Ironton Village (part 1 of 3)

Ironton Village

later life encountered in political debate on the prairies of Illinois. On leaving the academy, he entered Middlebury College, and, while there, commenced his career as an Anti-slavery lecturer, and in so doing incurred the displeasure of those in authority in that institution, on account of which he voluntarily left without completing the course. After that, his persecutions in that behalf came fast and more trying, until he had received violent treatment at the hands of pro-slavery mobs on no less than forty different occasions. He early espoused the temperance cause, and delivered nearly one hundred lectures on that subject before arriving at the age of twenty-one. At this time, the doors of the churches were closed against the temperance lecturer, and, to use Mr. Codding's own expression, " the pioneers in the temperance cause had to get their hearing in the churches by printing pamphlets and throwing them over the walls of Zion from the outside." A great deal of light has since been infused into the church after similar means. After leaving college, he was employed by the Anti- Slavery Society to lecture in the New England States. He came West in 184-3, stoutly maintaining his opposition to slavery. He was ordained a minister of the Congregational Church at Waukesha in 1846, Owen Lovejov officiating as one of the ministers on that occasion, in whose behalf Mr. Codding afterward had the honor of declining a nomination for Congress. Mr. Codding also declined a like nomination on another occasion. His extensive researches and investigations soon led him to change his religious views, and placed him outside the so-called orthodox churches. As a religionist, he may be classed among that branch of the Unitarians represented by Theodore Parker. He held, like Thomas Paine and many other men of deep thought, that there is a religion arising from man's relation to God and his fellow-man not dependent on written revelation. The oneideaism of his life was to plant himself on the broad platform of eternal truth and justice, and defend it against all assailants. His discourse was argumentative, sometimes eloquent. Although not a politician, the Republican party had no abler advocate than he, and he especially endeared himself to the thinking people of Baraboo during his four years' residence among them for his righteous denunciation of secession. His death occurred on the 17th of June, 1866, upon the eve of his intended departure for Bloomington, 111., where he was under engagement to preach. To Ichabod Codding, Chief Justice Chase once paid this tribute : " I have heard Webster, Clay and most of the great orators of this country, but none of them could equal Codding. When I say greatest orator, I wish to qualify the expression. Many may be ranked higher by the usual standards, but by the standard which, after all, should measure the power of oratory - that of effect produced upon a large and promiscuous audience - Codding surpassed any speaker I eVer

E. G. Camp. The subject o^ this sketch died in Baraboo. November 5, 1872. He was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1799. Early in life he studied law, and was Judge of Probate a number of years in his native State. He came to Wisconsin and located at Baraboo in the fall of 1848. He also held the office of County Judge of Sauk County for a short time at an early day. He was always a firm opponent of slavery, and during the war was a zealous friend to the soldier. He was strictly honest and upright in his dealings, and was frequently honored by his fellow-men with positions of trust and responsibility.

was born in the town of Bristol, Hartford Co., Conn., on the 24th of December, 1796. He came to Wisconsin in 1841 and settled in Racine County. In 1856, he came to Sauk County and located in the town of Excelsior, where he continued to reside up to his death. Mr. Peck was the first Deputy Sheriff that his native county in Connecticut ever had. He was one of the first Assessors in Racine County, and the first Justice of the Peace in the town of Excelsior. He was Coroner of Sauk County one term. He was a man that had read very extensively, and his memory of men and events was very remarkable.

was boi-n in Montgomery County, N. Y., November 10, 1790, where he lived till March, 1834, removing thence to Otsego County. From there he went in 1848 to Jefferson County, and in May, 1856, he settled on Section 5 in the town. of Reedsburg, where he died on the 17th of February, 1878. Mr. Young was particularly illustrious in having been a soldier of 1812, and also a Mason of over sixty years' standing, having received all the degrees of the order obtainable in America.

was born in 1827. He came to Baraboo in April, 1857, and engaged in business as a merchant, with his uncle. Ransom Jones, afterward entering into and for six years continuing in partnership with H. A. Peck. Later, he was associated with Messrs. Lang & Camp. In the spring of 1870, Mr. Orvis sold out his business in Baraboo and removed to South Bend, Ind., with a view of forming a more important business connection. Soon after his departure, the construction of a railroad to Baraboo being assured, he made frequent visits to his home - his wife still living in Baraboo - and, had not his untimely death occurred, he would, doubtless, have made his permanent home here. He was drowned at South Bend on the 13th of December, 1870.

was born in Essex County, N. Y., August 12, 1811. At the age of 14 he removed, with his parents, to Sheridan, Chautauqua County, N. Y., where, on the 15th of September, 1830, he was married. In 1837, he removed to Racine, and from there came to Sauk County, settling in Reedsburg, on the 11th of February, 1848. Six months previous, he had been here and had erected a log-house half a mile east of the present village. He continued to reside in the town and village until his death. He had filled numerous minor offices, and at the time of his death was a member of the Board of Trustees. He was the father of nine children, six of whom survived him. Mr. Rork was a highly respected citizen, and was particularly noted for having been one of the very first settlers in Reedsburg.

was born at Edmeston, N. Y., March 18, 1810. When twenty-one years of age, he removed to Medina, in the same State, and from that place he went to Chicago in 1835, where he purchased and i)artly improved forty acres of land now included in the corporate limits of that city. In 1837, he became a merchant in Joliet, 111., where he became deeply interested in the political issues of the day, taking a decided stand with the Abolitionists about the time of the assassination of Lovejoy, and in consequence he lost many friends, and, with the rest, his business. In 1840, he went to Warsaw, Wis., and, in 1843, to Madison, where, the following year, he married Miss M. F. Toffelmire, by whom he had seven children. He filled several minor local offices, and, ill 1848, was a Free-Soil candidate for State Senator. In 1849, he was nominated for Congress by the same party, but declined. In 1854, he resumed the study of medicine at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, he having studied a brief period in 1839 for the profession of a physician. He graduated, but never oftered himself as a practitioner. In 1850, he identified himself with the interests of Sauk County, settling in the town of Honey Creek.

In 1862, he removed to Spring Green, and represented his district in the Assembly during the winter of 1863-64. He was Sergeant-at-Arms in that body in 1865. He died at his home in Spring Green, March 25, 1878.

David Sands Vittubi, the fifth child in a family of eight of David and Dolly Vittum, was born at Sandwich, N. H., October 21, 1820, where he resided till his tenth year, when his parents removed to Meredith Village in the same State. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1845, and subsequently read law for two years at Laconia, N. H. On being admitted to the bar, he practiced as an attorney in company -ivith a Mr. Lyford for two years, and then for two years more in partnership with George S. Stevens, of Meredith. In 1851, he came to Wisconsin, first stopping in Milwaukee, and in August of that year came to Baraboo. Although a member of the Sauk County bar for many years, it was only in the early part of life here that he was known as a practicing attorney. For a time, he edited the Sauk Qounty Democrat^ one of the first newspapers published in the county. But he may be said to have devoted most of the years previous to the war to business operations, making speculative ventures chiefly in the way of real estate and land warrants, in which he laid the foundation of his fortune. He was State Senator in 1853-54, then representing the counties of Sauk, Juneau, Adams and Marquette. In 1861, he raised, in Sauk County, Company F of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, which was mustered into the United States service in January, 1862, and served with the regiment until it was mustered out in 1865, when he came home with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After the war. Col. Vittum returned to his business pursuits. He took an interest in the Island Woolen Company, which he held for a number of years. In 1873, he organized the First National Bank, subsequently buying out the Sauk County Bank, of older existence, and consolidated its business with that of the new bank. He continued at the head of this bank till his death. In his social character. Col. Vittum was a dignified and polished gentleman, of tender sensibilities and warm heart. He was very exact in his business habits, but liberal and accommodating to those whom he could favor.

was born in Lysander, Onondaga Co., N. Y., April 23, 1826. At the age of ten years, he removed with his father's family to Delavan, Walworth County, where his father died October 20, 1836. In 1854, Capt. Tator removed with his mother and sisters to Reedsburg. In November, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Nineteenth Infantry, and was soon after commissioned as First Lieutenant of his company. Three years later, he veteranized with his regiment and served to the close of the war, succeeding to the command of the company on the promotion of Capt. (now Colonel) Strong. He returned to his home in September, 1865. In August, 1869, he went West for his health, but died on the 24th of September, at Brigham. Utah.

was born in Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass., and was the eldest of a family of ten children. At the age of nineteen, while attending school at Springfield, Mass., he was converted and began a life of Christian service which was decided and steadfast to the end. The next year, he entered Phillips' Academy at Andover, Mass., and while there united with others in forming a society called "The Missionary Fraternity," for the purpose of gathering information about the condition of heathen nations, and of preparing themselves for missionary work. Among the members of this society were Champion and Grout, afterward pioneer missionaries to the Zulus in South Africa. On account of ill health, Mr. Dwinnell was compelled to leave school and give up his purpose to preach the Gospel. Some time previous to this, he had become convinced that total abstinence was the true ground to be taken against the evils of intemperance, and so he sio-ned the temperance pledge, although he stood entirely alone among his companions in doing it" In 1834, after a careful and candid examination of the subject, he came to the conclusion that slavery, as it existed in the United States, was a sin against God and a great wrong to the enslaved, and that it ought to be abolished at once. From that time, he cast his lot with the little band of reformers who were called Abolitionists, and with tongue and pen advocated the cause of emancipation. In 1835, he came West to Indiana, and three years later moved to Walworth County, in this State. While residing there, Mr. Dwinnell organized the first Sabbath school ever held in the county, held religious meetings at his own house, and when called upon conducted funeral services ; he also spoke frequently upon the subject of temperance. On his first visit to Reedsburg, in the fall of 1848, he gathered together the entire population of the village (twenty-nine in all), on the evening of the Sabbath, and spoke to them upon the duty of obeying the law of God. Two years after this, he sold his farm in Walworth County, and' became a citizen of Reedsburg, then a little hamlet of twenty-five families. Here his interest in the cause led him to active work, and as a result the Congregational Church of the village invited him to become their Pastor, and he was licensed by a council of ministers, called together at Baraboo, in August, 1852, and a year later he was ordained to the Gospel ministry. Mr. Dwinnell's work as preacher extended through about fifteen years, ten years of which time he was installed Pastor. His labors were abundant. He preached in the schoolhouses far and near. During the period of his ministry he delivered over sixteen hundred sermons, attended about nine hundred other meetings, conducted 122 funerals and traveled 13,545 miles. In all these years, he left his people but five Sabbaths without providing for the supply of his pulpit. As a preacher, Mr. Dwinnell was plain and practical, dealing faithfully with the evils of the - day. He spoke boldly against Sabbath-breaking, profanity, intemperance and slavery. No consideration of self-interest, no fear of pecuniary loss, ever kept him silent when he felt that he ought to speak, or made him endeavor to soften the repulsive features of what he believed to be a wrong.

And conscience keen to feel the force of right ; He struck hard blows 'gainst every form of wrong, Doing what e'er he did with all his might."

During the war he taught the duty of supporting the Government in its struggle for existence ; and when the war was finished, he rejoiced that the shackles were stricken from the limbs of the slave, and that our land was free in fact as well as in name. He preached his last sermon in 1867. Since that time, though laid aside from active work, he did much with his pen, writing sketches of the pioneers of the State, and tracing the growth of her towns and cities. The last two years of his life he was confined mostly to the house, and at times suff"ered intense pain ; but he bore his suff'erings with Christian patience, and, when the hour of death came, he fell asleep in the full assurance of a blessed imjuortality. He left behind the faithful wife, who had been his companion for more than forty years, three sons and three daughters.

was born in Albany, N. Y., in 1841. While very young, he came to Wisconsin with his parents, who finally settled in the town of Excelsior. When the war broke out, young Starks was attending the Collegiate Institute in Baraboo. He laid aside his books, and became a member of Company A, Sixth Regiment, going out as a Corporal. At the battle of Gainesville, he was wounded in the knee, and carried the leaden missile to his grave. When wounded, he had in his pocket a commission as Adjutant of the Twenty-third Regiment, and, upon recovering, joined that regiment at Paris, Ky. He was at the battles of Arkansas Post, Port Gibson, Champion Hills, lilack River Bridge and the storming of Vicksburg. At the latter place, he was wounded in the breast, and never wholly recovered. The office of Adjutant of the Twenty-third had been filled when Capt. Starks reached the regiment, and he was given a lieutenancy in one of the companies. He afterward received a Captain's commission, and died at his home in Excelsior March It), 1865.

was born in Enfield, N. H., in 1813, and came to Wisconsin in 1838 as an accredited minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His first appointment was on the Troy Circuit, in Walworth County. He became identified with the interests of Baraboo at a very early date, and was the leading spirit in the organization of the first Methodist society in the place, being the first to preach the Gospel in the little '' slab church." This was a building composed entirely of slabs from the lower mills. Mr. Flanders' little flock used mother earth as a floor and sawdust for carpeting around the desk. He died at Marietta, Ga., on the 12th of September, 1864, of dropsy of the heart.

one of the founders of the Baraboo Republic, died at Mason City, Iowa, on the 18th of January, 1875. He was born in Chelsea, Orange Co., N. Y. in 1833 ; came to Wisconsin in 1844. In 1855, he engaged in the publication of the Baraboo Republic, in conjunction with his brother, W. W. Noyes, having previously been connected with the Portage City press. He removed to Iowa in 1857, and for a few years engaged in farming, but, being a practical printer, his love for his chosen profession led him again to engage in it, and he purchased an interest in the Cerro Gordo Republicaii. This he retained, with, perhaps, an intermission of a few months, until his death. As a mark of appreciation of his services to the county as its pioneer editor, about a year previous to his death he was elected County Auditor, He left a wife and three children.

was born at Paris Hill, Oneida Co., N. Y., February 12, 1805, and died at Ironton December 26, 1878. His parents were pioneers in that part of New York, in which he found much more hard work than opportunities for education. In the absence of ca,nals and railroads, the usual routine of his rural youth was mostly varied by trips with sleigh to Albany, 140 miles, with farm produce and return with merchandise. The fashion and economy of those early days are illustrated by his taking from home enough cooked provisions for the round trip of ten days to two weeks, in order to clear anything by such hauling. Experiences in trading on such trips caused him, when of age, to engage in peddling through most of the New England States, in which he acquired more of experience than capital. During several years following, he alternately formed, ran a saw-mill and essayed a wagon and blacksmith shop, employing several hands. Soon after being married, January 1, 1835, to Ruby Bliss, who survives him, he had the misfortune to have his shop, tools and stock consumed, which led him to give up all his remaining property to his creditors. With several long-time acquaintances, he then determined to abandon New York, and make a new start in Wisconsin, in which Territory he settled, near Salem, Kenosha County, in 1844. One drawback after another, including sickness, induced him to desire a new location, and, hearing of the Baraboo country, he, with several friends, made no less than seven prospecting and hunting tours between 1848 and 1852, during which, by means of cash and warrants, he entered several hundred acres of excellent land lying about one or two miles northwest and west of Ironton Village. On this land he settled in the spring of 1852. Much of this land he soon disposed of, but retained enough for a good farm until about ten years ago. This farm being situated in Lavalle (then Marston, including what now is Woodland, Lavalle, Ironton and Washington), he was soon chosen Chairman of its Board of Supervisors, and many times represented it in the old county board. In these early days he was also a noted Justice of the Peace, and thereby acquired the title of " Squire," which clung to him through life. After the death of James Tower, founder of Ironton, who was one of the members of the County Board, he was appointed and then elected to the position, which he retained about four years, and gained the respect and good will of his colleagues. Having a good offer for his farm, he disposed of it in the spring of 1868, and purchased a comfortable home in the village of Ironton, where he resided until his death. Throughout his Sauk County career, he was one of the landmarks of Republicanism, never wavering in its support, and contributing freely of his money, time and labor for its success. He was specially noted for the persistence with which he insisted that his town should always be represented in county convention, whose every session he has attended for a generation. The massiveness and shape of his head betokened, what he really possessed, much more than average mental endowments, which, had they in youth been fairly cultivated, would have raised him to much more important stations in life than he occupied. " While observation and keen analysis, with sound reasoning and considerate judgment, guided by justice, insured him a f\iir measure of social, official and financial success without wronging another, and placed him on the right side of most public questions, and caused his opinion to be respected and frequently consulted ; wealth and station, however, were but secondary with him, for he distributed the one and waived the other more than is generally known. He was for many years an Odd Fellow, but gradually communed more and more with the Free Masons, with whom he remained in good standing to his death. He also worked with the Good Templars for a number of years. In all these organizations, he was an active and influential member, and frequently held important official positions in each. In the pioneer days of the Little Baraboo, many were those who Avere freely welcome to his bed and board, and a seat about the old-style fireplace ; and often did the capacious old log house contain a merry company whose down-right old-fashioned sport and ready wit caused the walls to fairly ring again ; and often do his children refer to the endearments of the old farm home.

was born in Rhode Island in 1786. He came to Wisconsin in 1831. and commenced the building of a shot-tower at Helena, in company with Mr. Hambleton and Capt. Terry, but the Sac and Fox Indians becoming hostile, the work was abandoned. In 1832, and until 1835, he was in the employ of Daniel Whitney (the first American owner of the present site of Portage), who had obtained permission of the Menomonee Indians to make shingles on their lands lying aljng the Wisconsin River. He and Mr. Whitney took into the pinery a whip-saw, and sawed by hand a raft of lumber, Avhich Mr. Metcalf ran to the Portage. Therefore, he was the pioneer raftsman of Wisconsin, having, of course, the honor of running the first raft through the Dells. His account books show that he had dealings with Augustin Grignon, from whom Mr. Whitney purchased title to the land Portage now stands upon. Grignon held the land by a title from the French Government, and the deed from him to Whitney is signed by Andrew Jackson, then President of the United States. After peace was concluded with Black Hawk, the tower at Helena was finished. Gradually failing, however, in business prospects at that place, Mr. Metcalf purchased, in 1849 or 1850, one-half of the "Upper Mills" in Baraboo, where he remained until death snapped the brittle thread, if indeed it was not unwound to its natural end, on the 22d of January, 1864. Mr. Metcalf was never married, and had at his death no known was particularly illustrious for having reached the great age of one hundred and thirteen years six months and eleven days, as claimed by his son William Steele, of Delton, at which place the elder Steele died April 23, 1872. He was born at Harper's Ferry, Va., and settled in Sauk County at a very early day. He was one of the leading citizens of Newport. The old gentleman claimed to have borne a part in the Revolution, and later to have participated in the battle of Maumee, under " Mad Anthony Wayne," of whom he spoke in terms of enthusiastic eulogy. He was married a second time when ninety-eight years of age to a Canadian-French woman who was ninety-one. She died November 12, 1873, aged one hundred and two years four months and fourteen days.

was born at Acquia Creek, Md., in 1805, and died at his residence in the town of Westfield. September 20, 1873, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. Mr. Palmer learned the trade of a carpenter in his native State, and soon became a master builder. In 1828, he went to Philadelphia, where he remained six years, and where he was married. In 1834, he removed to

Belmont Co., Ohio. Here he acquired considerable property, but meeting with subsequent financial reverses, he went to California in 1850, returning in two years with means to free his property of its incumbrance. In 1854, he removed to Wisconsin, arriving in Reedsburg on the 16th of May. He soon afterward purchased 160 acres of land near Loganville, of King Thompson, and entered 600 acres more lying adjacent thereto. In 1855, in company >vith Chauncey P. Logan, he built a saw-mill, and, with J. D. Mackey, in 1861, a flouring-mill at Loganville. In 1864, he was elected to the Assembly from the south district of the county, and re-elected the next year. At the expiration of his second term and until his death, he devoted his attention to the management of his farm, retaining a lively interest in town politics. He was Chairman of the Town Board when he died. A wife and five children survived him.

was born in Connecticut April 9, 1807, and died in Baraboo January 2, 1878. While quite young, he removed with his parents to Mexico, Oswego Co., N. Y., where he was educated. He married, February 2, 1836, Miss Amanda M. Steele, the schoolmate of his youth. Two children were the result of this union, one of whom died in Jnfancy. The other is now Mrs.. William Staley, of Baraboo. Shortly after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Huntington removed to Scriba, N. Y., where they resided till 1851, when they came to Wisconsin, settling in Baraboo, and Mr. H. engaging in the mercantile business. He was a careful, sober and industrious business man, with a sound and reliable judgment.

was born in West Randolph, Orange Co., Vt., August 23, 1833. The disease of which he died was dropsy, induced by cirrhosis of the liver. He was the fifth son of William B. Chandler, iu a family of thirteen children, all of whom possessed strong characteristics, and several of them have occupied important and responsible positions, both in civil and public life. Julius entered as an apprentice to the printing trade at an early age in the office of the Grreen Mountain Freeman, published at Montpelier, Vt., which was the leading paper in the State. On completing his apprenticeship, he set out as a journeyman, his first stopping-place being Quincy, Mass. In 1853, he Avent thence to Cleveland, Ohio, where his brother William then resided, and worked for a time as a compositor on the Leader. In the fall of the same year, he went back to Quincy, and was married to Miss Helen W. Adams, of that place. Returning to Cleveland, he continued his work there until August, 1854, when he removed to Janesville, in this State, where he worked on the Democrat, of which Judge Armstrong was editor. From Janesville he went to Portage, where he and his brother, John A., started the Independent. John withdrew at the end of nine months, and,, after the paper had lived two years, Julius sold to Robert B. Wentworth. He continued a year longer in Portage, out of business, and then went to Friendship and started the Adams County Independent, which he published till the war broke out, wlien he enlisted in the Second Regiment. In the first battle of Bull Run, he was disabled so that he was discharged from the service. He then returned to Friendship and continued the Independent irregularly till May, 1864, when he again enlisted, this time in the Fortieth, a 100-day regiment, serving till October. In December of the same year, he entered the service of his brother, William W., as traveling agent of the Star Freight Line, and so continued for about two years and a half, in the meantime selling his office at Friendship. In 1867, he removed to Baraboo, and soon afterward established the Sauk County Herald. Still later, he made newspaper ventures at Augusta, Eau Claire and Elroy, and, in 1877, he edited a paper called Frontier Business, at Morris, Minn.

The sobriquet " Shanghai " was given to him by the local Democratic politicians, as the representative of the Republican or " Shanghai " party, as it was called by the Democracy in 1854-55. The new species of Shanghai poultry was introduced into the State about the time the Republican party was in the period of incubation. When it finally made its appearance, it was dubbed the " Shanghai party," because it was a new species of fowl in the political barn- yard. Mr. Chandler's ardent advocacy of the principles of the new party, as well as his personal appearance, obtained for him the cognomen of " the Shanghai ;" he accepted it and used it as his nom de plume in some of his correspondence, and by it he ever after was generally known. He died at Baraboo, August 28, 1878, aged forty-five years and five days. His widow still resides in Baraboo.

In the spring of 1842, Sheriff A. A. Bird, of Dane County, to which Sauk County then belonged, under official instructions and in accordance with an act entitled " An act to provide for the taking of the census of the inhabitants of the Territory of Weskonsan. approved February 18, 1842," returned the names of the following persons, as "heads of families," then residing in the county. The figures set opposite the names indicate the number of persons belonging to each family, though they really included others :

Helena. - [The name of the census district which is supposedto have included a strip of territory south of the Wisconsin river. It is well known that Charles Halasz, Robert Bryant and others whose names are familiar in the history of this county, lived on the lower end of Sauk Prairie, north of the river, but, as the taking of this census occurred two years before the organization of the county, and while it belonged to Dane County, it may be that Helena census district lay on both sides of the Wisconsin. Such is the opinion of an old settler of Baraboo. - Ed.] - P.M. Nichols, 4; Charles Halasz, 13; Robert Bryant, 10; Birosch, 8; Alvin Crane, 8 ; H. B. Staines, 9 ; E. Brown, 1 ; Cyrus Leland, 10 ; John Russell, 2 ; Henry Teal, 6; M. Blodget, 1 ; John Hoover, Jr., 3; John Hoover, Sr., 4; Zenas Herrington, 8; Albert Jameson, .5 ; Albert Myers, 4 ; John Kellogg, 4 ; Andrew Ilodgett, 1; William Johnson, 9 ; Samuel Mather, 3 ; D. R. Baxter, 4 ; George Cargill, 5 ; Samuel Woodruff, 9 ; AVilliam Tanner, 4; John Wilson, 7; Frank Pravoncil, 5. Total, 146.

This census was by no means a correct one. It is the only one in existence, however, taken at that early day. It is known to be incomplete for the reason that the names of several of the first settlers in the county who were heads of families were omitted. The census-taker seems to have contented himself with the names of those at the head of families, and those engaged in business, overlooking many persons then engaged as " hired hands." For instance, it will be observed that there -were thirteen persons, in the ''family " of Charles Halasz. This doubtless included ten or a dozen men then in the employment of Mr. Halasz. The same may also be said in reference to the figures opposite the names of many others.

A preliminary meeting of the old settlers of' Sauk County was held in the parlor of the Baxter House, in Prairie du Sac, on the 22d of February, 1872. Jonathan Hatch, a pioneer of 1839, was called to the chair, and Charles Halasz was chosen Secretary. The following old settlers - opposite whose names are placed the dates of their arrival - were present : Jonathan Hatch, July, 1839 ; William and Alexander Johnson, December, 1839 ; George Dunlap, May, 1840; Charles Halasz, June, 1840; Cyrus Hill, June, 1840; J. I. Waterbury, September, 1840 ; John Gallard, April, 1841 ; Archibald Hill, May, 1841 ; D. R. Baxter, May, 1841 ; John Acola, May, 1842; William H. Canfield, May, 1842; Henry Gatwinkle, August, 1842; A. M. Seymour, September, 1842; George Owen, September, 181:2 ; H. H. Webster, December, 1842; John Thilke, May, 1844; James H. Haines, May, 1844; John B. Crawford, October, 1844; B. F. Brown, May, 1845; James Cowles, October, ^845; John Sharpe, February, 1846 ; David B. Crandall, November, 1846 ; Robert B. Crandall, February, 1847 ; Ransom E. Stone, February, 181:7 ; D. K. Noyes, June, 1847 ; Ryland Stone, September, 1847 ; S. W. Corwith, September, 1847 ; L. V. Tabor, October, 1847.

Annual meetings of the remaining old settlers of Sauk County continue to be held. The proceedings are very interesting, but are not usually of an historical nature, partaking more of sociability than of reminiscence.

Upon the organization of Sauk County, the town poor system, then in vogue in other and earlier- settled parts of the State, was adopted. In March, 1854, by vote of the Board of Supervisors, the distinction between town and county poor was abolished, and three County Superintendents of the Poor were chosen - one to hold office for three years, another two years, and the third one year. E. G. Wheeler, Charles 0. Baxter and James Maxwell were elected to the offices thus created. From this date until November, 1855, the county at large was responsible for the care and maintenance of all the paupers within its borders, a poor tax being levied in each town, and turned over to the county for that purpose. At the fall meeting of the board of this year, the distinction between town and county poor was restored, the old system of each town caring for its own paupers being again adopted, and the county caring for such transient paupers as might come within its borders. This system remained unchanged until 1872, when, at the spring term of the board, the town system was again abolished. Immediate measures were taken for the location of a poor farm and the construction of a poor house. A committee, of which H. P. Ellinwood was chairman, was appointed to select a site, and, after making an examination of some thirty or forty farms in different parts of the county, the committee reported in favor of purchasing 125' acres of land of James B. Clark, in Section 34, town of Reedsburg, and paying therefor $5,000. The report being adopted, an appropriation of $4,000 was voted toward building a poor house, and the work was soon afterward commenced. At the same sitting of the board, J. I. Waterbury, G. Stevens and Enos Kimball were chosen Superintendents of the Poor. A Superintendent is chosen annually, one going out each year, and three being continuously in office.

While the new poor house was being built, and during the prevalence of a wind storm September 26, 1872, a portion of the north wall was blown down. Two young men, named Thorn and Knowles, were unloading brick at the time at the base of the wall, and the former was considerably bruised. The heaviest portion of the falling mass overreached them, however, but their escape from instant death was almost miraculous.

A separate structure was erected for the safe-keeping of the county's insane, or that portion of this unfortunate class who are returned from the State asylums as incurable. During the year 1879, there were cared for at this institution sixty-one paupers and fifteen cases of insanity. The present Superintendents of the Poor are Anton Fischer, 0. Thomas and N. Stowe.

Ornithology

One of the most peculiarly interesting evidences of home talent and industry to .be found in this county is a collection of birds, animals, insects and minerals, gathered and prepared by Mr. Charles Dininger, of Sauk City, taxidermist and ornithologist. This splendid collection, large in number and numerous in variety, is the result of nearly half a lifetime's labors ; twentynine years of hard work and study having been almost uninterruptedly devoted to the work of collecting and preparing these specimens for permanent preservation. The amount of perseverance, enterprise, talent, strength and time, that it takes to accomplish anything really appreciable in such a field of effort, can hardly be overestimated, and is seldom ever fully appreciated. A man, to be successful in such work, must not only be imbued with a love and engrossing admiration for nature and her productions, but he must be willing to give the best energies of his life entirely to his pursuit ; Tor thus, and thus only, have the varied mysteries of nature been solved, and her paramount beauties exposed. Although but few may ever look at this collection with aught save the interest created by curiosity, yet that few will give Mr. Dinninger the credit which is due to his fine intelligence, and unusually excellent achievements, in placing before them, from field, forest and stream, so much that is graceful and beautiful, as well as being, in many cases, exceptionally rare and remarkable.

The number of birds, of various species, indigenous to this part of the country, is very large, and includes many of exquisite beauty of plumage as well as perfection of form. Of these, and those also that come to this county annually (migratory birds), Mr. Dininger has succeeded in settino; specimens, there now being several hundred in the collection, and all being very perfect, from the wee young ones of our red-throated humming-bird in their nest, to the monster gray eagle, sitting in native majesty on his perch, and that measures 8 feet 4 inches from tip to tip of his wings. The albinos (odd specimens of regular species) are, perhaps, the most novel in appearance of any kind here, and, though being almost unknown, are worthy of careful mention. There are a pair of beautiful white quail ; a yellow-breasted white robin; a black robin,^ with white-mottled head and white-tipped wings ; a variegated robin, being white, brown and yellow : a white pheasant, with beautifully tufted head and heavy brown ruff; a white specimen of the specie purple crakle, or blackbird ; a white redwing starling (very rare), and female starlinfr, with red on wings ; a snowy owl, with mottled plumage, and ears like the great horned owl (not mentioned in any work). Among the others there are large numbers of exceedingly fine specimens, of which may be mentioned : A pair of pilated woodpeckers, now very rare ; a pair of Bohemian waxwings, or wanderers, a bird which, it is said, roams through the cold rpnrinns of the entire globe ; a yellow-lieaded crakle, indigenous to California ; a yellow-breasted chat, strayed hither from the Sunny South; a great heron, of magnificent plumage, and a cormorant, with greenish black body and neck, beautifully mottled crest, and mottled, dark bronzecolored wings - a most superb specimen.

The description could be continued to almost any length, so many and worthy are the various specimens ; but the above is sufficient to give a fair idea of the character and merit of the collection, which, be it remembered, has been made entirely in this county. Below is given a catalogue of the different birds that abound in the county, with their common names, all of which are represented in Mr. Dinninger's collection :

Bald eagle, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, pigeon hawk, sparrow hawk, marsh hawk, whitebreasted hawk, broad-winged hawk, rough-legged hawk, goshawk, cooper's hawk, red-tailed hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, black-belted hawk, American fish-hawk, great horned owl, snowy owl, snowy owl (or a very light-colored mottled, with ears ; not found in books), mottled or screech owl, barred owl, hawk owl, long-eared owl, brown wren, golden-crested wren, red-crested wren, black-billed cuckoo, blue-jay, red-headed woodpecker, golden-winged ^woodpecker, yellow-bellied woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, whippoorwill, night-hawk, belted kingfisher, great northern shrike, white-bellied nut-hatch, kingbird, peewit or Phoebe bird, ruby-throated humming-birds, Maryland yellow-throat, black -throated blue warbler, yellow-rump warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, black and yellow warbler, black-throated green warbler, black-burnion warbler, bay- crested warbler, black-poll warbler, lesser red poll, brown thrush, water thrush, wood thrush, green black-cap flycatcher, American redstart, scarlet tanager, purple marten, barn swallow, bank swallow, chimney swallow, white-bellied swallow, cat-bird, cedar bird, Bohemian chatterer or waxwing, purple finch, siskin, snow bunting, the American creeper, black-cap titmouse, American skylark, goldfinch, bluebird, song-sparrow, fox-colored sparrow, tree sparrow, indigo bird, red crossbill, rose-breasted grossbeak, ground robin, bobolink or rice bird, redwinged starling, rusty blackbird, swamp blackbird, purple crakel or crow ! blackbird, cow bunting, meadow lark, Baltimore oriole, turtle dove, passenger pigeon, pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, quail, sandhill crane, bittern or stake driver, least bittern, great heron, snowy heron, green heron, night heron, golden plover, kill-deer, king plover or seraipalmated snipe, Wilson's English snipe, field plover, parrie plover, yellow-legs, prairie plover, sandpiper, woodcock, clapper rail, sara or common rail, coot or mud hen, hell diver, Canada goose, snow goose, white-fronted goose, brant, black duck, ruddy duck, redhead duck, pentail duck, wood duck, mallard duck, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, buffel-headed duck, spoonbill duck, scaup duck, American widgeon, sheldrake, goosander, hooded merganser, common cormorant, double-crested cormorant.

Ohaptee Til

Piuxki:r Days - Early Visits to. Sauk County - A Tribute to some of the First Pioneers - The FtRST White Woman in the Baraboo Valley - A Tilt ^vith Redskins - The Indian Scare of 1844 - Early Christian Effort in Sauk County.

Early in the spring of 1838, Berry Haney received private information from George W. Jones, who was then Delegate in Congress from Wisconsin Territory, that the treaty with the Winnebago Indians, for their lands north of the Wisconsin River, had been ratified. Haney, at that time, was engaged with Col. Abner Nichols, of Mineral Point, in staging between Mineral Point and Fort Winnebago. They had two men in their employ by the names of Jonathan Taylor and Solomon Shore. Haney lived on Black Earth Creek, at the place now called Cross Plains. On the receipt of the intelligence of the ratification of the treaty, he sent Taylor to the Wisconsin River, opposite Sauk Prairie, there to await the coming of Shore, who went with Haney to Fort Winnebago, to purchase a skiff to take down the river to Sauk Prairie, in order to get across. They met at that point according to previous arrangement, crossed over, and proceeded to mark out their claims. The first one marked out by them was for Berry Haney, on what is now Sauk City. Taylor claimed the next above Haney, and Shore the next, which claim I afterward purchased and own at this time. Haney, I believe, had the first land broke in Sauk County. In June, 1838, he employed James Ensminger and Thomas Sauser to break ten acres, for which he paid them ^100. The first place in the shape of a dwelling, on Sauk Prairie, was built by Ensminger and Sauser. They dug a pit in the ground, about four feet deep, twelve by sixteen or eighteen feet square, logged it up, and covered the hole with hay and earth, making a sort of root-house. This they did for the purpose of preventing the Indians from burning them out, as they had threatened. James S. Alban (who was afterward Judge of Portage County) and family moved on to Sauk Prairie in January, 1839, being the first family, 1 believe, in Sauk County, or what is now Sauk County. I believe it is claimed by John Wilson, of Wilson's Creek, that he and family were the first. However this may be, I cannot say ; I have always understood, until a few years since, that Alban and family were the first. I left Rock Island for Wisconsin about the 1st of April, 1839, on board the old steamer Fayette. I arrived at Galena in due time, and there took stage - or rather wagon- - for Mineral Point. The proprietor was John Messersmith. We arrived at his place at Elk Grove, at noon, where we were very politely entertained by the Squire and his family, and after an excellent dinner we proceeded on our way. We arrived at Mineral Point in the evening of the same day. I there lay over one day for the stage - or rather wagon, again - to Madison. At Mineral Point, I met Berry Haney, who introduced me to A. A. Bird, of Madison, who Avas also waiting for the stage, and to many prominent citizens of the Point. We were one day in going from the Point to Haney's place in Black Earth A^alley, where I arrived, I believe, on the 6th of April. A few days after I arrived at Haney's place, Haney, Joseph Dgnson, from Iowa Territory, and myself, started for Sauk Prairie. We followed a dim trail to the river, left our horses on the south side and crossed over in an Indian canoe. We visited several of the cabins and claimshanties, among others, that of D. B. Crocker, which was situated where the village of Prairie du Sac is now situated. While there, a little incident occurred that may be worth relating. The day was pleasant, and we were all seated out in front of his cabin, admiring and conversing upon the beauties of the country, when some one of the company discovered an animal of some kind approaching the grove below us, from the prairie. Some supposed it to be a deer, others thought it was a wolf. Denson, being an old hunter and a good marksman, proposed to go down and try to get a shot. He took Crocker's gun and went down to the grove, where he soon disappeared. Presently we heard the report of the gun, and very soon saw Denson with his hat oif. running with all his speed toward us, making signs to us to come to him. We all ran as fast as we could. When we came up to him he told us he had shot an animal, the like of which he had never before seen. He said when he fired, it leaped into the air about ten feet, and then he thought it was making after him, which was the cause of his running and giving us signals to come to him. After reloading his gun, we cautiously advanced to the spot, and there found a monster lynx pierced through the heart.

The only families that were then settled in what is now Sauk County, were those of James S. Alban, Albert Skinner and John Wilson. Wilson was living at Wilson's Creek at the time. There were several young men making and improving claims when I came. They were H. F. Crossman, Burk Fairchild, D. B. Crocker, William Billings, William May, Nelson Lathrop, E. B. Harner and an old bachelor by the name of Hunter. The third family that moved in was named Parks, and the fourth, Jonathan Hatch.

Some time in October, 1839, five of us, Berry Haney, Burk Fairchild, Solomon Shore, Samuel Taylor and myself, crossed the bluffs over to the Baraboo Valley. The trail led lis over the bluifs immediately back of what is now known as the Teel place, the highest peak, I think, in the center range between the prairie and Baraboo. The trail led us directly to the Baraboo River, at the place where Maxwell's mill-dam now stands. Here we forded the river and entered the village of the Indian Chief, Caliminee, where we were very warmly and hospitably received. We rested and refreshed ourselves and horses, and were very much amused in seeing the Indians playing at cards and horse-racing. Some of them would stake their last string of " wampum " on a single chance at cards. The game we could not understand. After spending about two hours at this village, we started to traverse the river above, which we did, whenever it was approachable, as far up as " Dandy's " village, which was five or six miles above. At this village we were received with marked displeasure by the Indians, many of them gathering around us, and making much noise and confusion. They made signs and gesticulations for us to leave. After some parley with them, however, we succeeded in restoring quiet, and afterward purchased some corn to feed our horses for the night, and left them in peace. We encamped about two miles above the village, where I spent the most disagreeable night of my life. It was very chilly and dark, and rained the entire night. We had no shelter except that afforded by our blankets, which was but little, and we were drenched to the skin in a short time, through blankets and all. After much trouble we succeeded in making a fire, which somewhat relieved us from the cold. The next morning the rain ceased. After drying our clothes, and taking breakfast in the Indian style, we proceeded up the river to the Narrows, from w^hich point we returned on the direct trail to the lower village, where we had the honor of dining with the Chief. We spent several hours at this village, and then went down the prairie to the Narrows below, from which place we returned home. After a very tedious and tiresome journey across the bluffs, wo arrived at Sauk some hours after night, and lodged in the primitive house (or dugout, as we used to call it), which was a very agreeable change from the night before.

We saw no visible signs of white men in the Baraboo Valley. I think in all probability we were the first white men that ever crossed the bluffs between the prairie and Baraboo Valley. Some time in the after part of the summer of 1839, Cyrus Leland and George Cargel moved their families to the prairie, being the fifth and sixth families who came ; and a little later in the season of the same year. Berry Haney moved his family to the prairie, being the seventh. On the 30th of November, 1839, Charles B., son of Berry and Anna Haney was Ijorn, being the first white child born in Sauk County. There was nothing further of importance transpired during the winter of that year. The winter was very cold, with much snow, which covered the ground until spring. This ends my first year's stay in Wisconsin.

On the 1st day of May, 1848, 1 set out from my home at Spring Prairie, Walworth County, for my first visit to the valley of the Baraboo, of which I had heard, for the first time, only four or five years previous. A young man whose father's farm adjoined that of my father in Massachusetts, had spent the preceding winter with us. During that time, the land warrants which Congress had granted to the soldiers of the Mexican war, began to come upon the market. My friend sent to a New York broker and bought one for 160 acres for about $120, and wished m e to assist him in its location. Sauk County at that time was regarded as the best portion of the State accessible to us for obtaining Government lands. For that reason we directed our journev here.

Friday morning. May 8, 1848, found us at the little village of Prairie du Sac, the guests of Rev. Warren Cochran, who then resided there. He had removed the autumn previous from the vicinity of our home in Walworth County, and was preaching alternately at that village and at Baraboo. We found him at the time too feeble in health to ride to Baraboo to preach on the next Sabbath, and he wished me to hold meeting in his place. He was then in the vigor of early manhood, of strong physical powers, a towering intellect and a benevolent heart - such a giant intellectually and morally as is seldom found on the frontiers. He came to Wisconsin with the intention of founding a college. Although he failed in accomplishing that object, he did establish a school of elevated character, which became the Baraboo Collegiate Institute, and which continued to educate for usefulness large numbers of youth, until it was supplanted by the present graded school. Mr. Cochran went everywhere preaching the word with the zeal of an Apostle, there not being a village or schoolhouse in the county in which his voice at one time or another was not heard. At 8 A. M., we set out for Baraboo upon substantially the same road now traveled over Sauk Prairie, which then was but partially under cultivation. About midway of the prairie we met Maj. James A. Maxwell and family on their way to Sac Village to attend a quarterly meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He had removed with his father from Walworth County the year previous and purchased the lower water-power on the Baraboo, now known as the village of Manchester. As we passed up the southern slope of the Baraboo Bluff's, we were presented with the finest landscape view we had ever beheld. Sauk Prairie for a dozen miles, dotted all over with fields of growing grain, was presented to our vision. It was a scene worth a hundred miles' travel to look upon. For six miles across the bluff's there was at that tinie not a house to be seen, and the road was filled with bowlders. In the vicinity of Devil's Lake, tlif scenery was more Alpine than anything I had before seen west of New England. We found Baraboo to be a village of some three hundred inhabitants, lying mostly near the river on both sides. On the south side Avas a saw-mill, which was converting log's from the Baraboo pinery into lumber, most of which was rafted down to the cities and villages on the Mississippi River. Tiie largest hotel in the place was kept by Lyman Clark, now of Windom, Minn. It was situated just north of where the present railroad depot stands, and has since been converted into a brewery. There were also a dozen to a score of dwellings, mostly small, on the south side. The river was crossed by a bridge. On the north side ran a street parallel with the river, upon which were two or liiree stores and several houses. A small unfinished grist-mill of one run of stones stood upon the site of the present large iiouring-mill of R. H. Strong. The proprietor, whose name was Brown, had been killed by the fiill of a timber in raising an addition to it, a few weeks previous. The county scat had been removed from the village of Prairie du Sac the year previous and lociitcd upon a scjuare (|uarter-section composing a part of the land between the first and second bluff" from the river, the present court house standing somewhere near the center of it. The village was named Adams, and this strange anomaly in names was presented to a stranger. The post office was Baraboo, the village was named Adams, the town was Brooklyn, while the only town in the county named Baraboo was what is now Reedsburg, with some adjacent territory. The County Commissioners had caused a village to be platted the previous summer, and in order to raise money to build a court house had sold a large number of lots at public sale, at from ^4 to $8 a lot. A court house, in size about 26x36 and two stories high, had been erected on the north side of the public square. Col. E. Sumner was proprietor of a small, unpainted, two-story hotel at the northeast corner of the public square, which forms a part of the present Western Hotel.* Col. James Maxwell had built a small store at the southeast corner of the park, since known as the " Corner Store." Besides these, there were a few board shanties occupied by families. The village site was covered with a sparse growth of small oaks.

Mr. Cochran had directed us to the house of Dr. Charles Cowles for entertainment and information. He then lived on Peck's Prairie, four miles down the river. We found him at home. We introduced ourselves, and, when he came out to care for our team he peered anxiously into our wagon, and, seeing a quantity of oats there, said : " 1 am glad you have brought provender, for there is not a bushel to be bought in all this region." Dr. Cowles informed me that I would be expected to officiate at the funeral of a young man at the court house on the coming Sabbath. I spent Saturday in preparing a discourse and in assisting my friend in exploring the countfy. On Sabbath forenoon, we proceeded to the court house, which we found filled with some 200 people - a very fine-appearing congregation for a new country - only one of whom, Col. Maxwell, had I ever seen before. Col. Alexander Crawford had charge of the funeral arrangements. The congregational singing was good. I informed the congregation that I was not a preacher, either lay or clerical, and was not much used to public speaking, but, in consequence of the illness of Brother Cochran, I had consented to try to officiate on that occasion. I addressed the people from James: "For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." The body was buried about forty rods northwest of the court house, where quite a large number of graves had already been made, and the whole entirely unprotected. In the afternoon, I gave a lecture in the court house, on temperance, in connection with Dr. Sewall's plates of the human stomach, which I had brought with me. Those plates showed the condition of the stomach in a healthy state, and also in the various stages of disease, from the moderate and the immoderate use of alcoholic liquors.

Monday, May 7, 1848, was spent in assisting my friend in selecting land on which to make a home, which we found about two miles northeast of the village and a short distance north of where the cemetery is now located. A large portion of the land in Sauk County was then open for entry, although it had been in the market two or three years. The principal settlements in the Baraboo Valley were on Peck's Prairie, below the village, and at Christiehood, named for a Scotchman who was a pioneer settler on a prairie some miles above the village, on the north side of the river. There were a few families on Webster's prairie, so named for the first settler there, and a fcAv also on Babb's and Narrows Prairies. On Tuesday forenoon, we returned to the village of Baraboo, where the people had assembled at the first election for State officers, consisting of executive and legislative officers and Judges of the Circuit Court, which at first acted as Judges of the Supreme Court also. The grist-mill there was the only one in this valley, and the only one in the county except Leland's, on Honey Creek, two miles or so northwest of Sauk City. On Tuesday afternoon, we set out for the land office at Mineral Point, and spent the night at Prairie du Sac. The first settlement in the county had been made at that place in the years 1889 and 1840. Some men, having viewed the prairie from the highlands on the south of the Wisconsin, swam across upon their horses, and made claims for farms at or near the sites of the present villages of Prairie du Sac and Sauk City. During two years, eight men settled there with families, together with four single men. Among the settlers of 1839 were two lawyers, Cyrus Leland, afterward a member of the Legislature, and James

S. Alban, some time after a Circuit Judge of the Stevens Point Circuit, and Colonel of the Eighteenth Regiment of Infantry, who fell at Pittsburg Landing in April, 1862. Hans B. Crocker, who came during that year, opened the first store in the county in 1840, with a stock of ^200 or .^300 worth of goods. Among the settlers of 1840 was R. H. Davis, for many years Treasurer of the county, who taught the first school in the county in a framed room, 18x24, which stood on the present site of Sauk City. It was a private school of twenty pupils in the fall of 1841. The teacher was promised ^20 per month for three months ; but a number of the bills of poor families were never paid. Berry Haney opened the first, public house in 1840, and, building a ferry-boat, combined, the business of innkeeper and ferryman. Maj. W. H. Clark, a lawyer, settled there in 1841, and, with the assistance of his wife, taught the second school, in 1842. The first regular preaching in the county was by Rev. P. W. Nicols, in 1842, at the log cabin of Jonathan Smith.

Among the settlers of 1840 was Augustus Haraszthy, an Hungarian Count, and his cousin, Charles Halasz, who were the pioneers of the German seltlement at Sauk City, and of all those of Sauk County. Among the settlers of 1840 was also a German by the name of Lueders, who some years after planted the pioneer vineyard of Wisconsin, on the steep blufi" on the south side of the river, and at the time of his death, a few years ago, was the most extensive grape-grower in the State. Several of the single men dug a room into the river bank, and there for a season kept bachelor's hall, in the only dugout I ever heard of in Wisconsin. On Wednesday morning, May 9, we crossed the river, and, after proceeding some miles through sparsely settled openings, we entered the valley of Black Earth Creek. It consisted of prairie from eighty rods to half a mile in width, with thin openings on each side as far as we could see. We soon discovered a peculiarity in the settlement which we had noticed nowhere else in the West. The houses were all built of logs, about 18x20 feet in size, and two stories high, in connection with each of which was a field of three or four acres, fenced and broken. W^e also noticed that many of the houses were unoccupied. At noon we stopped upon the banks of the creek to feed our team and ourselves. I suppose it was somewhere near where the village of Mazo Manie now stands. The current of the stream was (^uite rapid at that point. There came from a neighboring house two women to get water, of whom we inquired concerning the settlement. We found them to be good talkers and quite intelligent. They were disposed to give us all the information we sought. They informed us that some five or six years previous to that time a project had been formed among the operatives of a certain manufacturing city in England to form a colony and emigrate to the frontier of the United States to engage in farming. For this purpose, 200 men, with families, entered into a written compact, by which each was to put a certain sum of money into a common treasury and send out two men as agents to enter land, build houses, and fence and break a small field for each family before they came over. Each family was to have 80 acres of land, and the settlement to extend along the creek for the distance of twelve miles. Many of them had large, not to say wild, expectations. As one of the women remarked, they thought if they sliouM only get upon a farm in America they should live on strawberries and cream. They seemed to imagine, that if they could only become the possessor of a farm, a house and field on the rich prairies of the great West, they would have all the fortune they needed for this life. Of the inconveniences and trials incident to settling in a new country, they knew nothing and anticipated nothing. When they found themselves from eight to twelve miles from a physician, a store, or any of the conveniences to which they had been accustomed in England, and engaged in ;i l)usiness of which they knew absolutely nothing, many of them became homesick and discouraged. One after another left for other places to find business by which they could support their fatnilies, until one-half of them had deserted their homes. I think it was not true, howeye-r, that in the final result they regretted tiieir emigration to the United States. At that time it seems that none of them had returned to the land of their birth.

On Tuesday, the 24th day of October, 1848, I set out from my home in Walworth County on my second journey to the Baraboo Vallev. T had three passengers, all of whom, like myself, were looking tor homes. 1 hud unexpectedly and providentially come in possession of several land warrants, and came to find land upon which to locate them. Our journey was throuo-h the villages of Whitewater, Fort Atkinson, Aztalan, Lake Mills, Waterloo, Columbus, Fall Oliver and Wyocena. We reached Portage on Thursday evening. On Friday forenoon, October 27, we visited Fort Winnebago. We crossed the Wisconsin River by ferry ,'^ owned and tended bv a half-breed Frenchman*. At the landing on the south side was a wind grist-mill, f the first I had seen in the West. As the Wisconsin overflowed its banks, we found no settlers for three or four miles, after which our way was through openings, where we found an occasional dwelling and a small farm. In the afternoon we reached Baraboo, and put up with Col. Sumner, where we unexpectedly found a company of four who had arrived there the evening previous, from the same town in which we lived in Walworth County. Soon after we arrived, a heavy rain set in, which continued until 9 A. M. on Saturday. As we learned that a man by the name of David C. Reed was building a mill and founding a village on the river sixteen miles above, we resolved to proceed thither. After leaving Lyons, there was no house on the way except the board shanty of Thompson Shepherd, on Copper Creek. In what is now Reedsburg, we found the frame of a saw-mill, and five log shanties which stood in what is now Main street, just in front of where Reineke's hotel and Roper's eating-house now stands. The west shanty was occupied as a sleeping-room, with berths one above the other in steamboat style. It had an outside stone chimney so poorly made that much of the smoke found its way into the room and rendered its occupants quite uncomfortable. The second cabin was used as a storeroom, and the third, fourth and fifth, by the families of Powell, William McClung, the millwright, and Elder A. Lock. On Sunday morning, our company engaged Mr. Reed to go with them to look for land, on the plea of necessity that he could not leave his work to go on a week day. Mr. Reed inquired of me if I was going with them. I told him I was not ; that I was intending to come here to settle, and I was coming with clean hands, so I could reprove the people for Sabbathbreaking and other wrong-doing. He laughingly replied that they were not going to break the Sabbath, but only intended to bend it a little. I told the company that sooner than look for land on that day I would return home without any. I induced one man to remain with me. At the breakfast table I gave notice that, with the permission of Mr. Powell, I would give a lecture in that room in the evening. During the day, I took a stroll by myself, on the only road that led into the place from the north, crossing a part of what is now the Greenwood Cemetery. Near where Smith Devereaud now lives, the track turned west to the creek on which Reed and Powell had cut a quantity of hay during the summer, from which circumstance the stream was named Hay Creek. Upon the rocks, under the pines, I sat down and prepared my lecture for the evening service. In the evening, twenty-nine persons assembled in Mr. Powell's cabin, when Elder A. Lock offered prayer and I gave a lecture upon law, I remarked that law was not arbitrary, as many supposed, but was founded in the nature of things ; that moral law was founded in the nature of moral beings, and grew out of the relation they sustained to each other - angels with angels, men with men, and the whole with God, their maker. I then spoke of the Sabbath law, showed the necessity for rest one day in seven, and the reasonableness that men should obey it. I then presented the law which bound the citizen to the Government, and his duty to cast his vote for rulers who would sustain correct principles. This was just previous to the Presidential election at which Taylor was chosen President. I dwelt also upon the application of law in other matters. It is worthy of mention that not one of the five men who went out to look for land on that Sabbath settled in the county, although all professed to be searching land for that purpose. One of them, who was a Sabbath-keeper and sanctuary-goer at home, made a poor selection, and in the sale of it, some years after, committed a State-prison offense.

Five of the eight men who reached Reedsburg on Saturday the 28th of October, 1848, went hunting land the next day, and one of the others let his horses go, with the agreement that

* At that (late the ferry crossing the Wisconsin River at Portage was owned by William Armstning. now a r.'siflent of Portage. The ferrj' was estaVjlished half a century ago by the fanioMS I'ierre I'auiiUHtt«, who was murdered by an Indiati in October, 1»:U. - Ed. t Erected by Solomon Leach, who is still living in I'ortage, where he settled in lt':i'J. - Ed.

they should make a good selection for hira. David C. Reed took them nearly ten miles from home before he showed them any vacant land. They made claims on three quarter-sections that day, two of them very good ones, the best of which I entered after all the others had obtained their lands. At that time there was not a family settled in the present towns of Westfield, Washington, Woodland or Winfield. I think there were three or four families near where the village of [ronton now is, and two or three near by, in the south of Lavalle. There were five on Babb's Prairie and five on Narrows Prairie, a small Irish settlement, known as Sligo, in what i8 now Dellona. the Butterfield settlement in the north part of Excelsior, of about a dozen families. Christihood, near where Ebenezer Church now is, and a community on Seely Creek, now North Freedom. Of all the fifty families or so then living in the present ten towns in the northwest part of Sauk County, I think not more than five or six now (1876) remain, and some of them are depleted of a part of their numbers. Mr. Reed informed us that a fine, large prairie, surrounded with heavy timber, could be found to the south of Narrows Creek, near its head. Several of us made an ineffectual attempt to find it on Monday, and returned to the settlement on Narrows Prairie to spend the night. On Tuesday morning, four of our company, including myself, started out again with the determination to find the coveted prairie. After traveling several miles up the creek, we crossed to the south and struck into the timber to find a section line. The day was cloudy, and when we found a line and followed it to a section corner, we discovered that each one of us was completely turned about - north to us was south, and east was west. In this bewildered state we passed the rest of the day, tracing the section lines near the center of what is now the town of Washington. The country was covered for the most part with a fine growth of voung oak timber, with small streams of water each half-mile, along some of which were strips of prairie. When night came, we kindled a fire by a large log, in front of which we built a bower, and, covering the ground with dry grass, which we pulled for the purpose, we slept comfortably till morning, although it snowed quite freely during the night. None of the company, except myself, were accustomed to the woods, and all gave up to me to pilot them out. Fortunately, I had with me a sectional map of Wisconsin - which on that day I would not have lost for -1^50 - by means of which I discovered that the stream upon which we camped emptied into Narrows Creek. We resolved to follow it down, and had not gone far before we were delivered from our bewilderment, and the points of the compass were all right again, much to our satisfaction. We proceeded to the house of Mr. Pitts, near where the Parker Schoolliouse now stan<ls, and, taking my team and buggy, which had been left there, we came directly to Reedsburg, which we reached at noon. After dinner, I informed Mr. Reed of our inability to find the large prairie surrounded by heavy timber, of which he gave us such a glowiriLT description before we set out on Monday morning. To our chagrin, he informed us that the j)rairie was in the valley of Narrows Creek, whicli at that time consisted of only a small piece of open land. He had sent us upon a "wild-goose chase." He evidently feared that we were all of us a .set of speculators, and wished us to locate our warrants as far from the village as po.ssible. Mr. Reed was the only man in this part of the country who could give information as to vacant lan<ls in this region. I said to him that I wished to hire his services for a day to show me land, and would pay him any price he should demand. Making very little objection on the score of his own business, he went with me. The first quarter-section he showed me as vacant was the one upon which T now live. He said that liis millwright had claimed one eighty of it, and lie had promised to enter it for him. but had been disappointed in respect to money to do it; that if 1 would enter it and give him one forty, it would be satisfactory. This I promised to do, and at the same time told Mr. Reed that I should need a quarter-section of timber to go with it, and he gave me a descriptions of one adjoining his land on the south, which I entered. We traveled nortlieasr. over lands now owned by the Messrs. Sparks, Pelton, Montross and Charles I'eitoii. and I took deseriptions of all the best locations on the route, none of which I entered, however, as there were more valuable ones to be found elsewhere. Soon after we set out, a severe northciust snow storm set in, which continued for thirty-six hours. In the course of the afternoon, Mr. Reed gave me an interesting account of his life, and remarked with special reference to the manner in which he had spent the preceding Sabbath, " I know far better than I do," he said ; " I was brought up by a Baptist minister, and well instructed by him and his wife. Afier I was married and they became superannuated, I took them home and cared for them as long as they lived. I know my duty better than I do it." How many of us are compelled to make the same acknowledgment I

On Thursday, November 2, we looked over land near Babb's Prairie to find a quartersection to enter for Mrs. Pamelia Tator, then living at Delavan. The storm still continuing, and the bushes being covered with damp snow, we were nearly as wet as though we had been out in a rain-storm without an umbrella. I passed an uncomfortable night, but, fortunately, took no cold. The whole company, having made satisfactory selections, proceeded to Baraboo on Saturday, where we spent the Sabbath.

On the 26th of February, 1849, I set out on my second journey to Reedsburg for the purpose of entering land. On Friday, March 2, we arrived. Since our last visit, in November, the dam had been finished and the saw- mill put in operation, although it was without roof or other covering. One family had been added to the population, that of Austin Seeley. He had put up the frame to the L part of what has since been known as " the old mill-house," and covered it with green, rough boards. His family had recently removed from Delavan, and they were living in it. We obtained dinner here, but found the people quite short of provisions. In the afternoon we proceeded to Narrows Prairie, and found lodgings with William Pitts. On Saturday we spent the entire day selecting a quarter-section of land for myself, and were well paid for our labor. It was a mile or more north of where Loganville is now built, and consisted of rich prairie with a fine stream of water running through it, and sixty acres of heavy timber on one corner. It has been since converted into a farm, which for several years past has been owned and occupied by H. B. Dornick. On Sabbath, March 4, we rested, according to the commandment. Oa Monday we looked out a quarter-section, with a mill-site upon it, on Narrows Creek, for the young man who accompanied me, but he was cut down by death before he improved it. A mill was afterward built upon it by D. C. Sheldon. That was the day Zachary Taylor was inaugurated President of the United States. On Tuesday, March 6, I reviewed my selections of lands on Copper Creek, examining the soil, which was not frozen, by boring through the snow with my staff. Stopping over night at Baraboo, we proceeded to Matt's Ferry the next day, only to find the river open and no man at home to set us across. There was a family there, living in a part of a storehouse erected on the river bank. We traveled down to Sauk City and put up with Marcus Warren, a wealthy bachelor, and proprietor of the United States Hotel. During the evening, Augostoh Haraszthy, the Hungarian Count, came in and spent an hour. He was a very intelligent man, of fine colloquial powers. I was much interested in his conversation. He, with his cousin, Charles Halasz, sailed from Hamburg in March, 1840, with the intention of settling in the territory of Florida, glowing accounts of which they had read in their native land, as a new-found Eden. Before leaving port they had purchased some of Maryatt's books of travels for the purpose of whiling away their time on shipboard. His description of the country between Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, together with the account given by some English fellow-passenger who had been at Mineral Point, of the beauties of Wisconsin, induced them to change their destination. Upon landing in New York, they proceeded at once, by the way of the Erie Canal and the lakes, to Milwaukee. They purchased horses, employed a guide and interpreter, and explored the country until a satisfactory spot to settle, on Rock River, was found at the head of Lake Koshkonong. There they set to work vigorously to make improvements, until they lost nearly everything by the burning of their temporary dwelling. Desolate and half discouraged, they resolved to abandon their claim. Picking up what few '- traps " they had saved from the fire, they proceeded by way of Madison to Prairie du Sac, where they arrived about the middle of July, 1840. They were enchanted with the beauty of the country and found it equal to the description given by Capt. Maryatt in his travels. The Count purchased a claim to lands on the river, below the village of Prairie du Sac, and the next season employed Charles 0. Baxter to lay out a town, which was named Haraszthy.

The name was afterward changed to the one it bears at present, Sauk City. In the spring of 1842, the Count returned to Hungary, and came back in the course of the summer with his wife and children, and with his father also, who was known as the " Old General," who was an excellent chemist. They soon drew around them a large German settlement, which spread to other parts of the county. The Count occasionally visited the Territorial Legislature when in session at Madison. On such occasions he dressed in the livery he was accustomed to wear on court occasions in Europe, deeming it an act of respect due a legislative body. He always attracted a good deal of notice. A few weeks after I saw him, the family removed overland to California, where the " Old General " was appointed Assayer of the mint at San Francisco, and the Count received the appointment of Clerk. Charles Halasz, who recently died at Sauk City, had at various times been elected to town and county offices, which he satisfactorily filled.

On Thursday morning, March 8, we found a bridge of ice at Sauk City about four rods w'uhi. between the swift-flowing currents, above and below. Taking with us heavy clubs, with which we pounded on the ice in front of us, we crossed in safety. Making our way to Lodi, we took our horse and cutter and started for Madison, which we reached at night in the midst of a severe rain-storm. The next day, through mud, snow and running water, we reached Cambridge. On Saturday morning the snow was all gone. Leaving our sleigh, and taking turns in riding and walking, we reached home, forty miles, Saturday evening, thoroughly exhausted by our journey. I succeeded in entering, through the mails, every piece of land which I had selected, and was well satisfied with my two weeks' work.

Early in November, 1849, I set out with two passengers on my third trip to Reedsburg, having been employed by several of my friends to enter lands for them. We pursued essentially the same route as I did the spring before, except that we left the Madison road at Cottage Grove, and came through the American settlement on Sun Prairie, and the Scandinavian at Norwegian Grove, and then through Hundred-Mile Grove to Lodi. It was a splendid portion of country, much of it improved by settlers. The grove was said to be named Hundred-Mile from its being just 100 miles from Galena, and the same distance from Green Bay on the old traveled road through the Indian lands, before any portion of Wisconsin was purchased of them by the United States Government. We found that several families had been added to the population of Reedsburg. The mill was covered, and a bridge constructed over the river. The east portion of tiie mill-house had been built and occupied by A. C. Reed and family, who kept a house of entertainment. Austin Seeley had put up the main part of a house now owned by J. F. Danforth, and used the lower part for a cabinet-shop and the upper as a dwelling. William McClung had built the L part of the house now owned by Robert Greenwood. Rev. J. S. Saxby had erected a part of what was afterward the Green Tavern, standing where Henry Dewey now lives. It was afterward enlarged by H. H. Treadwell, and used for many years as a public house. It was at length removed by R. B. Percival to his farm on Babb's Prairie, and still occupied as a dwelling by A. S. Winckler. Proceeding to Narrows Prairie, we found some increase of population there. On our previous visit, L. M. Swallow's was the farthest house, and he lived on Bear Creek, where Levi Craker now lives. Old Mr. Daniel Clark had built a Ion house where Maj. McClure now lives, and was removing his family into it from Big Foot Prairie, in Walworth County. Horace N. Smith and A. R. Sprague "had just settled in log cabins as the first families in what is now Westfield, two miles north of where Logansville is situated. I spent two days in making careful selections of lands just south of the present village of Logansville, and also in the prairie valley west of it on the line of the present town of Washington. The selections were all valuable, and I succeeded in entering each one of them for the several men for whom they were intended. Most, or all of them have since been improved and are now valuable farms. I returned to Reedsburg to spend the Sabbath, and listened to a sermon by Rev. Mr. Saxby, at the house of Eber Benedict, which he had just built, a little east of the mill-house. This was the first regular preaching in this valley west of Baraboo, except the appointment of Elder A. Lock, on Narrows Prairie and on the Lfttle Baraboo. near where L-onton Village now is. These were made a few months earlier. Mr. Saxby had removed here with the intention of settling upon a tract of land upon Copper Creek, which I had entered for him the previous spring. He thought it best, however, to make his first set- -tlement in the village, but soon sold and removed to his farm, which he improved, and eventually sold to Joseph Osborn, who resided upon it until his death, a few months ago.

Thirty years have now elapsed since he who now addresses you first became acquainted with a few, less than one out of a hundred, of your number present, who were then each of them a pioneer of pioneers. They had severed the strong ties of kindred and of home in the heart of civilization to seek new homes at its furthest extremity on the prairies of the West, where the trail of the savage had been uncrossed by the foot of a white man. I speak now of the pioneers who preceded my arrival in 1842, and of them I need not say, since it is a self-evident proposition, that they were and are men of no ordinary mold. Bold, hardy, industrious, with a zeal that never abated, and with hearts that never faltered, they encountered all the hardships and privations of pioneer life, broke the virgin soil and plowed the furrows deep, fatted the pork and stall-fed the beef, sowed the grain and planted the corn that fed not only themselves, but also supplied the wants of the straggling hundreds who followed them. AVhen, in 1842, 1 first became a resident of Sauk County, all the necessary comforts of life were cheaply furnished and easily obtained. To their untiring patience, unremitting toil and herculean efforts - to that old pioneer plowf - is this consoling fact to be attributed. They thus laid the foundation of almost an empire in this broad territory of ours. Largely, these men were of American birth. But there Avere other pioneers here not of American birth. It is a singular fact that in that early day most of the nations of Europe were represented among the few inhabitants of Sauk Prairie. There were one or more immigrants and estrays from England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Poland ; " the furious Frank," "the fiery Hun," and even one of " Afric's dusky sons " were there. On the evening of the 4th of July, 1842, at a ball held in the lower town, where ''music arose with its voluptuous swell" and "flying feet" kept time to its harmonies, the favorite dance of each nationality (the last excepted) succeeded the other in regular order. The music was that of a piano, the keys of which were touched by the fingers of a lady recently from London, and again by a "wee Scotch lassie," not then in her teens, since known as one of the most gifted vocalists and accomplished musicians of the State, now a resident of Madison, and to whom we of Baraboo had recently the pleasure of listening. This occurred at a time when the wigwam of the Indian was still in view, and before his moccasined feet had made their last indentation on his war-worn trail. Full well do I remember the tall and graceful form of the Indian Chief, " De-ko-ra," who was looking on, and hearing him exclaim, dance ; heap music ; neisheshenX squaw!"

A number of the Hungarians and Germans were co-immigrants with, and formed part of, the retinue of Count Augoston Haraszthy, an Hungarian nobleman, in many respects a very remarkable man, and probably the first pioneer of foreign birth to set foot on the soil of Sauk County. In person and mind, he fully typified "the fiery Hun " of Campbell. Leaving his native home, amid the vine-clad hills of far-off" Hungary - a home surrounded by every luxury which extravagance could desire, and which had descended from father to son through along line of nobility - having resolved to become a citizen of Republican America, he visited many of its famous localities for the purpose of selecting (as he told me) a new home which, to himself and his family in Hungary, should prove not less attractive in its natural characteristics than the home they were to abandon for it. He wandered from place to place, from village to city, and through the rural districts of many States in the Union. Many places were beautiful, but not altogether what he sought, until chance led him to the banks of the Wisconsin River. Ascend" ing'to the top of the nearest bluff, opposite to where is now Sauk City, his delighted eye gazed on the unrivaled landscape which lay outstretched before him : " Eureka ! Eureka /" he exclaimed, ''Italia! Italia!'' Without going into the particulars of his remarkable career, filled with adventures stranger than fiction, or relating any of the numerous anecdotes concerning him, I will only say further, that soon after the discovery of, and settlement upon, his miniature Italy, he set out for his native home, and, on his return, was accompanied by his wife, a lady of Polish origin, of great beauty and rare'accomplishments, by their two children, and by his father and mother. But his mercurial activity unfitted him for a quiet life. Now the owner and captain of a steamboat on the Lower Mississippi ; then again, at home tilling his many acres ; now a merchant dealing out to customers (whom he always trusted) large quantities of merchandise ; then a lumberman on the Upper Wisconsin ; now at San Francisco, a member of the Legislature and Assayer of the United States Mint, or in the interior of California carrying on, perhaps, the largest vineyard in the world ; now again in the Old World - finally, while pursuing another avocation in the heart of Central America, his restless spirit was forever quenched in its murky waters. Death accorded to him a fate as strange as his life, and his body was devoured by alligators. Who that ever knew can forget the " Old General," the father of the Count? Father and only son and child - in the structure of their minds, in their habits, tastes and dispositions, they were the very antipodes of each other, as unlike as ever could be. Nevertheless, their attachment for each other was unbounded. Naught but death would separate them ; where went the son, there accompanied or followed the father. In sunshine and in storm, through good and evil report alike, he cherished "?nem son Augosta,'' as he called him. He was probably the best-educated man wlio ever came to this country from abroad, having studied and mastered all the sciences through the medium of the Latin language, which was lisped by his infant tongue before tliat of his native land. He soon became a proficient in the English language, which he constantly made his study. After he had mastered it sufficiently to communicate his ideas intelligibly, a more entertaining and agreeable companion could not be found. I have thus briefly alluded to the character of these two men - father and son - not only because they were among the first settlers of our county, and had great influence in attracting foreign population hither, but because, also, they are now among the number of those who have passed away, it being one of the duties of this association, and its most sacred one, to extol the virtues of its dead pioneers.