Reedsburg City (part 2 of 9)

May 4, 1831, he married Elizabeth Bolt Jarvis. She was born October 25, 1812, and died May 19, 1860. She was confined to her bed for the last eleven years of her life, a great sufferer from neuralgia and rheumatism. Nearly all her joints became ossified. The issue of this marriage was two children - a son who was born June 14, 1832, and drowned in the Bay of San Francisco March 24, 1853, and a daughter, Laura Elizabeth (now Mrs. E. C. Watson), born September 7, 1835. After Mr. Ableman's marriage to Miss Jarvis, he immediately opened a carpenter shop on Water street, Albany, and has since performed many heavy contracts. July 29, 1833, Ensign Ableman was elected Captain, with rank from date, of the National Guards, Ninth Rifle Regiment, Thirty-first Brigade, commissioned by Gov. William L. Macy, Levi

Hubble Adjutant General. In 1838, he was elected Colonel of the Two Hundred and fortyninth Regiment, New York State Militia, and duly commissioned. In 1843, Col. Ableman was elected Alderman of the Eighth Ward, Albany, N. Y., and served as such, and was subsequently re-elected. He was also appointed Commissioner of the Poor of said county, and keeper of the almshouse for 1842 and 1843.

In the spring of 1845, he came to the broad West, arriving with his family m Milwaukee on the 17th of Ju°ne. He established there the first Woodworth Planing Mill, and, in 1848, he built a steam planing-mill, and a sash, door and blind manufactory on West Water street. This season he located lands in Sauk County, in Excelsior. In 1850, he sold his mills and moved temporarily to Baraboo, and commenced improving his lands. After a few months' residence here, he moved to the point that afterward became his permanent home. In 1853, Col. Ableman' was appointed United States Marshal for the State of Wisconsin, by Franklin Pierce, and served as such until Buchanan's administration, in June, 1858. While in this capacity, he arrested the slave Glover, whose case, it will be remembered, caused so much excitement and agitation. November 30, 1865, he married Mary Ann, eldest daughter of Capt. Watson, and widow of the late Capt. Adam Gilmore.

In 1869, the Colonel wrote and published several articles, over the signature of " Locomotive," urging the people of the Baraboo Valley to organize for railroad purposes, and laid down a plan of operation. The force with which these letters were written caused an organization to be made, which was entitled the Baraboo Air Line Railroad Company. The Colonel was chosen President of this company. The commencement of the work, and then the sale to the Chicago & North- Western Railroad Company, and the construction of the line through the county within one year's time, was viewed with inexpressible satisfaction by the Colonel. The Chicago & North-Western Railroad Company, out of esteem for him, named the station at the village then known as Excelsior, "Ableman." The post office and village have since received the same name.

Col. Ableman built the well-known hotel, the Delavan House, in Albany. He also built tlie Methodist Church in Baraboo, on coming here, and before settling on his lands at Ableman. When he selected those lands, he drove across the country from Milwaukee. The belief then was that the first railroad west would follow the Baraboo Valley. The Colonel looked along this valley, and, coming to the Narrows near Ableman, readily decided that a railroad never could miss that point, and so purchased lands there. It was many years before his hopes of a railroad were realized, and he was then past active life. His sole remaining ambition was to sit on his porch and see a train go by. He lived a number of years after the present road fulfilled his <lesire. Col. Ableman was a man of strong characteristics, but one of the best-hearted and most genial friends in the world. He was a giant in size and strength, but never used his physical power but usefully.

was born in Sheridan, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., November 10, 1824, and died in Baraboo, October 13, 1878. He came to AVisconsin when 16 years of age with his parents, who settled in Waukesha County. All imaginable hardships in pioneer life were the lot of the Remingtons in their new home, and the subject of this sketch was compelled to apply himself vigorously to the toils incident to farming. His few leisure hours, however, were devoted to study, and he so)n became competent to instruct the youth in his father's neighborhood, and was for several terms engaged as teacher. He remained in this capacity - farmer-teacher - for nearly six years, when he went to study law in the office of Alexander Randall, of Waukesha, afterward Governor of the State. He subsequently went to Milwaukee and finished his professional reading' with Messrs. Finch & Lynde, being admitted to the bar February 16, 1847. In May following, he entered the county of Sauk, en route for Baraboo, with his wardrobe and library upon his back in a carpet bug, and with 25 cents in his pocket. At that time, Lyons was the Athens of the Baraboo Valley, and here young Remington paused in his westward march, and took board at the house of Alexander Crawford. In 1852, he was married to Maria S. Train, by whom he had six children. In 1854, he represented in the Assembly, the district comprising Adams and Sauk Counties, and he was County Judge of the latter from 1870 to 1873, when he resigned. As a lawyer, Mr. Remington stood at the head of the Sauk County bar. He never sullied his professional character by a questionable, much less a dishonorable, act. As a wise counselor, he was the reliance of many business men, who had implicit faith in him. As a citizen, he was honorable, patriotic and public-spirited. It is worthy of record, that, when the war of the rebellion broke out, he loaned the United States Government $1,000 to help the cause along, and did it from a pure sense of duty. This act was characteristic of his citizenship.

one of Sauk County's earliest settlers, died at his home, in the town of Sumter, November 17, 1875. He was born in Wilkesbarr, Penn., August 15, 1809. Removing to Ohio in 1834, he spent two years in that State, and then went to Rockford, 111., where he married Miss Elizabeth Hoover, November 25, 1837. From Rockford he soon removed to Belmont, Wis., and, in December, 1838, in company with three others, he came to Sauk County, crossing tha Wisconsin River on the ice. The following season, the four pioneers made claims on Sauk Prairie, where Mr. Jameson lived until his death, with the exception of a few years he spent in California, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho. He was an enthusiastic lover of the sublime and wonderful in nature, and was always entertaining and happy in his descriptions of what he had seen. He had collected many rare minerals and curiosities in his travels in the wonderful West.

was born November 6, 1824, at Hartsville, Onondaga Co, N. Y. He came to Baraboo in 1849, remaining a year as clerk for James A. Maxwell. Returning to Pennsylvania (where his parents made their home soon after his birth) he remained five years, returning to Baraboo permanently in 1855. In the fall of 1856, he was married to Emma A., eldest daughter of James A. Maxwell. Five children were born to them. Mrs. Potter survived her husband, and is still a resident of Baraboo. Mr. Potter possessed traits that gave him many warm friends. He was warm-hearted, charitable, trustful, candid. His influence was powerful through his large acquaintance with men, but he never used that influence unworthily.

was born in Delaware County, N. Y., in 1798. In 1836, he removed to Ohio, and there resided until 1839, when he removed to Michigan. In 1844, he came to Wisconsin, and in February, 1845, settled in Baraboo. The public lands were not then in market, but a claim of an acre was bought from Moore & Wood, on which Mr. Crawford erected a log house, occupying the spot upon which he lived until his death. For many years, his was a favorite stopping-place for travelers. Count Haraszthy was numbered among the transient guests. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford celebrated their golden wedding on the 23d of September, 1869, and on the 13th of September, 1870, Mr. Crawford was relieved of his earthly cares by death.

was born in Greenfield, Huron Co., Ohio, in 1820. He came to Wisconsin, and settled in Baraboo in 1845. He helped to erect the old Maxwell Mill, and was a partner with B. L. Brier, in the erection of the first carding-mill northwest of Madison. In 1863, Mr. Crawford enlisted in the Third Cavalry, in which he served three years. During this period his health was undermined, and after his return he failed rapidly. He was of the mold of men through whose energies the young territories have grown great - honest, neighborly, of sound judgment, enterprising and public-spirited. He died January 31, 1868.

was born in New Milford, Conn., July 4, 1794, and removed with his father's family when a boy to the then wilds of the West, Onondaga County, N. Y. He came to Wisconsin in 1844, and settled in what was afterward known as the village of Lyons. He was an energetic business man, speculative and enterprising. Before coming to Wisconsin, he was a contractor on the Erie Canal at Little Falls ; then a farmer, salt manufacturer and merchant ; then a gold digger in the Carolinas ; afterward a contractor on the Oswego Canal, and also on the Auburn & Syracuse Railroad and the Genesee Valley Canal. He died, it is supposed, of heart disease, while plowing on his field near Baraboo, on the 18th of October, 1861. He was buried with Masonic honors, of which order he was an active member.

Diligent search fails to reveal the birthplace of Daniel Schermerhorn. He was born August 27, 17! '3, and died in Wonewoc August 26, 1875. The following tribute to his memory appeared in the local papers at the date of his death : " And so the pure, grand, peculiarly eccentric, widely-known, honest ' Old Judge ' has at length been admitted to the ' Grand Lodge above.' The patriot soldier, the first magistrate, and the ever-esteemed citizen, the pioneer whose name all pioneers loved to hear so well, very ripe in the harvest time, is gathered in by the Mighty Reaper. A remarkable man, whose sterling, positive qualities commanded such respect that most of the time for fifty-four years he was in public life, a sworn officer of some sort, although he never attended school six weeks in his life; yet he had a great understanding of very many things of the world, and not a narrow view of any question whatever. His ideas were as ennobling as his once towering, noble form and features ; in every way a self-made man ; aye, every inch a man. His life was indeed a grand success - from boyhood to manhood."

was born in 1787 in one of the New England States. He came to Wisconsin Territory in 1837, settling in Green County. He moved to Prairie du Sac at a very early date in the county's history. Mr. Baxter held an honorable place in public life in the Empire State, having been a member of the Legislature in 1828 and 1829, in which capacity he served with Silas Wright. Millard Fillmore and other noted men. He was a member of both of Wisconsin's Constitutional Conventions. He was also one of the contractors who built the old Territorial Capitol, for his part in Avhich, it is claimed, he never received his full pay. He died at Prairie du Sac on the 18th of September, 1867.

James W. Babr was born about three miles from Winchester, Frederick Co., Va., September 26, 1789. He remained in Virginia until the fall of 1810, when he was about twenty-one years old, removing at that time, with his father, to Greene County, Ohio, where he remained for a year or two before returning to Virginia, to bring thence as a bride, Rebecca Scarff", whose acquaintance he had funned before moving thence. He ultimately received from his father 400 acres of valuable land, which he improved, and became one of the substantial men of his section. But, having frequently become security for other parties, and generally having the debts to pay, he found himself, in the year 1845, seriously embarrassed, and determined to sell his property in Ohio, and remove to the " Far West," and make himself a new home. Accordingly, he disposed of his real estate, and early in April, 1845, started for Wisconsin Territory, in company with two persons named^ Kilpatrick. distant relatives of Mr. Babb's, one of whom lived near Janesville, and had been Fast on a visit. This person gave Mr. Babb a glowing description of a beautiful prairie, with rich, deep soil, lying in the valley of the Baraboo River, above Baraboo, which he had crossed in one ..f liis hunting tours, and which had rarely, if ever before, been trodden by the foot of civilized man ; and it was to sec and claim this prairie that Mr. Babb started from Ohio. He was also accompanied by his son John. The journey was made with a horse team across the

States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and with a short tarry at Kilpatrick's house in Rock County, Wis., the party pushed on to this place. Arrived at Baraboo, then a mere hamlet, the party was augmented by several persons, among others by a Mr. Clark, who knew the way. They probably came through the Narrow Creek Gap, as the first view they obtained of the prairie was from the bluff back of the Dixon place, on the 12th day of May. Mr. Babb was then upward of fifty-five years of age, in the very prime of his manhood, of strong physical frame, robust health and iron will, and the difficulties and hardships of such an undertaking as he contemplated, and which would be sufficient to appeal to one of less courage and powers of endurance, had no horrors for him. Sticking his claim stake, he proceeded at once to improve, emploving parties upon Sauk Prairie to come up and break seventy acres of land, upon a portion of which he raised, the same season, a crop of buckwheat, potatoes, etc. He built a double log house, after the Southern style, two stories in height, consisting of two buildings sixteen feet square, separated between by an open space twelve feet wide, but with the upper story extending the whole length, forty-four feet. The front of the building faced the south. Upon the north side, the alley between the buildings was extended twelve feet by an addition of logs, and closed at the north end, making a room twelve by twenty-eight feet, one story high. The whole was covered with shingles, obtained from an adjacent pine grove, where there were already hardv lumbermen engaged in converting the timber into lumber and shingles. To raise this house - the logs having been prepared by Mr. Babb and his son, and perhaps some other persons - it was thought to utilize the labor of the friendly Indians ; but after getting the building up some distance, Mr. Babb became afraid that the reckless way in which they handled the heavy timbers would result in serious injury to them, procured help from Baraboo and Sauk, respectively sixteen and twenty-eight miles ; and thus the building was raised. The same summer he went to Baraboo, purchased lumber, built a flat-boat, loaded it with provisions and other useful articles, and poled it up the river to his place. The boat was afterward used as a ferry-boat to cross teams at Reedsburg, when the river was too high to be forded. Some time in December he returned to Ohio, where he remained during the winter. Early in the spring of 1846, accompanied by his sons John (and his wife) and Strother and Wash Gray, he started for Wisconsin again, bringing some household stuff and a set of blacksmith's tools, which Strother knew how to use. They arrived here in time to get in a crop that season. Early in the fall, Mr. Babb returned alone to Ohio for his family, and was somewhat hurried up in his preparations for moving by the intelligence that the land sale in this district would take place on the 1st of December. On the 30th day of October, he started on the return journey, with his wife, his son Philip, his daughter Betsey, and her husband, Stern Baker, bringing the remainder of his worldly goods, cattle, etc. It took nearly a whole month to reach Whitewater, and there the weather was so cold that the party halted for a couple of days, and Mr. Babb left them to go to Mineral Point to enter his land, which he did, entering 900 acres in a body at that time. Journeying onward, the party reached Portage City, then Fort Winnebago, on the 28th of November, where they found considerable anchor-ice running, and a high wind prevailing, and they were obliged to camp eight days before they could prevail upon the ferrymen to cross them over. Upon this sid thej were rejoined by Mr. Babb, who was accompanied by Don C. Barry, and they made the home stretch inside of two days, arriving at the Prairie on the 8th day of December, 1846. For years, Mr. Babb and his family were constantly surrounded by Indians, and for some time they were almost his only neighbors; and it speaks volumes for his justice and generosity, that he and his were always upon friendly terms with the aborigines ; and that, throughout the whole period of thirty years which elapsed since his first settlement, neither he nor any of his family ever lost §5 by the depredations of their red neighbors, shows that they fully appreciated this justice and generosity. Mr. Babb died on the 14th of May, 1875, and was buried according to oft-expressed wishes, without religious ceremony.

" Babb's Prairie " will probably be known as such to future generations. It is the garden spot of Sauk County. Mr. Babb made acquisitions to his original claim until his farm comprised 1,800 acres, almost all of it being at one time or another under cultivation. The productions of this farm were very large. In 1860, there were raised upon it, 17,500 bushels of grain, 900 bushels of potatoes, 160 tons of hay, and a proportionate amount of vegetables. Philip Babb, the eldest of the sons, still resides upon the homestead.

Alfred Avery was born near New London, Conn., on the 9th of March, 1797. He was descended from an ancient and honorable family that settled early with the Massachusetts colony. From the early settlement of New London and Groton, his ancestors, the Averys and the Allyns, on the mother's side, held a prominent place in society. The first thirteen names on the Groton monument to those murdered at Fort Griswold were his immediate relatives. His father was one of the few picked men whom " Mad Anthony " Wayne led that dark night to take Stony Point. In 1805, his father, with his family, formed a part of a colony which emigrated from Granville and Granby. in Massachusetts, to Central Ohio. The new Granville that they built soon became a marked educational center. When he was but nine years of age his father died, and he was thus thrown early in life upon his own resources, and, when only twelve, engaged to chop and clear a piece of land. He was but a mere lad when he supported his mother and two sisters. A youth of fifteen, he served in the war of 1812, after which he engaged in the mercantile business, driving the hogs and cattle which he took for pay, over the mountains to Baltimore, and carrying provisions to New Orleans on flatboats. Before the advent of railroads, he had crossed the Alleghany Mountains eighty times, and when there were twenty-six States in the Union, he had visited all of them on business. He helped build the Ohio and Maumee Canals; established one of the first iron foundries in the State ; and was President of the first bank in Granville. He removed to New York in 1846, and engaged in the wholesale dry-goods business, in which he continued until 1854, when, having established his eldest sons in the same business, he ceased to be an active partner. In 1868, he came to Baraboo, where he lived and enjoyed the respect and confidence of the community, until April 11, 1880, when he died, in the eightyfourth year of his age, mourned by all who knew him. Mr. Avery married Jane Mower in 1823, by whom he had four sons and two daughters. In 1836, he became a widower, and, in 1843, he married Lavinia Dexter, by whom he had one daughter.

was born in Union, Broome Co., N. Y., January 19, 1802, and died at his residence in the village of Reedsburg. Sauk Co., Wis., June 8, 1879.

During his early childhood his father died, and he was left to the care of his grandparents, who resided in Canaan, N. Y. From them he received a faithful religious education, and when seventeen years old he was converted and united with the church. He fitted for college in Lenox, Mass., a pupil of Dr. Jonas King, the distinguished missionary to Greece.

After graduating at Union College, at the age of twenty, he taught, for one year, the academy at Springfield, Mass., and then entered the Seminary at Princeton, where he completed his theological course. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Columbus in 1826, and ordained by the same body April 23, 1829, and entered at once upon the work of the ministry, with the energy and devotion which has characterized his whole life, and continued in the service until he was obliged to relinquish it on account of ill health. He had as classmates in the Seminary Revs. Dr. Bethune and Erskine Mason, and while they lived was on very friendly and intimate terms with them. Mr. Lusk's mind was an unusually active one, and by constant reading and correspondence he kept himself well acquainted with the events of his time. He gathered a valuable library and was a great reader, and no new work from the press escaped his attention. Mr. Lusk has labored in various fields, the most prominent being the churches in Cambridge, Saratogji Springs, Nunda, Cherry Valley, Batavia and Huron, in the State of New York, Williamsburg, ilass., and Piqua, Ohio. He became stated supply of the Presbyterian Church of this village, which had been recently organized, remaining until the spring of 1860, when he removed to I*iqua, Ohio. Tn November, 1869, he returned to Keedsburg and resumed his work as stated supply of the Presbyterian Church, in which he continued until October, 1874, when the infirmities of old age obliged him to give up his charge. He was genial and attractive in social life, instructive and earnest in the pulpit, and greatly endeared to his family and all the people among whom he labored. He left three sons and one daughter. One of his sons, bearing the same name as his father, is an alumnus of Princeton Seminary, now connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church, and resident at North Haven, Conn.

one of the oldest and wealthiest citizens of Sauk County, died at the residence of his brother, in Baraboo, on Sunday, February 18, 1872, aged sixty-two years. The deceased settled where Sauk City is now located, in 1845 or 1846. He brought with him a heavy stock of goods, the first stock of any importance brought into the county. At that time the few residents on the Baraboo did their trading with him. He soon purchased what was known as the Bryant residence, which he converted into a hotel, at the same time buying the Bryant interest in the village, thus becoming one of its leading proprietors. He was afterward joined by his brothers, of whom, however, only T. M. Warren became a permanent resident of the county. Mr. Warren soon became the leading moneyed man of Sauk City, and was largely interested in real estate. When he died his fortune was estimated to be worth about $300,000.

was born in Irasburg, Vt., February 1, 1822. At the age of thirteen, he was left alone in the world, so far as paternal care is concerned, but, by indomitable energy and perseverance, he acquired a liberal education, and entered business relations of life in the employ of the Messrs. Hammonds, of Crown Point, N. Y. Later in life, he was engaged in the lumbering business in Pennsylvania, but not finding it lucrative, he went to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and was connected with the iron manufacturing interests of that place. From there he removed to Chicago, where he became identified with the banking business until 1858, when he removed to Ironton, Sauk County. He was first in the employ of Jonas Tower, in the iron mines, and afterward a partner, until the death of Mr. Tower, in 1868, by whose will he was made equal heir with others in the estate, and eventually became sole proprietor of the iron mines. In later years, he turned his attention to land matters, and at his death was considered the richest, and perhaps the most extensive, farmer in the county.

Knowledge of the early life of this well-known pioneer is unfortunately very limited. He was born, it is believed, in Williamsburg, Mass., in 1801. He was for a time a resident of Jeiferson County, N. Y., and at a later period lived in Albany and became one of the Aldermen of that city. He came to Wisconsin early in the forties, and in 1844 or 1845, was Marshal of the then young city of Milwaukee, where he continued to reside until 1852, when he removed to Sauk County. In 1853, he was elected State Prison Commissioner on the Democratic ticket. The honesty with which he discharged the duties of the office, and his refusal to be influenced by partisan considerations, drew upon him the hostility of political factions, and charges were preferred against him, which, after strict investigation, were disproved. At the expiration of his term he returned to his farm in Sauk County, and when the war broke out he took a position against the secessionists, which wholly identified him with the Republican party. In the movement in 1861, to unite the loyal masses of both parties, in the support of the Government, Mr. Starks was brought forward as a Union candidate for the Legislature. He received unanimous support, and thereafter served five successive terms in that body. He died June 20, 1870.

Joseph Mackey was born May 17, 1822, in the town of Broome, Schoharie Co., N. Y., and died October 22, 1879, at Minneapolis, Minn., in the 58th year of his age. He received academic instruction at Schoharie Court House, and in 1842, commenced the study of law. In 1845, after

432 HISTORY OF SAUK COUXTYadmission to the bar, he removed to Gilboa, N. Y., where he practiced his profession till 1848, when he removed to the county seat of Schoharie County, and was elected District Attorney. In 1854, he came West and settled in Reedsburg, where he resided about a year before his death. He entered immediately in the pursuit of his calling and continued to practice law until about 1870, when he engaged in banking. He removed to Minneapolis in 1878. The leading traits of character developed in Mr. Mackey were the energy and thoroughness by which he accomplished everything he undertook. As a lawyer he was particularly noted for the complete and perfect preparation of his briefs. At the age of twenty-five, he married Cornelia, daughter of Daniel Mackey, of Gilboa. The result of the union was three children, two of whom, with their mother, survived their father.

was born at Mooresville, Harrison Co., Ohio, April 14, 1837. He was the second son and third child of Rev. Christian E. and Maria Weirich. His father, a Methodist preacher of ability, and a man of eminent Christian character, was also at several periods an editor and publisher ; and here we have a key to the life of this son, who drew his moral inspiration and acquired his love of the editorial profession from the same paternal source. When but fifteen years old, young Weirich was accepted as an apprentice in the ofiice of the Washington (Penn.) Examiner^ where he served three years with creditable acceptance. In the meantime his father had joined the Wisconsin Conference. So, on completing his apprenticeship, Joseph came to this State, in 1856, with the rest of his father's family. During the next two or three years, we find him engaged as a compositor in Madison, first on the State Journal, where he was associated at the case with A. J. Turner and Peter Richards ; afterward on the Patriot, where he was the immediate associate and friend of S. S. Brannan - names honorably connected with the history of Wisconsin journalism. At a later date, he was similarly employed on the Richland Democrat ; and, partaking of the itineracy of his father, who was assigned to Baraboo as preacher in the fall of 1859, the son, in 1860, first went to work as a printer upon the paper which eventually he was to own and edit. In January, 1861, he had an attack of lung fever which came near proving fatal. The crisis past, he rapidly recovered his strength, and renewed work in the office, continuing in that employment until the President's first call for three years' men to sustain the Union, when he enlisted as a private in Company A of the Sixth Regiment, Iron Brigade, of whose original muster only about twenty-five men siirvived the war. He was wounded in the breast at the battle of South Mountain, September 14, 1862, and was honorably discharged as Sergeant at the expiration of his term of enlistment. He now rejoined the family circle, which during his absence had centered at Monroe, and renewed his occupation as a printer. During the next four or five years, he was mostly employed on the Monroe papers, the Sentinel, Republican and Vindicator, being foreman of the last two offices ; and during this period, also, it was his happy fortune to be married to Miss Rebecca Ball. In 1869, he removed with his family and a number of kinsmen and friends, forming a colony, to Eden, in Dakota Territory ; but. severe experience during the succeeding winter causing him and others to abandon their agricultural adventure, he returned with his family t Monroe and resumed his former work. In August, 1872, he purchased the Baraboo Republic, which he conducted alone till the spring of 1874, and afterward, till his death, jointly with the present writer. So passed away, on the 2l3t of December, 1877, this dear friend. Beneath flowers in the sunny cemetery at Monroe, near the bed of "The Best Chaplain in the Army," from whom he inherited so much of the best that was in him, and of whom he has written as his Sainted Father, sleeps the mortal part of Joseph I. Weirich.

was born at Bristol, Oneida Co., N. Y., September 26, 1810. At the age of seventeen, he entered the the academy at Canandaigua, where he remained three years in the capacity of pupil and teacher. While there, he had for fellow-student Stephen A. Douglas, whom he in

A Legend - Early Settlement - Shanty Row - Manufactories - Schools - Churches - Post Office - Hotels - Banks - Fire Department and Fire Record - Ellinwood's Fair Grounds - Orders and Societies - Government - Bridges Over the Baraboo - The National Anniversary - First Criminal Trial - A Pen Picture - Cemeteries.

A Legend

Far back in the misty past, before the dawn of civilization, two Indian hunters - " noble red men " they must have been - met in mortal combat in a grove of quivering aspens upon the banks of the Baraboo. Both were slain ; each died from the effects of the other's knife-wounds. Near their lifeless forms lay the carcass of a deer, punctured with arrows, its flesh still hot and jerking. A deep silence pervaded the awful scene, but no explanation of the cause was needed. It was the result of a sanguinary chase. Over hills and crags, through thickets and across streams, the lithe hunters had given pursuit to the deer, each bent upon its capture. The animal finally slain, they quarreled over its possession ; quarreling, they fought, and, fighting, they died. Had they been wise men, they would have divided the spoils, one taking the meat and the other the hide ; but perhaps the smiles of a " dusky maiden " depended upon the result, and, this being an Indian legend, such is presumed to have been the case.

The fallen braves were buried side by side on the crest of a large mound which stood where now stands the Mansion, or Sallade, House. Here for many years their sorrowing relatives and friends were wont to gather and bewail their loss. Among the mourners who came most frequent were the mothers of the deceased hunters ; and it was from the lips of one of these old squaws that the story of the tragedy was obtained by the earliest white settlers in that vicinity. Recollections of the mothers' lamentations at the graves of their sons are yet recalled by residents of Reedsburg. In the center of the mound, it is related, stood a tamarack pole, fifteen feet high iand five inches in diameter nearest the ground. On top of the mound, around the graves of the dead Indians, a trail several inches deep had been worn into the earth by the feet of the mourners, who often came in large numbers and walked in a circle about them, singing and crying piteously. It was a sad day for the faithful frequenters of this lonely spot, when the graves of their honored dead were desecrated by the " implements of labor and liberty " - the pick-ax and spade - in the hands of their white brethren. It seems but little less than vandalism. The bones of these scions of American aborigines, together with the gravel and sand that surrounded them, were finally consigned to the current beds of the Baraboo as a part of the dam which, in after years, David C. Reed was glad had washed away - " For now I know what ailed it, and can build a better one; I'm glad on it."

The Indian was the earliest known inhabitant of the region about Reedsburg, but his moccasined footprints are no longer to be seen. He left many evidences of his presence along the Baraboo, and when the first white settlers came they found his tribe in larger numbers than was at all times comfortable or convenient. The fall of 1844 saw the first white man in these parts, at least the first who came with the intention of remaining. Don C. Barry, accompanied by a man named Henry Perry, while exploring this part of the country in search of a lumbering location, discovered traces of copper in Section 1 of what is now the town of Reedsburg. A claim covenncr the " find " was made and Perry left in charge, while Barry returned to his home. The next summer he came back, bringing with him from Mineral Point two experienced miners. In the meantime, James W. Babb and his son John came to the Baraboo Valley, reaching a point looking out upon the prairies from the Narrows Creek Gap on the 12th day of May, 1845. Proceeding further up the river, Mr. Babb and his son soon reached the fertile lands comprised in the tract since known as Babb's Prairie, and here they concluded to stop and make their claims. Mr. Babb, unlike most new-comers, was blessed with some means, and with it he employed parties then living on Sauk Prairie to come to his claim and with their teams break seventy acres of land, upon a portion of which he raised, the same season, some buckwheat and potatoes. He built a double log house two stories in height and sixteen feet square, separated below by an open space twelve feet wide, but with the upper story extending the full length, forty-four feet. The building was covered with pine shingles from the forests further west. During the summer, he went to Baraboo, purchased lumber, built a flat-boat, loaded it with provisions and polled it up the river to his place. In December, he returned to Ohio, and early in the spring of 1840, accompanied by his sons Strother and John, the wife of the latter and Washington Gray, he returned to Sauk County, arriving in time to put in a crop that season. Early in the fall, Mr. Babb made another trip to Ohio for the remainder of his family, consisting of his wife, his son Philip, his daughter Betsey and her husband. Stern Baker. The party, after a long and tedious trip, arrived at " the Prairie " on the 8th of December, 1846. At the point where the village of Reedsburg now is, Mr. Babb soon ascertained that a magnificent water-power could be obtained, and he looked upon the section with a desire to possess it. He did not have money enough to enable him to invest in the enterprise at the time, but he hoped at some future day to lay claim to it. Before that day arrived, David C. Reed, then a resident of Walworth County, heard of the superior advantages for a mill site in this part of Baraboo, and, in the spring of 1847, he, in company with a Mr. Powell, came and laid claim to the land upon which the principal part of Reedsburg now stands, including the mill power. In June, 1847, the first improvements were commenced - the construction of a dam and the building of a shanty for the accommodation of the men engaged in the work. In June, 1848, the frame of a saw-mill was i)ut up, and during that summer a few accessions were made to the yet meager population.

Shanty Row

It was in the fall of this year that the famous " Shanty Row" was built. When Austin Seeley and family came in January, 1849, the inhabitants were Messrs. Reed and Powell, and the family of the latter; William McClung (the miilwright) and family; J. L. Green and Keyes Bislio[) (two single men). The snow was three feet deep and food was exceedingly scarce. A few frozen potatoes and a short allowance of " cannel," with wild meat, composed the daily bill of fare. The weather being extremely cold, and the inhabitants thinly clad, hunger was, perhaps, the least of their suflerings. The houses were of the rudest pattern, and afforded but little protection from storms. The rain and snow beat in on all sides, and during severe showers at night, the older members of families were compelled to protect their sleeping children from the torrents by holding over them umbrellas, and placing milkpans, buckets and other vessels on the beds beneath tiie "leaks," to catch the water. The wind, at times, would whistle through the apertures in the walls and almost blind the inmates with ashes and dust from the mud fire-places and earthen lloctrs.

The little log houses, five in num]»er, composing "Shanty Row," were made of tamarack poles taken from the river. These poles had been cut by George and Edward Willard, of Baraboo, alon;: the upper banks of the Baraboo, and had been floated down stream to where Reed and Powell were building a dam. Here they were confiscated and turned to building purposes by the settlers, who were out of doors, without a roof to shelter them, and had no time to wait for permission from the owners to take them. Two apartments were erected under one roof; that is to say, two rooms, twelve by sixteen feet, were built twelve feet apart, tamarack poles of sufficient length to reach across both structures being placed on top, thus forming a covered compartment between the two. The roof was made of elm bark, peeled horizontally from adjacent trees, and used in the same manner as shingles, two tiers of bark being sufficient to cover one side of the shanty. The cracks in the shanties were " chinked and daubed," with pieces of three-cornered wood and a liberal proportion of the native swamp mud, which, in soft weather, existed in generous quantities ; and, when this composition of bog and basswood dried, there was no necessity for windows for purposes of light or ventilation. Probably the most annoying feature of one of these frontier dwellings was the basswood door, which, during damp weather, would grow much too large for the aperture. Mrs. Seeley remembers, on one occasion, when her door was " on a swell," having placed a large stick of wood against it on retiring. During the night, under the influence of a warm fire and drier weather, contraction set in, and the door " went to with a bang." The noise brought the sleeping occupants of "Shanty Row" to a sitting posture; but, not hearing a second volley, their fears of an attack from Indians were soon dissipated.

The houses in " Shanty Row " were numbered after the manner of more palatial residences in large cities. No. 1, which stood at the west end of the row, next to the river, was known as "Bachelors' Hall." It was here that " the boys " came together and discussed the day's topics, after which they joined in devotional exercises and retired to their respective apartments, to be up with the lark in the morning. In No. 2, lived Mr. Powell and his family, consisting of a wife and four children, one boy and three girls. With Mr. Powell lived a young man named Brace, who afterward married the eldest daughter, a buxom girl of twenty years, and 210 pounds avordupoise. It is said that a gunny-bag, somewhat altered and revamped, figured as an important part of the bridal trosseau. The third house, or No. 3, was the domicile of William McClung and his wife and daughter. Mr. McClung was the millwright employed by Reed & Powell, to superintend the building of the saw-mill. In No. 4 lived Elder Locke, his wife and six children - John, Susan, James, Rebecca, Levi and Phoebe. The Elder is said to have been the first to preach the Gospel in Reedsburg. His pulpit was a chair, and his temple the open roadway. He now resides on Hay Creek, a few miles northwest of the village. The fifth shanty in the row was the last one put up, and its first occupants were the family of J. H. Rork, who came in February, 1849, from Racine. Unlike some of the other settlers, they came moderately well supplied with provisions and money. They found the people in the shanties in a state of destitution, the only eatable thing in the whole row being a shank of venison ; and they at once shared their plenty with the less fortunate. But a time came when they were as destitute as the others. Sickness and misfortune attended them; they shared their provisions with the others until all were gone, and potatoes were all they had for food. Provisions could not be obtained nearer tl^an Portage or Madison, and there were neither teams nor time to haul them hither. There were seven members in the Rork family ; J. H. and Diena Rork, the father and mother ; L. E. Rork, A. R. Rork, Wealthy Elizabeth Rork, W. W. Rork and 0. 0. Rork, the children.

Early in 1849, Mr. Powell sold out his interest in the mill to Caleb Croswell, a new-comer, and Mr. Croswell in turn sold to William Van Bergen the same year. In this year, also, the mill was put into operation, and the first lumber sawed was used to cover the mill and build a shanty, into which Austin Seeley and family moved temporarily, and which was afterward known as the " old mill house."

The completion of the mill marked an important era in the history of Reedsburg. Its projectors met with many difficulties in the form of bad weather, scarcity of provisions, impassable roads, sickness, etc. As already stated, work was first commenced in June, 1847. A pleasing feature of the work was the finding of a solid rock bottom in the river bed, upon which the dam was built. This must have been an agreeable surprise to the inhabitants, who, from the character of the ground upon which the village now stands, had about arrived at the conclusion that there was nothing but mud beneath them. The weather being cold, and working in the water a disagreeable task, a few of the many Indians in the neighborhood were employed to wade into the stream and deposit the material for the dam. They were paid for their labor in economical quantities of whisky, which with poor Lo is a currency always above par, no matter how freely it may be " watered." The mill building was raised in June, 1848, three days being devoted to the work. There were present representatives from all the then settled parts of the county, and it is of oral record that "a good time" was had.

" The year 1849," says Mrs. French in her " Sketch Book," "brought a few other settlers. Z. T. Carver and his wife and two children came that year. So did Daniel Carver. The latter located on a farm. Mr. Vernoy and family, J. P. Mowers, Horace Carver and Samuel Chase also settled hero that year. D. B. Rudd and E. 0. Rudd, brothers, were among the pioneers, having arrived here in 1849. They were single men, and they brought their mother and sister to keep house for them. But Col. Strong, who came in the next year, finally coaxed that sister to accept the position of Mrs. R. M. Strong, and to make glad his home instead of theirs. The blow was a terrible one to the brothers. Neither ever took another housekeeper. The frost of life's winter is gleaming among their dark hair, but no gentle hand ever strokes it away. Though wealthy and influential, they have turned from womankind, and live only to console each other. Z. T. Carver, A. F. Leonard, Samuel Leonard, his father, John Leonard, and George Huffnail, were also settlers in 1849."

The fust frame house, if we except the slab shanty known as the " Old Mill House," was put up in the fall of 1849. It was built and occupied by Austin Seeley and family, and is still standing, being the residence of J. F. Danforth. The next frame was erected by John C. Clark, on the present site of the Reineke House, and known as the Clark House, it being used as a hotel. It was one and a half stories high, and was regarded as a " biii thing," probably second only to tlie mill. It was liere that the first store in the place was located, a stock of goods being opened for sale in the bar-room by 0. H. Perry. The goods were the property of J. F. Sanford, now of Lavalle, who then kept a store in Baraboo. The amount of merchandise on hand was small, and in order to prevent the annoyance of people asking for articles not on hand, a half-sheet of paper containing a catalogue of goods for sale was kept posted on the door, so that all might ascertain, without asking, if the articles wanted were there. In the spring of 1851, the store was removed across the street to a little frame built for that purpose. J. S. Strong was the founder of the next store in the place. He kept a small stock of dry goods, groceries and crockery. The old gentleman's three sons assisted him. Two of the sons are still residents of Sauk County.

The territory of the present town of Reedsburg was formerly divided between the towns of Baraboo and Eagle. In 1850, a town of Reedsburg was established, named in honor of D. C. Reed. It comprised the present towns of Woodland, Lavalle, Winfield, and a portion of Ironton, in addition to what is now known as Reedsburg. The town articles were drafted in a blacksinitli-.shop, and upon the top of James W. Babb's hat. The first officers of this town were John 11. Rork, S. Kerstetter and W. P. Randall, Supervisors; and Daniel Carver, Treasurer. Reductions of territory were made at intervals until 1854, when the town was included in its present boundaries. At this time, there was a great range for county seats. Every man, as soon as he built a liouso, marked out a court house square and expected his place to be the county seat. Inconsequence, there was a great deal of rivalry and jealousy between different portions of the county. The original village plat belonged to D. C. Reed and George H. Irwin, a relative of Reed's ; one owning the land south, and the other that north of Main street. The additions to Reedsburg are Mackey's First, made August, 1853, and Dwinnell's Addition, made about the same time; Mackey's Second and Third Additions, Mott's three Additions, and Mrs. Titus' Addition. The village was laid out and platted in 1852.

In the Hpring of 1851, occurred the somewhat famous saw-log war, or better known probably as tJK' Baraboo war. It was then a common thins; for early settlers engaged in the losffing (UHincss to cut tinilier trom the vast domains of I ncle Sam without his permission, and before the old gentleman surveyed and sold his lands in that region, there was a wide expanse along the up|)er waters of the Baraboo covered with tall and graceful pines. Among others who cut aTui rafted .saw-log.s from this section were George and Edward VVillard, of Baraboo. The building of a dam at Reedsburg seriously interfered with the successful pursuit of rafting, and it soon became optional upon the part of Mr. Reed for rafts to pass over the dam. It finally occurred to him that it would be to his interest to prohibit further operations of this kind. In doing so, he would not only prevent the probable demolition of his dam, but it was in the natural order of things that the large number of logs then lying in the stream could be purchased at a low price, and made into lumber at his mill. But the Willards insisted upon their right to pass their logs over the dam, and when Mr. Reed, backed by the citizens of Reedsburg, positively refused them this privilege, they returned to Baraboo for the purpose of mustering a sufficient number of their friends to help them cut the dam and pass the logs over. In the meantime, the Reedsburg citizens dispatched a messenger to Madison for the United States Marshal, who, they supposed, would seize the logs, they having been cut from Government laYid. They were disappointed, however, when the Marshal appeared with a posse of men and ordered the^dam cut away and the logs released. An indignation meeting was called at once, and a large and excited crowd assembled in Sanford's store. Inflammatory, as well as conciliatory, speeches were made, but E. G. Wheeler finally convinced the crowd that it would be the height of folly to attempt resistance to United States authority. It is worthy of record that there was no recourse to violence ; and, although the cutting of the dam was a vital blow at the then leading interest in Reedsburg, the citizens bore their misfortune with true pioneer fortitude.

In July, 1852, when the Rev. S. A. Dwinnell came to Reedsburg with his wife and six children, he found upon the site of the present village twenty-seven families and eight single men, 114 persons in all. This was the growth of three years. Following is a list of the inhabitants at that date, the figures indicating the number in each family : J. S. Strong, 4 ; L. Gay Sperry, 4; Austin Seeley, 4; S. H. Chase, 2; Z. T. Carver, 6; 0. H. Perry, 2; Eber Benedict, 4; Peter Barringer, 4; Volney Spink, 5 ; A. H. Witherall, 2; P. B. Smith, 3; W. Mc- Clung, 3; A. C. Reed, 8; Dr. R. G. Williams, 7; Kindred Priest, 8; H. H. Carver, 4; J. Clark, 5; J. C. Bovee, 3 ; E. G. Wheeler, 6; W. W. Carpenter, 3; Garrett Rathbun, 7; Harry Bishop, 3 ; J. Mowers, 6 ; William Peck, 4 ; Aaron Hall, 4 ; Orlando Secor, 5, and David C. Reed, 5. To these must be added Mr. Dwinnell's family of eight, making the entire population, twenty-nine years ago, 122 persons. The business portion of the village was located in what was then a black-alder swamp. In the eyes of strangers, this was regarded as a drawback to the growth of the village. The people coming from Baraboo and all the region east, as well as those coming from what is now the town of Winfield and the settlement in the town of Dellona, known as Sligo, were obliged, in order to get to the stores, the tavern and the sawmill, to travel along a ridge of hard land from near " Kelsey's Corner " to the rear part of what is now the Central House, and around to the north of the Mansion House into Main street, near Strong's store, now the saloon and eating-house of William Roper. Main street, from "Kelsey's Corner" to Nelson Carver's saloon, was an impassable swamp. A ditch had been dug on the north side of it, which remained the only improvement upon it for two or three years. It was afterward so covered with sand that teams began to travel over it, but it was many years before it was rendered perfectly safe for teams to pass without getting " sloughed."

In the summer of 1851, business was greatly depressed. It was a very hard time for the laboring man and the mechanic. Money and provisions were scarce. Lumber was the only article which was abundant. Mr. Dwinnell brought with him a large quantity of flour and a number of cows, which he exchanged with his neighbors for lumber, labor and hay, greatly to their advantage as well as his own. A deep gloom hung over the future of the place. With few exceptions, everything about the village looked "slipshod, down at the heels, out at the toes." The exceptions were the new, commodious, painted Reedsburg Hotel, built the year previous, by John Clark ; also the two-story store and dwelling of J. S. Strong, which was also painted, and just west of it a large building being erected for stores and a dwelling by Volney Spink. To these should be added the cabinet-shop, and a dwelling over it, of Austin Seeley, near the northeast part of the park, now occupied, with more recent additions, by J. F. Danforth. This building was also painted white. The other houses were mostly small, unpainted and without cornice or ornaments. Most of them were covered with rough boards. o

The causes which led to the stagnation of husiness in Reedsburg and prevented its growth while other villages in the county were prospering, are numerous ; but a recital of them in these pages would only have the effect of opening afresh wounds that have gradually healed. Besides, it is not the purpose of the publishers to revive sad recollections of the local feuds they find to be a part of the history of every community. There is enough to record that is pleasant, and, as it was not through the medium of personal differences that the village attained its present important position, but the result of liberal ideas and a close adherence to the mandates of the much-violated Golden Rule, it is proper that all save that which will impress future generations with the integrity of their ancestry, should be consigned to oblivion. Therefore we pass over much that has been written concerning early personal strife in Reedsburg, and take up the record of that which resulted for its good and bound lasting ties of friendship. This is ably set forth in one of Mr. Dwinnell's pioneer sketches. He says : " The first direct eflfort to save the place from ruin was the organization of the Reedsburg Mill Company, in August, 1851. It consisted of E. G. Wheeler, John H. Rork, Z. T. Carver, Daniel Carver, S. A. Dwinnell, D.

C. Reed, Eber Benedict and W. W. Carpenter. The first five persons above named were constituted a board of trustees, of which S. A. Dwinnell was chosen President and E. G. Wheeler Secretary. The design of the company was to purchase the property of Reed and clear it of incun)brance ; to put the fiouring-mill in operation and give deeds of lots to such persons as were entitled to them by previous purchase of Reed, and sell lots to those who wished to erect buildings. In order to effect this object, the stockholders gave a mortgage upon real estate to the amount of the stock subscribed by them. In the month of November following, Messrs. Wheeler and Reed were sent as agents to the city of New York, to make an effort to raise money upon these farm mortgages. In that intended negotiation they were unsuccessful. But Reed found there an old acquaintance by the name of A. H. Irving, who loaned him sufficient funds to cancel the mortgage held by Van Bergen, upon the quarter-section south of Main street, and to purchase of A. A. Mott,* of New York, the quarter north of Main street. Irving took a deed of the property and gave Reed power of attorney to give deeds to such persons as had purchased lots of him, or might wish to do so. This delivered the place of the embarrassments which threatened to ruin it. and relieved the anxieties of those who had purchased lots of Reed and built upon them. In the spring of 1852, Abram West, J. H. Rork and Z. T. Carver made an arrangement with Rcetl to put the fiouring-mill in operation. In order to raise the necessary funds to ellect this object, the farmers in the vicinity, as well as some of the inhabitants of the village, advanced money and agreed to take pay in grinding. By this means the mill was running in season togrind the grain of the harvest of that year. It was a great convenience to the pooploin this region, who had previously been obliged to go to Baraboo or Delton for all their milling. In the year 1854, J. and S. Mackey purchased the property of Reed, and the year following they took in their brother, Dr. E. R. Mackey, as a partner. The financial prosperity thus became permanently restored. Settlers began to come in rapidly. Money became plenty, and a large number of houses and stores were built. A. B. Smith erected the Alba House, and

D. C. Reed and Dr. E. R. Mackey the Mansion House. In 1856, Northrup & Young built a large store and filled it with goods. About the same time came J. Johnson & Co. and J. V. Kelsey, and opened dry goods stores. George Meyers opened the first furniture store. The country around rapidly filled up with the population, and people came here to trade for a distance of twenty and thirty miles to the west. Reedsburg consequently became the center of a large business, and it.s commercial prosperity was from that time assured."

A local writer, in the fall of 1856, speaking of the growth of Reedsburg, said: " From forty to fifty good substantial buildings have been erected within the last eighteen months, some of which, for lienuty of finish, will compare favorably with those of any inland town East or West. We have three public houses, one 40.\(i2^ feet, three stories; one 30x60 feet, three storicB, with large and commodious outhouses attached to each. We have thirteen stores and groceries, one ready-made clothing establishment, one cabinet, one shoe, one wagon and two blacksmith shops, all doing a successful business. Two new stores are now in progress of erection, and the building of two more large stores is contemplated the present fall. Several large and elegant dwelling-houses are in progress of erection in different parts of the town. A saw, grist mill and sash factory are propelled by water, the former of which is surpassed by no mill in the county. The steam saw-mill is also in successful operation. Still, there is a great lack of machinery to supply the necessary wants."

A year later, a local correspondent of a Baraboo paper, wrote : " A grist and saw mill have been in successful operation for a number of years, and one steam saw-mill has been established more recently. We also have ten dry-goods and provision stores, two good hotels, one drug store, one boot and shoe store, one hardware store, one harness-shop, one gunsmith, one sash, door and blind factory, two blacksmith-shops, one wagon-shop, one cabinet wareroom, two churches and one seminary."

In 1866, there were in the village seven dry-goods and two drug stores, two groceries, three saloons, two furniture rooms, one hotel, one jewelry store, two boot and shoe shops, three blacksmith-shops, one harness and two stove and tin shops, with other minor institutions in proportion. Of professional men, there were three lawyers, three physicians and four clergymen.

The year 1873 was a very profitable one for Reedsburg. A resume of the principal business transacted that year was prepared by Mr. Chandler, of the Free Press, from which the following figures are taken : Hops shipped, 2,837 bales, valued at $226,960 ; potatoes purchased by produce dealers, 20,029 bushels; pork, 281,841 pounds; 40 head of cattle, 270 of sheep, 25,000 pounds of poultry, 1,000 pounds of venison, 600 partridges, 11,000 pounds of hides and 175 pelts, 10,000 pounds of butter, 17,000 dozen of eggs, 33,000 pounds of wool, 13,000 barrels of flour, 30,000 hoop-poles and 13,750 railroad ties. There was purchased by dry-goods and grocery dealers |214,025.98 worth of stock. The books of the two hard and tinware firms showed transactions to the extent of |45,000, About $10,000 was expended by the ladies in the purchase of millinery goods ; $8,000 went for jewelry, $14,087.99 for drugs and medicines (and it wasn't a good year for the doctors either), $4,526 for musical instruments, and $2,615 for sewing machines.

The growth of Reedsburg for the past five years has been of the most substantial character. It is now the second village in size and population in Sauk County, and, so far as the enterprise of its business men is concerned, has no superior, if indeed it has an equal, in the county. Its tasty brick business blocks give to it the character of a city in appearance, and remind one that the destruction by fire of the old-fashioned frames which formerly lined Main street was but a temporary loss. It is said the first brick building in the place was a small one-story concern which stood where now stands the Reedsburg Bank. It was occupied as a merchanttailoring establishment, and was burned down. Upon its ruins, in 1878, was built the bank edifice referred to. Prior to this, however, the residence of A. L. Harris was erected by William Dierks. Then followed Kelsey's store, Kreutzmann's saloon and Harris & Hosford's store (veneered). This brings us to the fire of 1878, after which Peter Byrne and J. S, Dearholt put up bricks. The bank building was next, after which came Reineke's hotel. Barker's furniture store, Judge Stevens' red brick, Timlin's tin store and Brooks' hall and restaurant.

The institutions of Reedsburg, however, have separate histories which must be distinctly treated. All the soui-ces of information have been exhausted to make the record complete and reliable.

Kellogg' s Mill. - As is already known, the improvement of the Baraboo River, at what is now Reedsburg, was commenced in June, 1847, by David C. Reed and Mr. Powell, and a year later, the frame of a saw-mill was erected. Some time in 1849, Mr. Powell sold out his interest in the mill to Caleb Croswell, who, in turn, sold to William Van Bergen the same year.

In the meantime, a grist-mill had been commenced, but for the want of funds the work wg§ often delayed, and for a long time the citizens procured their flour at Madison and Portage. \y'

Reed becoming involved in debt, Messrs. Carver, Rork and West, who had been working for him, finally took charge of and completed the grist-mill. They ran it for about a year.

'in ]853, J. Mackey, then of Schoharie County, N. Y., made arrangements for purchasing the grist and saw-mills, together with 320 acres of land adjacent to them, and 600 acres of pine land, lying from eight to fourteen miles further up the river. Mr. Reed, not being able to raise the heavy mortgages on his property, was obliged to let it pass out of his hands. In the spring of 1854, Joseph Mackey and his brother Safford took possession of the mills. At that time the grist-mill consisted of one run of stones, and the saw-mill of two up-and-down saws, both mills being much out of repair. The new proprietors put them in complete order, and immediately began to pay cash for labor and supplies, which gave a new impetus to the business and growth of the town. The nearest mills to the east were then at Delton and Baraboo ; and to the west, on the Kickapoo River. An additional run of stones was put in the grist-mill to meet the increasing business.

In 1855, the Mackey brothers associated with them in business another brother. Dr. E. R, Mackey, who remained here until 1861, when he returned to New York. In the winter of 1861, the Mackey mills were destroyed by fire, and several thousand bushels of wheat were lost in the conflagration. But the proprietors immediately began the erection of new mills at the points where the others had been. The grist-mill, thus rebuilt, is 40x60 feet on the ground, three and half stories high, and has five run of buhrs,two of which were put in when the mill was first built, and the others somewhat later, giving it a capacity for grinding of from eight hundred to a thousand bushels per day, or five hundred barrels of merchant work in a week, besides the regular custom. The property was purchased of Safford Mackey, in February, 1880, by John Kellogg, the present owner. The water-power is capable of driving more than twice the amount of machinery that it now runs. The dam has been recently rebuilt, making one of the best waterpowers on the Baraboo River, affording in all from one hundred and sixty to two hundred horsepower.

Cooperage. - The manufacture of tight-barrel cooper stock (staves and headings) was inaugurated in Sauk County, in 1871, by E. A. Miller at Valton, and J. P. Stafford at Reedsburg, following the building of the railroad. These parties continued the business, with some success, up to 1875-76, since which time both concerns have been controlled by Charles Keith and B. G. Paddock, with A. E. Miller, who holds a working interest, as superintendent. The Reedsburg factory is the largest and most complete institution of the kind in the State, cutting 30,000 staves and headings annually. The firm supplies the largest machine barrel manufactory in Chicago, or any other part of the Northwest, with material. The Reedsburg factory was destroyed by fire March 7, 1880. A new one was finished on the 10th of May, and is now in complete operation. The main building is 30x60 feet, with a boiler and engine room 30x36, in which is a sixty horse-power engine, and boilers double that capacity. Twenty-one hands are employed in the Reedsburg factory, and twelve in the fiictory located at Lavalle. These factories afford a ready market for the large supplies of white oak, basswood and ash, to be found in ahnost any section of the county, and their central locations place them among the leading institutions within its borders. It is quite an advantage to farmers to be able to dispose of their timber for cash, instead of reducing it to ashes to get rid of it, as was the case in early times. Tiie firm of Koitli k Paddock dates back to June 3, 1858, when they were in business, as merchant/t, in Ironton. They still continue the mercantile business at Lavalle.

lii-edshur<j Brewhifj Company. - Frank and Florin Meckler built the first brewery in Reedsburg. It seems to have lacked the merit of success that was desired, and its founders, while endeavoring to bring it to a greater degree of perfection, were so unfortunate as to see it destroyt'il by fire. In the spring of 1877, Frank Meckler and Fred Schrader built a second brewery, and had put it into operation when, in the fall of 1878, Meckler failed, and the property was sold on a mortgage, llagenah & Geff'ert being the purchasers. They took possession '1^ March, 187i>, and at once commenced the work of making additions and other improvements . - large scale. In -Iiino. 1880, William Dierks purchased a fourth interest, and the Reeds- burg Brewing Company was formed, composed of Mr. Dierks, Henry Geffert and John and Peter Hagenah. The most important feature of the establishment is the summer beer vault, situated a few rods northeast of the brewery. It was perfected at a cost of nearly $5,000, and is doubtless, the best vault in the State. Here the temperature is kept at 40° Fahrenheit, only 10° above the- freezing point, and this, during the hottest of summer weather. It is a complete refrigerator, on a scale sufficiently extensive to accommodate nearly 10,000 gallons of beer. Beneath the brewery building proper are two oblong vaults, formed in the solid rock some ten feet below its surface, where the winter's product is stowed in enormous casks. The other parts of the establishment are in keeping with the features above described. The product of the brewery, at the present time, is sixty barrels, or 2,400 gallons per week, which falls far short of supplying the demand. The trade is almost exclusively local, but very little being sent beyond the boundaries of Sauk County.

The first school in the village of Reedsburg was a private one taught by Miss Amanda, a daughter of Rev. J. S. Saxby, in the winter of 1849-50. It consisted of seven pupils, and was kept in a shanty twelve feet square, lighted by a single window, and occupied by Mr. Saxby's family, consisting of seven persons. This was a case of teaching under difficulties. In the spring and summer of 1850, Miss Amanda Wheeler, now Mrs. S. H. Chase, taught the second school in the L to the mill-house and in the Saxby house, which was afterward the Green Tavern. It consisted of about twenty pupils. In the fall of 1850, a school district having been formed in the village, and a small house built on Walnut street, 15x22 feet in size, now a portion of the residence of Patrick Carney, the first public school in town was kept during the following winter by R. M. Strong, who afterward distinguished himself in the war of the rebellion. This small schoolhouse served the district for six years, and S. J. Brown, C. P. Sanford, Seymour Sage, Miss Esther Smith, now Mrs. J. J. Nye, and several others taught there.

During the summer of 1856, the district purchased of J. and S. Mackey three-fourths of an acre of land, on the northwest corner of Sixth and Pine streets, for $300, and erected a schoolhouse 30x40 feet in size, and intended for three teachers. Thonfas Mobrey was the builder. In December, J. S. Conger and wife commenced school in it, assisted by Miss Emma Tator in the lower room. Mr. Conger and wife were good teachers and excellent disciplinarians, and continued the school for three years. They were succeeded by A. P. Ellinwood, who continued two years, until he entered the army in 1861. He was assisted by Miss Alma Haskell. Charles Newcomb had charge of the school for the next year, assisted by his wife, and the year following W. S. Hubbell taught, assisted by his wife. After Miss Emma Tator left the lower department, it was taught by Sarah Shaw, Francis M. lams and perhaps others. In the fall of 1863, Miss Sarah Flanders was employed to teach in the upper department, and her sister Mary in the lower. After this, Mr. William Gillespie taught a year, succeeded by J. Bloomer and George Gregory, each for a year, during much of which time Miss Frances Smith, now Mrs. A. L. Harris, taught the lower department. In the autumn of 1867, Orsen Green took charge of the upper department and George Gregory the lower, until the burning of the schoolhouse in February, 1868.

In the summer of 1868, a new schoolhouse was built upon the site of the old one, in size 40x50 feet, arranged for three departments and four teachers F. Green, of Wyocena, was the builder. It cost about $5,700, not including site or apparatus. Albert Earthman commenced teaching in October, and continued in charge of the grammar department for six years, much of the time without assistance in his room. He was assisted in the intermediate and primary departments by various young ladies. Miss Emeline Martindale in the latter. In the autumn of 1874, J. H. Gould became Principal of the school, and continued in charge two years, assisted the first year by Miss Jennie Little and the second year by Miss Roxa Taylor. During the principalship of Mr. Gould, some half a dozen of his pupils were graduated in certain branches, and entered the State University at Madison. In the fall of 1876, J. S. Thomas took charge

566 HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTYof the school for two years, assisted the first year by Miss Taylor, and the second by Miss Anna Sneathen and J. S. Ingalls. Mrs. Bell Sheldon succeeded Miss Martindale in the Primary room and continued until 1877, when Miss Alice Greene took charge of it. The Intermediate Department was taught in 1874-75 by Miss Lena Little; in 1875-76 by 0. G. Schonfeldt; in 1876-77 by Willis Stone, and in 1877-78 by Miss Carrie Peck and Miss Anna Sneathen. In the autumn of 1878, J. H. Boyle, assisted by Miss Mary Nelson, took charge of the school. Miss Mary Neeley also took charge of the Intermediate Department, and Miss Alice Greene the

At the beginning of the school year, in 1879, a new department was created, known as the Second Primary, Miss Hannah Weinzierl being employed as teacher. Miss Mary Neeley also succeeded Miss Mary Nelson as assistant to Mr. Boyle, Miss Nellie Neeley being employed to fill the vacancy thus created in the Intermediate Department.

In September, 1879, the School Board took adequate measures for carrying out the provisions of an act of the Legislature providing for the establishment of free high schools. Additions were made to the schoolhouse for the accommodation of two extra departments, one of which was immediately organized.

The school system of Reedsburg has reached a remarkable degree of perfection. The average enrollment is about 300 liupils, the percentage of attendance being very satisfactory. The cost of maintaining the schools, not including the expense of building and improvements, is in the neighborhood of ^2,400 per annum, or about $8 for each pupil.

There are seven frame schoolhouses outside the village, most of them good ones. The Carver Schoolhouse is two miles west of the village, and the Jones Schoolhouse about two miles east of it, while the Safford Schoolhouse is in the south part of Babb's Prairie. There are four schoolhouses in the south part of the town, nearly on a line east and west. In these country temples of learning, schools are usually taught seven months in the year, for the most part by female teachers.

Elder Barbour's Select School. - This is one of the institutions of the past, but it will be remembered by many still living who patronized it. Frances Dwinnell Elliott, daughter of the late S. A. Dwinnell, who was one of the pupils in this school, recently wrote the following reminiscence of it: "It was taught in the fall, winter and spring of 1854-55. A finely bound volume of Tupper that I received as a prize the last day of school bears date March 16, 1855. A j)leasaiit upper room over Danforth & Shumway's store was the Seminary building, and, there Ijcing no cloak room, our various wrappings disputed with the blackboard for the possession of the walls. The only ornament was a board placed conspicuously opposite the door, bearing the inscription, ' Order is the first law of Nature.' The Elder's patience was often sorely tried by our failure to observe the same. He was an excellent instructor. I shall never forget how, after a tedious explanation of a problem on the board, he would say, 'Now, if there is one in the class that doesn't understand this perfectly, I will go all over it again.' After teaching a few weeks, lie roalizt'(l that it was not good for schoolmasters to be alone, and secured an assistant in the person of Miss Mary J. Strong, an aunt of the Colonel's. How well all remember her, with her [)lain, freckled face, and briglit auburn hair, but with such a sweet expression of countenance and grace of denifiinor as to be really beautiful. Iler character was one of the few in this world that can truthfully be denominated 'perfectly lovely.' To my youthful eyes she was perfection itself, and as one too good for earth she is yet inscribed in my memory. Main street was then in (juitc a jirimitivc state, and the mud was appalling to behold and wade through. We girls, in conse<|uen(X', ado|)ted the bloomer costume, and a gent by my side, who was one of the boys in that distant period, says it was vastly becoming. I believe he never buys nineteen yards for a dress without wishing we had never doffed it. But in the breaking of winter the mud grew unbearable, even with jiants ; and one day, at noon, we grew desperate, and, going down to the mill, wc confiscated each of us a slab, and, marching up single file with them on our shoulders, we deposited them with due solemnity on the mud. There were quite a lot of them, and, by laying them end to end, they covered (^uite a length of sidewalk. It should be inscribed on the

The Churches

The civilizing influences of religion have done much for the welfare of Reedsburg. Elder A. Locke, who still resides near the village, was the first to preach the Gospel in the place. The 12th of July, 1848, was the date and "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God " the text of his sermon. The people assembled in the shanty of Mr. Powell, which stood in what is now Main street, almost in front of the old Strong store, now Roper's eating house. He continued to hold services here and also at Ward's, in the eastern portion of Narrows Prairie, and on the Little Baraboo, near where Ironton now is, for a year or more before any other minister came. He lived during the time in a shanty which he had built a short distance east of the Powell place. The next resident minister was J. S. Saxby, a Congregationalist from Walworth County.

The Metliodists. - The first church organization was effected by the Methodists in November, 1850, at the house of John Clark, the Rev. N. Butler, of Baraboo, ofiiciating. The congregation was very small, consisting of J. H. Rork and wife, John Clark and wife, Garrett Rathbun and wife, Zabina Bishop, Phillip B. Smith, Mrs. Willard Bowen, Mrs. A. C. Reed, Mrs. Volney Spink, and Mrs. Peter Barringer ; but the membership was largely increased, and, in 1853, the society numbered sixty-three. In the fall of 1865, the church erected a tabernacle of boards, 20x30 feet in size, at the northwest corner of Fourth and Locust streets. It had a seating capacity of about 100, and served them as a place of worship for eight years. In 1872, a commodious church edifice was erected at the northeast corner of Pine and Second streets. It is 35x50 feet, and will seat 225 persons. It was dedicated February 16, 1873, the Rev. S. Fallows, of Madison, ofiiciating, the text of the sermon being " He must needs go through Samaria." At this meeting a subscription of |630 was raised toward liquidating the $1,000 indebtedness of the society. Following is a list of the Pastors since the organization : Nelson Butler, E. P. Sanford, W. P. Delap, J. Bean, E. S. Bunce, A. V. House, E. H. Sackett, J. Bean again, R. Rowbotham, John M. Springer, C. C. Holcomb, E. S. Bunce again, 0. B. Kilbourn, B. L. Jackson, R. Pengilley, I. A. Sweatland, John Harris, R. Langley, N. Leach, J. B. Bachman, J. W. Bell and J. H. Whitney.

The Congregationalists. - The next church organization - that of the Congregationalists - took place in the village schoolhouse, February 8, 1851. The Rev. Warren Cochran and the Rev. J. S. Saxby ofiiciated. There were present, composing the membership of the society, J. S. Strong and wife, J. S. Saxby, wife and daughter, I. W. and L. R. Morley and their wives, N. Cornish and wife and three others, to which number S. A. Dwinnell and wife and two others were soon added, making twenty-two in all. In 1855, a church edifice, 32x50 feet in size, and valued at $1,600, was erected at the corner of Third and Pine streets. It was built by Abram West and Volney Spink, and was dedicated on the 18th of October, 1855, Rev. Warren Cochran preaching the sermon. It was the first church building erected in Reedsburg. At that date, the nearest structure of the character on the north was at Stevens Point, on the east at Baraboo, on the south at Dodgeville, and on the west at La Crosse. In 1871, the house was repaired and re-furnished at an expense of $1,200, and was re-dedicated on the 17th of December of that year, the Rev. M. Bennett preaching the dedicatory sermon. The Pastors have been the Revs. J. S. Saxby, from 1849 to 1851 ; S. A. Dwinnell, from January, 1852, to January, 1868 ; Warren Cochran one year, H. H. Hinman one year, M. Bennett four years, W. H. Hinckley three months, W. Mooney one year, and J. A. Bartlett, who came .in the fall of 1879.

The Baptists. - On the 24th of January, 1852, Elder Peter Conrad, then engaged in missionary work among a few small and scattered congregations on this then sparsely settled frontier, succeeded in organizing a Baptist society in Reedsburg. The first communicants were William J. Bentley and wife, Z. Craker and wife, Ammon Vernoy, Mrs. Eber Benedict, Mrs. James

Vernoy, Mrs. Daniel Carver, Mrs. H. H. Carver, Mrs. L. G. Sperry and Mrs. J. C. Bovee. The members were by no means well to do financially, though their faith stood unalterably at par, and until 1873 they had no settled place of worship. The old schoolhouse, the Alba House, Union Hall the Congregational Church and the basement of the Presbyterian Church were used alternately by the society. At one time during this long period, the erection of a church edifice was seriously contemplated ; a lot was purchased and some of the timber hauled upon the ground, but the stringency of the times prevented the consummation of the plan. In the spring of 1872 the project was renewed, and this time with better success. In June of that year, J. N. Parker, the architect and builder, laid the foundation, and during the summer and fall raised and inclosed the building, which was completed the following year (1873), at a cost of $2,000, and dedicated October 12, Elder Raymond, of Chicago, officiating, being assisted by Elders Fish and Seamans. It was shown by the report of the Treasurer, Elder Barbour, that the indebtedness of the church at that date was $1,10D, of which amount $400 was owing to the building fund. At the close of the evening service on the day of the dedication, the remaining amount of the indebtedness, $700, was subscribed. The Pastors of this church, since the time of Mr. Conrad, have been the Revs. E. D. Barber, B. D. Sprague, W. J. Chapin, Mead Bailey, John Seamans, E. D.. Barber again, G. W. Lincoln, J. Staley and F. Hill.

TIw Presbyterians. - This church was organized in what was then known as the new schoolhouse, on the 22d of November, 1857, by the Rev. Hiram Gregg, of Baraboo. The original members were T. Tait and wife, L. Gilford and wife, Chester Buck and wife, and Miss L. Buck. A church edifice, 38x60, was erected during the following year, dedicatory services being held in the basement in December, the Rev. William Lusk, Sr., preaching the sermon. The house was not wholly completed till 1870. It was dedicated in December of that year, the Rev. B. G. Riley, of Lodi, officiating. The structure cost $5,200. The Pastors of the church have been the Revs. William Lusk, Sr., William Lusk, Jr., T. Williston, S. A. Whitcomb, William Lusk, Sr., again, D. S. Wiiite, H. L. Brown and J. A. Bartlett.

St. Peter s Church. - The (Jrerman Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1868, and August Rohrlack became Pastor in 1869. The church was composed mostly of families from Hanover, Germany. They soon made a purchase of an entire block, just north of the Congregational Church, upon which was a dwelling-house, which was fitted up as a parsonage and schoolhouse. In 1870, a church edifice, 40x70 feet, was erected at the southeast corner of Fourth and Locust streets. The most striking feature of the structure is its eighty-foot steeple, in which hangs a bell weighing 1,500 pounds. The dedication took place on the tenth Sunday after Trinity, 1870. A parish school was erected near the church in 1874. The Rev. Mr. Rohrlack taught the first school connected with this church. He was succeeded by Julius Neils. Mr. E. Lussky is the piesent teacher. The size of the school ranges from sixty to ninety pupils.

St. Joints Church. - A second Lutheran society was organized in 1874, consisting of about twenty-five families, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Woerth. Among the first members were Williaiii Stolte and wife, George Stolte and wife, John Meyer and wife, Fred Dangel and wife. John Fulilbolim and wife, Henry Kij)p and wife, Fred Niebuhr and wife, and William Ractznianii and wife. Services were held in the English Methodist Church and the Episcopal (Miurch until the fall of 1878, when the society erected a house of worship on Market street, in the northern portion of the village. The edifice cost $1,500. The pastors have been the Revs. Th. .I.ihiiscn, (Jcoigc Woerth, Dr. Deichman, and G. F. Engelhardt, the present incumbent. The membership is alxjut seventy families.

The C'lt holies. --About three years ago, the Rev. Father White, of Baraboo, visited Reedsburgatjlio solicitation of a few Catholic families residing here, and held mass in private houses. A year previous to this, Mrs. E. F. Buelow took the initiative in starting a subscription for the puqiose of building a church in Reedsbiirg. The object was accomplished in the spring of 1880, a $1 ,200 church edifice being erected. The subscribers to the fund and members of the parish are the families of Paul Bishop, Patrick Tierney, Peter Byrne, Stephen Timlin, William Horkan, E. F. Huelow, Edward Timlin, Mrn. Frank Ingalls, Wm. Boehm, Frank Meckler and Mrs. Loselet.

The Post Office

In 1849, Horace Croswell received an appointment as Postmaster of Reedsburg. The mail matter which then came to this point was not sufficiently cumbersome to necessitate the building of a special apartment for it, and Eber Benedict's slab shanty became the post office ; though it is said that Lavina Reed carried the letters in her pocket during the first part of Horace's term of office, because she and Horace were both young and much inclined toward each other. Croswell, as a part of his contract with the Government, took the mail pouch on his back and made weekly trips to Baraboo, sixteen miles away, the schedule time being eight hours. L. Gay Sperry was his successor as mail carrier. He reduced the time between the two points to six and a half hours. This he continued to do for a year. When the " Strong building " (now Roper's eating-house) was erected, and a store established therein, the post office was removed thereto by Mr. Croswell. Caleb Croswell, brother of Horace, and also a brother of the founder and editor of the Albany (N. Y.) Argus, succeeded Sperry as mail-carrier, and placed on the route his team of white and brown mules. About 1851, the change in administration carried with it the usual decapitations in the Post Office Department, and whether or not Mr. Croswell's head fell under the political guillotine, or whether he resigned the office, is not of record. At any rate the office became vacant and E. W. Young was appointed. He remained in office until 1861, keeping it in the store of Young, Northrup & Co., and on the 16th of March of that year he was succeeded by J. L. Green, who removed it to his store, which stood where Finch's harness-shop now stands. In the spring of 1865, E. 0. Rudd succeeded to the position. The office was then located by Mr. Rudd in Henderson's store, where it was attended by his sister, Mrs. Col. Strong. When the Colonel returned from fighting the battles of his country, he and his wife took up their residence in the original Strong building, erected at an early day by the Colonel's father, taking the post office with them, where it remained until about 1869, when John Kellogg was appointed to the position. He remained in office till 1873, resigning in favor of A. L. Harris, the present incumbent. The office became a money order office July 1, 1869. The first order was issued on the 15th of that month ; the remitter was Horace F. Chace, of Reedsburg, and the payees Swale, Cameron & Co., Milwaukee, the amount being $23.63. Since then over 12,000 orders have been issued. C. F. Sheldon has been in the office as assistant for several years.

The first hotel in Reedsburg was a " tavern," for it was by this somewhat antiquated appellation that the Clark House, built in 1849-50, was known. J. C. Clark was the proprietor. The structure was one and a half stories high, and the entire population pointed to it with feelings of pride as the first frame building of note in the place, the material of which it was constructed being the product of the greatest institution for many miles about - the saw-mill of Reed & Powell. The Clark House stood where the American House (the property of Mrs. Reineke) now stands. There were many changes in the proprietorship and management of this house, and it is not in the power of the -' oldest inhabitant " to recall the names of those identified with its history. Thomas Ingalls, A. P. True, John Schaum and George Stewart are enumerated as having been among the individuals connected with its later management. It was for some time the property of J. D. Mackey, who sold it to G. Reineke. It was destroyed by fire in May, 1877, and rebuilt of brick. Upon the death of Mr. Reineke, his widow succeeded to the management.

The next hotel was built by J. S. Saxby, though it was used at different periods as a residence by Mr. Saxby, a man named Secor and A. West. The latter sold it to H. H. Treadwell, who converted it into a hotel. By him it was subse(juently transferred to John Sanborn, who sold it to Jehu Seeley. A Mr. Clark then came along and purchased it. but soon sold out to one Percival, who removed it to a farm two miles west of the village, and it now does service as a farmhouse.

The Mansion House came next in the category of hotels. It was built in 1855 by Dr. Mackey, and was a part of the property of the Mackey brothers. It was purchased and carried on by Ransom Smith & Sons, but in 1859 reverted to the Mackeys on account of the inability of the Messrs. Smith to pay for it. L. Gaylord then became the lessee, and he was succeeded bv one Cooper, concerning whom there are many mysterious things related. It is said the Mansion House, under his management, became a rendezvous for bad characters who inaugurated an era of systematized plunder. Charley Hunt remembers having, in the capacity of an officer, searched the premises and found portions of stolen harness and other articles furnishing satisfactory evidence tending to justify the general belief that there was "something decayed in Denmark." It is also asserted that on one occasion a wagon with a small party of men aboard arrived at the house one dark night, and the hostler was instructed to care for the horses and have them ready to start at 3 in the morning, but he was threateningly warned not to use a lantern or go nearer the wagon than was absolutely necessary in the performance of his duty. After the last member of the suspicious crowd had left Reedsburg, the hostler ventured to relate what had happened, supplanting his story with the statement that he did make an examination of the wagon and found therein the body of a dead man. When Cooper left the country, G. W. Bellinger came into possession of the Mansion House and converted it into a private residence. He soon afterward sold to Thomas Ingalls, who opened it again as a hotel. W. H. Finch, now of Kilbourn, succeeded Mr. Ingalls, and he sold to 0. E. Briggs, who conducted it until March, 1878, when Mr. Ingalls again took it. In February, 1880, Dr. N. W. Sallade bought the pioperty and is the present manager.