Richmond Town

Richmond Town

Town 3 north, range 15 east, was at first included in largest Elkhorn. At an extra session of the territorial Legislature by an act dated August 18, 1840, this town was made a part of Whitewater. Five months later, January 12, 1841, it was set off as the town of Richmond. Among the first-comers to the town were Thomas and T. Perry James and Robert Sherman, from Richmond, Washington county, Rhode Island, and their influence, just then, was sufficient to place another Richmond in the field of American geography.

Glacial action left the town of uneven surface, but not more so than other towns. The high ground of eastern Whitewater is continued through northeastern Richmond and thence irregularly southeastward to the state line in Bloomfield ; but it nowhere becomes hills. A large part of Rock Prairie, its elevation eight hundred and ninety-four feet above sea-level, lies in the southwestern part of the town. Turtle lake, its greatest length about one mile and average width about one-third of a mile, lies at the meeting of sections 11, 12, 13, 14. There are small glacial lakes, or large pot-holes, one each in sections 4, 9, 10. Turtle creek, the only noticeable stream in the town, flows from its lake southwardly with double curvature to Delavan. where it turns west ward and with another sigmoid flexure crosses Darien and thence to the Rock. In its course through Richmond it crosses sections 14, 23, 26, 35. 36. It is bordered by a large marsh, now about to be reclaimed.

There was an incipient village, with postoffice. at the southwest corner of Whitewater, where a town-line road meets a county-line road. It was named I tier's Corner, and its church was and is on the Richmond side of the two highways. There is a church, a well-kept cemetery, a store, and a postoffice - named Richmond, at a meeting of roads in section 17 - but as vet no village there. Not a mile of railway, either steam or electric, touches the town, but the roads to Delavan and Whitewater are excellent, and Richmond trade 1- of appreciable value to both of those cities, - and by deliverv routes >m each it receives mail.

rhere arc eighl school districts, one jointly with Sugar Creek and one with Whitewater. The Interests of public education here as in the other town- have been influenced and directed b) men and women who know well the true foundation of an American community. .Manual work, business, and religious organization are indispensable; but the American child receives its first and lasting impulse toward fellow-citizenship in the school room and on the school play ground.

Morris F. Hawes left Michigan in 1837 and coming by way of Chicago and the valley of Rock River reached section 1, August 1st, and thus began the civilization of Richmond. He also bought in section 3. In the same year Perkins S. Childs came to section 17, Thomas James to section 34. Andrew and Arthur Stewart to section t,^- The next year brought Joseph Compton and Charles Hamilton to section 5, George E. James to section 33, T. Perry James to section 34, Ira Sanborn (1805-) and Cyrenus Wilcox to section 5, and John Teetshorn to section 6.

William Campbell. Joseph and James Gorham Humphrey, Isaac and Stephen Keech, Simeon W. Newbury, Joseph Prentice, and Anderson Whiting came in 1839, settling on sections 5, 6, 7, 18.

In 1840 and thereafter; among the advance guard were Gilbert S. Ableman. John Almy (1791), Varnum Arnold, John Arvedson (1798-), John Balfour. Albert Barton, Elijah Belding. Harrison Bishop (in 1844), Silas Bishop, John Allison Bowen. Joseph and William Bowman, Andrew and Richard Bradt. James Cameron (1803-1879), William Carpenter. David A. Christie, John Clague (1802-1886). Charles Claxton, Robert M. Cockrell, David and James Compton, Asa Congdon (died 1850), Warren Congdon, James Connelly (1817-). James Cotter, Daniel Cross (1794-1878) and wife Mercy, Christopher J. Dockstader, Freeman Emerson, Morris Ensign, Solomon Finch (1809-1882), Jones Gage ( 1 789- 1 868 ) , Emery and Irving Gage, Jared Hall (1813-), Joseph Hall (1802-1878), William Hatton, Henry C. Hemenway. Henry Hess (1817-), Lewis J. Higby, Seth Hill (1781-1858), Kinner Hollister, Elisha Hulce, Jasper and Norman Humphrey. Fenton and William Hurd. Joseph E. Irish, Amos Ives (1823-1896). Horace James. Alvah B. and Peter Johnson, Lyman Jones, Horace B. Kinne, John I. angle v ( 1818- 1865 ). John Langworthy, John Lester, five Loomers, Abram < '-. Low ( [818-), Henry McCart (died 1847), James McKay, Thomas M. Martin, James Matthew-. Andrew Mills. Edward Mitchell (1809 (890), James Moflfatt, Ambrose, Robert 1 [810-1869), and Sylvester Moore. Charles J. and John C. Morgan, Elisha Newell, George Osborne, Joshua Parish. William Patterson (1806- [875), George W\. Lemuel and Zebulon Paul. John ami Richard Pemberton, Oliver Perkins (1800-), Harvey Prentiss ( 1821-), Benjamin, John and Nathan Rand, Edwin M. Rice. James Robinson (1814-), .Alexander Rowley, (25)

James Sanford, George, Joseph, Oliver H.. and Peter Smith, Henry Grover Smith (1810), Nathaniel C. Smith (1796-1878), Isaac Spicer. Samuel Stewart. Rial H. Thomas, Russell Thurber. Jr., Silas J. Weaver, Alden, Daniel Tennev, Joseph R.. and William Wilkins - four brothers, or, father and three sons.

Charles Claxton (1817-1902), son of John Claxton and Mary Turner, married in 1837 at London, Mary Ann (1813-1884), daughter of Benjamin and Martha Quinton. They came in 1845 to section 9. He left a widow named Laura A. He had two daughters : Mary Ann. wife of Robert Knilans, and Martha M., wife of Josephus Borst.

Warren Congdon (1820-) came from Rhode Island to section 26. He married, August 20. 1845, Mary Ann Kenyon. In i860 they were of Delavan village.

Lewis John Higby was in 1837 for a short time a partner with the Rockwells in the settlement of Elkhorn. He bought land in section 5, Richmond, but he may never have left Milwaukee.

Kinner Hollister ( 1783- 1850) was sun of Isaac Hollister and Catharine Newcomb. In 1805 he married Mary, daughter of Lemuel Winchell. Two ^Mii-,. Cyrenus Newcomb and Lemuel, came to Darien.

James Gorham Humphrey (1806 i860) married Adeline Barber. He was grandson of Ebenezer Humphrey and Lucy Robhins, and son of Joseph (1782-1864) and wife Hannah Kims. Joseph died at Whitewater.

Henjamin, Jonathan and Stephen, with Samuel Loonier of Lagrange, were brothers. Joseph Henry Loonier was son of Benjamin and Eunice. Leonard Loon km- married his uncle Jonathan's daughter Asenath. He was a son of Stephen. AH these were horn in Nova Scotia, and came early to Wisconsin,

Rial H. Thomas (1821-1904) married Mary ( 1823-1898), daughter of Josiah Jackson and Anna Case. He afterward bought a farm in section 8, Sugar Creek, near Millard.

The Nova Scotian settlers in the northwestern quarter of the count)' formed a somewhat noteworthy group. They were all of New England origin, and all born in or near Cornwallis. They chose good farms and made them profitable : they were very much intermarried and their other alliances have related them widely: and their sons and grandsons were not wanting in time of war. Their best known family names are Bigelow, Ells, Loomer, Newcomb, Rand and Weaver. The late Simon Newcomb, one of the most eminent of modern astronomers, was of Nova Scotian birth, and must have had kindred of some not remote degree of cousinship in the county.

In 1755 about seven thousand French inhabitants about the basin of Minas, near the head of the bay of Fundy. were deported and their homes made public domain. In 1760 and for a few years thereafter men and families to the number of about three thousand six hundred left Connecticut and eastern Long Island to make the depeopled province an English-speaking and Protestant colony ; and thus Grand Pre and its neighborhood became Cornwallis, Horton, and Aylesford, in the county of Kings. The land-hungry grandchildren of these pioneers began within fifty years their westward movement, by way of New Brunswick and New England, and their trail now long ago reached the Pacific coast, where it turned northward and southward, toward Alaska and Mexican California. Evangeline Land never, as far as known, became the home of the Tory exiles of the closing years of the American Revolution, many of whom went without their families to Halifax or its vicinity and some of whom returned twenty or more years later.

A Methodist society was formed at Utter's Corner in 1852, of which little is now known. Another society was formed at Richmond centre about 1854. It- church was built in 1872. About that time, or earlier, its pastor was Ira S. Eldredge, after whom, with some omissions, perhaps, were Charles [-".. Goldthorp in 1875; Thomas Potter, 1878; David O. Sanborn, 1883; William Thomas Millar. 1884: Robert Davidson, [890; Thomas H. Garvin, 1891; Alfred Pomfret, 1892; John Carson Lang, 1895; William Dawson, 1898; Isaac Johnson, 1899; John Milton Judy. [901, It is not unlikely that the pastors at Heart Prairie supplied some of the vacancies.

The first election was held April 5, 1842. at the house of Perkins Silver Childs, which then did duty as a tavern, and town officers were chosen.