Plymouth Town

Plymouth Town

Is town 2 North of range 11 East; about 11 miles South-west from Janes' ville, and is well and truly described by the following communication from

Dear Sir :: - The town of Plymotith was first settled in the Spring of '41. David Dou^ass, Stephen C. Douglass, and Samuel Colby arrived with their families from Michigan on the 3 1st day of May, and pitched their tent near the centei"of section 2, on the bank of a branch of Bass Creek.

They mad(i use of, their tent and covered wagons, of which they had three, for a habitatioij, until they were enabled to build a house for the elder Douglass, which was but partially roofed when they removed into it with all of their oflFects. It was destitute of doors, windows and chinking. On my arrival on the eighth day" of July, {(Movrmg, I found them as above stated, and though the population was rather dense, room was made; and we domiciled with them. Our nearest neighbors east, were Jasper P. Sears, Esq., on Rock Kiver, and Judge Hdmes and family, wHo lived on the farm now owned by David Noggle, Esq. We^t was John Crall, Abraham Fox, John D. Holmes, ' Alanson Clawson, Wendel Fockler and George W. Adams, and old Mr. Adams his father, and their families, some nine miles distant. Souths I believe it was eleven miles to a settler, and north, seven miles to Lem- ' uel Warren, Esq. Over this area of country embracing some six or eight townships the beast's of the forest, the wild-cat and wolf, held undisputed sway. I speak of them because the saucy rascals have more than once taken my fat pigs from my door,and were unwilling to give them up even, when followed up in hot pursuit. The first civil office in the town of Center, (or that part of old Center now called Plymouth, for in those days we had no town government) was held by appointment from the Governor and Council in winter of 1841-'2 ; the incumbent was the writer. The winter of 1842- ''43 was extremely severe. The first snow fell on the night of the eighth of November, and continued until the 7th of April, a period of five months with uninterrupted good sleighingi Much of the time was severely cold, with strong winds and drifting snow ; which continued to increase until it had attained to a depth of nearly two feet. Koiid tracks across the prairies would catch the drifting snow until they attained to an elevation of two to four feet, which veiy much endangered the safety of meeting teams, as in turning out, the horse that stepped from the path would often sink and plunge so deep, that the mate would fall on to, or over him and both be floundering for life in the deep snow, with more or less icy crusts to cut and maim them. Freeport lay some forty miles South-west of us, to which place we used to go to get our corn and oats to feed, plant and sow. In a snow storm it was rather a hazardous route to travel. I may as well speak here of one of the many little incidents of that winter.

So that it will be seen that the pioneers of Plymouth are the old pioneers of Center. The first town meeting of Plymouth was held on the twentyeighth day of August, 1848. The names of those elected to hold the offices of the town, at that election were as follows :

Plymouth at the last annual town meeting, polled one hundred and fifteen votes, the largest ever polled in the town, as will be seen by reference to its poll books. At the general election in 1850, it polled 107 votes; in 1852, it polled 110; in 1853, it polled 71; in 1854, it polled 78; and in 1855, ic polled 74 votes. This town is now capable of polling two hundred and fifty votes.

Li the brief space of thirteen years, what a change has come over the country. That portion of the county that cotnprised the town of Center, is now divided off into three or four towns, each numbering its hundreds of in^ habitants, and some of them their hundreds of voters. Five or six villages and one-half of the city of Janesville, numbering its thousands, have sprung up within its borders. And its entire area is inhabited by as intelligent, industrious and enterprising and prosperous community as can be found any where in the west. They are all on the high road to wealth. Perhaps there is no other portion of Eook county equal in extent, combining so many ad' vantages for growing gi-ain and stock, and for carrying on all other branches of husbandry peculiar to the west, as that portion which constituted the town of Center as it was first oi^anized.

The town of Plymouth is well adapted to the raising of wheat. It haa a very suitable share of rich and rolling prairi&, is well supplied with fine gi-oves of timber, and as well watered perhaps with durable streams and beautiful springs as any town in the county, while its extensive meadows yield an inexhaustible supply of the best of native grass for stock.

It has two Railroads passing through it, crossing each other at a point on Bass creek, called Bass Creek, nearly in its geographical center, on section fourteen, where there is a water power capable of driving two run of stone. A grist mill is already erected, and is expected to be doing busi^ negs early in the coming season^ It is expected a large business will be done here as soon as the two roads are completed and in active operation, as each will build a depot at this point. They are not to run on each other's track; consequently more or less re-shipping will be done here.

Plymouth contains three villages, Bass Creek, Footville and Bornitz. - They are all yet in their infancy. Bass Creek, at the junction mentioned above, is situated on Bass creek. The site for the village, which is now laid off into lots, five to the acre, is owned by John L> V. Thomas, Esq., the present incumbent of the office of Clerk of Board of Supervisors for Rock county. There are now some ten faiuilies in the village of Bass Creek, with a fan: prospect of a speedy and rapid increase, as the Milwaukee & Mississippi railroad is to be completed to that point early in the coming season.

Footville is a th^^g place, situated upon a beautiful slope of land in the valley of, and near, Bass creek. It is the present terminus of the Beloit & Madison railroad. It contains some 40 families. It has two stores, two groceries,, two taverns, a post pflSce, one blacksmith shop, one shoemaker's shop, one Odd Fellows' hall and one meeting house. A steam saw miU is about being built there by one of the old and enterprising settlers, Julius Gilbert, Esq. There are many large and commodious dwelling houses in the place. It has every appearance of enterprise and thrift. Bornits is a village lying on the south line of the town, in section thirty-three. It is settled by some very gentlemanly citizens from Norway. It comprises a few commodious stone dwellings, a printing office with a power press, a parsonage, &C. <fec. It lies in the heart of a splendid farming country on section thirty-three. Here rich and beautifully undulating prairies and abundant groves are marked with innumerable perennial springs, whoso waters form beautiful rivulets that discharge themselves into Coon Creek, one of the tributaries of Sugar River.

Plymouth has perhaps as little waste land as any town in the State. - Every acre - the poorest Of its surface - has long since been sold at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. Its most extensive marshes that are

Unfortunately, however, for its inhabitants, quite a lai^e tract of its surface is in the hands of Wall Street speculators, who refuse to sell. It em^ braces, I think, some five to seven sections of the very best portion of the toTivn.

I have yet to learn that there ever has been the first acre of arable land brought into a state of cultivation in the town of Plymouth, that has not, by thorough cultivation, proved itself to be very productive. And in short, when its resources shall be fully developed, it will be fiiUy entitled to the ap' pellation of town No. 1, in Rock county.

Population

It has 8 school distribts, 6 school houses and 363 scholars over 4 and under 20 years of age, and receives $207,69 from the State School Fund the present year.

A Norwegian Paper

Samuel Smiley-, Caleb Imna,n, J. Fisher, A. Smiley, James Whitehead, -J. G. Scofield, A. C. Douglas, S. F. Chipman, Daniel Bemis, John Arnold,