Whitewater City (part 1 of 5)

Natural Features

The town of Whitewater is in the extreme northwestern portion of the county. The surf acp varies, the southeastern corner of the town being rolling land or hilly. Fully three-fourths the town, however, is comparatively flat, of which one-fom-th consists of swamp land. West of the village of Whitewater is a prairie covering two sections. With the above exceptions, the town originally consisted of openings, with patches of white and black oak and poplar. Its soil is that usually found in a flat country, but is occasionally of a light sandy variety. Near the village are several limestone quaiTies. The tovra is watered by Whitewater Creek, consisting of two branches, one rising in the town of Lima, the other in Richmond; they both flow north into the Bark River. Bass, Whitewater and Round Lakes ai-e all in the southeastern part of the town, and abound in pickerel and bass; there is also the pond south and east of the Tillage. Several mineral springs have been discovered in this latter vicinity, but have not been analyzed. Originally, fom- Indian mounds of quite imposing dimensions existed a short distance from the northeast corner of Section 7 : the largest was sixty -five feet long, twenty feet wide and five and a half feet high. When C. R. Gibbs came into possession of the property, the mound was leveled for the site of his residence. Excavations to unearth its contents have never been made. Northeast of this mound, about V2i) rods, are three other elevations of cone- like form, twenty feet across at the base and seven feet high. Aside from this locality, no other signs of prehistoric life, within the present limits of the town, have been found. Limestone quarries have been discovered near the village.

Agriculture

Whitewater is an agi-icultural town, fiilly one-quarter of its population following that pursuit. A quarter of its farms are devoted to dairying, there being several cheese factories in the town. Corn, oats, wheat, barley and buckwheat are the chief grain products. The-first land was broken and the first crop raised by Dr. Edward Brewer, who came from Milwaukee in May, 1837, took up a claim in the southwest (juarter of Section 7, and then co*ntracted for the tilling of ten acres of land during the coming season. He had been accompanied by William and Leander Birge, the three returning in July with Charles Hamilton, bringing with them seven yoke of cattle, one wagon and two breaking plows. The jxirty was five days coming from Milwaukee, and gladdened the heart of their host, Samuel Prince, the first permanent settler, l)y bringing with them all the " solids " of metropolitan fare - pork, potatoes, tea, coffee, flour, etc., etc. Dr. Brewer and Hamilton then went to work to improve the claim on Section 7. The Birges went on to Cold Spring, liiit returned, jumped Norman Pratt's claim to the southeast quarter of Section 2, and commenced to till the soil as the second fanners. The expense of living in those times was simply enormous, but, with the advent of new settlers and the raising of abundant crops in 183'.(, the condition of the pioneers commenced to " look up." The next year, an assessment of property was made, preparatory to raising a tax for a court house and school purposes. The total valuation of the town property was $57,974. From the old Isooks of Benjamin Bosworth, who had opened the first store in Whitewater the previous year, it ap- I)ears that the farmers were not getting wealthy from the sales of their products: Spring wheat, 36 to 40 cents per bushel; winter wheat, 40 to 46 cents; corn, 30 cents; butter, 16 cents per pound; eggs, 8 cents per dozen. The next four years witnessed uiiusual growth in the settlement of Whitewater and in the prosperity of the town. But the Assessors will have to explain the decline in the value of property to $52,863. This figiu-e was based upon 13,540 acres of land, including the village which had been taken up, five-sevenths of which was owned by resi dents. There were over 10,000 acres of Goverment land yet in the market. The harvest of 1844 good, and put the early settlers in splendid spirits. During the winter, the farmers hauled their produce principally to Milwaukee, and returned laden with household provisions, goods or cash. The succeeding eight years passed away, and the country became thickly settled with prosperous farmers, who demanded some easier means of getting their grain to market. The crops for 184(5 to LS51 were poor - the latter year' a total failure. The "pink-eye'" years will long be remembered by all the early farmers of the town and county. The Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad was completed to Whitewater in September, 1852, and the whole condition of things was changed. Business men and the farmers who had mortgaged then- lands, rejoiced with new hope. Only the dozen tavern-keepers between Whitewater and Milwaukee, who, in past time, had reaped such a harvest fi'om the constant and necessary travel only they put on long faces. In October, 1853, winter wheat was selling at Janesville for 80 cents per bushel, and in Milwaukee, during September, for as high as fl.80.

At the close of 1854, the town was free fro^n debt and "booming." No set-back occurred during the next year. Prices advanced - then came the hard times of 1857. The season opened well, especially for bai'ley and wheat. But with the stagnation of business, the agricultural element suffered.

The year 1860 made up for all previous disappointments, however. Then the town passed thi'ough the war and beyond. It is not necessary to detail its growth up to the present time. It is now prosperous and tilled with all that goes to make up comfort. In 1881, there were growing in the town 5,848 acres of grain; 119 of potatoes and root crops; 25'.t of apples (7,835 trees); 3,037 acres of grazing land and grasses and 2,163 acres of timber. Of milch cows, the town possesses 1,378, valued at $22,374. And it must be remembered that the town is but half of its size when the first assessment was made. In 1880, the following crops were grown and products raised: 17,854 bushels of wheat; 142,280 of corn; 39,578 of oats; 1,791 barley; 891 rye; 10,634 potatoes; 1,200 root crops; 10,950 apples; 18 clover seed; 243 timothy seed; 500 pounds tobacco; 3,029 tons grasses; 45,025 pounds butter; 365,430 pounds cheese.

Population

The li\e original towns of the county, Troy, Spring Prairie, Elkhorn. Delavan and Geneva^ were organized by Territorial act. January 2, 1838. On August 13, 1840, the town of Whitewater was set off from Elkhorn. comjirising Townships 3 and 4, Range 15. The first meeting of the Board was held at the public house in Whitewater - the Powers House - which had just been completed on the land donated to Joseph and D. J. Powers by Dr. Tripp. Zerah Mead had been a resident of the town for three years, and it was chieflj' through his efforts that a divison was made. The town of Richmond was erected from Whitewater January 12, 1841, and comprised Township 3, Range 15, thus reducing Whitewater to its present dimensions. The name Whitewater was given by the Government sui'veyors, from Milwaukee, who divided the county into townships, and who noticed the clearness and white color of the creek which waters the territory now embraced by the town. Other authorities have it that Solomon Jnneau, who, with his son, spent nnich of his time hunting in this region, gave the creek the name, which he received from the Indians. The settlement itself was either called -' the creek," or nothing, up to the time it was surveyed by Prosper Cravath, in 1840.

An election was held at the Powers House (which was owned by Freeman L. Pratt) on September 27, 1841, at which it was decided to adopt the system of town government provided for by the Legislature of the preceding winter. Norman Pratt. Warren Earl and Asad Williams acted as Inspectors of Election. The Legislature of February, 1842, accordingly appointed the annual meeting of the various towns for the first Tuesdaj^ of the succeeding April. Upon that day. the election occurred at Whitewater.

was Biifficient for each day's oiEcial service, |30 for the support of schools, $10 for paupers and $50 for contingencies, the first town board was elected. Their names are given in full, as being the "honored first," and succeeding them to 1882 appear the Supervisors, Treasurers and Clerks who have served the town of Whitewater.

1842 - 43 - Supervisors, James Tripp, Chairman; Dr. Oiiver C. Magoon and William Birge; Warner Earl, Clerk; Asad Williams and Azor Kinney, Assessors: William H. Wheeler, Collector; Zerah Mead, Oliver C. Magoon and Calvin Pike, Road (Jommissioners; Dr. J. A. Clark, Harrison Bishop and Oliver C. Magoon, School Commissioners; Isaac U. AVlieeler, Treasurer; Leander Birge, Charles Robinson and William H. AVheeler, Constables; Norman Pratt, Samuel Prince and Thomas Van Home, Fence Viewers, and Sidney S. Workman, Sealer of Weights and Measures.

This long list of officials included most of the "solid" men of the town - those who paid most of the taxes and, as is inevitably the case in new countries, the servants of the people, however small at first their duties, felt themselves bound to stay and develop its untried resources. That the majority of these early settlers were industrious men and not mere adventurers is evident from the fact that the pauper fund remained untouched for five years.

1844 - 45 - Supervisors, O. C. Magoon, John P. Folson and Norman Pratt; Treasurer, J. W. Maynard; Clerk, Robert W. Earl, but William A. Harding appointed to serve.

1849-50 - Supervisors, George B. Williams, I. B. Decker, George B. Hall; Treasurer, G. W. Lee, but D .C. Tripp served a portion of 1850; Clerk, S. Wakeley.

Zerah Mead, who was appointed the first Justice of the Peace for the village, served almost continuously up to the time of his death, in 1875. I. U. Weeler, who also commenced to serve in that capacity, in 1844, held the office nearly every year up to 1867, or three years before his death. Mr. Wheeler died Febniary 9, 1870, in bis eighty-fourth year, respected by the entire community. Prosper Cravath, still alive and teeming with local history and reminiscences, also served two terms between 1849 and 1852.

In 1840, before the town of Richmond had been organized from Whitewater, the old log schoolhouse was liuilt in the village. Afterward, in the winter of 1843 - 44, the town was divided into three school disti'icts - No. 1 comprising the north third thereof, and Nos. 2 and 3, the remainder, being known as the "Island" and "Bluff" Districts. A new building was erected in No. 1 - the village- during the summer of 1844, on Lot 5, Block 4, for $240. This was the beginning of the present district system, which embraces the public schools of the town. At present, there are five school districts and seven joint districts, in which are 1,456 children of school age. Of this number, 751 attend. Fifteen teachers have charge of the schools. ^ According to the latest returns, the valuation of school buildings is $15,950; of sites, $2,725, and of apparatus, $420; total, $19,095. During the year 1881, $8,227.22 was received, and 17,816.27 expended in the maintenance of the piiblic school system in the town.

Early Settlement

Previous to 1836, not a single white person had set foot within the ju-esent town of Whitewater for the purpose of settlement. Says Prosper Cravath in his Reminiscences: "Then (1836), no habitation met the traveler's view giving promise of rest and welcome; no track was seen to mark his route, save a little path, seemingly made by the former occupants of the soil. The highway of a nation was but a narrow path, scarce fifteen inches broad, and deep-worn by the tread of many feet. It extended in a continuous line between the cities of Milwaukee and Galena, sending off at the present site of this village branches toward the north and west - one in the direction of Fort Atkinson, starting from Birge's Addition; the second from the east side of the creek toward Bark River. A little below the point where Birge's mill now is, it crossed Whitewater Creek, then a silver thread half hidden by its grassy banks, its waters unobstructed by opposing dams, but flowing undisturl)ed from their fountainhead. On the eastern bank of the stream upon the lii-st rise of gi-ouud, there stood among the native oaks, about thirty skeleton huts, the 'deserted village' of a former tribe. These huts were circular inform, each covering an area of about eighteen feet in diameter. They were formed of poles nearly fifteen feet in length placed at a distance of about five feet apart and bent together at the tops so as to give them a dome-like appearance. On the west side of the creek, the original village, and that part known as Chapman & Ludington's Addition, were then covered with openings, thickly wooded, as were most of the openings, composed, on the addition, mostly of burr oaks, and in the village proper of about an ecjual quantity of burr an! yellow oaks. The rise of ground on Block 14, between Second and Third streets, extended across Block 13, and, at the point of its greatest altitude, which was in the vicinity of Bower's Block, it attained an elevation of about three feet greater than the highest point near William Richardson's house. A little distance west of the village, upon the farm of John M. Clark, and on the south side of the street, usually known as the Prairie road, was an oblong mound built upon the summit of a bluff and extending north and south, sixty-five feet in length, twenty in width and at the center nearly five feet in height; 120 rods northeast of this were found three other mounds of a cone-like form, about twenty-five feet in diameter at the base and nearly seven feet high - records left behind by those rude savages who inhabited these regions before the white man came, to tell the simple story that here they had lived and died. * * * Such was the coimtry as found by the first settlers. * * They found themselves in possession of a tract of country rich in resoiu'ces, yet, in some respects, disadvantageously situated; for toward the east there lay a low piece of land, bounded by a range of bluffs; toward the south and north, wide marshes blocked the way, while toward the west was a covmtry easy of access."

In the fall of that year, or dm-ing the succeeding spring. Alvah Foster marked a tree upon the east bank of Whitewater Creek, and passed on to make other like " claims." A colony of stalwart pioneers, guided by the indomitable " Joe Nichols," started from Milwaukee in April. Three of them, Messrs. Nichols, Kelley and Brown, were accompanied by their wives. Benoni Finch with his four- brothers; Calvin ^^"est and ^^'illiam Barron came unmarried. The party nvunbered twenty, and their household goods were loaded onto two wagons. They had no guide but Joseph Nichols, who went in advance and marked the route which afterward became known as "Finch's Track." But if ever there was a box and compass, Joe was both combined. It is said of him by those who knew him best that, after a shoii study of the surveyor's maps, he would start without guide of any kind, and, after jom-neyiijg through scores of miles of unbroken forests, bring up at any section of a town required. Whatever the trait was - instinct, judgment or memory - it was wonderful. Mr. Nichols was also a man of prodigious strength and endm-ance, and when he set foot in the town it possessed a decided character. Leaving the women and children in camp, after William Barron had jumped the Foster claim, the party jiushed on to explore. Continuing on the east side of the creek, they reached the army trail below Horton's Mills and brought up at a point a few miles beyond Fort Atkinson, where the

Finches and Mr. Barron made their claims and settled. In July, Mr. Barron returned and made his title clear to his claim upon Section 4. by felling some trees for a log house. Mr. Foster, in the meantime, having become convinced that on account of the poor water-power the claim was not worth contesting, did not contest his interest. Mr. Foster was a champion of Fort Atkinson. Ml-. Barron returned to his home near the latter place, but not before the first permanent settler in the town of Whitewater had both located his claim and built hrs house. About two weeks after the arrival of the colony from Milwaukee, Samuel Prince journeyed from \Vaukesha to Fort Atkinson (then a great rendezvous for the early explorers of this region), and then, taking the ti'ail, turned towai'd Geneva Lake, came upon Whitewater Prairie, west of the present village. Putting his name, with the date of his claim, upon a tree in the southeastern quarter of Section 6, he made a tour of the surrounding country, but "a-eturned to his first love," about July 1, and there built the first permanent residence in the town of Whitewater. The structure was twelve feet square and eight feet high, being built of small logs. Mr. Prince was a widower from Vermont, and no donbt his intention was to keep " bachelor's hall" for awhile on this new and beautiful spot. And so he did; but a jolly kind of a specimen it was. First, as has been stated, came William and Leauder Birge, Dr. Brewer and Charles Hamilton, and he took them in and shing them up in bunks, sailor fashion, until they could decide upon a location - and long after. In Jvily, 1S87, Norman Pratt came from New York and claimed Section 8 for himself, the north half and southeast quai-ter of Section 5 for his brother Freeman L., and the north half of Section t) for Dean Williams, a neighbor. Having made arrangements at Fort Atkinson to have land broken on each section, in order to protect his claims, he returned, with his brother, accompanied by the two Mi-s. Pratts and Dean W^illiams. The party came on the old steamer '" De Witt t'linton," fi-om Biiffalo, and were eleven days making the trip. By mistake, the boat ran past Milwaukee to Chicago, laid there awhile and then leisurely retiu-ned. At Milwaukee they hired a team, and, after stopping with True Rand and Elijah Worthington, upon Heart Prairie, proceeded to Fort Atkinson. Mrs. F. L. Pratt was then little more than a girl, having married her hitsband when but seventeen, and her experience in the wilds of the W^est was something tpiite new to her and not devoid of ten-or. They brought with them theninfant boy, which fact of itself was not calculated to allay a mother's fears. They were obliged to be carried over the river in canoes, and D wight Foster - Maj. Foster - obtained the safest craft he could, and embarked himself, with the young woman - who had then as she has now. a mortal terror of water. The Major was a very heavy man, and their conveyance was a canoe, hollowed, it is true, from the largest tree that could be found. Those who have had any experience with this kind of craft will not need fm-ther detail as to the state of Mrs. Pratt's feel ings. and her joy when she landed safely and came in sight of Fort Atkinson. This was a few years after the Black Hawk war, and the defenses and tent paraphernalia of the military were still standing. Mr. Alviu Foster's house, where the Mesdames Pratt were left to board, was built of rough- looking logs, but there were brightness and sunshine inside. At that time, the house accommodated seven families. The Pratts and Mr. Williams having so pleasantly settled the women folks, retiu-ned to take up their claims near Whitewater Creek. They found that the Birges had " jmnped " the claim to the southeast quarter of Section 5. Quite a warm dispute followed, which resulted in the Pratts relinquishing that claim. The Pratts still retained Section 8, however. They then all went to work to build their two houses, living like brothers with Mr. Prince, now called "Captain." The bunks had to be increased by three, but it was all the jollier. Wlien the new log houses were up, the inmates thereof often leturned the good treatment which the "boys" had received in ''Bachelor's Hall." Having thus established their homes in the wilderness, it happened sometimes that the Pratt sisters were left to keep a kind of a ''Widows' Retreat" while their husbands were away on business. They were quite often put to their wit's end to keep off the horrors - in other words, the Pottawatomies - dirty and disagi-eeable, but, as they afterward found, not dangerous. On one occasion, when the two women were alone, one of the noble specimens of red men advanced stealthily toward the Pratt residence, and placed his greasy blanket over the only window which admitted cheerful light. He then, to the extreme horror of the young women, strode into their living room where the table was set. This arrangement seemed to strike him in so favorable a light that Mrs. Freeman invited him to partake of the viands. The Pottawatomie had forestalled the invitation, howi^^^:,^ ^ /^ fQ^<^-^ ever, and was making most alarming preparations for a "sweep." Having accomplished this move in a^scientific manner, his keen eyes roamed in search of other tasks to undertake in the same agreeable line. Spying several bottles on a shelf, filled with pepper sauce - the good, hot old kind - hepnade vigorous motions for " whisky! whisky!'' Mrs. Pratt shook her head, but the persistent son of the forest was not to be thus satisfied. He evidently thought he was being fooled. Seeing that nothing but the pepper sauce would do, Mrs. Pratt took down a bottle and passed it over. The Pottawatomie emptied its contents, rubbing his stomach and smacking his lips under the impression that he tapped a brand of XXX "tu-e-water" which went " right to the spot." To the great relief cf the fi-ightened women, the big red man left, hi^ face expressing as much satisfaction as could be stamped on his copper cast. That he appreciated the favor shown was proven from the fact that soon afterward the Pottawatomie returned with a tinelooking woman - his squaw - and presented Mrs. Freeman with a tine pair of moccasins. Jb'rom the tirst, he seemed to have slighted her sister, Mrs. Norman; and upon that occasion partially explained his antipathy by looking at her and rubbing his own hair vigorously. Her hair was of a tiery red and did not comport with his idea of female beauty. Suffice it to say that, although they received several severe frights from the Indians during the lu'st of their stay in Whitewater, no harm came to them.

In September of that year (1837), Zerah Mead arrived from St. Lawrence Coonty, N. Y. , to select a home for himself and young bride. He put up at the Prince House, and commenced the erection of an edifice (18x22 feet) with a shingle roof! Oh, the glory of that roof! It was meant to honor the young bride, no doubt, and it did. It was the first shingle roof which ever showed itself in Whitewater. In October, the Pratts had finished their house and returned for their wives. Soon after, Scpiire Mead finished his " residence," and went back to Northern New York for his wife, which left Prince's boarding-house compratively empty again. "' Deacon " Willard B. Johnson was also one of that jolly bachelor crew, who, with Dr. Brewer and Charles Hamilton, had claims on Sections 7 and 18. William Birge, just after he had settled down in his new house, sold the old Barron claim on Section 4 (which he had purchased), to Daniel Butts, who built a house sou.th of where the plow factory afterward stood. In December, Rufus Clark came, with his wife, to live with the Birges. Thus, by the close of the year 1837, the entire northwestern part of the town, including the site of the present village of Whitewater had been "sparsely settled." This first winter of 1837-38 proved to the old settlers what a jewel they had among them in the person of "Joe Nichols," who had made a claim and settled in the adjoining town of Lima. Possessed of a large dog, as hardy as himself, he made frequent excm-sions throughout the country, and was sm-veyor, message-bearer - everything required by a new country. He made one trip to Milwaukee, taking with him 200 jwunds of honey on a sled and rehu-uing with provisions. On another occasion, trusting to a pair of uumly oxen, they broke from his control when upon the sedaictive and level surface of Round Prairie, upset his barrel of honey and scattered the sweets upon the plain. He was such a favorite that when the Pratts and Birges and others heard of his catastrophe, a subscription paper went a circuit of twenty miles and "Joe" was more than reimbursed. The records do not indicate that the hardy marshal of the " Sovereigns " ever trusted oxen with honey again.

To digress a little fi-om the straight line of narrative, the " Sovereigns" composed a court which sat upon the claims of the town and vicinity, which were entered in a book - and woe be to him who did not recognize the entries therein as law and gospel. Representatives were always present at the land sales in Milwaukee. During the one of 1839, it is said that some rash mortal dared to bid for land upon which another had a claim, and whose name was entered in black and white in that a^vful book of judgment. " Joe Nichols " being the executive officer of the court, had the offender by the collar before the last figure had escaped from his mouth, and good authority stamps it as a fact that the gviilty man was never relieved by so much as the quiver of a muscle until he had been thoroughly ducked in the waters of Menomonee River. Siich was the " Sovereigns " code - sometimes harsher - but unrelenting in the prosecution of its judgments at all times.

In October, 1838, Richard Hoppin and David J. Powers arrived at the creek, the former claiming the southwest quarter of Section 1. The latter came here through the instrumentality of Mr. Johnson, who remained most of the time in Milwaukee acting as a kind of immigration agent for this section of country. Mr. Powers came alone and on foot, and the next year built the first store in the village and town for Benjamin Bosworth.

By the spring of 1838, "the sameness" of being obliged to go to Elgin, 111., or to Milwaukee, for flour, became simply intolerable. Mr. Butts must either improve the water-power and erect a grist-mill, or leave the job to some one who could. Mr. Butts could not, but thought his brother-in-law, John Shaw, could. By the fall of the year, it became patent that Mr. Shaw couldn't. The Sovereigns resolved to drive Mr. Shaw oif the premises if he didn't build or give somebody else a chance to. Under the circiimstances, he protested. A committee then proceeded to Milwaukee to look up a capitalist who could build them a grist-mill. Asaph Pratt, who had just come West to visit his sons, suggested Dr. James Tripp, whom he had met on the lakes as a jjroper person to can-y on the enterprise. Suffice it to say here that arrangements satisfactory to all concerned were completed. Dr. Tripp came to Whitewater from East Troy and built the mill, which he had in running order by the next April. His generosity and business qualities, combined with the money which his wife brought into the new settlement - $12,000 - a large sum then - made him the virtual founder of the village of Whitewater. The history of the early settlement of the village will be given more in detail in succeeding pages. Other early settlers, up to 1845, outside the village, may be mentioned: H. J. Starin, northeast quarter of Rjction 4, September, 1840; P. J. Starin, in the southern portion of Section 10, 1840; Ole Tolf- :;Gn, Section 27, 1843; Hans Arverson, Sections 27, 28 and 34, 1845; Thomas Thomisou, Section 34. Afterward came A. Larson, Gr. Erickson and quite a colony of Norwegians, in the southeastern part of the town.

The early history of the town of Whitewater has embraced the narrative attempting to picture pioneer life in the settlement and in its vicinity during the first two years, up to the time when arrangements were made with Dr. James Tripp, of East Troy, to build the grist-mill. The committee of Sovereigns which went to Milwaukee in anticipation of the land which overlooked the water-power being bid off at the Government sale, advertised for November 19, 1838, consisted of Messrs. W. B. Johnson, David J. Powers and Norman Pratt. At the meeting of the Sovereigns held previous to their departure, it had been resolved that "the interest of the settlement demanded the erection of a grist-mill on Whitewater Creek, at the mill site on the south half of Section 4, and that no one should be permitted to bid off the said south half at the land sale unless he would give sufficient bond to erect a mill and have it in operation within one year; that Shaw should either give the bond or sell out at a fair price; and, if he would do neither, to drive him off the premises." A few days before the sale was expected to take place, the above gentlemen, backed by the Sovereigns and their resolution, proceeded to Milwaukee to look up a moneyed man. Several were willing to build the mill, but no one would pay Shaw anything for his claim. But Shaw was on hand, and, aided by several relatives from Rock Prairie, proposed to hug his treasure until he got a good price for it. But after threatenings and counter-threatenings - the Sovereigns even admit to this day that Shaw was plucky, if he wasn't rich - bloody talk from the Sovereigns and defiance expressed, but more implied, a trade was made before the 19th, by which the claim was passed over to the committee for $500. Dr. Tripp, who had been on a visit to his native State, New York, had struck up a pleasant acquaintance in the boat with Asaph Pratt, on his way to visit his sons in Whitewater. The Doctor, in the course of their conversations, mentioned his desire to buy a water-power, and this was the fortunate combination of circumstances that gave the settlement its grist-mill. Then and there Dr. Tripp agreed to take the property off their hands and make the improvements. On the 20th, a quit-claim deed was executed as follows:

This agreement made this 20th of November, 1838, between Willard B. Johnson, Norman Pratt and David J. Powers, of the tirst part, and James Tripp of the second part, witnesseth, as follows, to wit : Whereas, the said parties of the lirst part have tliis day couvej'ed by quit-claim to said party of the second part, all their right, title and interest to the south half of Section 4, Township 4, Range 1.5, in Walworth County ; and. wliereas, the sum of five hundred dollars (^.^OO) has this day been advanced by said Tripp, and placed in the hands of Elisha Newell, of Rock County, to be paid to John Shaw, Stephen Butts and r)aniel Butts, from whom said Johnson, Pratt and Powers purchased said premises ; provided they the said Shaw, Butts and Butts shall not in any manner interfere so as to prevent the said Johnson, Pratt and Powers from purchasing said premises at the coming land sale at the minimum price. Now, if the said Tripp shall in any manner be prevented from purchasing said premises at said sale, then said Johnson, Powers and Pratt, are to refund to the said Tripp the sum of tive hundred dollars. The said party of the second part agrees to and with the said parties of the first part, that he will erect, or cause to be erected and put in operation on said premises, within one year from the coming land sale in this district, a good, substantial grist-mill, such as the wants of the inhabitants of the surrounding country shall require.

Of the $500, $200 were paid by the Buttses to William Birge for his interest in the BaiTon claim, $60 to Barron, and $240 was divided with Shaw. The land sale was postponed to the succeeding February, but the temporary scare was the means of getting the grist-mill erected sooner than it otherwise would have been. By the middle of April, Dr. Tripp commenced to build the dam and mill, and, on June 27, the frame was raised. The following is from the gi-aphic pen of Prosper Cravath, who had settled in the town of Lima in March: " It was a raising in which every one felt interested, and all were present, ready with a right good will to. lend a helping hand whenever recjuired. Men came from Lima, Johnstown, Richmond, La Grange and the fort, for they felt scarcely less anxious than the home population for the success and speedy accomplishment of the work. Near the old log house, a stone oven had been built,, and this was the occasion of its first trial. Mrs. Tripp was on hand to superintend its management, aided and abetted by plenty of female help, and it was astonishing to behold what triumphs of culinary skill were drawn from its capacious recesses. When the frame was raised and the last rafters properly joined, all repaired to the house, where a well-provided repast, gotten up in Mrs. Tripp's inimitable style, awaited them. After partaking heartily of the good things, and doing full justice to both their appetites and the dinner, they adjoiUTied to theprairie, which is now Birge's Addition, and dividing into companies, enjoyed a good round game of ball, varied with other athletic exercises." In September, one run of stones was in operation, and William Birge got his grist to the mill first and had it ground. The previous month, Seth M. Billings had become a resident of the settlement, and Samuel Taft built a. blacksmith-shop. In October, 1839, Benjamin Bosworth, who emigrated from McHenry County, III, opened the first store. It was built by D. J. Powers, who says of it: "Mi-. Bosworth made his appearance and contracted with me to put up a log house, which was done, as per conti-act,. in the thirty days of September, although I had to draw all the logs four miles for the body, and to raft the lumber from Bark Mills (Hebron) for the finish; $160 was the price paid. The goods lay in the building three days and three nights without door or window, unwatched and unstolen,. although people by this time had become (juite plenty (they in fact came to mill from as far as- Sun Prairie, Dane Cotmty). I mention this circiunstance simply to show the primitive honesty and friendship of early settlements; theft and meanness of most kinds are usually an aftergrowth." Ml-. Bosworth never resided in the village, a young man named Weed acting for him.

Mr. Powers also used to tell a story illustrating the straits to which the women of those times were sometimes put to satisfy their social longings: ''In 1839, the ladies in the neighborhood of Whitewater - the men being absent to attend the land sale - paid Mrs. Powers a visit, yoking up the oxen themselves. After getting through their visit, they undertook again to hitch up, but, having forgotten how to do it, they got the oxen hitched to the sled, but they were unfortunately put on with their heads to it; but, by perseverance, they finally succeeded in getting^ the oxen reversed and went home all right. This might seem a trifling matter now, but it was. evidence of pluck on the part of these pioneer women."

Many commenced to take up land around the settlement at this period, especially in thetown of Lima. They threw their business into the creek - not literally - and it became evident, that a future village was to be. Joseph and D. J. Powers, now living on the " Joe Nichols'" claim, in Lima, wished to build a hotel, but wanted to see something more in the shape of a village before they accepted Dr. Tripp's donation of land. The Doctor hesitated for awhile, arguing that this would seem like making too much fuss over a mill, a blacksmith-shop and a store, but finally sent for Prosper Cravath, from Lima, to survey and plat. The following is Mr. Cravath's account of his work, written in 1858: "On that day (October 20), Dr. Tripp.

together with most of the settlers and the surveyor, repaired to the highest point of Block 13, there in solemn council assembled, to determine the 2>l«iii of the village, v?hieh thev agreed should be christened Whitewater. The place chosen for their observations afforded an unobstructed view of the grounds to be siu'veyed, and they could note the most pleasant places for residences, as to also determine where a street would accommodate the greatest niunber of desirable locations. Main street was established as a Territorial road; this was a Hxed fact. Taking this as a starting-point, they located Whitewater and Center streets where they now run, and the cross streets the same as in the jiresent ]3lan of the village proper, except that First street extended to Whitewater with the same angle as in Second street, and what is now Block 9 and Lot SI. Block 13, was to be a common or kind of appiu'tenanco to the village. It was never designed for a public park, or a public triangle, but was to be used for no particular jim*- pose, or, as the Doctor said, ' it was to be kept as a ^ilace for the boys to play ball on.' The space between Church and Franklin streets was reserved for chiu'ch and cemetery grounds. Having fixed upon the i)lan, the Powers made choice of their acre, where Whitewater Hotel now stands - Lot 1, Block 1. The surveyor then proceeded to stake out the lots in Blocks 1, '2, 3 and 4, between Main and North streets and the lots fronting A\1iitewater street, being Blocks 2, 3, 4. T) and (i, Tripp's Addition. These extended back to the pond, and no one then dreamed thatj'in coming time, they should be crossed by the track of the iron-horse. These they concluded would be of sufficient number for all that would build for several years to come." But the founders of the village were hajipily disappointed. In the smnmer of 1851, Chapman & Ludington's Addition was j^latted, and the next year, R. A. Tripp caused to be surveyed Tripp's Addition. Birge's Addition increased the limits of the village in 1854; Dann's Addition in 1855. Scores of buildings graced these sections of Whitewater, and it began to assume its present appearance of picturesque comfort.

1839, and the occasion was doubly draped in moiu'uful feelings, because a young man, only in his twenty-second year, was stricken down in the flower of his hope. Jothan N. Baker was bm-ied near where the Methodist Chiu'ch now stands. As the cemetery site changed, his remains were removed. The ceremonies were conducted by Deacon Justus Carpenter, of Cold Spring. And let local history not fail to make mention that a year previoiis to this untimely event, in November, 1838, the first sermon was delivered by Elder James Flanders, a Methodist circuit preacher, in the hoiise of W. B. Johnson. In April, 1839, Warren Earl, a young lawyer, settled in Cold Spring, but moved into the village in October, presumably to give more attention to the first suit regularly ti'ied there. In June, the summons had been issued, and, in October, Mr. Earl and his legal opponent. Prosper Cravath, was on hand to meet him, the case being William Birge vs. W. B. Johnson, a suit for payment of a certain amount on account of work performed and various articles of produce furnished by plaintiff. Mi-. Johnson denied the correctness of the charges. Mr. Cravath, for the defendant, obtained a decision in his iuvor from Squire Mead, befoi-e whom the suit was tried. This was his first case, although he did not then claim to be a regular practicing attorney. This was the first of Mr. Earl's practice also, whom Mr. Cravath cheerfully accords the honor of being the first lawyer who conducted the first regular law-suit in town. Squire Mead, who had been appointed Justice of the Peace in the spring by Gov. Dodge, had just obtained a copy of the Territorial statutes to help him over the rough places, and was quite more than moderately elevated over the legal tone which he had been able to instill into his decision. His teniu-e of office was virtually a life one. When alive, he often would laugh over his harrowing experience of the first few months in his teniu^e of office, when he neither had legal authorities for his decisions, nor could obtain a scrap of help from his brother .Justices - M'illiam Bowman and Jeduthan Spooner.

The next jear (1840), ''Squire" Wheeler was appointed -Justice, so that Squire Mead was seconded in his glory - in other words, he was not alone in his glory. Settlement rapidly increased around Whitewater. In July, Powers' House was opened by a grand dance, in which the boys went for their girls for miles around; a Congregational society was formed; a post office established in April ; the town subdivided and the old log sehoolhouse erected - in short, everything was astir, as will be shown more in detail under the proper heads. In October,

William's son, was born and took his rank as the tirst white child who commenced life in the town of ^Vhitewater. Dr. Tripp continued his regular policy of donating lots to every one who would settle in Whitewater, and W. B. Johnson kept up the supply of new-comers from Milwaukee. In the winter and spring of 1841 - 12, the Exchange Hotel, now the Kenney House, was erected by Squire Parsons. Its opening was celebrated on July 5 - the 4th being too unpropitious for outdoor sport. During 1843, W. B. Johnson relinquished all his claims here, having failed to meet cei tain payments upon the lands. This was considered a village calamity. An event looked upon in the natiu'e of a loss was also the departure at about the same time of David J. Powers, who went to found the village of Palmyra. But an in-ei)arable loss was the departure from this life of Dr. James Trijip, on September 4, 1844. Earnest, kind-hearted, he died in the harness of hard work, in his Jiftieth year - passed away before he had reaped the fruits of his labors. Dr. Tripp died in '"the best room" of the log house, still standing near Whitewater Creek, as part of the Winchester & P/irtridge Company's Works. His friend, that sturdy young blacksmith, L. A. Winchester, was with him the last night which he jiassed on earth, and helped to bear his body to its last resting-place. The old log house, with its roughhewn rafters and plastered crevices, still stands. One of its sides is boarded up; its roof is shingled; another side is still exposed in its original shape, but weather-beaten by forty years of storms. The old oak tree, looking as if it had grown into the old log house, still throws its rough and protecting arms over it. The two old doors still open into the little low kitchen and the more spacious "best room;" but the euchre-players, who made the rafters of the bed-room above ring with their mirth are gone - Mi's. Tripp's generous oven is gone - and in the place of the good old times stands an old warehouse, filled with the products of a great manufactory. WTien Mr. Winchester looks through the dark windows, he sees something more than spokes and axletrees.

Dr. James Tripp was born in Schenectady, N. Y. , September 5, 1795, and was his wife's senior by seven years. Mrs. Tripp lived in W^hitewater thirty-seven years after her husband's death.

A Reminiscence

In December, 1872, Zerah Mead wrote as follows: "' Walking along the railroad east of the depot, one sees a great many buildings on the east side of the track, which, on inquiry, are found to belong to and are occupied by Winchester & Partridge for the manufacture of wagons, plows and scrapers - all of which I pass over as a marvel of enterprise, except the south side of the railroad track. One day last week, walking along the track and seeing the clump of buildings on the south side, I took a fancy to see what they contained, and. on inspection, found sheds and buildings in all directions, filled to the roof with felloes, spokes, axles, tongues, bolsters, hounds, boards for boxes, plow and scraper material, plank, and the Lord knows what else. Winding my way through this labyrinth of lumber, I came upon what is known as the 'Tripp House,' it being the residence of Dr. James Tripp, the enterprising founder of the village of Whitewater. It is a double house, one part log and the other part frame, and in this house Dr. Tripjj lived with his family, and there he died. I helped to take his remains out of this house and biuy them in Grove Cemetery. The sight of the old house awakened some reminiscences of those early da3's, which I offer as an apology for doing what I am not accustomed to do, viz., appearing in print before the public. Another reason I have for this communication is that there are some erroneous ideas about the first settlement of our village which I would like to set right before I and the old house pass into oblivion, as there is only one person besides myself remaining in Whitewater that was here when the old house was built, and that is my friend and fellow- txswnsman. Freeman L. Pratt.

" In the spring of 1837, Samuel Prince erected a shanty of poplar poles on Section 6, about one mile west of the mill, where his widow now resides; some time during the ensuing summer, William and Leander Birge came, and soon after, Norman and Freeman Pratt, Dean Williams, Charles Hamilton and Edward Brown. In the month of September following, I came, and we all camped and cooked our provisions in Prince's shanty. In the early spring, four or five brothers by the name of Finch moved from Milwaukee to Lake Koshkonong, and their route was through Whitewater, but they saw nothing there to tempt them to stop, but one of their employes by the name of Barron cut the initials of his name on a tree on the bank of the eroek, which constituted what was then called a 'jack-knife claim.' This claim he subsequently sold to WiU iam Birge, who rjave his note for $200.

" In the fall of 1837, Norman Pratt built the first house (except the Prince shanty), log, of 'Course, on Section 8, near Noyes' stone quarry. William and Leander Birge built a log house 'On Section 5. Charles Hamilton and Edward Brewer, on Section 7, where the Clark family now reside, and I put up the body of a log house on Section 10 - which, I think, were all that were built in 1837. In the spring of 1838, William Birge sold his claim to a man by the name - of Shaw, and ho built the log part of the old Tripp house, the identical old house that now stands in Winchester & Partridge's lumber-yard. He built it to hold his claim to the waterpower and 3'30 acres on a half-section of land. The claim rules required that a certain amount of improvements should be made within a given time. The land was not in market at that time, and we did not then know how soon it would be. But, as it haj^pened, the land was proclaimed to be sold in November following, and every preparation was made for the sale, but at the last hoiu', and after we had all assembled in Milwaukee to attend the sale, a proclamation came from the President of the United States adjourning it to February, 1839. A good deal of invterest was felt about the sale of the water-power, as we wanted a mill built as soon as possible, as there was none at that time nearer than Geneva or Beloit, and we were well aware that Mr. Shaw, the claimant, had not the requisite capital. A short time before the sale, a meeting of the settlers was had to consider what course to pursue, and a committee of three, consisting of Norman Pratt, David J. Powers and Roger B. Clark were chosen. They were intrusted to find some who would buy out Shaw and give a bond to the inhabitants that a mill should be built and one run of stone in operation within one year from the time of piurchase. The committee worked diligently till the morning of the sale, and, while they were taking their break- at the old Milwaukee House, the news came that a steamboat from the lower lakes had arrived. The committee started to go down to the lauding, and on their way they met Dr. Tripp, who had just landed. They made the proposition to him, and it secured his attention. After tearing the story of the committee, he was induced to buy the property and to pay Mi-. Shaw -1500 for his claim and the old log house. He bought 3'20 acres, being the south half of Section i. He had never been there, had never seen the property, and had no time to go where it was, as the sale was to take place the next day. But he bought it and paid Shaw $500 without seeing it, on the representation of others, and it was two weeks after he made the purchase before he came to see it. He built part of the frame portion of the present mill, and had one run of .-stone in operation during the ensuing fall. He moved into the old log house, and built the frame addition afterward. He also built the mill house where Mr. Brown now resides. Hia miller, a Mr. Cawker, occupied it some time before the Doctor died. He also built theOstrander iiouse, near the pai)er-mill. and the old saw-mill where the paper-mill now stands.

" Dr. Tripp died in the month of September, 184-1, aged forty-nine years - so says the in- .scription on his monument. The village had <juite a start at the time of his death; there were quite .a number of houses erected for residences, several stores, two public houses, one church, meshanic-shops of various kinds, a post office and schoolhous?. The place was making some -little progress toward the town which it now is. When I first came here, in 1837, the Pottawatomie Indians had possession, and had a temporary wigwam over the creek near where the boys play base-ball. Game was plenty. Deer might be seen in droves of twenty or thirty. Grouse, as they call them, or prairie hens, were very plenty; also quails. The country was charming. The Indians had kept it bm'nt over every fall, so that when I came not a bush was to be seen. The old burr-oak trees looked like old orchards, the wild flowers wore in gorgeous bloom, and the whole country looked like some gentleman's fancy park. I have never seen it look so beautiful since, and never expect to see it appear as well again."

Building and settlement were now so rapid that it becomes certaiu that " the early days " - those days when men are almost forced into brotherhood for self-protection and existence - had passed. The prominent names who, since that time, have built up the society and pros jierity of Whitewater, are mentioned hereafter. By 1858, it had grown from a little hamlet to ,^i beautiful and thriving villaare of 2.000 inhabitants.

Untimely Sdicide

Thomas K. Le Barron, on January 2, 1846, was a young man in his twenty-seventh year, engaged in business in the village of Whitewater. During his five years' residence here, lie had become a universal favorite. He was frank and aifable, fair and upright, sensitive to morbidness, quite unassuming, conscientious in his smallest actions and most minor beliefs. Coming from Boston, where he had been educated in the Unitarian way of thinking, partly from necessity and partly from a desire to better his condition, he had devoted himself steadfastly to business, apparently giving but little thought to the opinions and utterances of different religious teachers around him. Appearances are as apt to be deceptive as real. On that pai-ticular forenoon, none of his friends would have noticed that he was more gloomy than he had often been of late. He had built up a good business, and, what was better, a good character, and the outlook for the year 1846 did not seem to be desperate. But who can fathom the reality of a soul's doubts and strnggles - that misery which heai-tless people and soulless people sometimes call "mock misery?" Who? This young man, instead of going to a brother for help, took his own life in his own hands and went to God. Between 11 and 1*2 o'clock, the sharp report of a pistol was heard in a small building near his store, and soon after, his clerk found him, with a ball through his heart. Several letters were found in his trunk, directed to different persons in the village. In a long letter, dated December 26, 1845, he says, in conclusion: " What shall I say to you for myself - to the citizens generally? I say to them, I am more astonished than they will be. It seems to me it cannot be possible. But it must be so. I have been crazy for the last two months. I have attended to my business by routine - as a matter of course - but the situation I have been in has been horrible!" In a conversation just before his death, he said: " I have heard the clergymen of each denomination, and each clas.ses me, and all belonging to the same church, among infidels and disbelievers of the Bible. Do they believe me the wretch they represent me to be? " Undoubtedly, in a state of religious and mental despair, he threw away one of the fairest lives which had glimmered for a shcrt'season in Whitewater.

Murder Of William Hamilton

Almost sad aflfair, in the nature of a tragedy, occurred at the house of Richard N. Pease on the night of January 18, 1858. William H. Hamilton, George D. Doubleday, Joel Doubleday, Lewis Castle and Charles Pease were young men who had often formed a charivari party with the above Richard. But when Richard himself married and settled in his little home, two miles south of the village, both he and his father, who lived neai" by, "dared them" to come on, when they heard of the young men's intentions some time before they determined to carry them out. It was all fun and good nature on their jjart, but it seems that the Peases took the matter more seriously. The young couple had been living with the "old people" for a few weeks after their marriage, but now had moved into their little home a few rods distant. This had delayed the serenade, the party not wishing to distm'b the elders; and the affair might have turned out as disastrously as it did, for old Mr. Pease had himself borrowed a gun and ammunition with the intention of using it. But now everything seemed propitious. So, at about 10 o'clock, the youngsters met at the schoolhouse, three-ijuarters of a mile distant from their prospective scene of operations.^minus Charles Pease, who joined them later. With a light fowling piece, loaded with powder and paper wads, two cow-bells, a tin horn, a fire poker and a stick, they started out for a bit of noisy fun such as " Dick " Pease had often indulged in with them. Arriving within a few rods of the house, William Hamilton took charge of the gun, while two of the boys, carrying the other weapons of war, advanced. They climbed the fence back of the house, Hamilton discharged one barrel of the gun, and the music commenced. Fire poker, tin horn and cow-bell went " rattle-te-bang" in the air, against the fence and house. It certainly was not a blissful awakening for a young married couple, but the occupants knew who were making these noisy salutations. The door of the hoxise opened and the boys flew over the fence as only boys on a frolic can fly. They had advanced only a few steps toward where Hamilton and Joel Doubleday stood, when they were startled by the loud report of a gun from behind. But, after consulta tion, no one was found the wiser, and the party came to the conclusion that it was an innocent " scare." They now noticed that the residence of old Mr. Pease was lighted up, and soon after, Charles Pease, a younger brother of the serenaded, joined the boys in a companionable and pleasant manner, but told them they'd better not go to the house any more. But tkey did go nearer, in order to give their friend Richard the benefit of a few songs, with the tin horn and the cow-bell swung on a string for accompaniment. Joel, aged fourteen, was swinging it with all the ardor of his years, when the string broke, or slipped from his hands, and the bell flew into the air and landed with a terrible racket ujion the roof of the house. Joel started to regain the bell. Hamilton said, " Considerable noise, that." A man rose from the ground near the house, advanced a few full at him. Hamilton fell to the ground pierced with a multitude of large shot in his left side. Joel, who had regained the bell and was standing behind Hamilton, was badly wounded in the arm, and the others bai'ely escaped injiuy. The man who had accomplished this piece of cruelty returned at once into the house, and, as Charles Pease told the boys that neither Richard nor his father could be prevailed to receive the wounded man, they were obliged to cany him to Mr. Hunt's house, about half a mile east. William Hamilton never spoke a word after being shot, and breathed but once or twice after reaching his shelter.

Mr. Pease was tried for murder at the May term of the Circuit Coiirt, before Judge Keep, convicted of the crime, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

The First In The State

The Pioneer Festival, which was given in the Montour House December 31, 1858, was truly a pioneer celebration, being the first old settlers' meeting ever held in the State of Wisconsin. Following is the rejiort, which appeared in the Whitewater Register the next morning, and the sentiments are so well put, and so many who participated in the festivities are either living or have been laid to rest in Whitewater, that the report is reproduced entire:

A large crowd asseniljled at the Montour House last evening to participate in the Pioneer Festival. We have no means of judging accurately of the number present : but should think 300 would be within the mark. The table was loaded with the choicest delicacies of the season, and in its design was a masterpiece of art. We have never seen a large company who enjoyed themselves more fully. Every department was conducted in the most admirable manner, and the occasion was one of universal hilarity and good feeling. The glee class were in their glory, and never acquitted themselves with greater credit. The tables were set three or four times, and yet some failed to achieve a dinner. The exercises at table were as follows ;

Regular Toasts

1. The Pioneers of Wisconsin, who sought, foiuid and possessed the Promised Land. We are met to-night to do them honor. May their names ever be held in kind remembrance.

The ax is ringing clear - The forest falls before the stroke - The Western Pioneer." Responded to by William Birge in a very happy speech, although he expressed himself as no speechmaker. He said if he was to pioneer a new settlement, he should do .so with energy, but he was not prepared to speak. He was glad to see so many of the old veterans present on this interesting occasion, and wished them a happy New Year.

3. Twenty Years Ago - The time when strong hands and willing hearts made for themselves a home in the pathless prairie, and formed the nucleus of fair and flourishing Whitewater.

Prosper Cravath responded, in a most excellent speech, reviewing the scenes and incidents of the early day. " Home, Sweet Home," on the flute, by Mr. Ainsworth, of New Haven, Conn. - a beautiful thing.

5. The Pioneer Women of the West - Leaving comfortable Eastern homes to shtire with their husbands the toils and dangers of frontier life, they have lived to gather around them the comforts and luxuries of former days.

Mr. Sherman M. Booth was called for ; and, after repeated calls, arose and said he had long ago learned one lesson, which was, when a man luul nothing to say, he had better say nothing. He thought some of the husbands of the pioneer women ought to respond to that toast.

Mr. D. J. Powers, of Madison, was then called and said, that he had much rather not speak in response, after so many honorable gentlemen had declined to do so ; but rather than see so noble a toast go unresponded, to, he would use his feeble efforts to do justice to the noble band of pioneer women. He gave a clear statement of the trials and pleasures of that early day, and of the prominent part taken in the settlement of the country by the women. He also gave a history of a liall at Bark Woods, something like twenty years ago, and stated that there were one or two ladies and gentlemen present who were at that ball. The ball opened as balls usually do, some coming on sleds and some on foot. The ball held till morning, and, though he was a strong temperance man, yet he must confess that some of the gentlemen became exceedingly nimble before the ball broke up. This was the first regular ball held in this part of the country.

Volunteer Toasts

Responded to by Rufus Parks, Esq., who paid a beautiful tribute to the memory of his early friend. He had known him in his business connections, in his social connections, and in the family circle, and he could testify to his uniform l)enevolencc, kindness and integrity. He was a frien<l to the friendless ; was never overelated with prosperity, and never grew morose under adversity. Mrs. Juneau was a woman bred in the Western wilds ; but she possessed a sweetness and affability of temper which was peculiarly refined and pleiisant, and she po.ssessed, besides, an unusual degree of intelligence. He was glad the name of his friend had been mentioned, and he hoped we should bear it in mind.

By C. M. Baker, of Geneva : Whiteioater - As I saw her in 1838, and as she is in 1858. Then beautiful, adorned by nature ; now more beautiful, embellished by art.

By William Berge ; Pioneers of Wisconsin - They fearlessly braved the dangers and hardships to which they were daily exposed, in carving out their homes and paving the way for a dense population, causing the wilderness to bud and blossom as the rose, affording countless blessings to the present and future generations. May they be crowned with long and honorable lives, and the choicest blessings of earth and heaven be theirs.

Responded to by Capt. J. E. Culver, of Milton, who gave a bird's-eye view of the commerce of the lakes in 1835-36, though there was Ijut one house in Racine at that time. He emigrated to this country for permanent settlement in 1837.

The First Log House in Whitewater. - Mrs. Tripp was called for, and she, in turn, called upon Hon. Rufus Cheney, .Jr., who made a few brief and pertinent remarks.

By D. C. Tripp : 1858 - The Memorij of the Earli/ Pioneers of Wisconsin, who have departed this life, emigrated to that new country, "not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," already "cleared up" for their occupation.

Responded to in an affecting .speech, b}' Hon. Prosper Cravath, who paid a feeling and becoming tribute to the memory of his departed friends and early companions.

B_v William Berge ; The Glee Singers of Whitewater - The nightingales of the West - for skill and taste in music, none can e.Kcell. May their, songs and joys increase in sweetness, as the cycles of time roll on.

Letters were read from Hon. Josiah A. Noonan, of Milwaukee, and Judge David Noggle, of Janesville, who were unable to be present. One was received from Hon. A. D. Smith, of Milwaukee, but too late to be read.

Charter Elections

During the years 185^-57, the gi'owth of Whitewater was marked. As an example of its prosperity, it is stated by the Register that in May of the latter year- as many as one hundred buildings were in course of erection. The outcome of such prosperity was with Whitewater as with other thriving settlements - a cry for a village organization. On March 6, 1858, appeared a call for a public meeting, at Metropolitan Hall, to be held on the evening of that day, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of applying for a village charter. It was signed by Aug. H. Scoville, P. H. Brady, O. Montague, S. C. Hall, William Birge, N. M. Littlejohn, H."b. Shed, O. Gallt, T. Bassett, Lewis Cook, D. S. Cook, I. C. Day, M. E. Congar, O. Cooley, J. S. Partridge, Joseph McHose, M. P. McLaughlin, A. Y. Chamberlain, J. Woodhull, J. W. Fuller, J. L. Pratt, Alex. Graham, William W. Card, George Easterly, Edward Barber, W. Cole, H. L. Rann, George G. Williams, R. O'Connor, S. Field, J. M. Crombie, William De Wolf, L. A. Winchester, T. S. Bnnner, N. M. Branch, J. L. Pratt, S. M .Billings, Isaac Joslin, L. C. Smith, D. C. Tripp and Daniel Graham. The meeting was held, J. L. Pratt, Chairman. Messrs. A. H. Scoville, N. M. Littlejohn, J. S. Partridge, Warren Cole, Edson Kellogg, R. O'Connor and William De Wolf were appointed a committee to draft a charter. At another gathering, held on the 13th, it was resolved to send the charter to Madison. Although a remonstrance was sent in by those who thought Whitewater was going too fast, the bill of incorporation passed the Senate by the latter part of March and was signed by the Governor. On Tuesday, May 4, the first charter election was held, the Union ticket being successful. N. M. Littlejohn was President of the Board of Trustees, receiving a majority of eightyeight over R. O'Connor, the Democratic candidate. At the first meeting of the newly-elected board, held May 12, a series of by-laws for the government of the Trustees and the welfare of the village were adopted, the standing commiltees appointed, books and papers for the proper conducting of a village government ordered and a petition presented by Mr. Scoville from citizens owning property on WTiitewater street, asking for the constriiction of a plank sidewalk on the north side of said street, from Second to Janesville street. It may be in the line of historic research and faithfulness to note that this first petition presented to the Board of Trustees of the village of Whitewater, was favorably reported upon at a subsequent session. Hundreds of other documents of a like nature from citizens praying for " sidewalk relief " were passed upon with favor. At the next meeting of the board, held on the 18th, the temperance issue Was raised - license or no license - and for years it has been at the bottom of many of the local political conflicts which have stirred the village. Mi\ Easterly, from the Committee on Licenses, submitted a majority report against grunting licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors. Mr. Ciu"tice, from the same committee, submitted the minority report. On the heels of these reports, J. Van Cott petitioned for a saloon license, and his paper was refen'ed to the proper custodian. Of com'se, Mr. Easterly at the next meeting, reported against his prayer and all others similar to it. Mr. Cm-tice as promptly favored the granting of the licenses. He and his supporters triumphed for the time. Mr. Easterly thereupon resigned at the next meeting of the board, and the would-be saloon-keepers flocked in to the Trustees like hungry birds. Mi-. Scoville soon after resigned also. Although ''license or no license" was continually agitated, the dangers of rebellion, the smoke of battles, the blood of sons and the tears of fathers and mothers, overcast and di-euched all other considerations for the next few years. Within a few years past, the<issue has been fought over with vigor on both sides. The "no license "' party gained the elections of 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1880 and 1881. The vote was very close in 1878, and the license advocates had but forty-seven majority in 1879. The contest in the courts over the result of 1878, when Sylvester Hanson was returned as elected President of the Board of Tnistees. After a long and skillfully conducted fight on both sides, Mr. Hanson was finally ousted on the gi'ound that the charter amendment extending the time of voting from 4 to 0 o'clock P. M. was unconstitutional, and that enough persons voted after 4 o'clock to change the result of the election.

The peculiar features of the contests in 1880 and 1881 are more worthy of being recorded as a singular epoch in the charter history of Whitewater. On May 4, 1880, the charter election resulted as follows:

No License - President, H. Warne, 299; Trustees, Joseph Haubert, 301 ; G. Halverson, 300; J. Casserly, 300; T. A. Stevens, 302; Supervisor, W. L. R. Stewart, 300; Marshal, L. C. Baker, 299. H. Heady for Clerk, and John T. Smith for Treasm-er, ran on both tickets.

It will be at once seen that the contest was over the election of Trustees. The Clerk declared ±he following elected: F. C. Kiser, President: C. M. Brown, Joseph Haubert and T. A. Stevens, Trustees. Messrs. Halverson and Casserly tied. Of the board declared elected, Messrs. Kiser and Brown only qualitied. Mr. Haubert declined to act with them, as he held that his opponent was not elected. This left the new board without a quorum for the transaction of other business than the calling of a charter election, which pri,vilege they took advantage of in 1881, as will be explained further on. The old board, of which Messrs. Warne and Haubert were members, continued, with several changes in its composition, to transact the business of the corporation. Messrs. Warne and Halverson were ousted in a suit brought against them by Marshal Sykes. The day before the regular time for holding the charter election. May 2, 1881, Joseph Haubert. President pro tern, ; Byron Brown, James Casserly and G. Halverson, Trustees, met at the office of Pitt Cravath and adopted the following:

Resolved, That no villiigc will be held on Tuesday, May 8, as provided by the charter. We feel justified in postponinu; said election for the reason that the committees appointed by our citizens for that purpose having failed to agree upon any plan calculated to promote harmony, under the present state of affairs no good citizen desires to subject hunself to litigation by accepting a village office. Our charter perpetuates itself and provides that in case an annual election is not held at the appointed time, it may be held at any .subsequent time by giving ten days' notice. Whenever our citizens can agree to elect officers, and permit "them to hold the offices for which they were elected, without prosecution, an election will be legally called and conducted.

Notwithstanding this manifesto, F. C. Kiser, President, and C. M. Brown, Trustee, of the board, declared elected in 1880, and Henry Heady, Clerk, with aboirt twelve citizen electors, proceeded to a building on Second street for the pm-pose of holding the election. Finding the door of the hall locked, they assembled upon the sidewalk below, and the electors appointed the three above-named gentlemen Inspectors of Election. Furthermore, the caucus adopted a resolution that as "it was inconvenient to hold the election at the village office and lock-up on

Second street," it be adjourned to Bower's Hall. Anadjournment was taken, the oaths adminisered to the Inspectors of Election, the polls opened and the " No License " candidates were, with a trifling exception, unanimously chosen to guide the ship of village for the next year. The officers were: S. B. Edwards, President of the Board of Trustees; Trustees, S. H. Tuttle, J. S. Partridge, G. W. Esterly and E. B. Crandall: H. TIeady, Clerk; J. P. Cutler, Treasm-er; J. W. Denison, Supervisor; G. G. Williams, Justice of the Peace; E. S. Redington, Marshal; W. M. King, Constable. In the evening, the board met and qualified, then resigned, and a new organization was effected by appointment, the legal gi'ound for this action being that prosecutions would not hold against them if brought by the old board. To make a long story short, other resignations and re- appointments followed iintil the board finally stood : S. H. Tuttle, President; Geoi-ge Easterly. J. S. Partridge. S. B. Edwards, E. S. Redington, Trustees; H. Heady, Clerk. The board and Clerk were sued by Henry Cornish, in the name of the State, on the ground that as the officers were not legally elected, their appointments were m\\\ and void. The next step in this strange complication of governments was taken by the Supervisors of the town of Wliitewater. They held a meeting June 6, 1881, and adopted the following resolutions:

Whereas, We, as the Board of Supervisors of this town, are advised by our attorney tliat, under the decision of the Circuit Court, for this judici.il circuit, there are not at present, and cannot be, under the present chiirter of the village of Whitewater, any legal officers for .said village, and that in the ab,scuce of all legal officers, there exists no village government, and that in the absence of all such government, it l)ccomes the duty of the Supervisors of the town to extend town government over the territory embraced within the village incorporation ; therefore,

"Resulved, That we, the Supervisors of the Town of Whitewater, do hereby declare our intention of exercising the powers and duties of Supervisors, as fully witliin the territory embraced in the incorporated village of Whitewater as in anj' other parts of said town.

Upon which resoliition being adopted, licenses for the sale of liquor in the village were issued and paid for - S-^O a piece. To make another long story shorter, the suits brought virtually by the old board against the new, went against them, and prosecutions were brought and convictions obtained against those who had been selling li(iuor under the town license. The cases were brought in the Circirit Court before Judge Wentworth. The suit of the State of Wisconsin ex rel. Hem-y Cornish vs. S. H. Tuttle. President of the elected board, was made a test case. Jtidge Wentworth decided that the Board of Trustees were de jure officers of the village. The case was carried to the Supreme Court, which, on September 27, 1881, confirmed the decision of the lower court. The clause of the charter recjuiring a twenty-day residence was declared null - all else valid. And here the matter re.sts at present. The result of the contest has been a grand total of fifteen law-suits, one way and another, which have now all disappeared from the courts.

The Village Hoster

1865-66 - Board of Trustees, Jacob J. Starin, President; A. \V. Curtice, Fred A. Hurlbut, Joseph Hanbert, C. C. Lewis; Treasurer, A. Van Valkeiiburg; Clerk, U. B. Woodbury; Marshal, S. D. Ferguson.

1871-72- Board of Trustees, William De Wolf, President; George G. Williams, A. Y. Chamberlain, G. Anderson, C. M. Sykes; Clerk, M. Allen; Treasiu-er, J. Haubert; Marshal, D. M. Fowler; Village Supervisor, S. A. White.

1874-75 - Board of Trustees, S. Hanson, President; T. A. Brown, R. Coburn, Ole Sobye, Jas, Gleason; Supervisor, J. W. Denison; Treasm-er, George S. Marsh; Justice of the Peace, Zerah Mead; Marshal, George O. West; Clerk, W. H. J. Hewitt.

1875-76 - Board of Trustees, Sylvester Hanson, President; T. A. Braun, R. Coburn, J. S. Partridge, O. Sobye; Clerk, W. H. J. Hewitt; Treasurer, George S. Marsh; Marshal, Douglas Sykes; Justice of the Peace, N. M. Branch; Village Supervior, J. W. Denison.

1876-77 - Board of Trustees, T. A. Brown, President; R. Coburn, J. S. Partridge, Job Harrison. Jr., L. C. Smith; Village Supervisor, J. W. Denison; Justice of the Peace, N. A. Spooner; Treasurer, George S. Mar.sh; Clerk, Ira Pearson; Marshal, J. W. Hall.

1877-78 - Board of Trustees, T. A. Brown, President; G. W. Esterly, F. W. Tratt, O. W. Fowler, E. F. Donnelly; Village Supervisor, J. W. Denison; Marshal, Marcellus W. King; Justice of the Peace, (4eorge G. Williams.

1878-79 -Board of Trustees, S. Hanson, President; E. D. Coe, A. L Dexter, E. T. Donnelly, C. J. Partridge; Clerk. I. U. Wheeler; Treasurer, G. S. Marsh; Village Supervisor, J. W. Denison; Marshal, W. M. King; Justice of the Peace, Henry Heady.

1879-80 - Board of Trustees, G. A. Ray. President; R. C, Shepard, Henry Warne, G. Halverson, J. Casserly; Clerk, Henry Heady; Treasurer, J. Taylor Smith; Village Supervisor, ^V^ L. R. Stewart; Marshal, N. A. Kinney.

At this point oooiu-s the interesting break which has been accorded full explanation. Facts merely are stated and no opinions expressed as to the merits of the case.

Whitewater During The War

" Old ^Valworth," where citizens for years had been noted the State over for a certain dignity and steadfastness of character, redeemed herself during the war from any taint of sluggish blood. No county of the State was tilled with more and better practical workers for the defense and maintenance of the Union. The town of Whitewater itself was in earnest, clear to the backbone, of indignation and patriotic love - old men and matrons, stalwart men, girls and boys, all united either to pour out their strength in the work of relief or place their bodies upon the rack of torture or before the shafts of death. Of the women's work, a separate division will bemade; of the men's, labors in the raising; of troops and money, an account follows; of the passage of the brave boys in blue thi'ough the bloody battles of the war, the general war history of Walworth County gives a full account. The inaugiu-ation of President Lincoln and the tiring upou Sumter, separated by only a month and a week, had the effect to firmly cement the North upon a leader and a jx)licy. It meant patriotism and war, and Whitewater was stirred to activity with the country, the State and the county. One of the first soldiers to enlist from Walworth was the gallant John F. Potter, who enlisted as a private in a Washington company, and then returned to his home in East Troy for a few days, to an-ange his business and family affairs, so that upon his return, he could either join the Army of the Potomac, in the defense of the national capital, or join the army of Union Congressmen in the defense of the national policy. Though in less prominent walks of life, the patriots at Whitewater were equally prompt. The first war meeting at Whitewater was held at Metropolitan Hall, and was attended by one of the largest and certainly one of the most enthusiastic assemblages which ever gave expression to earnest feelings there. George G. Williams and J. L. Pratt were called to the chair. Speeches were made by Messrs. Cravath, Stebbins, Cheney, Murphy and others. Devotion to the Union was the watchword. It was evident, as an eye-witness observed, that there were no traitors in Walworth County, and that " the home of John F. Potter harbors no traitors and countenances no treason." By the last of the month, the "'Whitewater Light Infantry " had been raised to its full quota under the exertions of Capt. C. E. Ciu'tice and his co workers. The company numbered 108, including officers. At a meeting, held on the 20th, it had been resolved to pa)' the wife of each volunteer $5 per month and $2 for each child. In two days from that time, the subscription to this fund had reached over $7,000, exclusive of the $1,000 to be raised by tax on village property. At that gathering, as stirring and earnest as the first, thirty-five young men volunteered their services and $4,000 was subscribed on the spot. Such men as N. M. Lit tlejohn. T. D. Weeks, William De Wolf, Edson Kellogg, George G. Williams, S. Wakeley, L. Cook, J. Haubei-t, R. Cheney, Jr., Willard Stebbius, J. L. Pratt and many others, put their shoulders to the wheel then and kept them there persistently and faithfully. A committee was appointed to take charge and disburse the fund, and another to hold meetings in adjoining towns. The good work of raising money and troops went on, intersjiersod by meetings and poll raisings. Finally, on June 12, the company was insjaected by Col. S. A. Bean, Fourth Regiment. The boys were eager for the fray - one stout, plucky (but, unfortunately, little) fellow, deserving special notice for his ''war tactics,'' which he considered fair because of the state of the country. But his attempt to elevate himself half an inch by filling his stockings with paper failed so disastrously that he was promptly, though coiu'teously, rejected. A few nights after, the boys were presented with Bibles by Rev. E. J. Miner, and with pin-cushions, needles and thread - gifts of the ladies - also with a flag, made expressly for them by Mi's. George Esterly. A beautiful bouquet to each soldier came from the hands of Miss Frank Cheney. Then fol lowed the dance - and who knows how many hearts ached for the girls to be left behind; and who knows whether those little pin-cushions and things had not as much to do with brave afterconduct as the Bibles and their moral precepts. The next morning, June 15, the company departed to join the Fourth Regiment at Camp Utley, Racine. They were drawn up in front of the Exchange Hotel, where relatives and friends from all parts of the county, shook them by the hands and gave them God-speed. Citizens fell into line, escorted them to the cars, gave them thi'ee rousing cheers in strong, cheerful voices, but beneath all was the mutual knowledge that sad feelings and smothered tears were all ready to overwhelm this show of stout an undaunted hearts. Of the feelings of one father, as he saw the last two of five sons "go oflf to the wars," history saith naught. A. Sentenn, of Whitewater, was one of its humble but most sincere patriots. One of his sons, who was for years a resident of Charleston, S. C. was impressed into the secession ranks, but managed to escape the day before the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and fled to New York; here, in company with his younger brother, he joined the Union forces. Of the other three boys, one joined the First Regiment, and two, the ^Vhitewater Light Infantry. Such is war - the blood shed quietly by the "old folks at home " comes from a deeper spring of anguish than that shed in the confusion of battle. There is good cause for doubting the boys' enduring patriotism, too; for in January, an advertisement appeared offering

$30 reward for the deserter, M. O. Sentenn, aged nineteen. It was signed by Capt. George H. Walther, Company I, Seventh Regiment, and written from Camp Arlington, Va.

With the departure of Whitewater's first company, those remaining breathed easier, but did not abate their exertions in the field of agitation, money-raising and general preparation for the war, which they commenced to realize was to demand so much of every commimity. Before preparations for raising another company were commenced under the September call for troops, the people of Whitewater had a chance to look upon one of the finest bodies of men which ever met the enemy from Wisconsin - the Sixth Regiment, which, under command of Col. Lysander Cutler passed through the village, August 28, en route for Washington. During the first part of September, J. L. Pratt received a commission from the Governor to raise a second company. Opening an office under the bank of Whitewater, he set to work with energy. By November 1, with the assistance of La Grange and Sugar Creek, the company was ready for service. Messrs. Noble, Kellogg and Cravath. by their stirring appeals in the surrounding districts had done much to make the ' ' Lander Body Guard " possible. It was so named in honor of Col. Lander, the second of Hon. John F. Potter, in the celebrated Prior affair. The Guards were presented with a flag by N. S. Murphy, who made an eloquent speech in behalf of the ladies; pocket Bibles and needle-books were showered upon the boys, both for use and memory' s sake, and fitting responses and speeches were made at a meeting held on November 1, preparatory to the company's departure for Janesville. The next day witnessed a repetition of the scenes growing out of the departure of the Whitewater Infantry in June. Although for a number of months, Whitewater was not called upon to bid adieu to a whole company of "boys " raised in the village and vicinity, enlistments continued in her midst, and numbers had joined the "Walworth County Plowboys. " the ' ' State Line Rifles" or the ' 'Treadway Rifles. " The ladies were now fairly organized in their work of relief, and were nobly doing their part to sustain the cause. Interest - a breathles interest - was also maintained in the struggle by letters from members of the Fourth and Thirteenth Regiments, some of which appeared in public print; but more were perused in solitude or brought as a treasure before the broken family circle. From a letter written home to Mrs. C. E. Curtice, by her husband, the Captain of the Whitewater Light Infantry, the following extract shows how the boys acquitted themselves in their first fight, just below Vicksburg, May 18, 1862. After detailing the incidents connected with the taking of Baton Rouge and Natchez, and giving an account of a personal reconnoissance which the Captain made by order of Brig. Gen. Williams below Vicksburg, for the purpose of getting information concerning the land approaches to the city from below, he continues: " A party of men went on shore for wood half a mile from the steamer. An escort to the party was detailed from my company. They were obliged to go ashore in small lioats. Soon after landing, the boys discovered a rebel cavalry soldier near them. An artillery Captain from om- boat ordered the escort to follow the rebel, take him prisoner or shoot him. This they attempted to do, and, having followed him to the top of a hill and fired at him several times, a company of rebel cavalry concealed on the hill, rushed from their hiding-place in the bxishes and commenced an attack upon the four or five boys who had reached the top of the hill. My men returned the fire with deadly aim, killing three with their four shots. They retired, loading as they went. In the meantime, Charles Perry, of my company, was wounded and fell, but sprang to his feet and made his escape to his companions, where he fell again, and by them was picked up and borne away. The rebels lacked the courage to follow and take the whole escort prisoners or kill them, which they could easily have done if they had had the pluck to do so. Perry is badly wounded; one ball passed through his left arm. breaking the bone between the elbow and shoulder, one through the fleshy part of the right thigh, a buckshot in the nose and a flesh wound on the wrist. From the number of wounds, you can judge of the amount of shooting the rebels did. James Scott was slightly wounded in the arm, and F. W. Ludeman had a ball pass through the seat of his pantaloons. The Sergeant Major of our regiment was also wounded in the leg. Thus ends the first fight the Whitewater company has been in."

During the summer of 1802, two more calls for troops had been made. Both Capt. Pratt and Capt. Curtice had returned home broken in health, the former having gone into business again, and the latter merely passing through the sieges of a sick furlough. On August 5, a rousing meeting was held at Metropolitan Hall to raise another volunteer company. Patriotic speeches were made and a paper was presented, signed by forty citizens, including a number of ladies, pledging themselves to use their iitmost endeavors to obtain men to fill up the company, J. S. Partridge and Edson Kellogg being appointed a committee to ascertain the number of men required of the town. They proceeded to Madison and returned with a commission authorizing E. S. Redington to enlist the men. At a sul)s^quent meeting, Messrs. S. Wakeley, Lewis Cook. William De Wolf, George Bunker, Prosper Cravath and J. Haubert were appointed a committee to make arrangements with other portions of the county for raising the quota of volunteers, to avoid the more unpatriotic process of a di-aft. A large county meeting was held at Elkhorn August 15, and another of a local nature at Whitewater on the 19th. A number of young ladies, some of them daughters of leading citizens, agreed to capably fill the places of a like number of " stay-at-homes" - mostly sellers of tape and buttons. The quota of men to be raised in Walworth County was yet 581, a crisis in the affairs of the county had been reached, and Whitewater partook of the general alarm, excitement and determination. The draft for "300,000 more" was made by President Lincoln. August 14. soldiers from Troy, La Grange, Sugar Creek and Delevan - the "Federal Guard"- -were being di'illed in the village by Capt. E. B. Gray (home on a fm'lough) - nationally and locally everything was warlike again. And yet the town of Whitewater had already fiu-nished fifteen in excess of her quota. On the lOth, the companies commanded by E. S. Redington and Capt. James E. Kenyon went into camp at Milwaukee, to follow the fortu.nes of the Twenty-eighth Regiment. The officers of Capt. Redington's company, with the exception of Sergt. W. G. Palmer, were fi-om Whitewater, with eighty of the privates. The total enlistment was 109 men, over half of whom were honest, sturdy mechanics. The first engagement of any account was that at Halena, Ark., July 4, 1863; and what is strange, although over a hundi'ed letters were written to friends and relatives in Wisconsin by members of the company, the only epistle which reached its destination was that sent by Capt. Redington himself. By mere accident, he inclosed his letter in an official package, and can only account for the freak of luck in this way. When the folks at home heard that news had been received fi-om their boys, the Redington home held something of a reception for the next few days, delegations coming as far as from Waukesha.