Baraboo City (part 3 of 5)

The office was first located " under the hill," on the north side, near the present site of Mr. Kelsey's residence. Dr. Angle soon afterward built the house now occupied as a parsonage in connection witli the Catholic Ciiurch, and moved the post office thereto. In the spring of 1848, Eber W. ('nuidall was appointed to succeed Dr. Angle, and the new incumbent removed the office to the real-estate office of D. K. Noyes, "under the hill," where it remained until Mr. Noyes wearied of the duties thus imposed upon him in the absence of the Postmaster. The Colonel still has the twelve pigeon-holes which, over thirty years ago, accommodated all the mail matter that came to Baraboo. Before the expiration of Postmaster Crandall's term, he located the office in Tuttle & Munson's store, which stood near the present site of Fisher's drug store. Here it remained until I^. L. Purdy became Postmaster, who removed it to the corner of Second and Ash streets, Avithin a few feet of the spot where now stands the residence of J. C. Spencer. Mrs. Lucy F. Perkins, now of Sioux Falls, Iowa, was the successor of Mr. Purdy. She removed the office to the present residence of H. N. Souther, just east of the high school l)uil(rmg. There it remained until 1857, when James Buchanan, in pursuance of the Democratic doctrine, " to the victors belong the spoils," appointed James H. Wells to the office. Mr. Wells was or had been the editor of the Sauk County Democrat, and, being one of the " victors of l8i)(J," was tiius rewarded. Jle located the office in a small building opposite the present office of the Sauk Counti/ Republican. In 1859, T. J. Wood succeeded Mr. Wells, and he remained in the position until 1861. In the grand distribution of places that occurred early in this memorable year, the Baraboo Post Office prize was drawn by Samuel Hartley, It was he who erected the frame building that now serves as an office for the Republican, and fitted it up for a post office, placing therein 472 boxes and seventy-six drawers. In May, 1867, Col. D. K. Noyes succeeded to the position and has held it continuously to the present time. The Colonel has been assured by his Democratic friends that, as a reward for his faithful services, he will b^ permitted to enjoy an extended vacation after March 4, 1881. When Col. Noyes took charge of the affairs of the office, he purchased the building erected by Mr. Hartley, and remained in it until January, 1872, when, having previously built a substantial brick on the corner of Ash and Third streets, he removed the office thereto. The office has all the modern conveniences, including 200 Yale lock boxes, 392 glass boxes and eighty-three large drawers.

The office became a money-order office in 1867, the first order being issued to A. Lory, of Baraboo, in favor of Otis T. Garey, of Biddeford, Me., for $1, on the 0th of September of that year. The first week's business amounted to $130.25. Upward of 27,000 orders have been issued to date. D. W. K. Noyes has filled the position of Assistant Postmaster for the past five or six years.

Government

The original town of Baraboo did not include the present village of Baraboo, but comprised the territory now embraced in the towns of Lavalle, Winfield and Dellona, and the north half of the towns of Ironton, Reedsburg and Excelsior. The first election in the town thus bounded and described, occurred April 3, 1849, at the house of D. C. Reed, situated in what is now the village of Reedsburg. The town was subsequently divided, from time to time, until the name Baraboo was dropped entirely, so far as it related to the territory mentioned.

The village of Baraboo, until the winter of 1852, was located in the town of Brooklyn, which originally embraced within its limits the territory now comprising the towns of Delton, Fairfield, Greenfield, Baraboo, and parts of Freedom, Excelsior and Dellona, or about one-fifth the entire area of the county.

The first town meeting for the town of Brooklyn was held at the court house in the village of Baraboo on the 3d of April, 1849. F. C. Webster, William Babb and David Vanalstein were the Judges of Election, while D. K. Noyes and F. G. Stanley acted as Clerks. The ticket chosen was as follows: Supervisors, John B. Crawford (Chairman), Lyman Clark and Solomon Soule; Town Clerk, D. K. Noyes; Town Treasurer, William Griffith ; Assessor, A. A. Noyes ; Justices of the Peace, D. Vanalstein, R. H. Davis, W. H. Canfield and D. K. Noyes ; Superintendent of Common Schools, Harvey Canfield; Constables, E. W. Piper, F. C. Webster and

C. A. Clark. The town having been divided into thirteen road districts, the board at its first meeting appointed a Road Overseer for each district and apportioned the taxes of the town, which amounted to $473.30.

The next town meeting was held on the 2d of April, 1850, town officers being chosen as follows: Supervisors, Lyman Clark (Chairman), John Metcalf and Leonard Thomjjson ; Clerk,

D. K. Noyes ; Treasurer, Peter Folsom ; School Superintendent, John D. Perkins ; Justices, W. 11. Canfield and John D. Perkins ; Constables, C. A. Clark, James S. Badger and Joshua Delap ; Sealer of Weights and Measures, D. Munson. The new board came together on the day of their election and voted to raise $400 taxes to defray the expenses of the town for the

The following was the result of the spring election in 1851 : Supervisors, James B. Avery (Chairman), Harvey Canfield and Isaac Palmer ; Clerk, Joseph H. Waggoner ; Treasurer, J. D. Perkins ; Assessor, James A. Maxwell ; Superintendent, Josiah Dart ; Justices, R. H. Davis and Peter Cooper ; Constables, Royal C. Gould, L. Parrish and Samuel Hartley ; Sealer,

In 1852, the officers were : Supervisors, Bela Warner (Chairman), John Monroe and Jabish T. Clement; Clerk, Mark Shepard ; Assessor, M. C. Waite ; Treasurer, J. H. Pratt; Superintendent, Peter Conrad ; Justices, Isaac Palmer and A. B. Dearborn ; Constables, C. H. Mc- Laughlin, J. G. Wheeler, G. W. Tucker and R. T. Tinkham ; Sealer, James Dykins. .

IHMO - Piosi.lent, William S. Grubb ; Trustees - George Nicholson, W. Dower, J. Dykins, W. Stanley, Ira L. Humphrey and Frank Averv ; Clerk, R. B. Griggs ; Treasurer and Commissioner, E. 0. Ilolden; Police Justice, J. A. Dibble ; Justice of the Peace, T. C. Thomas; Supervisor, George Mertens; Poundmaster (appointed), F. N. Ross; Attorney (appointed), John Barker.

The Baraboo Whisky War

Thus sang the local poet. The cause that inspired his muse will perhaps be better understood if given in prose. It was in the spring of 1854. A resident of Baraboo, a hard drinker, but withal a good citizen, when not "in his cups," became an habitual patron of the "Brick Tavern " bar. His appetite for liquor led him to neglect his family, and finally resulted in his attempting to take the life of his wife. The neighbors of the unfortunate woman, knowing the facts, and very naturally deprecating the cause, had more than once beseechod the proprietor of the rummery to refuse liquor to those of his customers whose thirst for it led them to deeds of violence ; but their appeals, being in opposition to the successful pursuit of his nefarious business, were not heeded. The wife, acting under the impulse of her desperate situation, had also sought to arouse the blunted sympathies of the rum-seller by personal interviews in her own behalf; but all to no purpose. Death finally intervened, and the family of the poor inebriate saw the grave close about the form of the husband and father. In the meantime, the dispensation of intoxicating drink went on unmolested in all the ante-rooms of hell then flourishing in Baraboo.

Sympathy for the widow and orphans was very deep throughout the villnge, and a quiet though earnest determination to put an end to such sad and disgraceful affairs in future seemed to take possession of the better classes of citizens. Especially was this feeling noticeable among the ladies, who were naturally the first to a])preciate the situation of their grief-stricken sister. The painful subject furnished an excellent theme for the pulpit, and nearly all the ministers in the place referred to it in their discourses. The Sabbath succeeding the funeral, W. H. Thompson, Pastor of the Methodist Church, became particularly eloquent in denouncing the political system which permitted the sale of liquor, and said he wished " to God the thunderbolts of heaven would shiver the brick tavern and its contents, animate and inanimate." Lawyer Pratt, in private conversation a few days later, said he would like to see all the liquor in the village poured into the streets. In this expressed wish, a large number of the indignant citizens of Baraboo discovered a suggestion for summarily solving a difficult problem. At an impromptu

Gazette; the Rev. Father in charge of St. Mary's Church at Green Bay at the time of its bi-centennial celebration some years ago ; and Gen. Cobb and Hon. J. Allen Barber, Representatives in Contrress from this district. I have also conferred with and am indebted to several gentlemen connected with the press of the State and of Chicago, familiar with the early history of Wisconsin, certain of them translators from the French. That these latter gentlemen failed to hit upon the natural solution presented by Prof. Henry, is perhaps due, in part, to the fact that, with the main question, I submitted to them also all the theories which had been advanced in respect to the name, and that these theories had a tendency to mislead them.

Generally it was assumed by those whom I consulted, as it had been assumed in all instances to which their attention was called, that Baraboo was derived fijom a French surname. Other theories were advanced, but only to be finally rejected by those who made them. Aside from the name of the mythical old Frenchman, " Barabeau," to whom legend assigned a shanty at the mouth of the river in days prior to the settlement of the valley, a number of names of real personages give hints of the name Baraboo. The Barbou family were, perhaps, the most celebrated printers of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Jean Louis de la Bruyere Barbeau in 1759 published, under the title of Mappemonde Historique, an ingenious map, then entirely new, in which geography, chronology and history were simultaneously presented. Royer P. F. Barbault (pronounced Barbo), a native of St. Domingo, of African descent, took part with his countrymen in the insurrection of 1792, and was honored with a mission to France, where he afterward continued to reside. He was an author, an editor and lawyer of some repute, and held a place of importance in the French Bureau of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Tapley suggested the name of " Gen. de la Barre, Governor, resident at Montreal, of the French Possessions of the Northwest." There is no mention of a Governor de la Barre in the outline histories of Canada contained in Appleton's Encyclopedia or the Conversations Lexicon, though I find a reference to a Lieutenant General of that name who was in the French service in the latter part of the seventeenth and the commencement of the eighteenth century. There was also a Col. Isaac Barre (descendant of a French refugee) in the English service, a friend of Wolfe, and wounded at the siege of Quebec by the side of his chief, whose death he witnessed. He was one of the many to whom were attributed the letters of Junius, and of him it was said : " His name will always be connected with the history of America." I took no especial pains to assure myself as to the correctness of Mr. Tapley's citation, because, while the idea was in itself plausible enough that some one of the personages thus named - high in the French and English service in the early history of the Northwest, or in the French Bureau of Foreign Allairs, or in the invention of charts of the world, or in printing - should have held such relation to some one of the early explorers as that the name of the former should be bestowed by the latter upon one of his discoveries, still there is an inherent probability that a name thus conferred would have been recorded and perpetuated.

For this reason I was led to favor the theory that the name might have been derived from the name of some American oilicer of French descent and name, connected with some of the early army expeditions, or with the first garrisons at Fort Winnebago. This suggestion, together with others made in the premises, I made in my letter to Mr. Barber, referred to Prof. Henry. I record them here, realizing how far "out of the way " they are, especially when contrasted with Prof. Henry's solution of the (juestion, as a matter that may be of curiosity to some, and as showing tliat I have neither overlooked nor ignored any suggestion made to myself.

Recently, in a letter upon this subject, Hon. J. Allen Barber wrote to me: " Mr. Hoar, a gentleman versed in the 'curious in literature,' has expressed the opinion that Prof Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, if any one, can find out the facts in the case." Accordingly, my previous h>tt(M' to Mr. Barl)er was referred to Prof. Henry, and the following is his reply, rt'coiv(Ml through Mr. Barber. The letter (copied) is without date or signature, as below appended':

" I have received a communication from Mr. Hill, inquiring as to the origin of the term ' liaraboo ' given to the river, town and village in Sauk County, Wis. Of the history of the name

I know nothing. It is not impossible it is, as your correspondent suggests, a corruption of some French or English officer's surname ; but it seems to me much more probable that it came either from the French Barhue - cat-fish - a not uncommon designation of rivers and creeks by the early voyageurs; or from Barheau - carp, or sucker. What is now ' Putnam's Creek ' in Essex County, N. Y., running into Lake Champlain from the west, south of Crown Point, was Riviere a la Barhue of the French, and is so set down on M. de Levy's map of 1748, and in Pouchet's Memoir of the war of 1755-60. On Russell's map, 1783, Barbe R. [Riviere a la Barhue of Morse's Gazetteer, 1797), enters the lake from the northeast, 'forty miles W. N. W. from the extremity of Long Point in that lake.' A third R. a la Barhue is mentioned in the same gazetteer, and by Alcedo, and is laid down on the maps of the last century, flowing westerly into Lake Michigan - now known, I believe, as the (South) Black River, between Ottawa and Allegan Counties, Mich. ' Catfish River,' the outlet of Four Lakes in Dane Co., Wis., still retains that name. I might add other examples of streams bearing the French or English name of this fish. The transition from Barhue to Baraboo is easy, and Riviere a la Barhue comes to be Baraboo River, as naturally as Point aux Baies to point Abbaye, or Baie de la Bete grise to ' Bay Degrees,' or Baie des Noquets to ' Bay de Nock.'

"Though the French in America uniformly gave the na.me of harbue to the cat-fish [Pimelodus), all the French-English dictionaries into which I have looked, restrict it to a marine fish of the turbot and flounder family - the 'brill,' 'dab' or 'sandling.' This has occasioned some curious mistakes : For example, in the English translation of Labouton (London, 1703, Vol. I, p. 246), where the great cat-fish of the western rivers are described as ' lake dabs or sandlings.' Occasionally, too, translators confound harhue into harheau (carp or sucker). The latter was described by Sagard, in 1631, under its Huron name, Binehataon, as somewhat resembling the Barheau of Europe. There are two or three of these ' Carp Rivers ' entering Lake Superior from Northern Michigan, and ' Point Barbeau ' is named in Foster and Whitney's Report (Part 2, p. 395) as an important fishing station on Lake Michigan. It would be nearly as easy to make Baraboo from Barheau as from Barbae - if the river, on examination, proves to be richer in suckers than in catfish."

Referring to French and Eni^lish dictionaries for the term Barheau, in like manner as Prof. Henry has referred for the term Barhue, I find that it is synonymous with Barbel, which applies, not only to a particular kind of fish, but (vide Webster), to " the small vermiform process appended to the mouths of certain fishes." The barbel proper (or barheau) is described as " a large, coarse, fresh-water fish found in European waters, having several barbs or beard-like feelers pendant from its leathery, sucker-like mouth, which give it its name. It grows to the length of three feet, and attains to a weight of from eighteen to twenty pounds." Old Izaak Walton speaks of "the barbel, so called by reason of his barbs or wattles." Barhue has a like signification. Fish of the turbot family are unlike the cat-fish, in that the former are round, flat, with small heads, while the cat-fish is large-headed, long and tapering. I infer that the terms barhue and barheau or barbel were applied by the French voyageurs to the fishes of American waters, not from any resemblance in their form to the European barbae or barheau, but from their having the same head-like feelers pendant from their mouths. It would follow that within this category should be included the sturgeon, our native variety of which, as well in respect to its barbs, its sucker-like mouth, its general form and coarse flesh, bears a resemblance to the ?>arbeau or barbel ^YO^QV. The sucker has no wattles. I place the more stress upon this distinction that, while the Baraboo is rich in suckers and cat-fish (the former being the most numerous), we have in a reminiscence of Baraboo's earliest settler, Mr. Archibahl Barker, a very remarkable account of a shoal of sturgeons encountered by him in running, in the spring of 1841, the first raft which left the Baraboo. Mr. Barker says :

" In Company with Ed Kingsley, going down [the Lower Baraboo Rapids], each on a crib, I halloaed to him to look - that somebody seemed to have made a dam of stones across the river. As we approached we saw it was the backs and tails of fishes. We were soon among them, and found they were sturgeons. I killed three with my handspike. In jumping into the

Musical

Baraboo has been musically inclined for a number of years. Dr. Charles Cowles might be termed, with propriety, the father of music in this and other parts of Sauk County. He taught singing-school in this village and neighborhood some twenty years, and many of those who might now be termed " old singers," received their first lesson from him. Since his retirement from the position of "singing master," several have attempted to till his place, but have signally failed. On the 10th of June, 1867, after a musical convention held by Prof. H. R. Palmer, an association known as the " Sauk County Musical Society," was formed, who adopted a constitution and by-laws, elected Rev. Mr. Rossiter, President, D. D. Doane, Secretary, and 0. W. Fox, Conductor. This being a new experiment, it did not long survive, for we find by the records of the association that it did not exist subsequent to May 20, 1868.

The next attempt at a musical organization we find to have been made after a convention held in the Congregational Church on July 18, 1872. This organization was known as " The Baraboo Musical Union," with D. D. Doane, President, William Butler Secretary, and J. Hawes, Conductor. This association, like its predecessor, was of short duration, and gave up the ghost after running a few months. Two failures, following so close together, was rather discouraging to associated musical eftbrts, but after a few years the desire again found expression through Mrs. D. S. Vittum, who invited the singers of Baraboo to her house on the evening of October 23, 1878, for the purpose of organizing a musical society. This association was organized under the name of the "Baraboo Choral Society," and, after effecting an organization by electing J. J. Gattiker, President, A. C. Tuttle, Secretary, and J. Hawes, Conductor, continued to meet at the residence of Mrs. Vittum until a suitable place for weekly rehearsals could be procured. This society is still in existence, having met in diff"erent places, but is now meeting on Tuesday evening of each week, in Gattiker's new, block, in the room occupied by the Ladies' Art Society.

Baraboo can boast of one unoryanized musical fraternity, which meets at the residence of J. J. Gattiker on Monday evening of each week. This gathering of the lovers of good music was set on foot by Mr. J. Hawes, in the year 1871, for the purpose of cultivating a taste for a higher order of instrumental music. With few exceptions, on each Monday evening can be heard overtures, duets, solos, etc., by the old masters ; and all musicians who visit Baraboo, always find a welcome at this hospitable home ; also the lovers of good music, whether performers or listeners.

Temperance

The cause of temperance has found many advocates and stanch friends in Baraboo. As early as 1843, an organization known as the Washington Temperance Society was perfected here. It enjoyed quite a long and useful existence. Solomon Shafer will be remembered as one of the leaders. In 1850, this society was supplanted by the " Sons of Temperance," and " the Sons " in turn by the " Good Templars." The different Christian ministers of course took a deep interest in the success of all these movements, and materially aided them by picturing from the j)ulpit the evils of intemperance and the good results of total abstinence. Elder Cochran was particularly vehement in this regard. The agitation finally, in 1854, led to a wholsome uncorkin of jugs and breaking of bottles by a large number of stalwart temperance women. The Good Templar and other organizations have been constantly at work ever since emphasizing the vigorous work of their predecessors of 1854. In regard to the individuals who, in more recent times, have kepi the importance of the work before the public, it would be impossible to particularize; the attempt to do so, indeed, would be invidious. All classes of citizens have manifested their feelings in this regard. And, as a result, the sight of a drunken man on the streets of Baraboo is an unusual thing ; where thirty and even twenty years ago, it was not uncommon to encounter half a dozen in an evening's walk. This is not alone true of Baraboo ; the writer finds the same condition of things to have existed in other parts of the State. If this salutary change can be attributed to the efforts of temperance workers, there is indeed cause for congratulation.

Esthetic And Social Life

While the various institutions pertaining to the growth and prosperity of Baraboo are being discussed, it behooves the historian not to forget or overlook the social and aesthetic side of life here ; for, nationally and provincially, it may be truly said that the condition of the home life, with its various social and aesthetic relations, is as certainly an evidence of the real intelligence, purity and power of a people, as aught else.

The social and aesthetic life of Baraboo can claim marked excellence when contrasted with that which exists in many other communities of equal age, opportunity and consequent experience. It -is, in fact, far above the general average existing at large, and has been so, as far as the better evidences prove, for many years. What element or class deserves the greatest distinction or credit for building up and continually promoting this condition, it is not easy to decide ; as there seems to be almost a balance of the forces for good between male and female here, and because the prevailing sentiments, liberal and conservative, or religiously orthodox and radically heterodox, appear to be pretty equally divided throughout society. But, considering the particular means by which the social and iosthetic life here expresses itself, in the form of working clubs or organizations, especially, conducted by the women of every shade of opinion, thus united it can be said that they are justly entitled, as a class, to the most praise. These organizations, although having in some respects special and different methods of working, are all devoted to the same general objects, viz., the cultivation of a liberal and high social status, and the dissemination and acquisition of knowledge upon all matters pertaining to the »sthetic culture in vogue and demanded as a part of our civilization.

Thf Ohl HcHperinns. - Probably the first literary and debating society organized here under a name, where essay reading or intellectual contest and disquisitions on " realization or anticipation " were indulged in, was the Hesperian Club of ''auld lang syne." The society was formed during the time the old Academy and Collegiate Institute were running, before the w^ar, some time in the latter part of the " '50*8," and was in its day a flourishing affair, and a power among the young folks. It probably received its name from the old legend of the sisters Hesperides, that reside in the west, where the sun goes down, and that were connected with heaven and earth, and were great singers ; and, taken all in all, were an unusually excellent set of girls, " so the story goes." The society collected books and established a library, 'some of the old books of which are still here in possession of the public school. After running a number of years, the Hesperian Club, it is to be regretted, went up, where all good things are wont to go. May its shade rest in peace in the garden of the Hesperides, soothed to rest by the sweet refrains of the fairy sisters, its patron saints, and content in the memory of past well doing.

The Croose Club. - About seventeen years ago, while the great rebellion was at its height, a few of the leading women of Baraboo united in forming a reading circle, believing that they had a right to, and should pay attention to what was going on in the world of science, the arts, and philosophy, as well as to the duties of housekeeping. The first steps taken in this direction by the little band of pioneers, bound upon exploring the world of aesthetics, supplied a capital theme for the sportive remarks of a few of the masculine wiseacres and wits of the place, who denominated the " reading circle " the " Goose Club ;" and, as the children were permitted to go to the club meetings, they, it was allowed, were the goslings ; the general conclusion being that they all met to gabble, and consequently would not last long.

The first meeting of the reading circle was held in the schoolroom of Miss Nethaway, a select-school teacher, and since that time they have met regularly every Saturday evening at the same place. They have no constitution or special mode of procedure, the meetings always being conducted in an entirely informal manner. The matter for reading is furnished at will by the members, and has been since the commencement; and almost everything under the light of the sun has been read about at these meetings, and perhaps discussed. As for gossiping, it was never done ; for if that sort of thing had been indulged in it is safe to say the Goose Club would have ceased to float long ago ; and further, it is presumptuous and ungenerous to suppose that these women had no higher aim than the indulgence of such a puerile diversion as talking about themselves and neighbors alone.

One of the social habits of the Goose Club, followed from the first, has been the giving of annual dinner parties, each of the ladies taking turns as hostess at these fetes. At such times, of course, the ganders are invited ; and it may be easily believed that they are nothing loath to come and enliven these festive occasions with their sublime cackle.

The first members were the Rev. Mrs. Codding, Mrs. Dr. Slye, Miss Eva Slye, Mrs. Judge Remington, Mrs. J. G. Train, Mrs. Freeman Longly, Miss Nethaway and Mrs. Norman Stewart. There have been acquisitions to the membership at various times, and withdrawals as well. Of the original members, five only are now left, but the institution still exists, and is a credit to its founders and the village.

Literary Club of '76 - So called from having been established in the winter of '76. This club was the successor of the Hesperians, being devoted to similar objects, and being made up of both sexes. The organization meeting was held at R. H. Strong's, the members being the representative voung folks of the town. Much enthusiasm was manifested at starting out, and a determination expressed to raise funds and revive the old library and establish a free readingroom. Subsequentlv, the meetings were held at different private residences until September of 1877, when the society had, by giving lectures, readings, dramatic plays, concerts, etc, and by personal contribution, accumulated about $175. Then they decided to open a reading-room, and did so, making public announcement in the papers to that effect. The reading-room was supplied with periodicals and books contributed by various parties for library purposes in connection with the old books of the Hesperian library. It was kept open about a year; then, as but few of the business men encouraged and aided the enterprise, it was closed, although it had been well patronized. The books contributed were returned to their former owners, and so ended the second library enterprise.

Industrial Art Association. - Fine art, as relates especially to painting, drawing, etc., had but few real working representatives, or even patrons, here ten years ago ; but now nearly every house is adorned by landscapes and various sketches in oil and crayon work, besides other artistic embellishments too numerous to mention, a majority of these productions being the work of those living here. This change is doubtless due, in large measure, to the influence exerted upon the taste of the people by a resident artist, a Miss Maclure, who has been located here some seven or eight years. She has been engaged almost exclusively in the work of teaching painting and drawing since being here, and has been very largely patronized by young and old. In this connection it is but fair to state, in honor of this woman's influence and work, that she is a conscientious artist of superior abilities, having made Art the work of her life, and having kept up with the improvement of the times. At different intervals, various and special teachers have been here, and have always met with encouragement when there has been any real merit exhibited. The organization, the name of which heads this article, and which is really the slow outgrowth of the work of years, held its first meeting Feb. 25, 1880, at the house of George Mertens, and was attended by a large number of the prominent ladies and gentlemen of the place. After discussing what arts should be studied, the meeting proceeded to organize and elect officers. J. L. Claude was elected President ; Mrs. F. Longly, Vice President ; Miss Minnie Drown, Secretary. Subsequently, a constitution was drawn up and submitted by a committee, and indorsed by the society. Article 2 of which says : " The general objects and purposes of said association are the cultivation of the principles of art, and their application to industrial pursuits ; the receiving of gifts, trusts and loans; and the having and maintaining such suitable establishment, and using of suitable means, as the association may be able to acquire."

The association has a suitable room provided for their us^e, where they hold meetings, receptions and art fairs. Their regular meetings are convened once a month, and at these times everything pertaining to art, useful as well as ornamental, or for domestic or general use, whether in the realm of architecture, sculpture, painting, or the making of laces and doing fancy work, is open for discussion.

Tlte Womdns Club. - This club was organized April 23, 1880, by the following ladies as members: Sarah Powers, Adelo Cook, Addie Donavan, Lizzie Woodman, Ida P. Roberts, Emma Train, Sarah Spence, Fanny Holz, Mary Donavan, Lucy Case and Emma P. Scott. Officers : Lizzie Woodman, President; Fanny Holz, Vice President; Lucy Case, Secretary. The above union was entered into by the ladies that they might better and more freely and kindly interchange thought and experience, and thereby become more mutually helpful to each other and society than they could be individually and alone. According to their constitution, the objects are " to strengthen the feeling of sympathy and fellowship among women, independently of social distinctions, and outside of the natural and proper affiliations of personal friendships, or any existing organizations ; and to discuss without personalities such theoretical and practical (jucstions as relate to the well-being of home and society ; and also to extend our knowledge and broaden our culture by such reading and study as we shall deem best adapted to our needs. The meetings of the club occur semi-monthly. Before it lies a broad field to be explored, and may they long continue in the course they have blocked out,

Thr DorcKK Soriefi/. - Many years ago, a Dorcas Society of elderly ladies was operating here, and under their direction what was called the "Little Dorcas Society " was set afoot, and met as ciiildrcn, but, as the years slipped by and the little misses grew to womanhood, the older ladies withdrew leaving the Little Dorcases now mistresses of the field. It is almost needless to mention the fact that this is a benevolent society, devoted almost solely to relieving the wants of the sick and afflictcMJ, whoever they may be in the community. Words of praise given to such an institution as this, and s(j begun, can but feebly express the admiration which every riglit-mindcd person must feel for the noble and constant work of this society. Long may it exist, and may each member rear children to grow into another. They give suppers, theatricals and various entertairunents to raise money, and many a dollar do they raise for the suff'ering ones. Last year they raised about ^200.'

Miujazine CJuh. - There are now three magazine clubs here that operate on the inter-exchangeable system, each member of the clubs taking some periodical which is in turn changed for others, with the various members, until at last it comes home well read if not worn. This is a most excellent idea, and materially reduces the expense of the best of reading, while it stimulates each one to read and keep up with the times and neighbors.

There was a literary society of a social nature formed here during the past winter, which met in the parlors of the Presbyterian Church. And in all probability these meetings will be resumed next season.

The Quintecem Cluh - Organized in the latter part of 1879. The club is composed of fifteen members, as is indicated by its name, and has for its purpose the social enjoyment of its founders and the entertainment of their visiting friends. The members are A. H, Noyes, D. E.. Morgan, Frank Strong, R. E. Noyes, Jacob Van Orden, George Rockwell, Fred Lang, Dr. W. H. Vittum, Walter Richards, Mark Warren, Lee Bohn, Ward Monroe, Will Warner, Cyrus Brown, and Frank Eldridge. They have a nicely appointed club room in Post Office Block, The floor is covered with a durable canvass, and the ceiling hung with gilt and black chandeliers, while in one end of the room stands a handsome piano and in the other a Monarch billiard table. Then there are chess, checkers and card tables, comfortable chairs and sofas, and all the appurtenances to a gentleman's club-room, the entire outfit rivaling similar institutions in the great cities. Each of the members is a host, and all are gentlemen, whom to meet is a pleasure.

Hunting Clubs. - Baraboo is the home of the members of three sporting clubs - the Grampus Club, consisting of Charles H. Davis, J. W. Davis, Thomas Thompson, William Thomas, E. Blakesleeand Benjamin G. Paddock; the Skillet Creek Club, consisting of N. C. Kirk, George Mertens, Norman Stewart, A. L. Slye, T. D. Lang, C. A. Swineford, W. S. Grubb and John Hull; and the Owl Club, consisting of Joseph Hawes, Sr., D. D. Doane, A. L. Slye, and T. D. Lang. These clubs make extended excursions into the game and fish regions of this and other Western States, and were never known to return with empty game-bags.

The " Cardifi" Giant " controversy, instead of subsiding like a collapsed humbug, is growing wai'mer and more mysterious. Below we give the Chicago Tribune s version of the creation of " Old Cardiff"," which, if true, would seem to settle the question, and cause people to laugh loudly at one of the best-planned and most successful humbugs ever perpetrated, outrivaling the Mermaid, Joyce Heth or any of the rest of Barnum's best. On the other hand, we have before us a copy of the Onondaga (Syracuse) Standard, of February 2. containing ten affidavits and a copy of about as many freight bills, showing that the big iron-bound box which the Tribune assumes to have contained the gypsum giant, really contained tobacco manufacturing machinery of George Hull, our former townsman, })acked with unmanufactured tobacco ; and showing as straight a tracer as ever lawyer or railroad man could desire for conviction, that the said mysterious iron-bound ton-and-a-half box was conveyed to a point on the Black River Canal, south of Rerason, Oneida County, and there opened in presence of Orson Davis, a reputable affiant, and that its contents were tobacco machinery and tobacco, as aforesaid, and that said contents were then transferred to a canalboat in waiting. The supposition, on a review of this theory, is, that George Hull was smuggling his wares away from seizure by the revenue officers, he having been "confiscated" and proceeded against at Bingharaton some weeks previous for having defrauded the Government. While the erudite, keen, scrutinizing Syracuse detectives are out affidaviting their Chicago cotemporaries, we, an unpretending countryman, well acquainted with George Hull, will suggest to them the way they were fooled, as follows : The box which they traced from Chicago to Black River Canal was not the box that started, but got duplicated by a box of similar dimensions, somewhere in the region of Cardiff; and while the giant statue was being buried one night on Newell's farm, George Hull's machinery, boxed at the place of somebody in league with him, was trundled right along to the Black River Canal for the very purpose of

*From the first number of the Saut Couti<y HeraW, founded and edited by J. 0. ("Shanghao ") Chandler, and dated February 9, 1870- Introducing the article, " Shanghae " said : " We refuse to apologize for devoting bo much space to Old Cardiff. He is our meat ! Aud Bara. boo is much interested " having this same tracer follow it as the same box which left Chicago. The head or heads cunning enough to originate the giant hoax are certainly shrewd enough to mystify a people by just such a trick as this. The Tribune says : ...

" In an article on the ' Cardiff Giant,' published in the Tribune about two months since, it was asserted that the ' ancient individual ' was made in Chicago. There was sufficient ground for making the assertion at that time, but the evidence necessary to prove it could not be obtained. It was known to exist, however, but those who possessed the facts were unwilling to divulc^e them, fearing that they might in some way compromise their reputations as honest men. They°rcad the opinions given by learned scientists as to the antiquity of the piece of gypsum, and laughed in their sleeves. They could not understand how people could be so easily humbugged.'' This cannot be wondered at, because they were workers in marble and could not tell whether the statue had been cut out by a workman or not. The majority of those who were present when the ' last one of an extinct race ' was unearthed, did not know whether it was stone or a petrifaction. Hence the excitement which followed, and the interest taken in the * giant ' is, in a measure, excusable. The opinion of an eminent sculptor of New York, who was called upon by the finder (?) to examine it, was not regarded, for the reason that he maintained that it had been chiseled out. Such a thing was impossible, they said. He did not know anything. The learned scientists - gentlemen who have devoted years of study to unravel the secrets of antiquity - were next called upon. They confirmed the statement of the unlearned rustics, and said it was really a petrified man. There were some men who were incredulous, and these endeavored to explode the theories advanced by the said scientists, but, as they were in the minority, they were unsuccessful. Every story started by them was circulated throughout the country, and so were the refutations made by those pecuniarily interested in the 'giant.' The latter individuals had the best of it, and many thousands of people in the country to-day firmly believe the Cardiff Giant is really a petrifaction, and that he, thousands of years ago, walked, talked, ate and slept. To prove that this is not true is the purpose of this article. The few men who were aware of the circumstances connected with the making of the image, have furnished the information. Their names are suppressed, but if the gentlemen now exhibiting the swindle to the people of the East want them, and the affidavit of the man who cut the figure out, they can be satisfied upon application.

"In the latter part of June, 1868, two men, one of them at present a large owner in the giant, arrived in Chicago. They had some time considered the feasibility of inaugurating a humbug, and had determined upon having something ancient - a statue so old that it would cause wonder and create such an excitement that before it subsided their pockets would be full, and tlieir object accomplished. The work of cutting out the statue would have to be done secretly, and none but a man who could remain quiet was competent to do it. They searched for some time, and finally met a German who had been in this country about four years, then in the employ of a well-known sculptor of this city. He agreed to do the work for $75, down. A block of gypsum, twelve feet long, three feet wide and eighteen inches thick, was procured from Fort Dodge, Iowa, and placed in a gentleman's barn near Lincoln Park, on the North Side. The owner of the structure was let into the secret, as was another, an assistant to the German. These were the only persons, beside the two men mentioned, who knew anything of it. Even the three did not know what was to be done with it when it was completed. In the latter part of July, the two cominencod the work of chiseling. In consequence of the thinness of the stone, about a foot and a half was taken off' one end of the block, in order to have a better proportioned man. A model was necessary, so one of the men who made the arrangements - Hull by name - who is liimself a giant in size, with sufficient intellect to humbug the learned savans and wise men of the East, stripped and chose the peculiar position to suit the twisted and unfavorable position of the stone. The artist then inquired what was to be made, and was instructed to make anything - a monkey, a baboon, or something that would represent a man. So, without questioning the motives of his employers, he set to work. There was no necessity for his leaving the barn for a drink when employed, as plenty of beer was supplied him. At the close of the eighteenth day the figure was nearly completed. He did not work at it steadily every day, but whenever he got an opportunity during the daylight, also at night. His employers then came to look at it, but what was their surprise when they found that the artist had given the figure any quantity of hair. There were ringlets dangling from the head, long beard and patches on other parts of the body. Hull said that would never do - hair would not petrify. The German was puzzled, and knew not what they meant, but removed the hair at their request. In two days more the work was pronounced done by the artist, and his employers, after examining it, expressed themselves as satisfied. Now to make it look old. A gallon of strong acid was procured and put on him. It ate into the soft material, producing spongy-looking cavities. A quantity of English ink was then applied, and this had the effect of giving the giant the appearance of venerable age. The next step was packing him in a box. During the next week the box was carted to the Michigan Southern Railroad depot. It remained there for so long a time that the owners were notified to take it away, as it occupied so much room and could not be moved to make space for goods received and delivering. It was subsequently removed and placed aboard a schooner, which sailed for some Eastern lake port. The next heard of it was being unearthed on a farm in New York State, and an announcement of its antiquity. What has been done with it since, the public well know, and therefore repetition is unnecessary.

" The artist, who is a very modest man, and whose name is yet unknown to fame, does not consider this his best effort. This is evidenced by a remark he made when told that it was a very poor piece of workmanship. 'Veil,' said he, 'they hurried me like doonder - any baker could make so goot a tings out of dough.' He further said, in view of these hard times, that he would be willing to take orders for duplicates from the admirers of antiquity and petrifaction at the same price, provided that the ten-acre quarry at Fort Dodge, which was purchased by Hull & Company to get the stone to make the giant, is not already exhausted by parties seeking specimens of this now celebrated stone for their cabinets.

" If the owners of the giant who perpetrated the joke on the savans, and a goodly portion of the people of the country, find that their swindle is in any way interfered with by this expose, let them secure the services of some influential newspaper, and some more affidavits and opinions of the wiseacres of science, and they may be able to sell some more stock in their enterprise. If they do this, as stated before, the names of men in this community - honest, responsible men, who are now acquainted with all the circumstances - will be given, backed by their affidavits, and conclusive proof will be brought forward to show the Cardiff" Giant to be one of the greatest humbugs ever gotten up in this country."

Dear Sir - Has the man Hull alluded to in the inclosed slip ever lived in your town ? He is said to have figured there as a manufacturer or dealer in tobacco, or both.

In reply to the above very polite note, Dr. Westcott, of Syracuse, is informed as follows George Hull came to Baraboo in the spring of 1867, from Binghamton, N. Y., he said. He leased a shelly kind of a building, of the value of about $400, perhaps, and entered in on the manufacture of cigars, employing a couple of workers, and being associated with certain others as peddlers of his wares. His chief delight, socially, was to expound infidelity, bet on Seymour's election, and advocate New York Democracy generally. Flis peddle-wagon movements were as mysterious, circuitous and nocturnal as characterized the four-horse teams toting " Old Cardiff"." Consignments of cigars and tobacco sent to him from east and west, were known to have been deposited in unreasonable and unseemly places.

In the latter part of August fwe think), of the same year, at about midnight, one night, the " cigar- factory," which stood aloof from other buildings, was discovered in a roaring blaze, from sill to rafter, and from end to end ; and nothing was saved from the fire. Meanwhile, George Hull was away, on one of his peddle-wagons. Next morning it was ascertained that there had recently been insurance on the stock, amounting to about $12,000 ; and many people said, "Nigger in that fence!" And so thought the insurance companies; for out of all his insurance, we are credibly informed that he settled, or compromised, or was allowed to ' slide,' on receipt of less than $1,000, after much blustering about heavy lawsuits, following the companies to Federal Courts, etc.

His family, we think, returned to Binghamton, the spring or summer following, and our community mostly supposed he was with them ; and the next heard of him by this public was that he was a brother-in-law or relative of the Newell who exhumed the petrified giant near the hamlet of Cardiff, twelve miles from Syracuse; and our villagers, who knew George well, all said : " George Hull holds a good share of the trumps in that game I" And after it was ascertained that, although ostensibly having no pecuniary interest in "mummied relics of a race of giants," yet he had been known to receive a loan of $9,600 from Newell, and there's not a man who knew him here who could be made to believe that he ever intended to pay a cent of it.

Since our community have all come to be interested in George Hull as a very wily fortunemaker, whose name will go down to posterity famed as a humbugger whose genius Barnum may covet, it is natural that his peculiar traits of character and uncommon conduct should be closely scrutinized. A prominent official of this city, who is known to have been on terms of intimacy with him, has divulged the fact that Baraboo came near being decided upon as the scene of the wonders of petrifaction. Near our village, on every hand, are some of the most remarkable Indian mounds found anywhere. Half a mile below the village, are several scores of the largest and highest of these conical tumuli that we ever saw - and we have seen many thousands. One of the largest of these, a little isolated from the main group, on a slight elevation, near Judge Remington's house, George Hull selected, one Sunday, as a receptacle of a petrified - something; he hadn't decided whether to chuck in a graven Indian, or gorilla, or mongrel rhinoceros crossed with a hippopotamus. " 'Twill se^Z fifty times as well as any cigars I can make!" declared George. But circumstances changed his field of operations.

This incipient idea, not bad, indeed, for a " sell," grew in George Hull's mind, until it assumed the proportions of the Cardiff" giant, which was born of George Hull's wily brain, and has made the scientific men of the East as big a butt of ridicule as ever were taken in and done for.

We have before us a photograph of the Giant, taken by Gott, of Syracuse. He hath a high intellectual head with a phiz and expression resembling Bishop Simpson full as much as George Hull. His right hand, open, rests on the abdomen, the left behind. Our District Attorney has recognized a perfect type of that of one of our most prominent citizens in the ponderous proportions of another prominent feature, and openly charges him with being in complicity with Hull and standing with him for the model. The knees are a little cocked or bent, while the feet and toes are atwist and look as though "Old Cardiff"" was laid out after he had got cold. Though not a graceful form, it is well conceived for an idea of petrifaction. Length of body, 10 feet, 4.^ inches, weight 2,090 pounds. We gaze on it some as we should on the image of gold, 0(1 cubits high, which Nebuchadnezzar set up in the plain of Dura; and feel about as much like taking stock in it as Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego felt like^falling down to that fellow.

Wo know by the peculiar twinkle in the small, keen blue eyes of George Hull's cranium that he would not scruple to humbug the world, nor any part thereof. The first time we made his ac([uaintance, those eyes looked right at us, and seemed to peer into us, and pry, and gimlet, and cork-screw their way clear down into the innermost recesses of our soul. And his giant sixfoot-three form, with his broad shoulders, and full but not obese person, straight as a glass bottle; with about one whisker per s<iuare barley-corn on his round face, and his ever-sleek hair, made him a very remarkable-appearing person indeed. And yet how little we thought, when we punched amateur billiards with him, and discussed politics and the merits of cigars of his own manufacture with him, and stage-coached on the same seat with him, and 'glistened to his ingenious theological dissertations - little we thought, we repeat, that our companion was so soon to surmount the tip-top round of Fame's ladder, apply his thumb to his nasal organ, and, taking a sight o'er his digits, defiantly pipe to a world of Science, History, Literature and Finance, the mellifluous tune of " tweedle, deedle, dee!"

We have in our day seen crowned heads and princes, and mighty potentates ; we have seen the Japanese embassay ; have shak'en hands with live Presidents, and in solemn awe beheld dead ones in their sarcophagi ; we have seen Daniel Webster eat, and smelt his breath after he had drank, and saw him lying in state at Marshfield ; we have seen Gen. Scott a-hossback and Lola Montez in swimming ; we have seen Henry Ward Beecher with a bile on his nose, and Tom Hyer, and George Hyer, and John C. Heenan ; and Blondin lugging a cook-stove on a rope across Niagara's yawning chasm ; we have seen a wax statue of the crucifixion in the largest cathedral in America, and heard Barnum lecture on Temperance, and gazed at Pat Wildrick when he couldn't wipe his nose ; we saw Andy Johnson swing around the circle, and met the Black Hoss Cavalry ; but insignificant on the tablet of our recollection shall be all these, when we consider that George Hull, with the ingenuity adequate to dupe, diddle, defraud and gull a whole continent, did nevertheless once lend us a dollar ! George, come back now and we'll pay you ?

idea of the proper use of gypsum, but we warrant you a special prayer, if we have to pray it ourself. No Connecticut town ever waxed prouder of being the home of Barnum, than will Baraboo of having been the home of Hull. We'll erect a grand triumphal arch, on which shall be and Joe Davis be your charioteer as you are drawn through it in a chariot formed of the Hull of Sam Hartley's steamboat, while the band plays Hull's Victory, and the procession shall Hull and eat peanuts, and the boys play no games but Hull-gull ! Hull shall be the watchword ; Hull the password ; Hull the countersign ; and the parole shall be Hull. We'll have the almightiest Hull-ibulloo in the Hull world ; and after you're gone there'll be more children named Hull than there were after you left t'other time - or if there are not there ought to be ?

George, we cry unto you again : '' Come ! Stand not on the order of your coming, but come. You little imagine how much more you'd be lionized here now than you were in days of yore ; and if you'd only strip and strike that twistified attitude you assumed for the Teutonic chiseler (for you to chisel the world by means whereof), why -

[The "giant" was shipped from Chicago to Dnion, New York, and from there taken in the night by four-horse team to Newell's farm, in the town of Cardiff. There it was buried in Newell's barnyard, and when it was considered "ripe," Mr. Newell employed some men to dig a well, selecting the spot where the " giant" lay. When the workmen came upon it and reported the fact, the excitement in that community can well be imagined. Of course Hull and Newell were present, fully prepared to be greatly astonished. The well was abandoned, the giant being removed to the barn and placed on exhibition. Thousands and thousands of people visited and paid $1 each to look at it. When curiosity began to wane, a stock company was organized and the giant was disposed of to speculators at the small figure of $100 per share, Hull and Newell disposing of their interests. The last heard of the Cardiff giant it was in New York

City. Hull subsequently turned his attention to the manufacture of a stone giant, and running short of funds, enlisted the patronage of P. T. Barnum, who was furnishing the necessary funds to complete it, when a former employe of Hull in the cigar business threatened to expose the fraud unless he was paid $10,000. This amount not being forthcoming, he did expose it, and the scheme was abandoned. Hull is now living near Binghamton, N. Y., engaged in raising tobacco. He is as poor as a church mouse. - Ed,]

The Home Of The Dead

The first death of a white person in the Baraboo Valley is said to have been that of Dr. John Morrison, a resident of Jeiferson County. Dr. Morrison was one of a commission of three appointed to locate the seat of justice of Sauk County, and while in this official capacity, being in W. H. Canfield's "sugar bush," he was stricken with apoplexy and died suddenly on the night of March 15, 1844. The body was taken to the home of the deceased for burial. The next death was that of Fred Blabern, who was drowned in the river, below the Lower Narrows, during the July (1844) flood, which proved so disastrous to mills and dams throughout the country. The body was not recovered. In 1845, a man named Birdwell, employed by George and William Brown in constructing their dam, met his death by the caving of an embankment. His is believed to have been the first burial of a white person in these parts. William Brown thinks the body was interred in an old Indian burying-ground northwest of the village, on what is now the Ruggles place. The next death within the memory of the oldest settler was that of Wallace Rowan, one of the very earliest of early pioneers, who went to sleep on a little knoll near his rude abode, not far from the grave of the unfortunate individual who lost his life in the treacherous cave. Mr. Rowan died in the winter of 1845 or spring of 1846, leaving a large family. One of his daughters, the wife of James La Mar, now resides in the town of Fairfield. She was born in Platteville, Grant County, as early as 1830, and is probably the oldest living woman born in Wisconsin.

In 1847, a part of Block 20, of the village of Adams, was set aside for burial purposes, and the body of George W. Brown, who was accidentally killed by the falling of a mill timber Decern- ' ber 15, 1847, was the first buried in this plat.

A year or two later, the Baptist Church purchased of Ira S. Angell the northeast quarter of the southwest (juarter of Section 35 for burial purposes. Mr. Angell's mother, a member of this church, who died about this time, was buried in these grounds - the first interment made in them. Her name being Mercy, the new cemetery took the name of Mount Mercy. It is a lovely spot, overlooking the Baraboo Bluffs and valley for many miles on either hand. Quite a number of the pioneers of Baraboo, of both sexes, were laid away on Mount Mercy when their earthly pilgrimage liad closed. But the advance of civilization and progress soon caused their remains to be disturbed.

In 1855, the Baraboo Cemetery Association was organized; ground was purchased of John B. Crawford, in Section 26, and the bodies previously deposited in the three burying-grounds already mentioned were disinterred and removed to the new plat. The first Trustees of the Baraboo Cemetery Association were R. G. Camp, Ransom Jones, Irwin Grain, Thomas English, Edward Sumner, John B. Crawford and Benjamin L. Purdy, Mr. Camp being President, Mr. Purdy, Secretary, and Mr. Jones, Treasurer. Five of the ten acres of land purchased of Mr. Crawford were surveyed by Josiah Dart, and laid out in burial-lot form. Mr. Crawford received 3400 for his land, |^200 cash, and the balance at the end of a year with 12 per cent interest. There seems to have been some misunderstanding concerning the transfer of title from lots in Mount Mercy Cemetery to the new grounds, as will appear from the following resolution, which appears on the records of the new association, dated September 12, 1855 :

Rftolvrd, That this (issociation accept no nioro certificates from Mount Mercy Association, and fill out no deeds to persons claiming lots in the same, until said association indemnify this association for lots thus deeded, or make an assignment (if their grounds to this association.

The difficulties were soon settled, however, and the bodies then lying in Mount Mercy ground were removed to the new plat. The receipts from the sale of lots, during the first year of the new association's existence, amounted to $373, but a very small portion of it being paid in. In the meantime, the ladies of the village had held a fair for the benefit of the association, the proceeds amounting to $88.75. The remaining five acres (the north division) of the original plat have been improved, and, in the spring of 1879, an additional ten acres were purchased of Mr. Crawford for $500. The present officers of the association are T. Thomas, President; W. S. Grubb, Treasurer ; Louis Wild, Secretary,

Catholic Cemetery. - In 1872, the Catholic Church of Baraboo purchased four acres of land, situated on the Kilbourn road, and laid it out for the purposes of a cemetery. The first interment therein was that of the body of the Rev. Mr. Coghlan, who died while in charge of the parish. The cemetery belongs to, and is entirely under, the management of the church.

Olla Podrida

Archibald Barker was the first white man who came to Sauk County with the intention of settling. He is now a resident of the town of Baraboo.

The first bridge built across the river was at a point where the present bridge crosses on the street leading to the depot. It was constructed, in 1846, of rough round logs, and was what is known as a " crib bridge."

In 1859, William Crawford and James Crawford, Jr., while fishing below the lower dam, caught a sturgeon which weighed 113| pounds, and was six feet long. A discussion of the merits of this "catch " among old settlers brought out some pretty tough fish stories, one by Archibald Barker, who says that, in 1842, while running the first raft of lumber ever taken down the Baraboo, he saw in the stream, at a point just below the Lower Narrows, a very large school of sturgeon plowing along, their backs being out of water. They had, apparently, formed a line reaching from one bank to the other, and Mr. Barker says, when he first discovered them, he thought some one had dammed the river. He killed three very large ones with a hand-spike, and, while in the water trying to secure them, he was knocked down by others fully as large as those he had killed. While upon the subject of fish, it may be well to state that P. A. Bassett caught the first eel ever taken from the Baraboo River by any of the early white settlers.

Thomas Fullerton preached the first sermon in the Baraboo Valley, at the house of Mrs. Valentia B. Hill, in the winter of 1842. Mrs. Hill was the first person baptized in these parts, and her son, Ichabod B. Hill, was the first white child born in the same region ; the latter event occurred January 9, 1842.

The first rat ever seen in Baraboo was found in Mrs. Garrison's store, which stood on the corner just east of the Sumner House, in 1858. The old lady called upon some of the boys, Levi Crouch among the rest, to kill the rodent, which they did, with neatness and dispatch.

It was a Baraboo Constable who, acting under instructions from the Sheriff, levied upon some swine to satisfy a judgment, and, upon reporting the fact to the court, said : " I have seized the hogs and have them in vaj procession."

The first village plat made of any part of the Baraboo Valley was that of Lyons, located just west of the present village of Baraboo. It was recorded in April, 1846, and it was confidently believed by those interested that this spot was especially designed by nature for the future metropolis of Sauk County. James Webster built a hotel here in 1843, having become a resident the year previous. Mr. Webster^^died in 1853. Alexander Crawford came in 1844, and erected a house near Webster's. He also kept hotel, and accommodated travelers and newcomers ; Mr. Crawford departed this life in 1870. Thomas Morehead came in 1850. In this year a school was established in Lyons, which is now in School District No. 6. Diligent search and inquiry have failed to unearth the early records of this institution of learning. George Holah, one of the school officers, has furnished documents showing the names of those who have taught school in the district from 1867 to 1876, as follows : Francis Avery, L. M. Park, Delia Odell, Samuel F. Beede, Hannah Holah, Lina A. Flanders, Belle M. Flanders, J. M. Savage, Mrs. A. B. Savage, Mary Perigo, Jennie Dodd, Robert B. Crandall, William Barker, Prof. J. S. Kimball, Bertie Van Sice, Belle Remington, Emma J. Jones, F. T. Twist, G. A. Pabodie, W. B. Sprague, R. DeT. Evans, George A. Gross, Nellie Bacon and R. R. Remington, Jr.

Mr. Holah came to Lyons in 1856 : J. P. Atwood, Robert Lot, and J. W. Aldrich date their settlement early in the fifties. Lyons succumbed to the inevitable, and gave way to the more rapid growth of Baraboo, of which it is now a very lively suburb. It is to Baraboo what Brooklyn is to New York, and, occupying this position, it must be a consolation to its citizens to know that their village may some day receive the surplus population of Baraboo. The location is all that could be asked. With the more thorough improvement of its water-power privileges will doubtless come additional population, and with the latter - well, Lyons, as one of the wards of the city of Baraboo, would be in a position " not to be sneezed at."

Manchester

The first claim made to any part of the land comprised in the Baraboo Valley was at a point on the river known in eai'ly times as the " foot of the rapids." It was here, as has been shown in the first part of this chapter, that Eben Peck, in the face of Indian opposition, and amid the surrounding solitude of a wild and unsettled country, determined to make his home, and soon afterward carried out that determination. The history of the water-power and the manufacturing interests of this point has already been given. In May, 1850, a village survey was made here, the field-notes of that survey as they appear in the Register's office being as follows :

" This certifies that I have surveyed for Walter P. Flanders a town plat, called Manchester, situated on the northeast (juarter of Section 1, Town 11, Range 6, with lots, blocks, streets and alleys. All full lots are 66x132 feet; the streets are 6Q feet wide, except that on the south side, which is 33 feet ; all alleys are 16| feet wide. At the northwest corner of the public square a stone is planted, which is 10 inches long, 10 wide and 5 thick, from which a white oak, 18 inches in diameter, bears south 37°, and east 91 links distant; and a white oak, 12 inches in diameter, bears north 29i°, and east 72 links distant. The southwest corner of Block No. 5 is 71 links northeast of a post in the center of said section, from which a white oak, 10 inches in diameter, bears north 24°, and east 85 links distant. Fractional Blocks 1, 2 and 3, lying west of Front street, are in Brier and Maxwell's Addition."

The foregoing was signed by Peter Folsom, Jr., Deputy Surveyor, and E. P. Spencer, Register of Deeds, and acknowledged before John D. Perkins, Justice of the Peace. The plat covered the entire «iuarter-section described, and in its time was among the most noted paper villages on record ; though in reality there were a few mills and dwellings to mark the spot. Ill fact, the place has by no means been lost sight of, but as a village it will probably never prove a success. Edmund P>rcwster will doubtless do his share toward rejuvenating it ; and should the movement now on foot to establish a watch factory there result fiivorably, Manchester will at least hold its own with the pretentious little village of Lyons, which in early days competed for supremacy with Baraboo, and was distanced.

in Co. G, 2d W. V. I ; was discharged July. 1862, and he then enlisted, Jan. 19, 1864, as a recruit to Co. E, 23d W. V. I ; was taken sick and sent to the hospital at New Orleans, and died March 81, 1864, and his mother died the same day at her home in the village of Poynette, Columbia Co., Wis. M. Bentley, the subject of this sketch, enlisted Dec. 24, 18G8, in Co. K, 10th N. Y.* Heavy Artillery, and served about six months, and was discharged on acount of disability. Mr. William R. Bentley, his only brother, was in Co. (1, 2d W. V. I., and was killed at Antietam.' He was married, Oct. 27, 1858, to Miss Susan A. Booth; she was born in New York ; had five children - Alice R., Charles V., Frank R., Addie B., deceased, and Clara A. His wife died Aug. 27, 1867 ; he married the second time, April 18, 1868, to Mrs. Jennie Jenks ; have one child, Ernest R. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bentley are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; he is a Republican.

Jf:KO:VIE BEXTOX (son of G. W. and Sophrone Van Curan Benton) ; farmer. Sec. 11 ; P. O. Baraboo ; came to Wisconsin with his parents about 1859 ; owns 40 acres of land one and a half miles from the village of Baraboo ; born Sept. 19, 1853, in Erie, Penn. He married Ulrica Matthias, daughter of Peter and Mrs. Matthias, June 29, 1875, in Baraboo, Sauk Co.; had one child, who died Aug. 29, 1877. Father and mother of Mr. Benton are living in the town of Sumter, engaged in farming. Father of Mrs. Benton is living in the town of Ableman's, engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Benton belong to the Free- Will Baptist Church.

WILLIAM B. BliACHLY, born April 10, 1844, at Weathersfield, village of Niles, Trumbull Co., Ohio ; moved to Dane Co., Wis., with his parents in 1850. At the age of 20, he enlisted in Co. D, 4Gth W. V. r., and remained until the close of the war; at the age of 27, he commenced to learn the trade of blacksmith ; in 1873, he commenced work for the Chicago & North- Western Railroad Company in the town of Baraboo, where he is at the present time. He was married, in 1872, to Miss A. J. White. In politics. Republican.

MARVIN" BLAKE, farmer; P. O. Baraboo; was born in Oswego Co., N. Y., May 5, 1814; at the age of 11, he went with his uncle to Vermont, and lived there till he was of age ; then returned to New York. He was married Feb. 14, 1838, to Miss Lucy Brown ; she was born in Clinton Co., N. Y.; they moved to Whitewater, Wis., Nov. 5, 1843; he landed in Baraboo Aug. 11, 1844, with his fomily ; he owns 50 acres of land near the village ; they are the first family that settled in the village of Baraboo ; he assisted in building the first dam that was built in the village ; they have one child, Chauncey M., who is married and .settled in Baraboo. Both Mr. and Mrs. Blake are members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he is a Republican.

CwEORCirE BLOOM, boot and shoe store, and dealer in hides, pelts and furs, on Bridge street ; he was born Nov. 2, 1824, at county of Wurzburg, State of Bavaria ; came to America April 28, 1851, and located at Pittsburgh Nov. 11, 1855 ; he landed in Baraboo and started the shoe business in 1863; went on a farm, and on Aug. 17, 1864, enlisted in Co. D, 9th W. V. I., and served about one year. He was married, Dec. 18, 1861, to Miss Catherine Wild; she was born in Prussia, on the River Rhine ; they have four children - Robert G., Henry F., Edward K. and George F. ; tlie second son, Henay F., commenced work as fireman in July, 1879, and intends to fit himself for an engineer. In politics, Mr. Bloom is a Democrat.

A. D. BREWER, fireman; born at Koshkonong, Jeffer.son Co., Wis., July 3, 1859; came to Baraboo in May, 1875 ; commenced work for the Chicago & North-Western Railroad Company in 1879, where he is still employed.

H. C. BROWN, engineer on the Chicago & North-Western Railroad ; born in Windham Co.,Vt., Feb. 28, 1848 ; commenced railroading, in 1869, as fireman ; took an engine in 1873, and has been running on the road ever since. In politics. Republican.

BR. S. O. BROW^NE, physician and surgeon; his practice is homa'0])athic ; he was born in Sullivan Co., N. H., Sept. 23, 1821 ; he studied medicine and commenced practice in 1850, in Ware, Mass., and in 1868 came to Dunn Co., Wis., and in 1873 to Sauk Co. He was married, May 1, 1844, to Hattie Whipple, and she died Sept. 18, 1847 ; he was married the second time, June 5, 1850. to Miss Mary M. Whipple; she was born in Worcester, Mass., Aug. 4, 1826; they have two children - Hattie M., born in Springfield, Mass., Dec. 14, 1858, and Mary E., born in Sutton, Mass., July 25, 1862. The Doctor and his wife are members of the M. E. Church.

WILLIAM BROWN, attorney at law; b..rn in Franklin Co., N. Y., July 27, 1823 ; he came to Wisconsin Sept. 14, 1842, and located in Walworth Co. ; was there about two years; he moved to Baraboo in July, 1844, and has lived in the county ever since, with the exception of about two years; he entered the first piece of land that was entered this side of the Bluff, which embraces the water-power now owned by Mr. Strong ; he and his brother built a saw-mill on the place, and his brother built a gristmill, being the first one built in the county ; Mr. Brown has been engaged in the practice of law for about twenty-three years. He was married, in 1856, to Nancy A. Wyraan ; she was born in Maine; she died Feb. 22, 1858; he was married the second time, Nov. 19, 1877, to Mrs. Mary A. Merriam ; she was born in Jefferson Co., N. Y. Mr. Brown, in politics, is a Bepublican.

DAXIEL Bl^HHEYER, proprietor of cigar factory; he was born in Cologne, Germany June 14, 1840; came to America in 1853 with his parents, and to Baraboo in 1878; the business was established by his brother about 1875. He was married, Aug. 25, 1864, to Miss Mary Delany, and she was born in Illinois; they have four children, viz., Minnie, Carrie, Willie and Mamie, In politics, Mr. Buhmeyer is a Republican.

W. H. BURNHAiVI (deceased; ; born in New York City March 17, 1818 ; he was a graduate of Berkshire Medical College; he was in practice for about forty years; he moved to Baraboo in 1865, and commenced practice ; he was taken sick the same year, and had to give it up ; he traveled some and engaged in other branches of business ; he was Professor for two terms in one of the medical colleges in New York City, where he had located in 1869; he died Oct. 28, 1879. He was married, Feb. 10, 1854, to Mrs. C. A. M. Smith ; they have one child - C. W. H. ; Mrs. Burnham has one child living by her former husband, J. F. Smith ; Mrs. Dr. Burnham is engaged in manufacturing and sale of the Triumph Truss, also the retention and cure of hernia.

WIL.LIAM W. Bl'RDICK, of the firm of Cbamberlin & Burdick, contractors and builders, Baraboo; was born in Clinton Co., N. Y., Nov. 6, 1825; he came to Baraboo May 25, 1852, with his family. He was married, April 25, 1850, to Miss Evaline C. Myers, daughter of Christian IMycrs ; she was born in Clinton Co., N. Y.; they have two children - George W. and Carrie M. Mr. Burdick, in religion, is a Liberal ; in politics, he is a Republican. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church.

LYMAx\ BLTTERFIELD, farmer. Sec. Ki; P. 0. Baraboo; son of Lyman and Tilda (Hooper J Butterfield ; born March 24, 1828, in Syracuse, Onondaga Co., N. Y.; came to Wisconsin Dec. 5, 1878, and located in Baraboo, Sauk Co. He was a member of Co. I, 13th 111. V. I.; mustered in June, 1861, discharged about July, 1862, on account of disability ; he participated in the battle of Pea Ridge, the fight at Wilson's Creek, and all other battles fought by his company while with them. Mr. Butterfield's father's family consisted of four boys and four girls ; one sister of Mr. Butterfield is married to Jacob Hunt, with whom Mr. Butterfield lives; they have had two children - one died in the spring of 1875, the other is still living. Mr. Butterfield has been an active member of the Good Templars and Sons of Temperance for some years. He owns 40 acres of land.

liEVI CAHOOX, farmer, Sec. 9; P. 0. Baraboo; son of Wilbur and Tirza (Moore) Cahoon ; born June 2, 1834, in Avon, Lorain Co., Ohio; came to Wisconsin July, 1865, located in Delona, Sauk Co., and remained there two years; located where he now resides in the fall of 1867. He was married in Baraboo, Sept. 17, 1865, to Willie A., daughter of William and Ann Eliza (Eaton) Wells ; they have five children - Wells, Wilber, Lee, Paul and Roger. Mr. Cahoon has held the offices of Town Clerk and Supervisor, Dictrict Clerk, Treasurer and School Director. Mrs. Cahoon belongs to the Baptist Church. Mr. Cahoon is a member of the A., F. & A. M. Lodge. He owns 173 acres of land, three and a half miles from the village of Baraboo.

JAMES CAj?IP, farmer; P. O. Baraboo ; son of John and f]liza (Jones) Camp ; born near the city of Hamilton, Canada West; came to Wisconsin in A|)ril, 1854; went to Canada in April, 1855; returned shortly afterward, and after being occupied in various parts of the county, and serving in the army, located where ho now resides in 1871. He enlisted, Sept. 21, 1861, in Co. E, Pith W. V. I.; was in the siege of Vicksburg, and at the second battle of Corinth, July 21, 1864; was wuunded in the arm in front of Atlanta; the result of this wound was the resection of a portion of the bone four inches in, length; although his arm was not amputated, yet it has troubled him very much ; he is now managing a farm ; he was mustered out of the servrce Sept. 20. 1864, having lain in Harvey Hospital, at Madison, Wis., awaiting the result of his wound. He married Mary Ann (Vook-Camp, daughter of John and Mary (Holden) Crook and, widow of Nathaniel Camp; they had four children - Almira, Katy J., Martha V. and Emma ; before marrying James Camj), Mr,-^. Cainji had two children, their father being Nathaniel J. Camp; these were Mary K. and Nathaniel J. Mr. Cauip owns 14t) acres of land, and resides on a beautiful farm of 100 acres near the village of Baraboo. He has held the offices of Town Treasurer, District Treasurer and Director for a number of years.

IttEORGE CAPEXER, contractor and builder; boru in London, England, July 29, 1829; came to America with his parents in 183G ; they located in New York City May 11, 1850 ; he landed in Baraboo, where he has been enijaged most of the time at his trade; he has built most of the churches, and a large number of the principal buildings in the town. lie was married, Nov. U, 1849, to Miss Harriet J. Dunn ; she was born in Mcadville, Penn.; they had four children, all born in Baraboo, Wis. - Emma J., Sarah A., Wm. A. and Geo. D. Mrs. Capener died June 18, 18G5. He married the second time, Sept, 2, 18G6, to Louisa Shew ; she was born in Baraboo, and they have two children living - Arthur and Leona May. In politics, Mr. Capener is a Bepublican.

A. J. CAROW, contractor and builder; he was born in Canada West Jan. 25, 1843 ; he came to the States in 1866, and to Baraboo in 1872. He was married August, 1870, to Miss Martha L. Moore ; she was born in Wisconsin ; they have had six children - Lottie Bell, deceased ; Frank A., Geo. W., Irwin, Maud and Herbert T. Both Mr. and Mrs. Carow are members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he is a Republican.

I>AX CHAMBERLIX, born Nov. 25, 1839, at Pittsfield, Mass.; moved to Belvidere, 111., with his parents about 1861 ; he commenced railroading as fireman. In 1862, enlisted in Co. B, 95th 111. Y. I.; served three years, was at the siege of Vicksburg and other engagements ; in 1873, took an engine on the C. & N. W. R. R., and is still engaged there. He was married, Nov. 26, 1867, to Miss Jessie Ball ; she was born in New York State ; they have two children - Adda and Dan ; he also has charge of two children of his sister, who is deceased, and is raising them up as his own ; their names are Mary and James Hardy. ^

D. R. CHA^IBERLAIX, contractor and builder, one of the firm of Chamberlain A: Burdick ; he was born in Franklin Co., N. Y., April 17, 1826; he came to Baraboo June 8, 1852. He was married to Miss Sai-ah A. Heath in 1852; she was born in Franklin Co., N. Y.; they have had two children - Arthur A , deceased, and Minnie. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain are members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he is a Republican.

PHILIP CHEEK, Jr., attorney at law; sou of Philip and Hannah (Gunninuham) Cheek, who came to Excelsior, Sauk Co., Wis., May, 1856, and settled on Sec. 27, both now residents of Baraboo; Philip, Jr., was born in Silverton, Somersetshire, England, May 11, 1841 ; came to America with his parents May 1, 1852; lived two years at Newark, N. J. and two years at Pawtucket, R. I.; from there came to Wisconsin. Enlisted April 25, 1861, in Co. A, 6tli W. V. I. ; served in this regiment until Dec. 25, 1862 ; when he was wounded at Antietam, received appointment of Deputy Provost Marshal for Sauk County Nov. 17, 1863; finally mustered out May 15, 1865; he settled in Baraboo, permanently, Oct. 15, 1870, having been appointed Clerk of Circuit Court on that day; elected Clerk of the same court in the fall of 1870, re-elected as Clerk until Jan. 1, 1877; elected District Attorney in the fill of 1879; he has been engaged in practice sinceJan. 1, 1877 ; was admitted to the bar in September, 1876. Was married in the town of Excelsior, July 23, 1861, to Catharine, daughter of Henry and Mary (Horn) Fuller, who came to the town of F'reedom in 1855, and still re.'^ide there. Mrs. C. was born May 24, 1840, at Pittsburgh, Penn.; they have two children living - Arthur W. and Jennie; lost one son, born Sept. 28, 1864, and died April 14, 1880.

CwEORGE CORDES, manufacturer of and dealer in furniture. Bridge street ; born in Han over, Germany, March 12, 182(> ; he came to America in the fall of 1869 ; stopped for three months in Racine, and the same year came to Baraboo and commenced work in the Island Agricultural Work.s for six years; he then moved to Reedsburg, went into the furnitun; })usines3 for about three years, then returned to Baraboo and started his present business. He was married, in May, 1857, to Miss Johanna llartman ; she was born in Hanover, Germany, and came to America with her husband ; they have had five children - Johanna, Henry ("deceased), George W., Marie S. and Frieda L. Mr. Cordes and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church.

PHILIP E. born in Adrian, Mich., .July H», 1854; commenced to learn the trade of boiler-maker in 1870 ; moved to Baraboo in 1876, in the employ of the C. & N. W. R. R. Co. He was married, Oct. 10, 1876, to Miss Sarah Lynch; she was born in Michigan City, Tnd. ; they have one child - May.

HENRY H. conductor on the C. & N. \V. I{. J{. ; br)rn in Rensselaer Co., N. Y,, Aug. 31, 1836 ; came to Baraboo in 1873 ; he has been railroading for the last twenty-three years. He was married, Jan. 8, 1860, to Miss Mary E. Anderson; she was born in Chicago, 111.; they have two children - Charles H. and Edith. In politics, Mr. Cowan is a Republican.

R. A. CO WAX, Assistant Train Dispatcher; born in Massachusetts July 26, 1845. He was married, May 4, 1869, to Miss Anna M. Willott ; she was born in Boone Co., 111. In politics, Mr. Cowan is a Republican ; he has been in the employ of the C. & N. W. R. R. Co. about thirteen years; he came to Baraboo in 1872, and has held the position he now occupies ever since he has been here; he took a pleasure trip to England, the present season, and returned.

DR. CHARLES COWLES, was born Oct. 5, 1815, in Geneva, Ashtabula Co., Ohio ; his parents were poor, but honest, respectable people; his father, Lorrin Cowles, was born in Xorfolk, Conn. ; his mother, whose maiden name was Betsey Hulburt, was born in Northhampton, Mass.; he emigrated with his father, mother and a family of eight children, to Gull Prairie, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., in 1831 ; among the very first pioneer settlers of that part of the State; there being no schools at that time, he availed himself of the advantages of the evening tallow-candle and rainy days to acquire such education as circumstances would admit; went to Oberlin, in Ohio, in 1836, and prepared for college in view of the Christian ministry ; was dissuaded therefrom, by an old Congregational Minister by the name of Knappen, who urged as a reason that he was too light and trifling in his make-up for so grave and dignified an office, which he subsequently and now regards as the first great mistake of his life; in the winter of 1841 and 1842, taught the village school at Battle Creek, Mich., at the same time prosecuting his studies in medicine in the office of Drs. Cox & Campbell; in the winter of 1843, attended a course of medical lectures at Willoughby, Lake Co., Ohio. In the spring following, the 26th of March, was married to Miss Mary Cowles, daughter of Squire Adna Cowles, of Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio ; entered Dr. Serwood's office in the further prosecution of his medical studies, where he remained one year and eight months; in the summer of 1844, taught school near Lexington, Ky., by which he obtained means to attend another course of medical lectures at Willoughby, in the winter of 1844 and 1845, and graduated in March following; he settled in the town of Saybrook, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, for the purpose of practicing his profession ; in May, 1846, he emigrated to Baraboo, Sauk Co., Wis., where his father and one brother had settled three years previously ; there he has remained to the present time ; they have had six children, three of whom died in infancy, the remaining three - two daughters and one son - are still livins; ; the son, Lucian C, is a practicing physician and druggist at La Crosse, Wis.; Maria A. married Albert Dennett, a graduate of the law school at Ann Arbor, Mich., by whom she has a daughter. Young Dennett was a man of great brilliancy and promise, but death marked him for his own, and he succumbed to phthisis-pulmonalis in Denver, Colo., whither he had gone in hopes of regaining his failing health ; his young widow and infant daughter returned to her father's house, where she remained the six subsequent years, beingengaged as teacher in the graded school at that place ; subsequently married James Crobly, of Cadillac, Mich., where she now resides ; Nellie, the youngest, lives at home with her parents. Dr. Cowles was the first regular physician in Sauk County, and was exposed to many perils in his long rides into the northern pineries; on one occasion at sun-down, Jan. 3, 1847, was called to go sixty-four miles to visit a lumberman taken with pleuropneumonia ; on an Indian pony he rode that distance by 4 o'clock the next morning without dismounting, the thermometer being at 26° below zero ; such a feat demonstrating a degree of physical endurance seldom seen in our time ; he has followed the practice of his professsion thirty-four years in this county with indefatigable zeal, taking great interest in the different phases of diseases as they have appeared from time to time in the history of our county ; if in anything he may be said to excel it is in diagnosis, arriving at conclusions from fiicts and observation, known as the inductive method, rather than a priori reasoning; his success as an obstetrician has been, as fiir as he knows, without a parallel within the range of his observation ; has had 1,386 cases, not one of which has died either proximately or remotely as the result of parturition, eleven forceps cases and fourteen of puerperal convulsion, all saved, a record of which he is deservedly proud ; he has held a commission from the Government as Examining Surgeon seventeen years ; examined 3,000 men for enlistment from this county in the late unpleasantness with our Southern brethren, also, all the disabled soldiers since the war, who have applied for pensions within a circuit of twenty miles. In the .spring of 1861, he vi.sited the Rocky Mountains, traveled 1,100 miles on foot in Colorado, examining the mines and searching for new deposits ; was the first one who demonstrated the practicability of separating gold from the pyrites of iron by rusting the ores with caustic potash or soda ; was a (garrison Abolitionist ; the first vote he cast for President was for James G. Birney ; espoused the Republican cause in its incipiency, and is a firm believer in the universal natural o(iual rights of all men, without distinction of race or color; always cheerful and happy; given to hospitality, and in Sympathy with the oppressed of every race and clime ; is a firm believer in the Christian religion, and regards it as better adapted to human needs than any or all religious know to mankind ; believes the United States of America the best country in the world, and its government the best on the face of the earth. * .

CAPT. B. K. COWLES, proprietor of the Railroad Hotel and Eating House at Baraboo ; he was born in Frankha Co., Ohio; he took charge of the Cliff House in 187(3. and opened the Railroad House in 1878. He enlisted July, 18G1, as a private in Co. K, Gth Iowa V. I. ; promoted to 1st Lieutenant October, 1861, and then U Captain in the spring of 1862, immediately after the battle of Shiloh ; was then detailed as Acting Assistant Adjutant Greneral on the .Staff of Brig. Gen. John A. McDowell; served in that capacity till his resignation, on account of disability ; time of service, about three years. His wife was born in Licking Co., Ohio ; they have three children - H. L., Laura K. and Byron K.. Jr. In politics, Capt. Cowles is a Republican.