Beetown Town

Beetown Town

This town dates back in antiquity to a date when the Indians and their French allies roamed through this southwestern region. That mineral had been found on the bluffs of Grant River at an extremely early date is proven by the remains of their rude smelting works that were plainly visible up to a date within the memory of the present generation. The first knowledge of Beetown as a fixed place of abode for any number of people was in the early part of 1827, when James Meredith, Curtis Caldwell, Thomas Crocker and Cyrus Alexander stumbled across evidences of mineral at the foot of a large, hollow bee-tree that had been blown down by some of the storms passing over that section. Upon closer examination a nugget of mineral weighing 425 pounds is said to have been discovered. However this may be, the lead thus discovered was known from this time forth as the "bee lead," and proved among the richest of the many rich discoveries in this section. " During the early attempts at mining, this lead caved in and killed a workman by the name of Jack Dowling. His body was dug out and buried on the ridge west of the diggings. His coifin was split "puncheons," laid in the grave. The grave was discovered accidentally in 1852, but all that could then be seen was the fast decaying "puncheons" and moldering bones.

During the "Winnebago fuss" the mines were deserted and left to care for themselves; as the excitement died away greed for gain proved stronger than fears of " Injun," and parties began to straggle back. During the fall of 1827, Henry C. Bushnell settled at Muscalunge with his newly married bride. Mr. Bushnell had been in that section earlier in the year, and, having become impressed with the beauty and richness of the country, married and immediately returned to begin his new home in the wilderness. Here he erected a log cabin, the threshold of which - a broad flat stone - can still be seen imbedded in the soil a few feet above the gate leading to the residence of Hon. 0. C. Hathaway. A short distance away, Mr. Bushnell erected a log blacksmith-shop, which is still standing, though exhibiting the marks of time on its rude walls. To Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell was born the succeeding year the first white child born in the county - Dorothy J. Bushnell. This same year George Hacket built a furnace near Muscalunge .and commenced smelting. He also had diggings on the stream known as Hacket's Branch. In 1828, Mr. Bushnell removed with his family to Lancaster, and settled at what has since been known as " Bushnell Hollow." In the same year, Mr. Solomon Arthur and wife came to Beetown from Vermont and located there, the first actual settlers Beetown had known. Mr. Arthur had reached Chicago in the fall of the preceding year ; but meeting Gen. Cass at that point, who was advising people to put themselves under the protection of the fort, remained there until spring. In three days after his arrival he had his log cabin rolled up, and here he lived until his death, which occurred in 1846 or 1847. For five years, Mrs. Arthur was the only white woman in Beetown, her nearest neighbor being six or seven miles distant. She was often compelled to subsist on parched corn, and would spend many days and nights alone, with no companion but the house-dog.

Quite a number of adventurers came in the spring of 1828, with them Mr. A. L. Johnson, from Baltimore. He brought in a stock of goods, opened a store, and, in company with Mr. Arthur, built a log smelting furnace. At the same time came Capt. Robert Reed and Dr. Hill, afterward residents of Lancaster; Messrs. Snyder, Fuller and Robert Dougherty, from

Baltimore; also James Walsh, who started the first blacksmith-shop, but all left in the fall. Orris McCartney was also among the new-comers in the spring of 1828, but in the fall moved out to and settled on his farm near Cassville, then a small settlement. From this time until th& close of the Black Hawk war, hardly a half-dozen persons made their appearance at Beetown. Occasionally some one would come in from Galena, Prairie du Chien, or some other settlement, stay a few days and then leave.

During the Black Hawk war excitement, Mr. Arthur, having first sent his wife to the block-house at Cassville, remained on his claim, continuing the cultivation of his little patch of ground. Now and then an Indian would appear upon the horizon, when Mr. Arthur would retire to an improvised fort, a drift in a hill near by, and, rifle in hand, stand prepared to give the dusky intruder anything but a hospitable reception should he venture upon a closer acquaintance. Mr. Arthur was a genuine pioneer, one of those hardy sons of adventure through whose daring and labors the boundaries of the nation have been continually advanced, until it now incloses with a glorious civilization nearly every rood of land from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He was buried at his death under the shade of four oaks in the Beetown Cemetery, a little northwest of the village. Mrs. Arthur continued to live in the old cabin until 18.51, when her death occurred.

After the close of the Black Hawk war, and no further danger was to be apprehended, emigrants began to come in in large numbers. James Prideaux and wife came to Beetown in 1834. Matthew Edwards and his wife were the next settlers, and were guests, by invitation, with Capt. Estes and other miners at an Independence dinner given by James Prideaux on July 4, 1835. Mr. Edwards opened a hotel, and also dealt in groceries and miners' supplies. After this date the population of Beetown increased rapidly. In the year 1840, an itinerant preachof the Methodist Episcopal Church, held the first service in the village, in a cabin east of the town. The following year the Methodists organized the first church, under the instrumentality of Rev. Mr. Hulburt, and the same year the first school was opened, the teacher being Edward Walker. The foundation of this old schoolhouse can be still distinguished in a field at the rear of Mr. Hathaway 's house. In 1843, William B. Brown opened a store with a general assortment of goods, his example being followed by Mr. Samuel Alex, but with a smaller stock. The post office was first established at the new village this year, and Mr. Alex was appointed Postmaster.

Heretofore dependence had been placed upon the old smelting furnace erected bv Arthur and Johnston, but this year Mr. De Lasseaux erected another and larger one. De Lasseaux was a Frenchman, whose reputation among the miners for liberality and fair dealing was most excellent ; many was the poor adventurer, if tradition speaks correctly, whom De Lasseaux " grub-staked," taking his chances on the luck attending the prospector for his remuneration. He was murdered a few years later by a miner named Brewer, as related in another portion of this work. A Galena paper in this same year, speaking of the rapidly growing place, said : "Beetown embraces 880 acres of mineral reserve lands, 760 acres of which have been leased to ten individual firms as follows : Arthur & St. John, 160 ; Brewer, 80 ; Days, 160 ; Shebles, 80; Dudley, 40; Bushnell, 80; Edwards, 80; Bonham, 80." The price of mineral was at this time averaging $14.50 per thousand. Beetown had up to this time been solely a mining town, and although this has been the case in a great measure up to the present time, still the settling-up of the country to the west from this time on until along in the fifties, when new towns sprang up further west, gave an impetus to business which, for a time, made Beetown only second to Potosi in importance.

The year 1845 witnessed the establishment of the Baptist and Congregational congregation? in the village. The records of the former show that on the 21st day of June, 1845, " A meeting was held at the schoolhouse for the purpose of forming a branch of the Lancaster Church, and the following persons were enrolled : William Paddock, Loamir Paddock, and Aloyra Paddock, Moses Cooley, by letter, Samuel Newick, Belinda Woodruff and Betsy Cooley, by the same method, and Sister Bacon, by confession." William Paddock was- elected Deacon, and Samuel Newick, Clerk. This church was organized under the supervision of Elder J. Miles, of Lancaster. The Congregational Church was organized by Rev. Mr. Chaffee. In 1844, Timothy and Cyrus Barr erected a store and put in a heavier stock of goods than had been carried heretofore. The advent of merchants after this being very rapid. Succeeding the Barr Brothers came Gleason & Kirkpatrick, Dennis Warren, E. W. Pelton, B. Rounds, H. C. Marsh, Mr. Crocker, Mr. Phelps, Goodpell Lampson, William Cole, John Welsh, D. Stewart, J. H. Brown, John B. Turley and some others. A little later Beetown commanded the trade as far north as the Wisconsin River, and west nearly, if not quite, to the Mississippi. In 1845, the first Sunday school had been started, under the supervision of Sarah B. Marsh, Charles Hood and Samuel Newick ; but it was not until 1847 that the first church was erected. It was constructed under the direction of Rev. Mr. Littlefield, of Lancaster, and was to be free to the different denominations and for town purposes. The election to choose delegates to the constitutional convention was held September 7, 1846.

The first election held in the township to organize under the State constitution was held in April, 1849. At this meeting, Silas Burt was chosen Moderator, and R. M. Briggs was elected Clerk. The whole number of votes cast was one hundred and twenty-four; and the following town ofiicers elected: Supervisors - John B. Turley, Chairman: James L. Woodruff, James Prideaux ; Town Clerk - Robert M. Briggs ; Treasurer - Silas Burt ; Assessor - William Ainsbury ; Superintendent of Schools - William Holford ; Justices of the Peace - A. O. Coates, William McDonald, John Welsh, William Holford ; Constables - A. P. Stephens, Daniel Derring, Chauncy Underwood ; Sealer of Weights and Measures - Charles Hood.

The greatest period of Beetown's prosperity was undoubtedly those years just preceding the Mexican war. That outbreak drew away many of the adventurous spirits to the land of the Montezumas, and made the first break in the chain of circumstances that had served to bring the thriving village into the prominent position which it then occupied.

October 28, 1849, a strange phenomena of nature, denominated the "dark day," made its appearance. About half-past 1 in the afternoon the sky became suddenly so d3,rk that it required lights in order to proceed with household duties. The appearance outside was somewhat similar to that tipon an eclipse of the sun.

The following year was the fearful cholera year, and Beetown was to suffer terrible ravages from the dread fiend. Without previous warning this grim ogre, dark and horrible, made his appearance Saturday, August 31, and within one short week, forty-two deaths had occurred, out of a population of less than four hundred. A few hours served in most cases to hurry the victim through the different stages of the disease. Streets were deserted, and the terrified inhabitants escaped as soon as possible from the dangerous vicinity. Some remained, caring for the sick and burying the dead, who were hurriedly enveloped in rude coffins and consigned hastily to the grave. Among these good Samaritans was Capt. Du Bois, who, meeting a minister making his way village-ward after the disappearance of the disease, suggested to him that his oratorical efforts would be too late for some of Beetown's citizens, who, "when dying, like rotten sheep, could not have a prayer said over them."

Hardly had the village time to recuperate from the visitation of one destroyer before it was called to make good the ravages of another. During the early summer of 1851, heavy rains had occurred, which raised the rivers and all their branches to a height before unknown. In Beetown, the event of this season was always afterward known as the "great flood." A vivid description of this disaster was given in a letter to the Herald the morning following the occurrence. The writer says : " Our town this morning presents a distressing appearance. Last night, at 12 o'clock, the water commenced to run through the town, tearing up bridges, carrying off platforms, filling cellars and houses, and hurling large rocks through the streets as though they were so many corks. Hough's saddler-shop was loosened from its foundations, carried down some thirty-five or forty feet and deposited in the road. A granary belonging to John B. Turley was also carried into the street. The bowling-alley attached to the Else House was torn up and entirely swept away, and the livery stable belonging to the Meyers estate was under- mined so that the building swung back eight or ten feet. Cole's warehouse is a perfect wreck ; not even the foundation can be seen, and the ruins lay strewn along the road to Smith's furnace. The house occupied by Widow Hammonds is entirely destroyed, the inmates barely escaping with their lives. Just as they passed out the gate, the building fell.

" Hardly a building in town escaped injury. Almost every ground floor was flooded, and small articles of furniture were met at every step. The gardens are entirely ruined ; such a thing as a fence is not to be seen. Lots which yesterday were covered with luxuriant garden vegetables, this morning are paved with rock. The loss is about $3,000."

Beetown had at this time seven stores, three blacksmith shops, one clothing establishment, one tavern, one saloon, two schoolhouses and one church. The village had suff'ered severely from the exodus to California, and was to lose many more from the same cause. Beetown, in fact, appears to have suff'ered more than any other town in the county in this respect. For a few years after this wave had begun to return upon itself, and before the towns springing up farther west had begun to assume importance, Beetown continued to hold its own, but the tide had turned ; the flood tide was passed, and now came the ebb. In 1867, the Graham Mining Company made a large purchase of land at Muscalonge, and began operations on an extended scale, employing a large number of men. The company was composed of A. C. May, Marshall & Ilsey, J. C. Spencer and E. H. Goodrich. Mr. 0. C. Hathaway was placed in charge as Superintendent. The company continued mining operations until 1877, during which period they raised 3,719,289 pounds of mineral. At the above date, Mr. Hathaway purchased the company's interest, since which time the mines have been operated by him alone. Another firm doing a large mining business is Atkinson & Peacock, who commenced operations previous to 1860. The product of the mines operated by this firm for the past decade has been about 800,000 pounds of mineral,

The Beetown of to-day is, however, but a shadow of the former mighty substance. Being essentially a mining town, it at all times depended upon its mining industries for support, after the withdrawal of its trade by the growth of other towns. The mines of this district are mentioned in another portion of this work, hence it is only necessary to say here that their product from the time of the first discovery up to the year 1876, was estimated at 1,000,000 pounds per annum. At present the mines are yielding probably as much, if not more, mineral than any other mines in the county. The present population of Beetown, according to the last census of 1880, is 1,530.

The Baptist society was organized, as before stated, in 1845, but was afterward removed to Bloomington, as will be seen in the history of that town.

Beetown Methodist Church. - This church was organized, as stated before, in 1841, being the principal charge of what has always been known as the " Beetown Circuit." At the meeting of the last conference, no pastor was appointed to the circuit, the diff"erent appointments being supplied by Mr. Jackson, a local preacher.

Source changes here: from History of Grant County Wisconsin, by Castello N. Holford, published 1900; 5,679 words in this source stream.

Beetown Town

Origin, Growth, and Decline of Beetown-' The Cholera - The Flood - Town Officers - Schools, Churches, and Societies - The De Lasseaux Murder - Other Killings and Casu¬ alties - Slabtown.

Origin, Growth, And Decline Of Beetown

This place became a mining settlement the same year as Platteville. In the early part of 1827 Cyrus Alexander, Thomas Crocker, James Meredith, and Curtis Caldwell found mineral in the cavity made by the overturning of a bee-tree On digging a little they found a nugget weighing 425 pounds. The lode thus discovered was called the "Bee Lead," and thus originated the name of the town. Tom Segar and Ben Stout came in and went to mining that spring. The "Winnebago Fuss" soon came on and the miners deserted the place.

In the fall of 1827 Henry C. Bushnell and his newly married wife settled at Beetown, and built a log cabin at the mouth of the little valley where the Cassville road leaves the Prairie du Chien road. A short distance from his house Bushnell built a log blacksmith shop which is or was recently standing.

In 1828 Guy Hackett (for whom Hackett Creek is named) built a furnace at Muscalunge about two miles west of Beetown Hollow, and also a double log cabin. He soon " went broke " and returned to Illinois. The same year Arthur L. Johnson built a log furnace in Bee¬ town Hollow and opened a store there. That year the first white child was born in the county - Dorothy J. Bushnell, daughter of Henry C. Bushnell and his wife. The Bushnells soon afterward removed to what is now Lancaster. The same year Solomon Arthur and his wife came in from Vermont and settled, he building a log cabin in which they lived - he till his death in 1846, and she five years longer. For five years Mrs. Arthur was the only white woman in Beetown, and she said she often had to live on parched corn, and often spent nigh.ts alone when her husband was absent. It is said that during the Indian troubles of 1831 and 1832 she spent some nights on a large rock on the neighboring bluff, fearing the Indians would come to the house and find her there.

In the fall of 1828 James Walsh came in and set up a blacksmith shop. Other comers that year were Capt. Robert Reed, Dr Hill, Robert Dougherty, Snyder and Fuller. Most of them left in the fall. Orris McCartney came in the spring but left in the fall and settled near Cassville on a farm.

Very few persons came in and fewer remained until after the Black Hawk War. The Arthurs had the place nearly alj to themselves, hold¬ ing their ground even during the war. Arthur had a fort of his own - a drift in the hillside, from which he could have " stood off" many In¬ dians; but none came. After the war settlers began to come in. James Prideaux and his wife came in 1834, and soon afterward Matthew Edwards and his wife came in. Mr. Prideaux, although re¬ cently from England, was already a patriotic American, and gave a Fourth of July dinner in 1835, at which the Edwardses and most of the other guests were also English. Mr. Edwards opened a hotel and a store. The " Bee Town House," with a rude picture of a straw bee¬ hive on its swinging sign, was long a landmark in the old place.

In 1837 Edward Sprague settled on the edge of the prairie near the head of Beetown Hollow. The same year George (called Jody) and James Barmingham came in. The latter died of cholera (as did Matthew Edwards in 1850), and the former lived there a long time and finally went to Minnesota, where he died in 1887. In 1839 John Woodhouse, with several sons grown or nearly so, came to Beetown from Potosi. The same year James L. Woodruff settled there and went to mining. He was afterward a prosperous farmer. In 1839 the comers were Gideon Guire, the Perrin family, Franklin Haven, Jos¬ eph Norris, Fred A. Sprague, Michael Burns, John B. Turley ; in 1840 the Garner family. The same year Hiram Hudson came from Pennsyl¬ vania and settled on his farm three miles north of the village, where his old red farm-house on the high divide was long a landmark. He lived to a good old age, while his widow survived him until 1892, when she died at the age of 91.

In 1840 the first school was taught by Edward Walker in a cabin near the old Arthur cabin. In 1843 William B. Brown and Samuel Alex (called Little Alex) opened stores. A post office was established this year with Samuel Varden as postmaster. He was soon succeeded by Samuel Alex. De Lassaulx (or De Lasseaux) built, this year, a bet¬ ter furnace than Beetown had previously had. The Galena Gazette of this year says: "Beetown embraces 880 acres of mineral reserve lands, 760 acres of which have been leased to ten individuals and firms as follows: Arthur St. John, 160; Brewer, 80; Days, 160; Shebles, 80; Dudley, 40; Bushnell, 80; Edwards, 80; Bonham, 80." About that time there was quite an effort to have the place called Ed wards ville, but the shorter, more descriptive, euphonious, and distinctive name was preserved.

Among the new* comers about this time were Ben. M. Coates, Horace Catlin, A. R. Pond, Jeremiah Spencer, Cyreno and Goodpel Lamson, William Holford,and Lyman, Anderson, and Addison Benson.

In 1844 the six Barrs (three brothers, Frank, Cyrus, and Timothy, and their three cousins, James, Matthew, and Ira) came to Beetown. Some of them opened stores, and Cyrus taught school. Timothy Barr was the postmaster in 1847 and Frank in the early fifties.

"In May, 1844, myself and two companions undertook to go from what was then called Snake Hollow to Bee Hollow, or Edwardsville, now Beetown. In the woods seven or eight miles from Snake Hollow the road forked. Two guideboards, well executed by some skillful artist, probably Wilson, were nailed to a large oak tree and pointed in different directions. One said so many miles to Nip & Tuck and the other had a large hand and very long finger pointing in the opposite direction, and below it the picture of a large snake, coiled, the head elevated, mouth open, eyes gleaming like those of a demon, and apparently ready to strike. Near the hand and above the snake board, as though hunters had been shooting at the snake's head, which they had generally missed. We crossed Grant Rivera mile or so above where the Wilcox bridge is now located. Near Bee Hollow a young man was tending windlass. We talked with him a while, and he talked freely and wildly , saying that he had worked quite a while without luck until recently ; that be then had what he considered a good prospect, but others were attempting to jump his diggings and he expected trouble. That young man was Mr. Brewer, who was ex¬ ecuted in less than two years for the murder of De Lasseaux, the Bee- town smelter. The afternoon of the first day at Beetown was quite wet. Soon after noon two gamblers from Dubuque arrived upon In¬ dian ponies. They informed the landlord that they desired to open a bank and have a little game. I had noticed in one corner of the room a large tin horn some six or seven feet long, but I could not conceive what it was for. But presently some one thrust it through a window where a pane of glass had been broken, and blew a terrific blast which reverberated among the bluffs. The miners understood that wild bu¬ gle note as well as did the followers of Roderick Dhu the call of their chieftain, for presently they were coming from every direction, gener¬ ally on the run. No umbrellas nor rubber overcoats, but nearly every man had a shot-sack in his hand, containing Mexican dollars or French five-franc pieces. The room was soon filled and a table placed near the middle. The miners who desired to participate and could get near the table generally counted out a few Mexican dollars or five-franc pieces and placed them upon the edge of the table, and then the game began. It was new to me. Nothing but hard money was used. The game ran all night. They occasionally indulged in a fight, but no serious damage was done - nothing to show for it in the morning except a few black eyes and sore fingers. I was informed that by about one o'clock the gamblers had most of the money, but the miners chipped in and borrowed of each other and continued the contest till morning, and recovered most of the money lost in the fore part of the night.

" There was only one hotel in Beetown then, and that had the sign of a Scotch [straw] beehive, painted by Wilson. Twelve or fifteen persons were boarding there. We all slept in one huge chamber. Most of us, wrapped in Mackinaw blankets or buffalo robes, slept on the floor. The room below was a sort of store, where a few groceries, overalls, cider, whisky, and playing cards were sold, and it was fre¬ quently occupied all night for gambling purposes. When one of the miners or gamblers got " broke," he usually took a tallow candle and went up stairs and peered into the faces of the sleepers to see if he could find a friend who would loan him a sovereign or two, or a few five-franc pieces as a stake, so that he could renew the contest. This was often done four or five times in a night.

11 The best dressed and most courteous person at that hotel was Samuel Varden, who usually acted aft 'figure-head', as they called it - that is, sat at the head of the table and did the carving. He also acted as assistant postmaster. I think the mail came from Galena about once or twice a week, and frequently brought fifteen or twenty letters and almost as many newspapers. The letters were usually carried in the postmaster's hat, and the papers were put upon the counter of a small store where each individual would help himself. Our wash-place was a spring branch that crossed the street just below the hotel, where every morning we ranged ourselves on either side, and without washbowl, soap, or towels, performed our ablutions by scooping up the water in our hands, washing our faces as well as we could, and wiping them on our pocket handkerchiefs, if we happened to have any ; if not, upon our shirt-sleeves. There was no milk to put m the coffee, although the landlord had three or four cows running in the street in front of the house. We had good New Orleans sugar, and for the fourteen boarders about half a dozen pewter or block tin teaspoons. Each one took a spoonful of sugar and stirred it into his coffee and passed the spoon to his left-hand neighbor.

"One morning soon after breakfast Mr. Varden appeared on the street, dressed as though to attend a ball or party, with a * boiled ' shirt, as the miners called it, and a 'stove-pipe' hat. He desired me to walk with him up to his diggings. He said they were good, but had been jumped by Brewer and others, and he was determined to have his rights or wade in blood to his knees. Not knowing what might happen, I excused myself, telling him I desired to speak to a friend, and that I should be up in a short time. But before I got started, and after the lapse of only a few minutes, a man resembling Mr. Varden brushed rapidly past me, his 'boiled' shirt, 'stove-pipe' nat, and broadcloth coat terribly demolished and covered with blood ; his eyes were nearly closed and his face badly discolored and swollen. He did not stop to ask me what I thought of the fight, or whether I got there in time to witness it, and never referred to the matter afterward in my presence. He had met Brewer and was badly whipped."

Prank Barr was in early life a printer, a man of fine education and good talents. Neither he nor his brothers ever married, and they died and left him their property. He then, in the sixties, went to Lancas¬ ter and made it his home. His business was loaning his money and looking after it, and his recreation reading the periodicals and telling reminiscences of his early life. He was a great story-teller and exceed¬ ingly sarcastic. More than once in the latter part of his life he became insane and once attempted suicide by cutting his throat. He died at Hudson, Michigan, May 3, 1893.

About 1845 Beetown became very prosperous and many stores were put in, among them those of Gleason & Kirkpatrick, Goodpel Lamson, H. C. Marsh, William Cole, James H. Brown, John B. Turley, Bazelle Rounds, John Welsh, Thomas Crocker, Mr. Phelps, Horace Catlin, and David Stewart, the last being opened in 1847. " Groceries*1 flourished greatly. In the latter part of the forties the word "saloon** began to come into use and the old "Eagle Saloon" wasoneof the first to put up such a sign, and a hall of loud revelry and high betting it was for several years.

About 1847 a furnace was built on the creek bottom near the lower school-house by W. 0. Schmidt, who had as his principal business man a Swiss named Conradi, called by the Americans " Major Coonroddy." This person came to the lead mines as the clerk of John Flanagan, a government Superintendent of Mines, and was a pompous and not very popular person.

About 1870 a furnace was built by Chris Hutchinson at the mouth of Hull Hollow at the lower end of the village, and run by him until about 1883 and afterward by other persons until about 1890, when such parts of it as were worth moving were moved to Lancaster.

Among the comers in the forties was Adam Jamison, who came from Missouri and put up a good stone dwelling which yet stands. He lived there a great many years, being called "Squire** Jamison. He died in 1882. Thomas Platt came in from Potosi and built the brick house now occupied by John Patterson. He went to California and was killed in a mine in 1852. William Grant and his sons Hiram and James, the latter afterward a prominent citizen, came in 1846. In the latter part of the forties several settlers located on the prairie north of the village along and near the Prairie du Chien road, to make neigh¬ bors for the old pioneer- Hudson. Among them were Carter Hickok and his married sons Benjamin and John, M. B. Gillis, Dr. John Dodge, William Wright, Joseph Cooper, Mark Hadley, Jesse Wagner, Philan¬ der Stephens, and Josiah Pratt. Four or five of the then grown and married sons of John Woodhouse (John, Levi, Samuel, and Simon) about this time left the mines and opened farms about five miles north of the village, on and near the Prairie du Chien road. Most of these settlers were from Pennsylvania. Another old pioneer of the place was James Starrett, who came in 1844. He was a great hunter and when other hunters chased a deer and lost it they used to say : " That is Starrett*s deer.** Other comers in Beetown were several of the Ste- phens family, brothers of Philander - Ritner, Heater, Holloway, and lastly, Jesse; also a cousin, Almon P. Out in the hills east of Hackett Creek, Henry Roberts settled in 1848, and, I believe, one or two of his brothers-in-law, the Mileses. James Tindell came to the village in 1846, Jesse Brooks and William Beers in 1849, Robert Hicks in 1852.

Although Beetown had been a flourishing settlement lor several years, it was not surveyed and legally laid off as a village until 1848, as it was built on mineral reserve lands to which a title could not be obtained by would-be lot-owners. But in 1848 two hundred acres in Section 30, Town 4, Range 4, having, in pursuance of an act of Con¬ gress, been entered by the Judge of the District Court of this district in trust for the use of the inhabitants of Beetown, Nelson Dewey, M. K. Young, and Clovis A. Lagrave were appointed commissioners to execute the trust, by causing the land to be surveyed into lots and streets, and to hear and decide upon claims to such lots. The village has never been incorporated.

The period of Beetown 's greatest prosperity was from 1845 to the beginning of 1850. Its many stores drew trade clear out to Lancas¬ ter on the east, Cassville on the west, and the Wisconsin River on the north. Among the towns of the county it was surpassed only by Potosi and Platteville. The village had three hotels : the Beetown House, the Thomas Hotel, and the American Hotel. The place was famous for its horse-races. There were sometimes seven or eight hundred per¬ sons present at these races. One which occurred June 1, 1848, is thus described : " Five three-year-old colts entered-^-a bay colt by H. Messmore, a sorrel colt by S. McKee, a sorrel colt by Matt Edwards, a sorrel colt by Henry Webster, and a gray colt by John Gregoire, of Ga¬ lena. Distance one mile. The Galena colt bolted the track and Mc¬ Kee's colt distanced the rest. There were two or three lesser races." Among the horse-owners and horse-racers of these and later times Gordon Day and William Hammond were prominent.

The Cholera

The year 1850 was a dai;k one for Beetown. With the opening of spring came the tremendous exodus to California. This and its effects have been repeatedly described in this work, and it remains only to be said that Beetown suffered more from it than any other place in the county. Late in the summer came that fearful scourge, the cholera. It has been stated that the disease was introduced into Beetown by people of the place who attended a circus at Cassville ; bat it does not appear that any of these attendants had the cholera immediately after attending. Three Beetown miners, William Barnett, Captain Hoi* loway, and John Kirkland, were induced to attend a sick family in the McCartney neighborhood, in the town of Cassvilk. All three were attacked with cholera ; Kirkland and Holloway never returned to Beetown. Barnett returned and recovered, but those who attended him were attacked and some of them died. One Saturday in August seemed to be particularly a time for the inception of the disease. There was a district convention in the place. Some of the delegates were attacked with cholera, among them John Fletcher, of Lancaster, who died suddenly. Many farmers came in to trade that day. Among them were Albert Francis and Frank Oxley from the prairie in what is now Bloomington. They assisted in removing a sick man from a saloon to his home, and both were taken down with cholera. Oxley died and Francis recovered, but his father took the disease and died. That Saturday night Daniel Derring thought to ward off the disease by riding up and down all night on a horse, but he died the next morning. Matt Edwards, the landlord of the Beetown House, went to bed that night apparently well, and the next morning was a corpse. A. O. Coates, a lawyer, and Cassius Brooks, a school teacher, died. They were young men of very temperate habits, in contrast to the great majority who died. Of the many who died, about forty-five, all were men except three - Mrs. Roberts, Miss Knotwell, and a child of Dr. Brooks. The physicians were E. M. Sala and R. C. Brooks, the latter lately arrived from New York. They were without experience in the disease, but worked faithfully through the epidemic. The deaths suceeded each other so rapidly that the corpses were hauled to the graveyard in loads so heavy the horses could hardly draw them up the hill. Of course, there was a terrible panic in the village. It was almost depopulated. What with those who bad left as gold-seekers, those dead and sick of cholera, and the refugees from the afflicted place, there were at one time in. that once peopled place, only three men left ( besides the two doctors) to care for the sick and bury the dead : William Atkinson, William Holi'ord, and Wood R. Beach. It is remarkable that only two women died of the cholera in Beetown. It is generally recognized that intemperance and fear are allies of the disease. Women are supposed to be exempt from the former and par¬ ticularly subject to the latter, but Beetown women did not succumb

The Flood

In 1851, in addition to its other woes, Beetown was afflicted with a flood. It came one summer night. The narrow valley* was filled with a great torrent. In many of the dwellings the water was kneedeep Buildings were carried away and the gardens of the villagers were covered deep with stones swept down by the waters. Among the buildings carried away were Hough's harness-shop, Cole's ware¬ house, the ten-pin alley of the Alex House, a livery stable, and the dwelling of a widow named Hammond. This house,- a substantial log one, was undermined by the creek and plunged over into ten feet of water just as the old lady and her family got out of the front door.

At this time Beetown had seven stores, three blacksmith shops, one tavern, and one church, but the place was declining. In 1867 the Graham Mining Company began mining operations on a large scale at Muscalunge, employing several men. 0. C. Hathaway was the superintendent until 1877, when he purchased the company's property and carried on the business alone for a few years. Before this time most of the accessible mineral had been worked out. Among the last large strikes was that made by James L. Woodruff, Jerry and Wash Gamer, and David Brittenham, in March, 1855. They took out about 12,000 pounds a week for a considerable time.

When the great agricultural development came and the prairies of the northern and western parts of the township became fields of wav¬ ing grain, it did not revive the village. The farmers went to trade at Cassville, Glen Haven and Bridgeport, where 'their grain could be shipped, or at the new town of Tafton, or at Oliver's Mill. The village continued to decline until now it contains two stores, two hotels, a blacksmith and wagop shop, three salQons, and a cheese factory, started in the fall of 1898

In the post-office "Little Alex" was succeeded by Tim F. Barr, Wood R. Beach, Frank Barr, R. S. Morse, James H. Stanley, Frank Bonham, Wm. Stephens, and James M. Hayden, the present incumbent.

Beetown was one of the original towns created in 1849. It was first six miles square, Town 4, Range 4, but in 1850 two tiers of sec¬ tions in Town 4, Range 5, were taken from Cassville and added to Beetown, so that it has now forty-eight square miles. The census does

The following were among the justices in territorial times: Jere Spencer, 1843-46; Miles Hollingworth, 1844-46; A. R. Pond and Ed¬ ward Sprague, 1843; Horace Catlin and Ben M. Coates, 1844; John Dodge, 1844; Wm. B. Brown, 1844; Orrin Spencer, 1845; Bazelle Rounds, 1846.

Town Officers

1850 - Supervisors, John B. Turley, James L. Woodruff, James Prideaux; clerk, Almon P. Stephens; treasurer, James H. Brown; asses¬ sor, Lyman Benson; supt. of schools, A. 0. Coates; justices, Reuben Thomas, A. O. Coates; constables, Cyrus Barr, Daniel Derring.

1851 - Supervisors, J. B. Turley, John Hickok, A. E. Kilby; clerk, A. P. Stephens; treasurer, James L. Woodruff; assessor, T. T. Elton; supt. of schools, Roswell C. Brooks; justices, William Holford, Alfred Barks; constables, H. Boughton, Adam Jamison.

Bee Town

1860 - Supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor same as in 1859 ; justices, Samuel Newick, A. G. Bonham; constables, George H. Pond, Jesse Roberts.

1897 - Supervisors, clerk, and assessor same as in 1896 ; treasurer, Wm Raisbeck ; justices, John A. Jamison, Henry Hudson ; constables, George Craig, John Raisbeck, Charles Brick.

1899 - Supervisors, treasurer, and assessor same as in 1898 ; clerk, W. C. Beers; justices, John A. Jamison, Johnlleff; constables, A. N. McDonald, Joseph Mayne, Frank Raisbeck, Jr.

Schools And Churches

The teaching of the first school has-been mentioned. The first schools were maintained by subscription and were taught in houses rented for the purpose. When the Methodist church was built it was used as a school-house until about 1857, when Beetown was divided into two school districts and a school-house built in the lower part of the village near Schmidt's furnace, and another in the upper part of town. School-houses are still located at those points. Among the] teachers prior to 1851 were Cyrus Barr, Cyreno Lamson, and Cyrus Sargent. In 1850, the cholera year, the school was taught by Cassius Brooks and Miss Ellen B. Chaffee. Mr. Brooks died of the cholera, and Miss Chaffee is still living in Lancaster. Among the teachers in the fifties were P. V. Wise, R. C. Bierce, Goodpel Lamson, and Byron Lamson. Wise and his misfortunes have been mentioned in the history of Hurricane. Bierce was a young lawyer from Ver¬ mont. He was a talented young man, but being a tenderfoot from the Bast, was game for the rough miners, especially the boys. He also had the peculiarity of very red hair. The trick of "snipe-catching", now too old to catch anybody, was worked successfully on the young lawyer-pedagogue, and he was thereafter known-to the boys as "the redheaded snipe-catcher." He soon afterward moved to Viroqua, where he was a successful attorney.

The Methodist Church. - The first services remembered in Beetown were by a Methodist circuit rider in 1840, the preaching being in a cabin east of town. The church society was organized in 1841, and the church building put up in 1845. The Methodist minister located here has preached at Providence church, about six miles north of the village, and at other points in the township. For several years the church has been included in the Bloomington circuit, the minister re¬ siding at that place. The old church, built in 1845, was in 1899 sold for a town hall and a new frame church built close to the old one. Among the early resident ministers were Revs. Harvey Palmer, C. Cook, Nicholas Mayne, Enoch Tasker, Wm. Harvey, John Bean, N. S. Austin, C. Bushby, and John Harris.

The Baptist Church. - This society was organized June'21, 1845, with the following members: William, Loamir, and Aloysa Paddock, Moses Cooley, Samuel Newick, Belinda Woodruff, Betsey Cooley, and Susan Bacon. William Paddock was elected deacon, and Samuel Newick clerk. The preaching was by Elder Miles, of Lancaster. The society never had a church building, and the organization was after¬ ward transferred to Tafton ( Bloomington) and its history is contin¬ ued in the history of that town.

Beetown Lodge, No. 146, A.F.&A. M. - This lodge was instituted in 1860 with the following officers : Dr. Millard, W M.; J. B. Turley, S. W.; Michael Burns, J. W.; Wood R. Beach, Sec. The present officers are: C. E. Arthur, W. M.; M. S. Sturmer, S. W.; J. C. Anstey, J. W.; F. E. Blackbourn, Sec.; Samud Birch, Treas.; Joseph Shaben, S. D.; Charles Thorpe, J. D.; J. E. Wise, Tiler; Samuel Birch, George Parkins, M. C. Edwards, Trustees.

Thb Db La8Sbaux Mus'D Hr

The principal crime which has been committed in Beetown was the murder of De Lasseaux (or De Lassaulx) by a miner named Robert B. Brewer, in April, 1846. The murdered man was a smelter, a man of considerable means and good education, and Alsatian by birth, and a civil engineer by profession. He was very popular on account of his liberality, and respected on account of his ability and education. A dispute arose between him and Brewer about a certain lot on which was a lime-kiln, situated a little below the business part of the village on the west side of the ravine. De Lasseaux came with a team and a teamster named Anson Thomas to remove some rails from the lot mentioned. Brewer forbade him to do so, and to enforce his prohibi¬ tion came toward him with a gun, "bolding it at a present," as Thom¬ as testified, when the gun was discharged. Brewer immediately at¬ tacked De Lasseapx, and stabbed him with a dirk - a large, rough knife made by a blacksmith from a file, "of the value of fifty cents," as the indictment repeatedly stated. If it had been in these days of hair¬ splitting technicalities, Brewer's counsel on his trial might have had the indictment quashed by showing that the knife was worth more or less than fifty cents. Thomas attempted to restrain Brewer, but was held back by William Galloway, who demanded a "fair fight" between Brewer and De Lasseaux. The stab given by Brewer quickly proved fatal.

Brewer was arrested. The March term of court had just closed, and Judge Dunn immediately reconvened the court and grand jury. An indictment for murder was found against Brewer, and one for man¬ slaughter against Galloway, as Brewer's accessory. Popular feeling was high agaiust Brewer, De Lasseaux being very popular. He was convicted of murder and Galloway of manslaughter. The latter was sentenced to five years in prison, but was pardoned by the Governor. Brewer was hung May 14, 1846, about a month after the murder - which was quick work. There was a great crowd to witness the exe¬ cution, among them about two hundred woman. Brewer made a speech from the gallows, saving that if De Lasseaux had killed him, he ( De Lassegux) would not have been bung. The body was buried in a hazel thicket, but was resurrected for the doctors. The head was afterward found in a barn, to the great dismay of the finders. Much stress has been laid on the fact that Brewer's plea that the gun went off accidentally was disbelieved, and that it was afterward found that the gun was liable to be discharged at half-cock. But he was not in¬ dicted for shooting his victim, and the discharge of the gun cut no im¬ portant figure in the case. The murderous knife was kept by the Clerk of the Court for many years, and after that by T. A. Burr, the post¬ master at Lancaster.

Other Killings Anp Casualties

In the fall of 1848 an old man from the country, whose name is forgotten, came into town with a load of apples for sale. He accused some boys of stealing some from the load. The mother of the boys resented the accusation and the matter was taken up by William Mil¬ ler, a large, swarthy fellow called "Winnebago Bill," who ordered the apple-man to leave the town within an hour. Finding him in a saloon some time afterward, he exclaimed: "You here yet?" and struck the old man on the head with a four-pound weight, killing him instantly. Miller then fled and the next morning a canoe was missing on the river near Cassville, and the much-wanted "Winnebago Bill" was never seen in Beetown again.

On the evening of October 20, 1863, Thomas E. Lloyd shot and killed Dr. H. L. Tawney, in the village. Tawney had eloped with Lloyd's wife and was living with her. He was a good physician and there was nothing against his character except the woman affair. Lloyd was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to two years in the penitentiary, but was pardoned before he reached the prison.

On the night of October 23, 1853, William Sincock, an English miner, was burned to death in his cabin by his clothing catching fire while he was intoxicated. No one was with him at the time except his son about ten years old.

Considering that Beetown has long been a declining village, and well-insured houses might have been burned profitably to the owners, the place has had very few fires. The Alex Hotel and John Cull's house were burned March 28, 1876. James H. Brown's fine residence at Dia¬ mond Grove, near Muscalunge, was burned September 24, 1872,

In 1857 Campbell, Herring & Campbell built a saw-mill in the southwest corner of Section IT) town of Beetown, on Grant River. Two or three persons besides the employees at the mill settled near the mill. Reuben Ward and Erastus Noble were among them. In 1858 Bernard Belskamper, now of Stitzer, put up a blacksmith shop there and continued in business many years. About 1858 a small school- house was built aud a school taught by Miss Ahreuds. As several of the buildings were built of or roofed with slabs, the place was called Slabtown, but it was afterward given the more euphonious name Flora Fountain ; but this name did not " stick" In 1860 the mill was burned and never rebuilt. In 1891 a post-office called Flora was es¬ tablished there with Henry Hudson postmaster. He put in a small stock of goods and still does business there.

September 30, 1834, and came to Bee¬ town in 1852. He followed teaming for some time and finally became a merchant. In 1880 he removed to Lancaster and engaged in farming and dealing in live stock. He was several times Chairman of the Town Board of Beetown, and in 1875 he entered a wider field of politics as the Democratic candidate for Assemblyman. Here he was remarkably suc¬ cessful, being elected Jin 1875 and hon. william j. mccoy. thrice subsequently in a district usually Republican, developing a re¬ markable faculty of making and retaining friends. He died June 28, 1897.