Clintonville City

Clintonville City

Clinton ville was organized as a village in 1879. Its first ofiicers were: President - U. P. Clinton; Trustees - Thomas Whitewell, H. Mellike, A.Bucholtz, N. B. Carter, H. Buckbee, E. Brix, G. W. Sutherland; Clerk - T. L. Cannon; Treasurer - CM. Hughanen; Marshal - D. A. McNeal; Constable - George Ratclifif; PoHce Justice - Alexander Stewart; Justice of the Peace - G. W. Jones.

The city was organized in 1887. The first city officers were: Mayor - John Finney; Clerk - E. L. Der Motte; Treasurer - T. F. Folkman; Attorney - F. M. Guernsey; Marshal - C. M. Fisher; Chief of Fire Department - W. H. Stacy; Justices of the Peace - D. Noble, C. T. Rogers; Assessor - G. W. Sutherland; Aldermen - G. W. Jones, O. G. Augustine, J. A. Hickock, B. Schemmer, E. M.

A Surprise

In the Fall of 1881 the writer was in the little backwoods village of Clintonville. It was then a small, unpretentious burgh, giving no indications of much future smartness. In the Spring of 1890, he paid a second visit, and met with a surprise. In nine years it had become a pleasant city, with a population of nearly 2,000. It is full of live, energetic business men, ^lo will make it a successful rival of its sister towns, if money and brains can doit.

The first house built in the city, a log cabin, was by the Clintons, in 1855. Some of its timbers are now under the sidewalk in front of the Tribune office.

The first Sunday school (Congregational) was organized in the Spring of 1858, with Oscar Bowman for Superintendent. Mrs. U. P. Clinton tells us that it is still prospering.

The city officers for 1890 were : Mayor - F. M. Guernsey; Clerk - L. H. Kuester; Treasurer - J. Bentz; Attorney - B. M. Goldberg; Marshal - W. C. Plopper; Chief of Fire Department - J. F. Meisner; Justices of the Peace - D. Noble, C. F. Schroeder; Assessor - E. M. Jones; Aldermen - O. G. Augustine, J. Beasoncon, George Larson, M. Weatherwax, J. Raphingst, M. Alft, C. C. Spearbraker, John Olmstedt; Supervisors - R. Metzner, B. Schemmer, N. Etten, F. Quinn.

We do not believe that we can conclude our sketch of Clintonville more acceptably than by copying two chapters from that spicy sheet. The Dual-City Tribune, by Frank H. Brady, who has laid us under many obligations for kind attentions paid during our recent visit to his cit3^ Mr. Brady is a grandson of Mr. Clinton, a sketch of whose life is here given :

Norman C. Clinton

Norman C. Clinton was born in Ferrisburg, Vt., December 29, 1796. He was of Yankee origin, and sprung from the great family of Clintons, who are scattered all over the Eastern, and many of the Western states. He was more religiously inclined than many Clintonville residents of today, and from boyhood till death was a member of the Baptist church.

. His religion was not of the funeral type, however. On the contrary, he was of a very jovial disposition, and enjoyed a joke or ludicrous situation immensely. Plis honesty was unquestioned.

For many years he was a great sufferer from the disease known as 'gravel.' He took great quantities of medicine, and had a terrible operation performed upon himself by the famous Milwaukee surgeon, Wolcott; but his case was a hopeless one, and September 22, 1868, he passed away, leaving an enviable record.

possessed of great endurance. Labor was a pleasure to her. She was greatly devoted to her husband and family. During the latter years of her life she was injured somewhat in a runaway accident, and that, together with the effects of years of very active life, told heavily upon her, and June 7, 1875, she breathed her last. Many of the early settlers will recognize her portrait printed herewith, and will call to memory acts of kindness performed by this Christian woman in days when a friendly act was appreciated.

Lydia Clinton

They came West and finally located at Menasha, where they resided for several years. Mr. Clinton was a carpenter by trade, and engaged somewhat in saw-milling.

In 1855 Urial Clinton visited a lumber camp on the Embarrass River, and noticed in passing this point the chance for a water power, and also the magnificent bodies of timber, excellent soil.

springs of water, etc., and upOn his return to Menasha imparted his discoveries to his father. The land at that time belonged to the Government, and was easy to obtain, and the description so favorably struck the elder Clinton, who was desirous of acquiring more landed possessions and engaging in lumbering, that he and his youngest son, Boardman, made a pilgrimage to ' The Pigeon, as this locality was at that time designated. After a thorough cruise along the river, the Clintons were captivated, and returned home and consulted with the elder son, Urial, as to the feasibility of a removal here ; but no definite conclusion was arrived at. However, The Pigeon, with its wealth of pine, w^as in the mind of the old gentleman by day, and filled his dreams with promises by night. During the absence of Urial, the father loaded a sleigh with a little lumber, household goods and provisions, and, in the vernacular of Young America, 'skipped,' accompanied by his faithful wife and a hired man, the latter to drive the team back to Menasha. The trip through the woods was made without accident, and one Friday afternoon in the middle of March the party arrived at its destination. There being no habitation here, they M^ent on to Matthew "Matteson's, between the Pigeon and Embarrass rivers, and stayed there until Monday, when they returned to the site of Clintonville, and constructed a house - such a house as ye Clintonvillians who barely manage to exist in substantial buildings with double doors and windows, warmed with coal fires, will shiver to think of. This first residence was made of very little lumber and a great deal of hemlock brush, and traditions vary as to whether it contained a window or not. The door was a blanket. It was located near the xllexander Bucholtz residence. The spring that bubbles up in the rear of the lot wiiece Madel's saloon now flourishes furnished to the first settlers their strongest beverage. Here they set up their household gods and were happy. The towering pines almost turned day into night ; the deer dashed by the cabin unmolested, and the wolves woke the echoes with their mournful music. An occasional Indian, riding over the trail, stopped his pony and grunted as he surveyed these bold intruders who, although nearly three score years of age, were trying to crowd the wild man out and build a home upon his domains. Later, their son Urial learned of the hegira of his parents, and before the sleighing disappeared he hastened to their relief with a couple of loads of lumber and provisions.

Xo lumbering had yet been done on the Pigeon Ptiver. The country was a virgin wilderness, undisturbed by the hand of man, and the early settlers tell us that it was a very pretty locality. The river obtained its name from the fact of its timbered banks being the roosting place for myriads of pigeons.

The first land entered was by land warrant, April 15, 1856. The warrant was obtained from the Government by Rhoda Petree, the widow of one Joshua Whitehurst, who served as a private in Captain Harrison's company of Virginia militia in the war of 1812. The land was the i\e}{ of the sw)^ of Section 23, Township 25 north. Range 14 east. Norman Clinton and sons soon acquired title to twenty-nine forties of land lying near here.

Norman Clinton, soon after settlement, built a commodious log house, and by force of circumstances was soon a full fledged landlord, and it is safe to say that no hotel in Clintonville was ever better patronized or the cause of so little complaint as this. Stopping places in those days were like oases in the desert. Some times the caravansary's supply of provisions gave out, and as the nearest store was at New London, and the nearest mill at Weyauwega, or Hortonville, the landlord and landlady had to resort to^ curious shifts. On one occasion, after feeding a large crew of explorers and lumbermen, they discovered that all the flour and meal was gone, and still another party were arrived and clamoring for food. Here was a predicament, surely ; but the host was equal to the occasion. An old coffee mill was hunted up, and corn enough ground for Johnnie cake to appease the appetites of the hungry guests.

Mr. Clinton was a great bee hunter. After discovering many bee trees along the banks of the little stream that empties into the Pigeon within the present imits of the city, he called it 'Honey Creek,' by which name it has since been known.

Chet. Bennett

Foremost among those who laid the foundation for the settlement of Clintonville is Chet. Bennett. He was born in a log cabin in Rushford, Alleghaney County, New York, in March, 1823. He married Eleanor Knowlton, and came West to New London in 1854. He stopped there but a short time, and in 1855 located permanently at Clintonville. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett had ten children, eight of whom are now living. George Victor Bennett, the eldest, was the first white child l)Orn at Clintonville.

Bennett is a very eccentric individual, being careless in the extreme as to his personal appearance, and very short and gruff in his address, putting the rough side out ; but his heart is large, and his generosity has kept him poor, when most men with his opportunities would have been millionaires. He is a man of marked ability. For instance, upon his arrival in this country he knew nothing of surveying or locating lands ; but in an incredible short time he was an undisputed authority on woodcraft, and his services were sought by the wealthy dealers m pine lands, the lumbermen, and the settlers who were looking for homesteads. By tiresome tramps of weeks duration he made himself familiar with the whole region between here and the great lakes, traveling alone to Lake Superior twenty years ago.

During the intervals between his trips into the woods, he worked at clearing a farm just outside the city limits, where he now lives. He has served as Justice of the Peace, Chairman of the Town Board of Supervisors, and was Town Treasurer eight successive years.

When the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western railroad reached New London, it was found necessary to secure the services of some one familiar with the northern country, one who had a knowledge of surveying, and, withal, possessed good judgment. The next place the road was to strike was Clintonville, and one day a carriage load of railroad officials drove into town. They looked the town over, (it didn't take them long, either), and made inquiries regarding the country between here and Marion. The residents referred them continually to Bennett, until their curiosity was aroused, and the redoubtable Chet. was sent for. diet, appeared along in the afternoon, attired in a very primitive costume, and wanted to know what was up. The railroad men were at first inclined to be incredulous as to his reported knowledge of the country, and were more than ever puzzled when he told them that he "didn't know much that would benefit them." However, after a conversation of several hours, and a ride the next day as far as their carriage could take them, they discovered that in Bennett they had a prize, and engaged his services forthwith. For seven years he worked for the raih'oad company. He had to lay out a route that touched all the large hotlies of pine, but which had to conform to the lay of the country so that the cost of building \vould not be too expensive. This great piece of work ht^ did to the satisfaction of his employers. Chet. made a map of the country where he thought the road could be built, and from time to time went to Milwaukee and laid his diagrams before the officials. These diagrams and maps were furnished the railroad corps of civil engineers, who were expected to follow them. There were times, however, when the engineers thought that they would do a little business on their own hook; but they would innnediately find themselves in a box, with a hill a hundred feet high to tunnel through, or an impossible grade to overcome. It is, in fact, a matter of record that the route laid out by Bennett in the first place has been followed by the road without deviating in any place more than eighty rods. A remarkable piece of work, surely.

A majority of the lakes north of here were named by him, and the entire country is as familiar to him as his own farmyard. It is his boast that he can sit in a coach and ride from here to Lake Gogebic and designate every section line crossed by the cars. In an early day he located a great majority of the homesteaders, placing the first settler in Dupont, Grant, and Pella.

Many interesting anecdotes are related of him. He was the first Justice of the Peace in the Town of Larrabee, and during his term of office did presumably what no other Justice ever did - divorce man and wife. It happened in this way : Mr. Pullis and wife were stopping at a summer resort (a deserted lumber camp) in the Town of Matteson, and during their sojourn got by the ears and agreed to separate. The husband, who, it seems, was not the brightest of individuals, presented himself before Squire Bennett, told his tale of domestic infelicity, and demanded a divorce. Bennett informed him that he thought divorce proceedings could hardly be instituted in his court ; but the fellow was obdurate, and insisted that the Justice could divorce in "York State," and what would be legal in the great State of Xew Y'ork must be legal in Wisconsin. After a long argument, Bennett finally went to the camp, and found that the woman was as determined upon a di- vorce as was her lord ; whereupon he wrote a document approaching in character a quit-claim deed, and presented it to the pair and made his escape. Several years later he was in the vicinity of Omro, where the divorced woman's parents lived, and found that she and her husband had never lived together after the Clintonville separation. Great is the majesty of the law !

On one occasion Chet. assumed the role of a detective with marked ability. To begin at the beginning, it is necessary to state that the Clintons built a dam on the site of the present one, and also a little muley saw mill. One night in 1857 the little mill was burned. It was a great blow to the owners and to the few settlers in this part of the country, who relied upon it to furnish them with lumber to improve their none too comfortable dwellings. The origin of the lire was a great mystery, but finally suspicion was attached to Widow Johnson, who lived several miles down the New London road, and whose sons had been arrested by the Clintons and jailed for stealing shingles. However, proof had first to be obtained, and that was no easy matter. Finally, U. P. Clinton and Bennett concocted a scheme worthy of more experienced heads in detective work, also admitting into the plot Welcome Hyde, of Bear Creek, wiio now resides at Appleton. The first act in this backwoods drama was a quarrel between Bennett and Clinton, the particulars of which soon spread among the handful of people that composed the population of eastern Waupaca County at that time. Clinton accused Chet. of firing his mill, and of course the accused was highly indignant. He traveled around among his neighbors, and sang a very bitter song against Clinton. Then Clinton swore out a warrant before Squire Terrill, of Bear Creek, and placed it in the haiuls of Constable Frank Granger, for the arrest of Bennett upon a charge of firing the mill. Granger deemed Bennett a trifle desperate, and took along a posse of men to make sure of his arrest. They finally found the object of their search at the Widow Johnson's cabin. After considerable parleying he went along. At the examination, Bennett proved an alibi, and was discharged. In a few days he visited the widow again, and in her presence swore that he would be revenged upon Clinton. The widow sympathized with him, and arranged a plan to assist him in burning Clinton's barn, and at last acknowledged that she and a man by the name of Brackett had poured oil upon Clinton's mill and burned it. The gentle widow was placed under surveilance, but Brackett had left the country. It was finally ascertained that he had gone to La Crosse, and thither posted Chet. upon the fellow's trail. Upon arriving at La Crosse Bennett represented himself as a trapper, La Crosse at that time being a rendezvous for many of this class of men. He formed the acquaintance of a fur dealer, and intimated that he would like to go into partnership with some likely trai)per, if the trader knew of any such. The trader said that he did know of a man who would fill the bill, but he at present was on a trip. His name was Brackett. Chet. waited quietly for his prospective partner, and in a few days saw him land from a boat and go to the trader's with a bundle of pelts. The Clintonville detective followed his man, and was within a few feet of him before he was recognized, and handcuffed him without delay. Bennett had been deputized as an officer before leaving Waupaca County, but would have asked assistance of the local officers had he not learned that the Sheriff was a relative of Brackett.

Without any delay he secreted his prisioner until he could leave town on a train in the evening. Upon the arrival of the train, he handcuffed himself and the prisioner together, and started for Oshkosh. The officer and prisoner were roughly dressed, and, being chained together, attracted the attention of everyone on the train, many supposing them both to be criminals who had escaped from an officer. A great many questions were asked them, to which no replies were made.- At last a gentleman approached them and relieved himself by remarking : "I am fully convinced that one of you fellows is an officer, and the other a prisoner, but I'll be blamed if I can determine which is which." Bennett succeeded in placing his prisoner safely behind the bars, but he broke jail twice, and disappeared. The Widow Johnson was sent up for ten years, and died in prison.

Although Mr. Bennett is a man of undisputed pluck, he never engaged in a fight with a man in his life, and in all his travels in a wilderness inhabited by wild beasts and wilder men, he never carried a more offensive weapon than a common jack-knife.

As a long distance traveler he is without an equal. He has easily made sixty miles a day with a fifty-pound pack, crawling through windfalls and wading streams. A complete history of his life would be valuable in many respects, and would show that our unassuming friend has done more for his fellows, directly and in-