Messrs. Axtell, Sherman, J. C. Chadwick, and S. and D. Witmer, and few, if any, have done more to promote the welfare of the village than was done bv the gentleman last named. Being the only point of shipment in Jefferson - a town which has some of the best land, best farms, and best stock in the county - the growth of Juda is necessarily sure. The Judsean, a diminutive but spicy paper recently started by Witmer and Stair, will hereafter be likely to keep before the people of the surrounding country the good points of the village, chief among which are West & Reed's flour mill, Christian Karlen's American cheese factory (one of the largest in the state), the stores of Mess re. Byrne, Newman and Stair, and the large stock business of J. C. Chadwick.

Passage source: History of Green County, Wisconsin, published 1877.

The first voting place in Jefferson was the house of A. Sanborn, near Twin Grove, which is a village of two streets, where the neighboring farmers have their children started on the road to learning and their horses shod, where they hear the gospel Sundays, and get their mail and all the treasures of a country store on weekdays, and where the only butter factory in the county in which the churning is done by horse power may be seen. The factory belongs to J. M. Chadwick, and is under the direction of Robert Start.

Passage source: History of Green County, Wisconsin, published 1877.

The first house at the corners, as Twin Grove is sometimes called, was the house of Jonathan Hill, built about 1S45. It was a good place for a blacksmith shop, Jonathan Cabel, who made the second home there, kept a wagon and blacksmith shop. Among the farmers who lived near was Isaac Sanborn, who about 1850 started a pottery there, where jugs and crocks have since been made almost every year; and about the close of the war Harrison Clevenstein opened a store there. Since then there has always been one store there. Rightsell & Co., E. L. Walker, and George Wells have done a large business there. The postofhee at the corners was first christened Montezuma. It was then moved southwest and named successively Hope, Josephine, and Newkirk, with which name it went back to the village about 1S60. Not being very profitable it was discontinued for a time, and when it was established again it was named Twin Grove.

Passage source: History of Green County, Wisconsin, published 1877.

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 Jefferson Town - it names this place 4 more 4 times.