Angelo Town

Angelo Town

The story of the race between a man by the name of Searl and Dr. Seth Angle to the land office in ]\Iineral Point to locate the present site of the village of "Athens," in the town of Angelo, has already been told. Angle came out ahead by one hour and located the land upon Avhich the water poAver Avas situated and proceeded to erect a saAvmill, Avhich at that time AA'as the only one in this part of the country except the one erected by Esau Johnson in the southern part of the county, on the Kickapoo, and the lumber business Avas lively in those days at the doctor's mill, so much so that at times settlers Avere obliged to get in line and Avait for hours for their turn to get a load of lumber. Loyd Angle, a brother of Dr. S. P. Angle, also came about the same time, and in 1852, Avith his son, 0. F. Angle, settled on a farm located near the mill. 0. F. Angle some years later came to

Sparta and weut iuto the livery business and was elected sheriff of the county, serving one term. Dr. Angle, however, did not stay a great while in the sawndll business, but sold out to Edward Canfield, brother of Lee Canfield, Sr. Edward Canfield had one of those dreams which came to many enterprising settlers in the days of the early settlement, a dream which pictured a city on the site occupied by his mill and the two or three stores and dwellings of the then inhabitants of the village, and so he had a plat made of the land, streets and alleys regularly set out and dedicated, had the plat duly made by the county surveyor. Seeking to give it a name equal in fame with "Sparta," he called it "Athens," so those two famous cities of Greece find their namesakes in America, but history was not kind. Sparta became a city, but Athens still remained a country village, and its shadow gradually grew less from a business point of view, as in 1856 there were more stores there than there are now. It is a mistake made frecpiently and very commonly in alluding to Athens as "Angelo," but that is not correct, as the settlement retains upon the records to this day its original name and all conveyances of property in the so-called village are made under its name of Athens. Originally the village v\'as laid out in generous proportions. It had its public square, now occupied by a church; and its "State street," and to its credit be it said that at the time the county was organized this little group of settlers put up a very good fight to have the county seat located there. The plat of Athens was recorded in the offices of the register of deeds, May 13, 1856, made by C. C. Miller, the then county surveyor. Early settlers were numerous. Among them may be mentioned L. M. Huntley, who arrived in 1854, as did George Shepherd and John "W. Smith. In 1859 Rev. Robert Williams, a Welsh minister, settled in the town and established a Welsh church. His son, W. G. Williams, now prominent in banking circles, farmed it with his father as well as attended to his ministerial duties. The old Angelo water power is now the property of the 0. I. Newton's Sons Company and is used for furnishing power for the electric light and power plant, in connection with the power in the city of Sparta. Within the town are many valuable small fruit farms, many in a high state of cultivation, and this industry is a large source of revenue to its inhabitants. The present officers of the town are: J. W. Leverich, chairman; George Kronberg and Jenk AVilliams, supervisors; Wilber S. Fish, clerk; Fred Hutson, treasurer; Fred Heilman, assessor; E. T. Hanchett, justice. Population census of 1910, 666.