Madison City (part 12 of 20)

Royal Buck taught there in succession for three years. Madison Academy had been incorporated, the village made a school district, and soon afterwards the preparatory department of the state university was opened by Prof. Sterling. The first graded school dates from 1850, with Jas. L. Enos, principal, at a salary of $30 per month, and Mrs. Church had control of the primary. Damon Y. Kilgore, superintendent, urged an increase and improvement of school accommodation in 1855. There were 1,600 persons of school age in the district, less than half of whom were attending school. Three grades were established by the board, and there has been no material change since. The school board and trustees could not agree as to an authorized outlay of $10,000, and plans for new schools languished; but two years afterwards, Mr. Kilgore reported eleven schools employing fifteen teachers, the number eligible for tuition being nearly two thousand. School houses in the First and Third wards were finished and others sanctioned, but the money difficulty stood in the way. High school was taught in the old Congregational church, employing eight teachers for 133 pupils. That institution was in better quarters in 1860, but was then discontinued for want of funds, and for the same reason the summer term of the ward schools was abandoned. Miss Cones procured the use of the building and furniture from the board, and, at her own risk for a time, conducted a high school for young ladies. When Prof. C. II. Allen asked the city to provide better school training in 1863, there were nearly 2,000 of school age in the district beyond the number in average ittendance. High school was reopened with about one-third of its former total, and soon afterwards the Fourth ward school house was commenced. State Supt. McMynn pronounced that building " the best in the state," and the Second ward was supplied with a like structure on the same plan. The school house in the university addition was finished in 1870. Three years later the high school on Wisconsin avenue was erected on the old site, and is much praised; but modern science suggests the desirability of more floor space and less stair climbing for all pupils, but more especially for girls, as more important than architectural beauty. Widely extended buildings of only one story, would not be so ornamental as the average of our school, buildings, but they would be easier warmed and ventilated, and the results, in a physiological sense, would far outweigh every other consideration, among the best informed.

The High School is at present under the direction of Professor Shaw, whose efficiency as Superintendent of the city schools is a matter for the school board as well as our citizens to be specially proud of. The denominational schools connected with the churches of St. Raphaels, St. Regina and the Holy Redeemer, deserve special mention. There are excellent private schools, whose merits can only be glanced at. R. F. George is the principal of the Commercial School on Wisconsin Avenue and Johnson Street, and the Northwestern Business College in Ellsworth's block, of which Messrs. Wilmot, Demming & Boyd are proprietors, are schools of high standing. Add to these several institutions the college just opened by the Norwegian church in the old Farwell residence, and it will be seen that the sum total of facility for tuition in this city is scarcely excelled by any other place of its size in the Union.

The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters was originated by a convention in the state agricultural rooms in February, 1870. The purposes aimed at are explained by the title, and the spirit in which the work has been prosecuted, justifies the assumption that " the foundations may be laid for an institution that shall be of practical utility, and a lasting honor to the state." The transactions of the academy have been published by votes of the legislature, and among the many valuable papers are some that would do honor to any institution of the kind; but which would hardly commend themselves to the directors of the daily press as popular reading, from the recondite matter introduced. Madison has given a large proportion of the officers of the academy for the current year. Professor Davies of the State University is General Secretary; Prof. S. IT. Carpenter, Yice President for Department of Speculative Philosophy; Dr. J. W. Hoyt, Yice President for Department of Fine Arts; Gen. Geo. P. Delaplaine, Treasurer; C. N". Gregory, A. M., Librarian; and E. T. Sweet, M. S., Director of Museum.

The State University has added largely to the aggregate of literary culture, for which our city stands preeminent. It is our purpose to name some of the more prominent among our men and women of letters, briefly noting their contributions, and it is due to the University that we begin with a sketch of its accomlished president. John Bascom was born in Genoa, K. Y., on the first day of May, 1827, as we learn from " Durfee's Biographical Annals of Williams College." He is consequently now in his fiftieth year. Having fitted for college at Homer Academy, N. Y., he entered " Williams " in 1845, and graduated four years later. Severe study, and the necessity to teacli while pursuing his course as a student, weakened his visual organs, as in 1853 he partially lost the use of his eyes so that he was dependent on others for his reading, and for five years sight was not fully restored. Steadfastly pursuing his studies, Mr. Bascom graduated at Andover Theological Seminary in 1855, and was called to the professorship of rhetoric in Williams College. In the year 1858, he published a work on " Political Economy," to which his mind had been specially directed, while serving as tutor at Williams College in 1852-3. Four years later his second book appeared, a treatise on "^Esthetics," followed in 1865 by a volume on "Rhetoric," and in 1869 by "Psychology," a work treating one of the most engrossing subjects of modern thought. " Science, Philosophy and Religion" in 1871, the " Philosophy of English Literature " in 1871, and the *' Philosophy of Religion" in 1876, may be taken as evidences that the lesson of five years in semi-darkness has not been construed into an excuse for taking things easilv. The university duties devolving upon President Bascom are onerous, but they do not exhaust his mental force, and the superfluous energy of the scholar finds expression in additions to our literature, such as will cause the name of the writer to be remembered in future years. President Bascom is a diligent contributor to some of our leading quarterlies.

"America not discovered by Columbus," won recognition on both sides of tlie Atlantic. It is now out of print, but a new edition is demanded, and may be looked for shortly. " Norse Mythology " has gone through its second edition, and a third is in the press. " Viking Tales of the North " is just out, and the demand attests the author's reputation. Besides these works, by which Mr. Anderson is best known in this country, he has produced many pamphlets and larger works in the Norwegian tongue, including "Julegave," or " Yule Gift," and " Den Norske Maal-sag," or "The Norse Language-Question." His translation from the Swedish of the " Handbook for Charcoal Burners," a combination of prize essays on the subject, has attracted much attention. Mr. Anderson is professor of the Scandinavian languages, and librarian of the State University, in which capacity lie has twice visited Europe, and will repeat the tour shortly, as a member of the Congres des Americanistes, which will assemble in the Duchy of Luxembourg. The professor is a lecturer of considerable merit, honorary member of the Iceland Literary Society, participating in all the publications of that association, Scandinavian editor of McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia, and of Kiddle & Scheni's Educational Cyclopedia; and has been appointed to deliver a course of lee tures on Norse literature, at the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, in December, 1877. Circumstances have brought the professor in contact with many of the world's most renowned scholars and poets,

Prof. W. F. Allen was associated with T. P. Allen in producing the " Handbook of Classical Geography," in 1862, and with Chas. P. Ware and Lucy McK. Garrison in a volume of " Slave Songs," in 1867. In 1870, Mr. Allen produced an " Introduction to Latin Composition." Joined with Jos. H. Allen, in 1868 and 1869, he wrote a " Manual of Latin Grammar," " Latin Lessons " and a " Latin Reader," and during the current decade, associated with Jos. H. Allen and Jas. B. Greenough, has added to our literature six works on Cicero's Select Orations, De Senectute, Sallust's Catiline, Virgil, Ovid and Caesar. Prof. Allen ranks among the most prominent Latin scholars in America, and is a constant contributor to The Nation, North American Review, and other such publications.

Prof. S. H. Carpenter was born at Little Falls, Herkimer County, 1ST. Y., and at the age of twenty-one graduated in Rochester University, receiving from that institution in 1855 and 1871, the degrees of A. M. and LL. D. The professor commenced his career in our State University as a tutor in 1852, and has been identified with the interests of education ever since. His publications can only be glanced at, but their titles are descriptive : " Education a Mental Possession," "The Moral Element in Education," " Education a Necessity in a Free Government," " The Evidences of Christianity," " University Education,"

"The Drama," "An Address to the State Teachers' Association," " The Relations of Skepticism to Scholarship," " Conflict between the Old and the New Education," "Metaphysical Basis of Science," "Relation of Educational Institutions," " Philosophy of Evolution," " Industrial Education," " The Educational Problem," "Historical Sketch of the University," " Our National Growth," and still unpublished an address on " The Duty and Difficulty of Independent Thinking." Prof. Carpenter's " English of the Fourteenth Century," and " Introduction to the Study of Anglo Saxon," cannot fail to li^e as standard works; and he has translated from the French of Emile de Laveleye, "The Future of Catholic Nations" and "Political Economy and Socialism," besides contributing largely to periodicals of the highest type.

Dr. James Davie Butler, LL. D., was born in Rutland, Yt., and graduated at Middlebury College at twenty-one. Having studied theology in Yale and Andover, he next became a traveler in Europe, Asia and Africa, extending his researches into Polynesia by visiting the Sandwich Islands. Returning to his alma mater, he became a tutor in Middlebury College, and, in succession, professor in Norwich University, Wabash College, and in our University, in all, about eighteen years. He officiated as a Congregational pastor at Wells River, Yt., Peabody, Mass., and at Cincinnati, O. He has published " Armsmear," a memorial of Col. Colt; " Letters From Abroad," which appeared in Boston, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago and Mad- ison, and valuable papers in Kitto's Cyclopedia Bihliotheca Sacra, Quarterly Register, and in connection with the American Institute and our State Historical Society. The professor is well known as a lecturer, and his occasional sermons are always listened to with profound interest.

Lyman C. Draper, A. M., LL. D., has rather aimed at preparing material for future historians, than at becoming a writer of books; but he has won for himself the title of " The Western Plutarch." His attention was earlv directed to the want of efficient collection, which prevented masses of facts, once well known, from beino; authenticated for historical use, and much of his life has been devoted to the rectification of that class of errors. Circumstances have aided him^in some degree in becoming acquainted with notabilities, and his personal reminiscences of La Fayette, De Witt Clinton, Gov. Cass, Chas. Carroll, Daniel Boone, and others equally celebrated in their several spheres, would make one of the most readable volumes of the day. His collection of MSS. is certainly the most valuable in the west, and in the hands of a skillful writer, might be wrought into works of engrossing interest and great literary value. Mr. Draper has seen service in the field; has been justice of the peace in Northern Mississippi, editor of a newspaper, farmer, and since his removal to this state, has been identified with the State Historical Society, as we have elsewhere recorded. As state superintendent of public instruction, his labors deserve honorable mention.

His published works consist of pamphlets and school reports, evincing much research, the seven volumes of collections of the Historical Society with valuable notes, " The Helping Hand," a work in which Mr. Croffut assisted, and two works are now ready for the press; one, in which Mr. Bntterfield was his colaborer, entitled "Border Forays," and, though last, not least, " The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," a book full of careful compilations on the daring assertion of independence enunciated at Mecklenburg, N. C, more than twelve months prior to the time from which we date our centennial.

Dr. J. W. Hoyt, A. M., M. D., LL. D., is already known to our readers as editor of " The Wisconsin Farmer" but he has served the state in numerous other capacities. "Worthington, Ohio, was his place of nativity, and in that state he was Professor of Chemistry and Medical Jurisprudence in the Cincinnati College of Medicine, as also, at a later date, Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in Antioch College. The doctor was Secretary of the "Wisconsin State Agricultural Society: was founder and President of the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, besides holding many other appointments of honor and usefulness, which defy enumeration. His services to the State University alone would require more space than we have at our disposal for this brief notice. His works consist of thirteen annual reports of the State Agricultural Society, and other reports on the resources and progress of "Wisconsiu; on the London

International Exhibition; on the Paris Exposition Uni'versellej on the Railroad Commission; as chairman of the National University Committee; a work on "University Progress;" and numerous monographs, industrial, educational and scientific. The doctor has a well stored mind, and its resources are ever at his fullest command for the work of the hour and the age.

Mr. H. A. Tenney has figured in many other chapters of our history, and he must not be forgotten among our authors. To him are due the earliest sketches extant of Dane and Pierce counties, and innumerable contributions preserved by the State Historical Societ}*. He has been a Wisconsin man from a very early date. He has now almost ready for the press, a volume on "Early Humor in Wisconsin," which should have a good sale.

D. S. Durrie, whose unobtrusive labors in the State Historical Library have been too little noticed, deserves more than a passing mention. He has long filled the position of Librarian. His works consist of the "Bibliography of Wisconsin;" "Early Outposts of Wisconsin;" "Bibliographic Genealogy of America;" "The Steele Family;" "Holt Genealogy. » u Utility of the Study of Genealogy; " " History of the Four Lake Country;" and parts of the "History of Wisconsin;" of Iowa and Missouri. Mr. Durrie compiles with faithfulness, and has a conscience in his literary labors.

prosecuted Lis literary labors with much good fortune. His principal works are the " History of Seneca County," Ohio; "A System of Grammatical and Rhetorical Punctuation;'' "Crawford's Expedition against Sandusky, in 1782; ': and in conjunction with Mr. Draper, Mr. Butterfield has produced "Border Forays." A new edition of Crawford's Expedition may be expected shortly. His " Washington Crawford Letters," have just appeared.

Bev. J. B. Pradt has long been a resident in this state. He has issued ten volumes of the Wisconsin Journal of Education, from 1860 to 1865, as editor and publisher, and from 1871 to the present time, as co-editor and publisher. Mr. Pradt has also assisted in issuing eight annual reports of the Department of Public Instruction; and an edition of the Constitutions of the United States and Wisconsin, with historical notes, questions and glossary.

Bev. Ames C. Pennock came to Wisconsin in 1844, and four years later, joined the M. E. Conference, preaching in this state and in Minnesota until 1862, when in consequence of impaired health, it became necessary to abate his labors. Mr. Pennock has had experience as a farmer, merchant, agent, author, editor and newspaper correspondent. He is now a publisher of books as well as a writer. His mind revels alike in poetry and prose, and those who have encountered him in theological controversy will long remember the event. He has published a brief, but very exhaustive work, on " The Fall and the Rescue

Professor JSTicodemus has now ready for the press a translation of "Weisbach's Engineer," a work of admitted value, which cannot fail to be recognized as a standard production. The translation from the Swedish, by Professor Anderson, of Svedelius' " Handbook for Charcoal Burners," was edited by Mr. Nicodemus, who contributed copious notes from the writings of acknowledged authorities. Many articles in the published proceedings of the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters are due to his industry, and other additions to our current literature might be given, were it necessary to complete the catalogue.

Prof. Searing, superintendent of public instruction, was one of the faculty of Milton College, in this state, prior to his election to the office now worthily filled by him. His published works consist of an address on the " Character of Abraham Lincoln," delivered shortly after the assassination of the martyred president, and a school edition of Virgil's Eneid. The great success of the book last named, led to the preparation of an edition of Homer's Iliad, which was nearly ready for publication when Mr. Searing was elected. In consequence of his call to the unsought honor, the book has not yet seen the light, but its appearance may be anticipated shortly, and its success looked upon as assured, so great and well applied has been the labor, and so exceptionally elegant will be the illustrations. Prof. Searing deserves high honor for tlie strenuous personal efforts by which he has earned his own advancement in the department of letters. His official services have been properly noticed elsewhere. His career has been highly meritorious, and substantially successful; he is yet only on the threshhold of his literary eminence.

Mr. John Y. Smith, who wrote a history of Madison, in brief, for one of the earlier Directories, was a writer of great force, and fineness of intellect; but want of space precludes a becoming notice of his merits.

Col. Slaughter has been frequently mentioned in our pages, and it remains only to say that as a writer, he is a gentleman of high repute. He is now engaged on a series of Wisconsin Biographies, which will widely extend his fame.

Jas. R. Stuart is a native of South Carolina, where his forefathers settled in the first half of the eighteenth century, hence probably his adhesion to the " lost cause " for which he fought. His scientific training was procured in Harvard, his first instruction in art in the studio of Joseph Ames of Boston. After some years of school teaching in Savannah, he was enabled to prosecute his art studies in the academies of Munich and Carlsruhe. Mr. Stuart came to Madison in 1872, and many of his pictures have commanded admiration. Judges Dunn and Paine, in the supreme court rooms, are from his studio, and he has also painted Gen. Allen, of Oshkosh, Judges Miller,

History Of Madisost

Smith and Jonathan E. Arnold, of Milwaukee, besides others whose names could not be given without express permission. The fineness of touch for which Mr. Stuart is justly praised does not detract in any degree from the faithfulness of his presentations.

It may be thought that the ladies should have been preferred to the gentlemen in noting the literary and artistic workers in this capital; we propose always to keep the more precious to the last. Miss Ella Augusta Giles, authoress of " Bachelor Ben," and " Out Erom the Shadows," has been honored with copious notices in metropolitan journals accustomed to wield the scalpel of criticism with little mercy. Her books survive such scrutiny, and further contributions from her pen may be anticipated. Miss Giles has now assumed the role of editress of the Milwaukee Magazine, which with the commencement of the coming year will put on a new dress, and become much more widely known as the " Midland."

Mrs. Sara C. Bull has recently entered the field of literature, and has already established for herself a brilliant record by her excellent translation of Jonas Lie's " The Pilot and his Wife." The leading periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic are loud in their praises of Mrs. Bull's book, and indeed she has chosen for translation a novelist whose pictures of Norse life cannot be surpassed. They are like the music of Ole Bull played by Ole Bull himself, or like sky rockets that burst in the zenith and fall in gentle showers of fiery rain. The Pilot and his Wife is already in its

Miss Ella Wheeler lias won triumphs as an authoress in this city, and her residence in Dane county enables us to include her name among the Litterateurs that adorn the history of Madison. The young poetess came before the public first in New York in 1873, when " Drops of Water " was the significant title of her work. During the same year, and almost at the same time, her second book " Shells" was being published in Milwaukee,. so that east and west were alike doing homage to her genius. " Maurine," her third production, has evoked much friendly criticism, but we believe that " The Messenger," a piece published by Harper and Brothers, New York, will hardly be excelled by any of her later productions, bright and telling as they prove.

Miss Wilhelmina Fillans, an artist of considerable merit, has been already referred to as occupying a suite of rooms in the capitol; but since that mention was made, Miss Fillans has removed to other quarters. The lady comes of a family of artists, and her skill is beyond question. Many of her paintings grace the homes of Madison, and her modelings are no less fine. Among which are a life-sized bust of Judge L. S. Dixon, and Chief Justice E. Gr. Ryan of the Supreme Court room, and also a crayon portrait of Gov. Taylor for the Agricultural rooms.

Madison Homes

Our title would justify a long chapter, but the limits allotted to our lucubrations have been reached, and we deny ourselves the pleasure of communicating to our readers many interesting details compiled with care. It would be strange if the charms of scenery, which have been praised by all observers from every part of the Union; which determined the location of the Capital and its retention here; and which won the admiration of the Antocthonous mound builders so completely, that they abode here for several centuries until war drove them out; had not induced many of our private citizens to erect elegant residences and almost palatial homes.

Elm Side

A little removed from the business portion of the city, about one mile southwesterly from the State Capitol, is located what is known as " Elm Side."' In location it possesses a most charming view of both lake and city, and is the splendid residence of Dr. J. B. Bowen. The house is accurately represented by an engraving on another page. It is built of the light colored Madison stone, and is a substantial and elegant structure, being finished in modern style, and supplied with modern conveniences. Connected with this charming residence, is a choice farm of sixty acres of excellent land - forty acres of which are under a high state of cultivation, and the remaining twenty acres constitute an extremely fine meadow. Much care has been bestowed upon this place, with a view to making it a most charming and inviting home. Many of the native oaks have been permitted to stand in all their sturdy grandeur; and over one hundred elm trees were planted on the premises sixteen years ago; they have grown luxuriantly, and now possess extreme grace and beauty. The elms - always handsome - on this place, have been so carefully trimmed, as to add special dignity and grace to their natural beauty. Taking everything into consideration - the native charms and the adornments added by man - this is one of the most delightful of the many elegant Madison homes, to persons desirous of living a little out of the city. It is such a home as cannot fail to give rest to its occupants, as they return to it, after the weary business hours of the day have passed. And who is better entitled to such a home, than are Dr. Bowen and his estimable family? It is now over twenty-five years since he located in Madison, without means and a stranger. lie has acquired a fine property and hosts of friends. He was the pioneer in the practice of homoeopathy in Dane county; has labored incessantly and successfully in building up a reputation and in accumulating a fortune; lias served ably and faithfully as major of Madison; and the numerous patrons who have received benefits from his treatment will rejoice in his complete success, and in the fact that, in his palatial residence, he enjoys, in a high degree, the pleasures and sweets of substantial home comforts. Pie deserves them all.

The old prejudices have been well nigh removed in this vast caravanserai of nations and peoples, and every man who comes well vouched for, finds a home that may be made as happy as his first.

Society in Madison has been largely made up of men who have represented other parts of the state in some capacity, and coming here, have been tempted to prolong a temporary sojourn into a life residence. Men who can command the suffrage of their fellows must, as a rule, possess some excellence. The congregation of such minds makes a city a metropolis. The state officers make their homes in Madison and are, as a rule, handsomely lodged. The city officials include not a few who began adult life in this settlement, and have grown up with their surroundings, accumulating wealth with sound ideas as to life's enjoyment. The same may be said to a large extent of other officials, and it is still more true of our professional classes. The development of elegant tastes has resulted in beautifying this city until it challenges comparison with others of like dimensions and wealth, certain of victory.

The masonic fraternity dating its claim on human regard from Solomon's temple, and the fidelity of the Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, has three blue lodges, one Royal Arch Chapter, one Council, and one Commandery in this city. Brethren of the mystic tie make the five points of fellowship a sober reality in this region, and where the hailing sign becomes necessary, there is never a lack of response to the call. Labor and refreshment are alike regarded as sacred duties, and free and accepted Masons who understand the golden rule of life make the society which they tincture a desirable place of abode. Masonic Lodges, and the celebrations arising therefrom, were among the earliest social gatherings in this community, and they retain preeminence. Other organizations founded on the same general idea of brotherhood have a large aggregate of members. The Temple of Honor is also represented. Sons of Temperance abound in good works; and Good Templars are more numerous than, and as well organized, as the Templars of old time.

The Odd Fellows have two Lodges and one Encampment ; the Druids have a Grove ; the Germans have a Scheutzen Club, a Msennerchor, a Dramatic Society, a Turn Yerein, a Literary Society and other associations. There are also a Grand Army of the Republic; a County Bible Society and other affiliations so numerous in connection with the several churches, that no person desiring fellowship can long remain a stranger. The city has innumerable attractions for every variety of taste. That must be a strange intellect that would find nothing congenial in the numberless societies that open their circle to the worthy; nor any objects of interest in the vast collections' in the rooms of the Historical Society, the Agricultural Association, and the Academy. The schools and churches have been named in their order, but their social value as organizations would deserve whole pages of comment and laudation. Our illustrations must afford some faint idea of the architectural beauty of this city, and the discreet reader will argue from the less to the greater. The University overlooking Lake Mendota tells its own story. Lake Monona, and the vessels of the Yacht Club furnish a handsome picture. One church must stand as the representative of many. The streets and principal stores are not entirely wanting in our illustrations. The view of Lakeside over Monona is beautiful as a scene in dreamland. The old house of Eben Peck, long since torn down, reappears as it stood in 1837. The view of the Post Office and City Hall, with Lake Mendota in the distance, is a charming representation which, in a general way, will give the distant observer an idea of the capital of Wisconsin. The presentation of the Capitol itself comes as near as the circumstances will permit to a reproduction of the original; and but that the expense would have been such as to have largely increased the selling price of the work, it would have been a pleasure to have completed the pictorial circle, so that the artist's pencil and graver might have done justice to beauties which the skill of the writer fails to present in adequate language.

Chapter Xii Visitors And Their Pleasures

Pursuit of health has brought thousands to this city, who have found hygienic conditions not often combined. Beauty is a large element in relieving the pressure of nervous complaints by calling attention from real and assumed disorders. That charm is here in the superlative degree, and, in addition, a mild and salubrious atmosphere. There are exquisite nooks for bathing, and enclosures in which art has assisted nature in making the pellucid waters attractive, so that swimmer and nonswimmer can enjoy the health giving plunge. The amateur fisherman could hardly find better sport than here, and while patiently waiting for a bite, his eyes can feast on beautiful impressions, which can never be effaced. The lakes invite rowing and sailing; the shores unfold new attractions with every change, and steamboats make excursions with modest speed, lest visitors should not enjoy the landscape inclosing the crystal gem. Citizens propose to improve the drives which girdle the city and lakes. One suggests a road round Fourth Lake, following the shore, which would give ua drive of twenty-five miles, absolutely unrivaled for beauty." A second proposition contemplates a new lake shore drive of five miles, to the charming site of the State Hospital for the Insane, and there is good hope that the idea will be realized. The beautiful university drive is likely to be extended to Picnic Point. There are rural retreats, easy of access from this capital, which shut out the city, yet within an hour's transit, all the advantages of social science and material advancement can be reached. Visitors are attracted by our university and pleased with our graded schools. The church spires pointing to the stars challenge admiring notice. The railroads and - postoffice, with always increasing facilities, and the telegraph wires by which the world is girdled, bespeak the obedient spirit of science, more apt than the fabled Ariel. The Capitol, whose form of beauty compels -admiration as soon as the eye lights on Madison, offers substantial evidences of civilization connecting us with the great world which we daily miniature. Here, in the several libraries, are choice books, newspapers and periodicals; the best works of jurisconsults; the treasures of common and civil law, expressed essences of knowledge from the days of Justinian to our own; and by their side the liveliest essays of magazine contributors, separating them from works of profound historians and scientists. On the desks are our best newspapers, in many respects the foremost in the world, filled with vigorous assaults of partisan editors, who anticipate the final cataclysm unless their measures and their men are sustained; yet reassuring us by the news flashed along the wires, through mid air and under the sea, which, in revealing the condition of every country on the earth, from New York and London to Japan and "Far Cathay," unfold the fact that a thousand such jeremiads daily reach the limbo of nonfulfillment.

It has been objected that our population of ten thousand has not originated a line of steamboats that will compare, for beauty, power and convenience, with the Atlantic glories of Cunard or White Star; but the Scutanawbequon and the new screw steamer Mendota, possess names that rival the finest on the sea, and our boats, if not numerous and large as the Spanish armada, are equal to the occasion.

The names of celebrities who have visited us, as revealed by the books of the Park, the Yilas House, and the Capitol, would fill a volume, but few would, peruse the record. Prince Napoleon, who passed through our city to Saint Paul, accompanied by his beautiful wife, the daughter of Victor Emanuel, II Re Galantuomo, as Garibaldi named him, could hardly be considered our visitor, for he and his suite were closely cooped within locked doors, during the stay, but that could not prevent a cheer of welcome before the distinguished Prince parvenu moved on. It is more to our purpose that such men as Secretary Seward and Charles Francis Adams have been our guests, and raised their eloquent voices to infuse their spirit into the people. The balcony of the Yilas House, and the eastern steps of the capitol had on that day immense assemblies. Frederika Bremer was for months a delighted visitor to our city and lakes. Louis J. D. Agassiz, the eminent Swiss naturalist, of whom Whipple says : " He is not merely a scientific influence he exerts is due to the energy and geniality which distinguished the nature of the man. lie inspires as wrell as performs; communicates not only knowledge, but the love of knowledge." He was an appreciated and appreciative visitor, and many in this city can testify to those truths from personal experience, who grieved as for a dear friend when Agassiz died. The magician Ole Bull, whose wand is the wonder working bow, has on the shores of those lakes a home, to which the demands of a music loving world make him a rare visitor; but when leisure on this side of the Atlantic permits, he can forget Oleana in the witcheries of this region. The praise bestowed upon Ole Bull by Longfellow in his " Tales of a "Wayside Inn," beggar any tribute that we could render. We content ourselves with claiming the distinction that belongs to Madison. Horace Greeley and Bayard Taylor visited us as lecturers ; during the same season Jas. Russel Lowell, Parke Godwin, John G. Saxe, and other national celebrities were with us, and their appreciative words are treasured. Sumner lectured here on the question, "Are We a Nation?" Gen. Sherman was with us as the guest of Col. Reynolds, when the famous " March to the Sea" was the topic of all talkers; and Philip Sheridan, not less famous for his dashing exploits with cavalry.

Chaptee Xiii Mounds, Monuments, Caves And Relics

We live surrounded by monuments which point to the almost forgotten past, telling of our remote predecessors, the mound builders. The site occupied by our city was for a prolonged term, thousands of years ago, the abode of a people whose semi-architectural remains connect them with the civilizations of Aztecs and Toltecs, in Mexico and Central America. The Teocallis or temples, and the P'ueblos or village houses, preserved by the more enduring character of their materials, in some cases, as at Palenque, Copan, Uxmal, long buried in impassable forests, are the wonder of the explorer; our monuments are only less complete. "Where the central building of our State University stands, was a large mound crowning the eminence, but necessity compelled its removal. In other supremely beautiful positions, such mounds, all that remain of more extensive erections, bespeak identity in taste and judgment between the aboriginal occupants and ourselves. St. Louis was once called Mound City, because of the large number of eminences standing where that city unfolds her vast proportions. There are mound cities in many of the states. Cincinnati, Chicago, Milwaukee, among oth- er cities indicate like agreement with tlie building of this city upon a spot on which the mound builders congregated. That fact is repeated in almost every large town in the Mississippi valley. Napoleon told his soldiery that from the pyramids, four thousand years looked down upon them ; and not forgetting the words of Fuller, that those structures, " doting with age, have forgotten the names of their founders," it seems probable that this continent had an older civilization than that of the Ptolemies. Possibly this was the first habitable land then connected with Europe and Asia, and the home of a people who never dreamed of submergence by the barbarism, which has omitted to preserve, where it has not expunged their records. There are strange agreements, and variations ho less curious, between some of the Egyptian structures and our mounds. Should the sands that flow on that land as the sea once rolled over Sahara, ebb back from the works which they partially cover, more significant resemblances might appear. We find no traces to determine the relationship between the people, unless the Ethiopians from Arabia Felix were the founders of both civilizations; but the likeness and unlikeness of their works afford evidences that similar ideas prevailed in the same or succeeding cycles in widely distant quarters. The discovery of America by Columbus, and by his predecessors, the Norsemen, are affairs of yesterday, compared with the primitive occupation to which the mounds bear testimony,, dating from thousands of years before the Christian era.

Settlements in this region must have been large, so great were the remains that had defied " the tooth and razure of oblivion," until onr civilization, with buildings and cultivation of the soil, made demolition rapid. Animal shaped mounds were here first noted. Dr. Lapham wrote on this subject to the papers in 1836; subsequently, Mr. Taylor communicated to the American Journal of Science, describing eminences with outlines of man and the lower animals, at distances ranging six, ten and twelve miles from the four lakes. So marked were the differences between our mounds and those in other states, that many concluded they were relics of a distinct race; but investigation showed agreements between the structures that dot the country from the great lakes to Mexico and Central America. Some of the curious mounds in this region that were in existence at recent dates, or are now, may be mentioned; but a complete record will not be attempted. Visitors coming to explore, will find no lack of indications to put them on the track of discovery. Dr. Lapham, assisted by the resources of the Antiquarian Society and the Smithsonian Institution, omitted surveys which would have been as interesting as any in his " Antiquities of "Wisconsin," and Messrs. Squier and Davis, in the " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Yalley," were similarly unable to complete the catalogue.

A great mound on State street was used grading the hollows in that locality. Near Lake Monona, adjoining Ex-Governor Fairchild's residence, was a liz- arc! 318 feet long. The figure was rude, but not more so than was inevitable, considering that the mound was formed of surface soil, nobody knows how many centuries ago. It was removed in grading "Wilson street and Wisconsin avenue. The mounds near the Hospital for the Insane are too well known to require description, and moreover, too numerous. North of Lake Wingra there were many mounds, embodying specimens of almost every variety, except works for defense. Five of them were oblong, twenty seven circular, one circular with lateral projections, one a bird, and two quadrupeds. Every writer on this subject is indebted to the surveys made by Dr. Lapham, whose work adorns the shelves of the Historical Society, with those of other authors who have made mounds their specialty. The south angle of Third Lake has extensive and regular works, in rows parallel with the ridges, occupying ground that slopes from the lake, like the seats in an amphitheatre. Back of these mounds is another, uniting the forms of a bird and a cross. At the foot is a sandy ridge having twenty-four elevations, on some of which additional eminences appear, representing animals. The twenty-four elevations may have been accidental, but they do not bear that appearance. The animal-shaped mounds upon them are clearly artificial. Dr. Lapham noticed a modern grave on one of the eminences, and on another the poles of an Indian wigwam, but no Indian can give an idea as to the origin of the mounds. The third volume of Bancroft's " United

States " contains a suggestion from Prof. Hitchcock that accident and natural action would account for many supposed antique works. There are earthworks that will not admit of any such explanation, and numerous circumstances connected with the majority are conclusive as to human ingenuity aiding their construction. Probably some of the twenty-four mounds were natural elevations, others having been added. All of them were covered with soil, and forest trees were growing on some of them when Dr. Lapham wrote. A ridge of land near the margin of a lake might be ascribed to the frosts of succeeding winters, but no such action could produce a series of mounds. The First, Second and Fourth Lakes have eminences that will repay inspection.

The world-famous " ancient city of Aztalan " demands greater space for description than can be afforded. The visitor cannot do better than spend a portion of his time in the rooms of our Historical Society, consulting the volumes mentioned and others yet to be specified, after which he will undertake inspection more intelligently, with much increased pleasure. Nothing short of actual examination can give an adequate idea of those earth-works. Between Williams' Bay, on Lake Geneva, and the head of Duck Lake, overlooking both waters, is a mound representing a bow and arrow, aimed at Lake Geneva. The span of the bow is fifty feet, the work, finely outlined, is in proportion. Lake Koshkonong skirts Dane county, miscalled Dade, in the " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi

Histoky Of Madison

Valley," and the mounds in that locality have been visited by President W. C. Whitford, of Milton College, and Mr. W. P. Clarke. The party cut through some mounds, and were repaid by relics of great archiac value. A skull of excellent type was removed by them, and many fragments of pottery similar to the debris in the remains of the Pueblo Indians, besides tools, ornaments and weapons, which will reward a visit to the college. Some of the mounds have been used for sacrificial purposes, and others for burial, but whether originally constructed for those purposes must be matter of conjecture. Residence, fortification, burial and worship have been served by the mounds in varying proportions.

Assume a common origin for Mound builders, Aztecs and Toltecs, an affiliation which becomes easy now that the mounds have been traced to Mexico, and we can comprehend the purposes for which many of those elevations were prepared. In Mexico, and along the line by which the Mississippi valley mound builders must have migrated if they reached or departed from the magnificent cities of Palenque and Uxmal, there are wrecks of dwellings in advanced stages of decay, which illustrate the service rendered by the foundation mound. The earthworks were floors on which were erected the pueblos, supposed by the Spaniards to be palaces of nobles, attended on by armies of dependents; but in reality, common abodes, in which whole cities, towns or villages found lodgment, pursuing customary avocations, living together in com- munistic equality. Some of those buildings would accommodate five hundred, in others five thousand could find room. The mound, sometimes faced and covered with stone, was itself a fortification, difficult of access, unless the visitor was aided from within. The platform being reached, the assailant, supposing war to be his object, found himself confronted on three sides by buildings, each story receding from the building line beneath, so that a stage remained available for defense. The edifice could not be battered down, the enemy possessed no artillery ; could not be set on fire, it was faced, and to a great extent constructed with stone; could not be stormed, there were no doorways and stairs, the upper floors being reached by ladders and window entrances, which could be made unapproachable. "Within that fortification the Pueblo Indians found safety against aboriginal war; and from windows and stages, as well as from occasional apertures for defense, missiles could be propelled with deadly effect. We find the floors of such buildings scattered through the valley of the Mississippi, but the vast deltas not being prodigal of stone, wooden buildings or mud walls were substituted. These materials decaying, the mounds alone remain. The ISTatchez Indians lived in houses of wood erected on mounds, which may have been their own handiwork, or that of long forgotten predecessors, when Tonti and La Salle observed their worship of the sun, and other indications of Mexican fellowship. The long house of the Iroquois, in which the tribe lived in com* mon, with a fireplace for each family, shows that there may have been a time when nearly all were one brotherhood, acquiring customs since modified by circumstances, never wholly changed. The Teocallis or Temple mounds, of which there are many examples, had also crowning edifices. Features of resemblance remain where compatible with the partial use of perishing materials. The truncated pyramids approached by graded ways, and the final stages upon which sacrifices were offered, continue, because their constituents are little subject to decay. Professor C. G. Forshey followed those works with minute annotation through the Mississippi valley, and the reader can find the results in "Foster's Pre-Historic Races." Many of the mounds support trees estimated at from four hundred to a thousand years old. Capt. Jonathan Carver was first to invite attention to the mounds in the great valley, having examined works of defense near Mount Trempealeau. He also discovered the cave of Wakan Tebee, since destroyed by railroads, which had hieroglyphs or pictographs on its walls. Much that pertains to this subject is omitted. Our book can be little other than a fingerpost, pointing to localities and monuments that will not permit of enumeration. The undeciphered hieroglyphs on Gales Bluffs, near La Crosse, are monuments that will not serve their purpose until the signs have delivered up their meaning. Sun dried bricks, bearing impressions of the hands of workmen; clay that served as a casing for a great man defunct, bearing similar impressions of hands that shaped it over the corpse, preparatory to the burning which gave the consistency of brick; the burnt clay that is found mixed with charred straw, in the works at Aztalan; the ornaments of copper, silver, obsidian, porphyry and green stone, the tools and weapons by which men sustained themselves and little ones, are of the highest interest. The telescopic tube of stone, with which the mound builders examined the heavenly bodies, as appears on a Peruvian relic, showing a figure carveci on silver, bespeaks high civilization. The stone battle axes found at Kenosha; stone hatchets from Cottage Grove, from Green Bay, and from our immediate surroundings, are replete with human interest, because full of mystery from an age unknown. Some day we may master the problem which, sphynx like, demands solution, as to the tumuli systematically raised, enclosed in mathematical figures and lines of circumvallation, builded by men wlio were conversant with mining operations, who could procure their own cojjper from the matrix, as well as shape it into artistic forms; who wove cloth probably when the lake villages of Switzerland were first settled; who could prepare designs in stone and clay, expressing thoughts that approach the sublime, and evince a comprehension of the beautiful; yet have fallen below the realm of history, leaving to generations now remotely following them, the task to discover "Whence came they ? " " "Whither did they go ? "

By the kindness of S. C. Griggs & Co., the well known publishers, we present engravings of earthworks and other relics of the Mound Builders from "Foster's Pre-Historic Races," a book which should be in the hands of every thoughtful reader. The Mound Builders could not be omitted from our record, but a complete statement within our limits is im- possible, and it affords us pleasure to refer the student to the fascinating pages of Foster. The works at Marietta were examined by Lyell in 1842. On that spot Dr. Hildreth saw a tree which showed eight hundred rings of annual growth. Prior to that time President Harrison had written a memoir, which went to show, that thousands of years must have elapsed from the first formation of the mound before such growths were possible. Every circumstance connected with the mounds points to a remote antiquity. Illustrations of utensils, weapons, tools and ornaments, might have been indefinitely extended, but enough has been given to suggest the degrees of civilization attained by the builders and occupants of the mounds in the Mississippi valley. The times in which they flourished cannot be safely computed, but Dr. Dowler found a skeleton at New Orleans, for which he claims an antiquity of fifty thousand years; and Agassiz gives an estimate of ten thousand years, at the least, as the age of human remains in Florida. The wondrous transmutations witnessed by this continent cannot be better illustrated than by the fact that the fossils of our rocks alone, reveal the form of the ancestors of the horse and ass; although there were no horses on this continent when the Spaniards landed in South America, save those which were brought by the invading soldiery.

Enough as to our predecessors, although enough has never yet been said. We turn to other features of interest. Eleven miles a little to the south of west of Madison, in the ridge dividing the valley of Sugar river from the lake country, is a wonderful cave, which unlike the " cave of the Great Spirit," liscovered by Captain Carver, has not been destroyed by railroads. The basin of a lake covering an area of four thousand acres, discharged its volume ages since into the bluff by which it was bounded, and has worn the channel into a series of chambers and passages, which have been penetrated two thousand feet by explorers, who do not know the extent of the cavern. There is no lake to fill the basin, nor has it been ascertained where the waters found egress below. The Four Lakes are five hundred feet beneath the level of the basin, and Sugar river flows at a distance of about a mile and a half; but nothing indicates that the riparian current is augmented from the old lake level. Explorers, with proper appliances, will find within the cavern a field for romantic adventure and curious observation. The grotto opens in the upper magnesian limestone, beneath which a stratum of sandstone has been reached, and the action of the water cannot have failed to shape vast halls, which imagination may people with gnomes, fairies and dwarfs, sufficient for unnumbered nursery stories. The entrance is obstructed by debris, but four narrow passages remain; within, is a succession of chambers, ornamented by stalactite and stalagmite, that glisten in fantastic shapes when torches are introduced. Yoices of visitors can be heard distinctly on the ground overhead, the roof is in some parts much attenuated. After a storm, when the waters have been dammed back from underground fissures, the air escaping, roars like a steam whistle. It is probable that fossil remains may be found in the many storied cavern, sufficient to fill our museums.

Historical Introduction

Dane county is situated about the center of the state running east and west, or midway between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river, about twenty-four miles north of the southern line of this state and Illinois. In the north it is bounded by Columbia and Sauk counties, on the south by Rock and Green, on the east by Dodge and Jefferson, and on the west by Iowa, the Wisconsm river crossing the northwest corner, dividing it from Sauk. This river has its source in the Lac Vieux Desert, on the Michigan state boundary, runs south to Portage, thence west to the Mississippi river, almost equally dividing our state, and draining in its course an area of 11,900 square miles. The county is forty-two miles from east to west, thirty miles from north to south, with an area of 1,235 square miles, thirty-five of which is covered with water of the lakes. There are thirty-five townships of thirty-six square miles each, except the townships of Black Earth and Mazomanie. The latter has eighteen square miles, and the former thirty. Its latitude is 43 degrees north, and longitude 89 degrees west, from Greenwich. The State University is one mile due west from the State House, and its geographical position is latitude, 43° 04' 33" 1-10 north; longitude, 89° 24" 03' 3-10 west of Greenwich. The State House is located on sections 13, 14, 23 and 24, town 7 north, range 9 east. The normal condition of the barometer is twenty-nine inches, as compared with the sea level, where it is thirty inches.

The county is famed for its pre-historic collections, there being few of its towns that are not able to exhibit some evidences of the people who long ago made our county a favorite resort for the building of their mounds, which whether intended as places of interment or as fortifications for protection, is as yet comparatively uncertain, though evidences are strong in favor of both hypotheses. - The county was the home of a branch of the Winnebago Indians, and considerable trading was earned on between them and several Indian traders, among whom were Michael St. Cyr (a Canadian half-breed), Joe Pelkie, Oliver Armell (Canadian French), Abel Ras-

In 1836 it was set off from the west part of Milwaukee and east part of Iowa county; it received the name of Dane county from Gov. Doty, in honor of Nathaniel Dane, who, in 1787, introduced the celebrated ordinance for the government of the northwest territory. In 1839 it was organized as a separate county.

The principal lakes in the county are First - Kegonsa; Second - Waubesa; Third - Monona; Fourth - Mendota; and Dead Lake or lake Wingra. They are about 210 feet above the level of Lake Michigan, and about 797 feet above the Atlantic ocean.

The origin of the* above names cannot be better explained, especially as there exists a slight difference of opinion on the subject, than by presenting to our readers the following communication from Hon. Simeon Mills, one of our early settlers, whose intimate connection with the civil history of Madison will be deemed good authority, while the interesting facts supplied by Hon. Lyman C. Draper, of the State Historical Society, will be read with an approved evidence of the steady research he gives all such subjects :

These beautiful sheets of water, the pride of Wisconsin, centrally located in Dane county, occupying part of five different townships, and stretching out, from northwest to southeast, a distance of about twenty miles, were probably called " The Four Lakes " for the same reason that the principal divisions of the year are called the "four seasons," because they are four in number. Just when or by whom the southeasterly one was named First Lake, and the northwesterly one Fourth Lake, does not at this day seem quite so apparent.

In Mr. Tanner's map of this part of the northwestern territory, which was probably the first map ever published showing these lakes, they are neither named or numbered, but the stream connecting them is called the "Gooshcahon."

When I located in Madison, in 1837, the lakes were then known as First, Second, Third and Fourth lakes, and the outlet the Catfish, and were not known or called by any other names for more than ten years thereafter. I was informed by Mr. Abel Rasdall, an Indian trader then living on the east side of First Lake, that the Winnebago Indians had no other names for the lakes but numbers,

* This was the Wallis Rowan who found Lieut. Force's watch. Passing across the prairie between Poynet.te and the City of the Four Lakes, where he formerly resided, he found the remains of an Indian, whose bones the wolves had picked clean, and giving the debris a kick, turned up the watch. Having no use for it he sometime afterwards offered to sell it to E. M. Williamsou, Esq., who declined purchasing until satisfactory proof was obtained that none of Force's relatives existed. The fact, however, reaching the ears of the friends, application was made and the watch obtained.

just as we called them, and gave me the Indian names for one, two, three and four, but which I remember only as harsh, gutteral sounds, that I cannot now repeat; and his idea was that they were so numbered and named by the Indians. I was afterwards informed, upon what appeared to be good authority, that the lakes were first named by numbers by the surveyors who ran the township lines in this portion of the territory, and the way in which it was done, being given at the time, was conclusive evidence to my mind that the statement was correct. As the survey was commenced on the south line of the territory and carried north, the southeasterly or lower lake was reached first, which thus became No. 1, and as the survey advanced the second, third and fourth were reached and numbered in their regular order. In this view of the case, it seems to me probable that the Indians learned these numbers or names for the lakes from the surveyors, which Mr. Easdall found in use when he came among them, and that this numbering was not, as he supposed, of Indian origin, the location of Mr. R., on First Lake, being some time after the survey was made.

In 1849, I employed a young man from Philadelphia by the name of Frank Hudson, to survey and plat what is known as the University Addition to Madison. Mr. Hudson was very fond of reading, devoting much time to such works as gave accounts of the habits and customs of the natives, and wlide thus engaged, he found in some Indian legends the names of Monona and Mendota (perhaps having an origin akin to Winona and Hiawatha), and he at once suggested that the lakes each side of Madison be christened with those charming names. This suggestion was generally approved, and a bill was prepared for the purpose of giving these names to the Third and Fourth lakes the sanction of law; but inasmuch as we did not readily find any names suitable or acceptable to give the First and Second lakes, the matter was dropped at that time, but Monona and Mendota were adopted by general use.

Some years later the subject of giving Indian names to all the lakes was again renewed, and the names of Kegonsa and Waubesa were found and adopted by Gov. Farwell and others then taking an interest in the matter, as very pretty and appropriate names for the First and Second lakes. To make the christening in such a public and formal manner as to give it dignity and command respect, a bill devoting an entire section to each lake, the more firmly to attach its chosen name, was prepared, introduced into the legislature, and became a law on the 14th day of February, 1855; and by the 5th section of the same act, " Catfish " was blotted out., and Yahara legalized as the name of the small river upon which these lakelets are strung like jewels on a cord of silver.

These names have now become familiar to all, and I can see no reason why they were not as well selected, as appropriately applied, and may not be as enduring, as if the christening- had been done by the wildest savage that ever shouted his war whoop or raised a lodge pole upon their varied borders.

Some time in 1854, Governor Farwell, when preparing a map of Madison and the Four Lake Country, subsequently published, applied to Lyman C. Draper to aid him in determining appropriate names for each of these beautiful sheets of water. The Indians denominated them collectively Ty-cho-be-rah, or the Four Lakes;* to which it is reasonable to suppose they applied numerical names; else, as in all other instances, they would have given some other specific appellation, which would have been handed down to the first settlers.

Mr. Draper examined such Indian vocabularies as he had hi his library, and ascertained that Mendota, which had been applied to Fourth lake, was a Chippewa word, signifying large or great;f and being a pretty name, and appropriately significant, was rightly judged most proper to remain. The signification of Monona, applied to Third lake, does not seem to have been found in any of the limited Indian vocabularies consulted; but Gov. Farwell, or perhaps Col. A. A. Bird, had understood that it substantially meant "Fairy" or "Beautiful Water;" so that also remained unchanged.

As no special Indian names were known for First and Second Lakes, it was deemed advisable to select appropriate designations. First Lake, as the outlet of the others, was regarded as good fishing ground, on the southeastern bay of which, the Winnebagoes, in early times, had a small village ;\ so it was concluded to call it "Fish Lake," if some euphonious Indian name could be found having that signification - Kegonsa was found to have that meaning.! Gov. Farwell remarked that the only thing for which Second Lake was noted, was that an unusually large swan had formerly been killed there; and the word Wau-be-sa was found to signify "Swan,"* and was accordingly adopted as a fitting designation.

t Long's Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter and Trader, London, 1791, p. 267. S. R. Eigge1 Dakota Dictionary gives the meaning of Mendotu as the outlet of a lake.

I Mr. Draper, after a lapse of twenty-three years, does not recall the full authority for this; but Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes, ii, 4«a, shows that Kego-e was the Chippewa word signifying fish; and it is sufficiently apparent that Kegonsa had its origin in Ke-go-e.

* In Col. De Peyster's Miscellanies, published in 1811, this word is twice given as the Indian signification for swan, p. 83, and p. 272, probably Chippewa or Ottawa, as he had long public intercourse with those tribes during his command at Mackinaw, from 1774 to 1779.

Thus were placed upon this map of the Four Lake country in 1866, of which not less than ten thousand copies were circulated hy the liberal hearted projector, the names of Ke-gon-sa, or Fish Lake, Wau-be-sa, or Swan Lake; Mo-no-nn, or Fairy Lake; and Men-dota or Great Lake. Let these euphonious and appropriate Indian names be perpetuated forever!*

Wingra, or Dead Lake, lies southwest of Lake Monona, into which it dischargee its waters. It was known by the name of Wingra at the first settlement of the country, but its signification is uncertain, f

Before the county became settled by the whites, the whole section of this country was deemed scarcely inhabitable. In a little book written by John A. Wakefield, Esq., who accompanied the troops that pursued Black Hawk in 1832, we quote the following as a sample of what was the opinion then entertained of this beautiful Four Lake country by those troops who accompanied Gen. Henry. After describing the thickets and swamps through which they passed from Rock river to the lakes, he says :

" We were close to the four lakes, and we wished to come up with them (the Sacs) before they reached that place, as it was known to be a stronghold for the Indians. * * * We reached the first of the lakes about sundown, when Gen. Henry here called a halt, and consulted with Poquette, our pilot, as to the country we were approaching. Poquette,who was well acquainted with the country, told him he could not get through it after night; that we had to march close to the margin of the lake for some distance, as the underwood stood so thick one man could not see another ten steps. * * * We soon discovered that the pilot had told no he, for we found the country that the enemy was leading us into worse, if possible, than what he had told us. We could turn neither to the right hand nor the left, but were compelled to follow the trail the Indians had made, and that, too, for a great distance at the edge of the water of the lake. * * * From a description of the country, a person would very naturally suppose that these lakes were as little pleasing to the eye of the traveler as the country is ; but not so. I think they are the most beautiful bodies of water I ever saw. The first one that

* An effort was made by Col. A. A. Bird, when a member of Assembly in 1851, to call the lakes "Doty, Catlin, O'Neal and Bird," in honor of some of the early settlers, but not meeting with encouragement from the member in the Senate, Hon. E. B. Dean, jr., the subject dropped.

t Hon. Josiah A. Noonan, when he visited the site of Madisnn, in February, 1837. learned from Joe Pelkie, the Indian trader, that Wingra meant Drick. This, however, is doubtful ; for the Winnebagoee, who lived in this region, were a family of the Dakota group, and the Dakota Dictionary shows no such word: and "the words for both duck and dead, have no resemblance whatever to Wingra, nor do the Chippewa or Ottawa vocabularies serve to throw any light on the subject.

we came to was about ten miles in circumference, and the water as clear as crystal . The earth sloped back in a gradual rise, and the bottom of the lake appeared to be entirely covered with white pebbles. * * * The second one must have been about twenty miles in circumference; the ground rose very high all around, and the heaviest kind of timber grew close to the water's edge. If those lakes were anywhere else except in the country they are, they would be considered among the wonders of the world. But the country they are situated in is not Jit for any civilized nation of people to inhabit. It appears the Almighty intended it for the children of the forest."

After reading the above we are forcibly reminded of the famous Morse telegram, "What hath God wrought!" "We can now look around on the city in its beauty and the many villages and hamlets scattered throughout this very land, once deemed so uninhabitable.

The principal streams in the county are the Yahara, or Catfish ; Koshkonong, signifying The lake we live on, is a lake, or "spread" of Rock river, and Koshkonong creek a small stream rising in Sun Prairie and emptying into lake Koshkonong; Black Earth, named so from the color of the water ; and Sugar river, from the number of sugar maple trees found in the vicinity of its mouth* These streams furnish good water power for a large number of flouring mills and manufactures.

A large amount of good stone, for building purposes, is obtained throughout the county. The cream colored stone used in the body of the United States' Postoffice, was obtained in the town of Westport, where the government purchased, and still retains possession, we believe, of the quarry from which the stones were taken.

The highest point of land is one of the Blue Mounds, two conical hills about twenty-five miles west of Madison, and through which the county hues of Dane and Iowa run north and south, leaving the highest peak of the two cones in Dane, which is about 1,000 feet above the level of the Wisconsin river. The Indians called the mounds "Smoky Mountains," an account of a blue smoke or fog usually seen on the top, and which has given rise to the term Blue Mounds. The view from the top of these mounds is most magnificent. A distance of twenty-five to thirty miles can be seen from

* It is supposed by some that this stream received its name from the government surveyors in 1833. who were so delighted with the change fronrthc hitter marsh water they had been drinking that they named it Sugar river." but as some of the maps published in 1829 designates one location on the edge of the stream, in Green county, "Sugar Furnice," the inference is, as well as the testimony of the early settlers there, that the Indians called it "Su-ga,11 from the above fact.

The country is diversified by hills and valleys of the most pleasing character for beauty of landscape, and the soil is composed of black deposits of decayed vegetation, except in some few localities where there are clay and sand. The deposits in the valleys are often several feet deep, while on the tops and edges of hills it is several inches thick, being thus adapted to all kinds of agricultural purposes.

There are 123 churches, with a property valuation of $360,701.00. The school- fund apportionment for the county was, in 1876, $8,490.- 69, and the number of children, 20,709. There are 206 school districts outside of Madison, which has eight school buildings.

There are three railways that pass through the county, the first of which, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul (formerly the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien), enters on section 32, in the southcast corner of the town of Albion, and then through the center of the county in a northwestern direction, leaving on section 18, town of Mazomanie - completed to Madison in 1854. One of the branches of this road, called the Madison, Sun Prairie and Watertown road, leaves Madison in a northeast direction, and the county on section 12, in town of Medina - completed to Madison in 1868?

The Madison and Portage road leaves Madison, and passes directly north, leaving the county on section 1, town of Vienna - completed to Madison in 1871.

The Chicago and Northwestern road (formerly the Beloit and Madison) enters the county in the south, on section 31, town of Rutland, and passes directly north into the city of Madison, after which it runs in a northwestern direction, leaving at the junction of sections two and three, town of Dane - completed to Madison in 1866. That portion of this road between Madison and Baraboo, before its completion to St. Paul,was known as the Baraboo Air Line.

surpassed by any other, but Milwaukee, in the state. Its rich lands and beautiful scenery are not eclipsed by any county of its size either east or west, and its future prosperity will be equal to its past, as its resources, hygiene and loveliness of landescape become known.

On August 12, 1837, Simeon Mills was appointed the first justice of the peace in the county, and for sometime was the only one. The early pioneers had but few cases requiring legal prosecution, and when any one broke any of the requirements of law he was taken to the jail, which was the grocery and bakery of a French Canadian named Frank W. Shaw (over which the sheriff, Nathaniel T. Parkinson had his office), who was ordered to feed and treat him well, and then release him on parole. It is needless to add that there were none who violated their parole.

In May, 1839, the first election for board of commissioners for the county of Dane was held at the American House, in Madison, which at that time was the only voting place in the county. P. B. Bud, I. H. Palmer and Simeon Mills were judges of election, Geo. P. Delaplaine and La Fayette Kellogg, clerk,when the following officers were elected :

Simeon Mills, Eben Peck and Jeremiah Lycan, board of commissioners, and at their first meeting they elected LaFayette Kellogg, clerk; John Stoner, treasurer; Win. A. Wheeler, assessor; R. L. Ream, register of deeds; David Ilyer, coroner; Adam Smith and J. Ubeldine, constables; and ten days afterwards Gov. Dodge made the following appointments : John Catlin, district attorney; Isaac H. Palmer, judge of probate, N. T. Parkinson, sheriff; Isaac At- public administrator; Geo. P. Delaplaine, district surveyor; TV. N. Seymour, justice of the peace (in. place of Simeon Mills, resigned); John T. Wilson, auctioneer.

In tliis same year the county was organized for judicial purposes, Judge Irvin presiding as Judge of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Wisconsin, with Simeon Mills as clerk. Mr. Mills held the office for nine years. He was also the last territorial treasurer, and the first state senator for Dane county.

TnE first judges of election appointed by the board of commissioners were: Prosper B. Bird, Darwin Clark, James S. Patten, Prescott Brigham, John C. Kellogg and Sidney Carman.

The first books and stationery for the county were purchased from S. L. Rood & Co., booksellers, stationers, publishers and binders, 70 Jefferson avenue, Detroit, Michigan, and an order was passed to

The first grand jury for the county and United States courts in Wisconsin territory, David Irvin, of the 3d judicial district, presiding, was impaneled on the 7th day of October, 1839, and consisted of the f ollowmg persons :

The f ollowmg were on the list given, but were not impaneled: M. Blaker, J. C. Kelley, W. B. Long, B. Haney, andE. Brigham. They served two days and were allowed one dollar and fifty cents a day. Mileage was allowed only to two, and that only one way, as follows: George H. Slaughter, 14 miles, and H. Lawrence, 16 miles. The distance traveled is recorded so honestly that the county was gainer then of nearly a mile.

The first indictment in the county was the United States against one Scoville, a fisherman, for obstructing a stream to prevent the passage of fish, dated October 9, 1839.

: * Sydney L. Rood, the senior member of the above firm, a few years afterwards removed to Milwaukee, where for many years he carried on the same business. Mr. Mills, recalling the conversation he had with him while purchasing the books, says he believes he was instrumental in inducing him to come to Wisconsin. He died in Milwaukee only two or three years ago. A memorable incident is connected with the purchase. Before concluding the sale, a cry of "fire,1 was raised, and passing out of the store to where the alarm came from, Mr. Mills saw one of the splendid lake steamers in flames, and which burned to the water's edge.

On September 30, 1839, a bounty of three dollars was allowed on every wolf's scalp that had been killed, but no legal charges allowed for making affidavit or certificate of the same, and again, on October 3d of the same year the order was amended so as to allow only one dollar for each scalp, while for the year 1841 no bounty was allowed, and only for six months of 1842, dated January 4th.

On the 1st of July, 1839, in order to allay some contentment m regard to the assessments, the clerk of the board was authorized to alter the assessment roll so that first rate lands be valued at six dollars an acre, and second rate at four dollars, and town lots in accordance with such changes as the commissioners deemed necessary .

The first license issued in the comity was granted to Berry Haney and H. F. Grossman to keep a ferry across Wisconsin river, and dates August 5th, 1839.

The tavern license in 1839 was, for Madison, $20, and for other parts of the comity, $ 12, while groceries were not allowed to sell less than one quart in quantities, and pay $30 for license. On December 14, 1839, a license was granted to Wm. T. Sterling to keep a tavern for one year, and also to Lloyd and Nichols to keep a grocery for one year from December 1st to May 14, 1841. The board ordered peddler's license to be issued at $10 per year, and on 25th of June, Arabut Ludlow took out the first peddler's license for goods, wares and merchandise, for three months, and had the same renewed September 29th for six months longer.

On the first settlement with the comity treasurer, John Stoner, January 5, 1840, the books showed the comity indebted to him for $55.96, and a final payment was not made to him until Jan. 8, 1841.

The rate of county tax for 1839 was one mill on the dollar, for the year 1840, five mills and a half for county purposes, and one mill for school purposes.

The first jail was built in 1839 by Nath. T. Parkinson, the first and then sheriff of the comity. It was built of square logs and was twenty-four feet long, eighteen feet wide, walls eight inches thick, one story high, divided into two equal apartments, and cost $1,348. It was located on lot number one, block one hundred and thirteen, near the site of the little brick school house, on Butler street. The lots were donated for county purposes by Messrs. Pritchette and Mason, and the jail was the receptacle for insane persons as well as prisoners.

When the first circus came to Madison in 1844, people came in ox-teams from Sauk and surrounding counties, and brought with them then- provisions, also feed and hay for then- cattle, and camped in a grove of burr oaks between the city and the university.

The first castings made in our city were by Wm. A. Wheeler in the first blacksmith's shop on the corner of Butler and Johnson streets, block 111, and lot 18. Col. A. A. Bird assisted by blowing the bellows, and the casting was intended for some part of the new capitol' then building in 1837.

The pigeon-holes used by John Catlin as first postmaster in Madison, were for a number of years in possession of E. M. Williamson, but who has recently donated them to the State Historical Society.

The present State Capitol was completed in 1869; the City Hall in 1857; Insane Asylum built in 1860; the United States Court House and Post Office, 1870; the northern dormitory of the University in 1851 ; the southern in 1855; the main building in 1859; the laches hall in 1870; and science hall in 1877.

The present court house was built in 1850, the jail in 1853, the Register of Deeds and Clerk of the Court building hi 1855; the county poor house in 1856.

Judge N. F. Hyer, for many years a resident in our county, was the first to discover and make known the interesting remains of the ancients found at Aztalan, and named the place after the Aztec race, who were supposed at one time to have lived there, as well as around that whole section of country. After the discovery, the judge wrote an article giving the plan and description of what appeared to him an ancient fortification, and so great was the interest created on the subject, that the article from first appearing in a Milwaukee paper, was copied throughout the United States and France. In the latter place, it was a subject of considerable discussion among the savans of Paris. The judge also for some years held the office of probate judge in Milwaukee, under the territorial legislature. He came to Mdwaukee in the spring of 1836, and as chief magistrate was called upon to preside as judge of election in the following fall, and though a young man at the time, he nevertheless observed that of the six hundred votes cast, nine-tenths of them were by men younger than himself, which showed the class of immigration that was then coming into the Territory. He could count but forty roofs in the then infant city of Milwaukee, including barns and dwelling houses.

Justices of the peace were permitted to assess the county with all the fees and costs connected with all criminal prosecutions, until 1843, when the Board of Commissioners ordered that no fees would be allowed by the county, except such as the statutes provided for.

The first woolen mill in the city was conducted by Allan Dawson and sons, Scotchmen, and was situated at the end of Williamson street, on the edge of the Catfish, block 237. It was burned to the ground about 1859.

Wisconsin is becoming famous for its mineral springs, that are becoming much frequented by those suffering from clnonic diseases, for which mineral waters are found to be an excellent specific. The artesian well in our capitol park is 1,080 feet deep, and the mineral water obtained from it stands high for its curative properties. We give the following comparison as analyzed by Prof. Gustave Bode, analytical chemist in Milwaukee, Wis., between Waukesha, Prairie du Chien, Sparta and Madison :

Grains Per Gallon Medina

The brief space allotted to us in this work will admit of but a meagre sketch of the general outlines of the township, together with a hasty review of some of the most important incidents which have transpired within its borders. At its close we shall endeavor to take a glance at its present condition and prospects, and the inducements here offered by nature, as utilized and developed by enterprise.

Location. - Medina is one of the eastern tier of towns in Dane county. It is designated by government survey as town eight (8), range twelve (12) east. It is bounded on the north by the town of York, on the east by the town of Waterloo, on the south by the town of Deerfield, and on the west by the town of Sun Prairie. The town is abundantly supplied with water, a small stream, the Indian name of which is " Maunesha/' now called Waterloo creek, passing entirely through it. It enters the township at the northwest corner and runs nearly parallel with, and in no place more than two miles distant from the north boundary line. All of the opening lands were formerly covered with a moderate growth of the different varieties of oak natural to this clime, interspersed with hickory, ash and bass wood. The general surface of the township is level. The western part contains about one thousand acres of handsome, rolling prairie, while near the center of the town, the site of the present thriving village of Marshall, there are about five hundred acres of beautiful u prairie openings." The remainder of the township consists of " burr oak openings," interspersed with some of the finest marsh lands in the state; a large portion of which, by means of draining and seeding, have been converted into highly valuable hay land. With the exception of a very small portion of poor marsh in the southern part, there is scarcely an acre of waste land in the town.

The soil, with the exception of the prairie, is mostly a red clay loam, and equals any part of the state in the production of wheat and other cereals. It was here that the celebrated " Judkins wheat " was introduced into the county, by B. F. Judkins, the yield of which, during the last year (1876), ranged from twelve to twenty-six bushels per acre. Among other important products of the town, we might mention hops, tobacco and onions, which have all been successfully raised to considerable extent. The present population of the township numbers about fifteen hundred; the most populous township, with one exception, in the county. The town was first settled, principally, by Americans from the states of New York, Vermont and Pennsylvania, together with quite a number of English families, who located in the southwestern part. In 1846, the Norwegians began to locate in the town, and at present there is a large settlement of them. Of those who came in that year, but two families now remain, those of Ole and Halver Aspinson. About 1864-65, the Germans also began to immigrate and settle in the eastern part of the town, and now constitute about one-fourth of the inhabitants of the entire township. Scattered throughout the town are a few Protestant Irish.

The religious character of the town is one of its commending virtues. Nearly one-half of the whole population of the town are members of some religious denomination. Among these are the Episcopal Methodists, who are a strong and prosperous body; the Close Communion Baptists, of whom there are a goodly number; a large number cf Free Methodists; a strong church of German Methodists; while the majority of the Norwegians are connected with the Lutheran Church.

But while the morals of the people are thus carefully guarded, the educational interests of the town have not been neglected. There is probably not a town in the state which can boast of better educational advantages than Medina, with her far famed academy, her fine public school buildings, her efri- cient corps of teachers, and the excellent attendance of her children at school. The town is divided into ten districts, two of them joint, in each of which there is a comfortable school house, amply supplied with all the modern appliances and conveniences.

The town contains two villages ; Marshall, the oldest and principal one, which is beautifully situated near the center of the town, on a level plateau, on the south bank of Waterloo creek; it contains over three hundred inhabitants, and is compactly and neatly built, containing many tasty white brick residences, a fine academy building, three stories high, built of white Watertown brick; two churches, Methodist and Baptist; one of the largest town halls in the coun ty; an excellent school house, built of white brick; a large brick hotel; a first class flouring mill; two wagon and carriage shops; several stores; two harness shops; two boot and shoe shops; together with warehouses and depot buildings, lumber yard, cheese factory, livery stables, and the customary saloon accompaniments. Deanville, situated one and a half miles west of Marshall, is a neat little prairie town of about one hundred inhabitants, and is an excellent grain market, being the center of a large and fertile wheat producing district. It contains some very tasty residences, warehouses, lumber yards, one store, a blacksmith shop, boot and shoe shop, etc.

These men entered into the following mutual contract: Zenas H. Bird, the younger brother, bought eighty acres of land, where the village of Marshall now stands, upon which he was to erect a " frame building " of suitable dimensions for a public house. In consideration of his erecting this house, A. A. Bird and Petrie were to improve the water power in the Maunesha creek, which flowed close by, and build thereon a saw mill, which they were to have completed and running within one year. This was in June, 1S37. Zenas Bird went on and erected the public house according to contract. Meanwhile the other j)arties had got out the lumber for building the mill, and had drawn the most of it upon the ground where it was to be used. Zenas Bird and his " hands " went to the city of Madison for supplies, and while gone, the prairie caught fire and burned house, lumber and all. This occurred about the last of October, 1839. The frame of the house was not entirely consumed, but remained standing until 1845, when it fell to the ground, from which event the place derived the name of Bird's Ruins.

The first permanent settlement in the town was in the month of June, 1839, on section seven. This was by Yolney Moore, Eleazer Moore and Henry S. Clark. They immediately began the erection of a dwelling house, and on the 3d of April, 1840, they moved their families from Milwaukee county to their new home.

Although so early in the season, Mr. Moore says the grass was then " knee high to a man." Here, in their rude dwelling, they lived for nearly two years before another family came into the town. Mrs. Moore has been heard to say, that " for one year and a half after coming here, I never saw the face of a white woman except my own daughter." The nearest house east was at Aztalan; the nearest one west was at Madison. It was here, in 1840, the first child was born in the town, William Moore, son of Voln'ey Moore and wife; and on the 28th day of December, 184:2, the first marriage was consummated in Medina, at the house of Yolney Moore, at which time he celebrated the wedding of both his daughters, the eldest to Mr. Charles Lawrence, of Token Creek, and Sarah, the youngest, to Mr. H. S. Clark. Some years later Mr. Moore moved to Baraboo, Sauk county, where he now resides. In 1845, H. S. Clark and wife were baptized, and united with the "Free Will Baptist Church," and in 1849 he went to California, but returned in 1852. His wife died in 1855, leaving four children. In 1857, he married a second time, to Miss Maria Lane. He died January 5, 1875, having always been a prominent man in the town, and having occupied many positions of trust and honor. Eleazer Moore started for California in 1852, but while crossing the plains, was accidentally shot by a brother-in-law. In the years of 1842-3, seven other families moved into the town, three of them settling in the eastern and four in the western partf in the vicinity of Yolney Moore's resi- clence, one of which was Charles "Wakeman. Thus, in the spring of 1844, the town contained but eight families - three in the east and five in the west part. There was but one road established, known as the Sun Prairie and Lake Mills road. Among: the more prominent ones who moved to Medina this year were Moses Page, Martin Bostwick, Daniel S. Cross, Judge Reuben Smith, Sardine Muzzy, Willard Cole, Peter Sifort and Asa Cross. The first attempt at political . organization occurred during this year. It consisted of the uniting of three towns in what was called the "Waterloo Precinct, and on the 22d of September, 1844, the people held a town meeting at the house of Reuben Smith, at which election forty-one votes were cast, George B. Smith, of Madison, acting as one of the clerks. The second election was by four towns, under the name of Sun Prairie Precinct. This was held in the western part of Medina, at the house of Mr. Peckham, and a third meeting (special) called at Moore's school house, on section ei^ht, a loo- building which had been erected in 1844, and at which place the precinct elections were held for a number of years. The first religious society of Medina was organized by Elder Moffat, of the Free Will Baptists, in the log school-house, on section eight, in 1845. The property of Mr. Zenas Bird, consisting of six eighties of land, passed into the hands of John Douglas, who began what is now the flourishing village of Marshall, by setting up the old tumbled-down frame, and constructing a dwelling house containing two rooms.

During this year lie also commenced building a saw mill, which was not completed, however, until 1847, when it Was finished by a Mr. Seely, the first physician who settled in Medina. The town settled up rapidly during 1845. Among others who came during this year were, Louis Stone, John T. White, from London, England, and Charles Lum; A. J. Allen, John Tracy, M. D. Currier, Thomas Hart, Jr., and others from Medina, Ohio.

The first religious meeting held at Bird's Ruins, was in 1845, at the house of John Douglas. The sermon (one of Whitfield's) was read by George B. Smith, now of Madison, from a book loaned by Thos. Hart. In the spring of 1845, G. W. Day established a store in one room of John Douglas' house, and brought the first barrel 'of whisky into the town, and it is reported that as he drew one gallon of whisky from the faucet, the stock was replenished by turning in a gallon of water at the bung; and the result was, that when cold weather came, the contents of the barrel froze up solid, and whisky drinking was suspended during the winter. Judge Reuben Smith, an active temperance worker, taking advantage of this circumstance, organized a Washingtonian Society; but when the barrel thawed out in the spring, many of the members violated their pledge, and the lodge soon went down.

The first school at Bird's Ruins was taught during the summer by Susan Tracy, in Judge Smith's house. Some time in the spring, Martin Mead buried his wife, the first death which occurred in the township in 1846. Among other incidents of note, during this year, we might mention the construction of the first mill dam. The first church organization in the village was established under the auspices of the Close Communion Baptists. During the winter of 1846 and 1847, they held their first protracted meeting, conducted by Elder Green, at the house of William Parsons, in Bird's Ruins. A large revival followed, and the excitement being so great, they baptized at midnight by moonlight. Immediately following this, the Methodists organized, and held a protracted meeting at the house of Judge Smith, at that time occupied by a Mr. Shepherd. Their efforts, however, met with poor success.

of 1847: Mr. Dorman Mead to Mrs. Catharine Douglas; and both are still living in Jefferson county, about eight miles from where they were married, a hale and genial old couple, loved and respected by all who know them.

Among others who settled in Medina, in the year of 1846, were, Louis Morrill, Jesse M. Smith, Silas Mory, Thomas Hart, Sen., Joseph Hart, C. T. Weeks, George Lewellen, and others. Among those who came in 1847 were W. E. Persons, A. M. Hanchett, and Urbane Parsons. Mr. Hanchett purchased the property of John Douglas, and established a store at Bird's Iiuins. Up to this time, the nearest accessible from which place the mail was occasionally carried by passing teams, but usually on foot, by Mr. Urbane Parsons, this being the swiftest mode of conveyance, as the only teams possessed by the settlers were oxen. Being thus brought to realize the necessities of the times, Mr. Parsons personally circulated a petition, which eventually resulted in the establishment of a post office at Bird's Ruins, and A. M. Ilanchett was made the first postmaster.