Woodman Town

Woodman Town

This town originally belonged to Millville, but was set off in 1864 by the County Board of Supervisors. The first settler was Joseph Thurnby, who located on Section 34, Township 7, Range 4 west, in 1842. The first school was taught by Ira Philipps, in 1858, in a room at his house. The first schoolhouse was built in 1860, in what is now School District No. 5. Edward McDowell taught the first school in this building in the winter of 1864-65.

In 1864, Ralph Smith and Cyrus Woodman laid out a village on Sections 13 and 14, to which was given the name of Woodman. The first settlers in the village were Charles Smith and Mr. J. Lindig, who located in the spring of 1864. The first house was erected this year by Ralph Smith, as a residence for his son Charles, the carpenter work being done by T. S. Sampson. The post office was established also during that year, with S. S. Hills as Postmaster. At this time it was kept in the railroad depot, which had been erected in the fall of the same year. Thomas Clapp succeeded to the Postmastership, and he in turn was followed by L. M. Culver, the office in the meantime being kept in a warehouse. Cyrus Ransom subsequently became Postmaster, and the office was removed to his shoe-shop Mr. Ransom was followed by J. L. Parker, and the office again removed this time to his store. It was kept here until the present incumbent, James A. Faris, received his appointment, since which time it has been kept at his store.

Th£ first stores were built in 1863, by John H. Barnett, T. N. Hubbell and Julius Lindig. The first school taught in the village was by Louise Rittenhouse, in the summer of 1864, in a room containing but one window, in the second story of a warehouse. The "Northey House," which was built during that year for a store building, was subsequently purchased for $800 for school purposes.

1864, and fitted it up and kept the first hotel in the village of Woodman. This was subsequently disposed of to its present owner, James A. Faris. Nathan Schreiner & Co., in 1869, erected a warehouse 30x50, with a capacity of 10,000 bushels, and a cost of $2,000.

An enumeration of the inhabitants of the town of Woodman, taken June 1, 1865, the year following its organization, made the total population 517, of which number 260 were males and 257 females, and the total foreign population 105.

The school report for 1880 shows the whole number of schoolhouses in the town to be five, with a cash value of $1,300, and capable of accommodating 233 pupils, and the total number of children in the town over four and under twenty to be 265 ; of which number 122 are males and 143 females. Of this number, 204 attended the schools during the year.

In 1878, a large fire occurred in the village of Woodman, when the railroad depot, a warehouse owned by John Plankington, the post office building and store owned by J. L. Parker, the saloon and residence of John Murphy, the residence and wagon-shop of M. B. Clark, and a shoe store owned by I. W. Dexter, were burned down, causing a total loss of $5,500, with no insurance except $2,200 on the store building and stock of J. L. Parker.

In April, 1879, the first work was done in the town of Woodman, on the Chicago & Tomah Narrow Gauge Railway, at what is known as " Cor.nely's Cut." This road was finished to Lancaster in the following January. In 1880, it was purchased by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, and has since been operated by them.

1865, and the following is a list of the votes polled : John B. Murphy, Moses Garvin, Thomas W. Clapp, George Withington, S. H. Bishop, S. H. Foster, Daniel Roseman, George Younglove, David Terrell, Robert Stimpson, John Scanlon, Patrick Coyne, James E. Taylor, Thomas Parland, J. C. Wood, Joseph Carter, Jedediah Canfield, William Stimpson, James Ellis, Thomas Corcoran, Hugh Quinn, Daniel Dietrich, J. W. Rockwell, John Roseman, James Trainer, Perry Swartz, A. R. Gleason, William Mooney, Aslay Olsen, Thomas Hanley, John

Schuppner, John Martin, Louis Ruka, Joshua S. Gould, Orlin Garvin, Joseph Turnby, William Parland, Chauncey Bangs, George Brown, Michael Friar, Almiren Hackett, T. N. Hubbell, Cyrus Ranson, Andrew Walton, Thomas S. Sampson, John Decker, S. S. Hills, George Linale, Arthur Murphy, W. T. Richards, Jacob Sanger, S. W. Townsend, Edward Murphy, William A. McKinney, William Northey, James H. Lent, John Anderson, H. R. Miles, W. S. O'Brien and C. R. Smith. Of these, Daniel Roseman, Robert Stimpson, J. C. Wood, James Ellis, Thomas Corcoran, Hugh Quinn, John Roseman, James Trainer, William Mooney, Thomas Hanley, Orlin Garvin, William Parland, George Brown, Michael Friar and S. W. Townsend are still residents of the town. At this election, John Decker, Andrew Walton and T. N. Hubbell were appointed Inspectors, Thomas S. Sampson^and Henry R. Miles, Clerks, and the following officers were elected : Thomas S. Sampson, Chairman, S. H. Bishop, Patrick Coyne, Supervisors ; Thomas W. Clapp, Clerk ; G. Prior, Treasurer ; Orlin Garvin, Assessor ; S. H. Bishop, Andrew Walton, James Trainer, Justices of the Peace; James H. Lent, A. R. Gleason, Chaunoey Bangs, D. Roseman, Constables. The following is a list of the town officers from organization to date :

1867 - M. B. Clark, Chairman, John Sanger, Patrick Coyne, Supervisors ; Henry A. Miles, Clerk (resigned, and L. M. Culver, appointed) ; George R. Garvin, Treasurer ; S. A. Quincy, Assessor ; D. H. Ballou, Chauncey Bangs, Samuel Neely, Justices of the Peace ; E. N. Garvin, Richard H. Foster, Sylvester Keys, T. B. Anderson, Constables.

1868 - J. F. Thompson, Chairman (removed from town, and John Murray appointed), Michael Friar, John Schuppner, Supervisors ; T. N. Hubbell, Clerk ; John L. Parker, Treasurer; Orlin Garvin, Assessor; George Brown, John L. Parker, Daniel Trum, Justices of the Peace ; Samuel AdKns, John Schuppner, Richard Foster, Constables.

1870 - T. N. Hubbell, Chairman, George Brown, Daniel Roseman, Supervisors ; H. F. Walton, Clerk; John L. Parker, Treasurer; J. A. Faris, Assessor ; John L. Parker, J. E. Taylor, James Trainer, Justices of the Peace ; L. D. Adkins, Abraham Adkins, H. A. Taylor, Thomas Hanley, Constables.

1872 - George Brown, Chairman, Orlin Garvin, John Sanger, Supervisors; H. F. Walton, Clerk ; John L. Parker, Treasurer ; James A. Faris, Assessor ; John L. Parker, J. W. Horsfall, Justices of the Peace; George A. Lance, James E. Taylor, James Williamson, Constables.

1874 - George Brown, Chairman, Daniel Roseman, Orlin Garvin, Supervisors; H. F. Walton, Clerk ; John L. Parker, Treasurer ; James A. Faris, Assessor ; John L. Parker, William Vince, Justices of the Peace ; James Milborn, James Williamson, Constables.

Walton, Clerk ; John L. Parker, Treasurer ; James A. Faris, Assessor ; John L. Parker, J. J. Scanlon, Justices of the Peace ; Lewis Adkins, George Potts, Constables.

1878 - George Brown, Chairman, J. J. Scanlon, Orlin Garvin, Supervisors ; T. S. Richards, Clerk ; F. E. Fitch, Treasurer ; James A. Faris, Assessor ; J. J. Scanlon, Justice of the Peace ; William Tennant, Constable.

1879 - George Brown, Chairman, Patrick Glynn, Orlin Garvin, Supervisors ; H. F. Walton, Clerk ; James Ellis, Treasurer ; James A. Faris, Assessor ; D. H. Ballow, John Quinn, J. W. Horsfall, Justices of the Peace ; Leander Knox, William Tennant, Constables.

1881 - James A. Faris, Chairman, Patrick Glynn, John Martin, Jr., Supervisors ; H. F. Walton, Clerk ; John Sanger, Treasurer ; John R. Murphy, Assessor ; D. H. Ballou, Justice of the Peace ; John McGeary, Constable.

Blue River Station

Several years after the completion of the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad, a flag station was inaugurated at this point. This was afterward made a regular stopping-place, and depot buildings erected about 1866. The first permanent settler at this stopping-place was Joseph Elliott, who came in 1862, and erected a residence and store building, both being under the same roof. This was the only building in the place, with the exception of a section house, until the coming of Mr. D. Perigo, in 1863, who erected a house and started a store. He purchased the land immediately adjoining the station, and laid it off in village lots the-foUowing year, Noah Titus being the Surveyor. This same year, Gus Matthews, now of Wingville, came and put upa house. Soon after his arrival, Mr. Perigo succeeded in having the new settlement placed among the list of post offices, he being appointed the first Postmaster ; he resigned a few years afterward in favor of Charles S. Taylor, who succeeded him as proprietor of the store. Upon Taylor's departure, the office again fell to Mr. Perigo, who kept it until his resignation in favor of William Northey. About the time of Mr. Perigo's sale of his stock to Charles Taylor, A. B. Miller put up a store, and still is in trade. D. C. Perigo was the first station agent, holding the position until 1869, when William Northey took charge of the company's interests. He remained until 1879, when he was succeeded by D. A. Taylor, the present agent.

The first school in the place was taught by Mrs. Ed Carroll in a little building standing east of the station and just south ofi the track. The building has since been torn down. The first and only schoolhouse was built in 1866, the first teacher being Eleanor Bailey.

There is but one church organization in the village, the Methodist, among the Pastors of which are found the names of Revs. Sackett, McMillen, Smith, St. John, Hurd, Snodgrass and Rev. Cliff, the present Pastor.

A lodge of the Sons of Temperance was established here February 2, 1873, with about twenty charter members. William McMuUen was elected Patriarch, and Andrew Harris, Division Deputy. The lodge, after an existence of five years, surrendered its charter in 1878.

In the spring of 1878, a lodge of Good Templars was organized at Blue River, but, after a brief struggle against dispiriting influences, it gave up the ghost. March 18. 1881, Blue River Lodge No. 381, and the second lodge of the order, was organized by J. T. Cleghorn, S. D., and at present is in a fair condition, meetings being held in the schoolhouse.

Perhaps, the leading events of Mr. Barber's life are as correctly and fully summed up in the Wisconsin Volume of The United States Biographical Dictionary, of 1877, as we are able to give at present writing. We therefore copy them here :

" Joel Allen Barber, son of Joel and Aseneth Meloin Barber, is a native of Vermont, and was born at Georgia, Franklin County, January 17, 1809. His great grandfather was from England, and settled at Canton, Conn. His mother was of Welsh descent, and her father was a Captain in the B,evolutionary army, serving through the war. Young Barber farmed till his eighteenth year, when he entered the Georgia Academy, and fitted for college ; entered the University of Vermont in the summer of 1829 ; left at the end of two and a half years, determined to carve a career for himself. Read law with Hon. George P. Marsh, of Burlington ; was admitted to the bar in Prince George's County, Md., in 1834, after teaching school there two years. He returned to Vermont and practiced at Fairfield until 1837, settling, in September of that year, at Lancaster, Wis. Here he has been in the practice for forty years, at times mingling land operations with legal business, but not enough to interfere with his profession. His legal knowledge is sound and extensive ; he has a high standing as a criminal lawyer, and, in all respects, has long been an honor to the profession.

" During the forty years that Mr. Barber has been a resident of Grant County, he has held some official position two-thirds of the time. He was on the County Board of Supervisors several years, and its Chairman five; was County Clerk four years; District Attorney three terms; three terms member of the Lower House of the Legislature ; one term in the State Senate, and a member in the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses. In the House of Representatives, he was on the Committee on War Claims and Revision of the Statutes. He seldom spoke, but was an indefatigable worker.

" Originally Mr. Barber was a Whig of "Free-soil " tendencies, and naturally identified himself with the Republican party, to which he has steadfastly adhered.

" Mr. Barber has abilities fitting him for any office in the gift of the people of Wisconsin ; is a man of solid character as well as intellectual qualities, and is one of those statesmen whose records were an honor to a State."

The foregoing appears at the head of an obituary article in the Grant County Herald, of June 30, 1881, furnished to that paper by Judge J. T. Mills, of Lancaster, which, by its original matter following the above, pays a very high and just tribute to the personal worth of Mr. Barber, in accordance with the writer's own knowledge, entirely supported by the popular judgment.

Mr. Barber died at his residence in Lancaster at 2 o'clock A. M., June 28, 1881, of peritonitis, after a painful illness of one week. His burial followed in the afternoon of the i!9th, amid manifest expressions of deep-seated and general sorrow, the pall-bearers being Judge M. M. Cothren, of Mineral Point ; Ex-M. C, H. S. Magoon, of Darlington ; Hons. William E. Carter and A. W. Bell, of Platteville ; John G. Clark, of Lancaster, and C. K. Dean, of Boscobel.

The press, local and in many cases remote and general, at once gave evidence of the high estimation in which the deceased was held, both in public and private life ; which tributes, though they will fail to reach the consciousness of him whose virtues they commemorate, may yet tend in some degree to assuage the grief of those who live to mourn his loss.

Gathering sheaves of testimonial from this wide field of obituary harvest, we shall find that J. Allen Barber, at the time of his death, and for many years prior thereto, had few equals in those qualities deemed essential in the institution of the highest manhood, or in the estate of the good and useful citizen. From these concurring evidences, there may truthfully be added to the record already given; that, though frequently honored with high political station, he had an intense dislike to all office-begging, and scrupulously avoided contaminating himself by this popular, and it is much to be regretted, profitable vice, one moment in advance of a strong and well-defined popular sentiment running in his behalf; that he was a friend and supporter of all rational public enterprises ; a free giver in charity, and as a creditor to worthy but unfortunate debtors, a marvel of indulgence.

And it may also be added that he was possessed of rare attainment in ancient and modern lore, and kept pace with all the developments of scientific research ; and was a man who held his family endeared to him by the ties of affection, constancy, kindness and liberality. We are able readily to understand how, by virtue of his correct personal habits, his professional honesty and fidelity, his love of liberty and regard for public justice, and his impatient hatred of every grade of meanness and corruption, he early won and lastingly held the esteem of all good citizens having knowledge of his virtues.

One, to have seen him in his most noble carriage, had but to hear him in conversation among friends ; or pleading at the bar ; or, more conspicuously still, addressing a popular assembly on matters touching the rights of any oppressed person, however humble, or of masses of people, or, touching the maintenance of the honor and integrity of the Union. Then the ordinarily hidden impulses of his nature would become strikingly manifest in his earnestness of speech and gesticulation, set off by the glow of his highly intellectual features.

This exalted trait in Mr. Barber's character is further shown - gesthetically in this case - by the designs and inscriptions embellishing that excellent work of art and patriotism, the soldier's monument, standing in the court house square at Lancaster, as he was one of the committee who had this matter in charge when this work was done in 1867, his associates being Addison Burr, of Lancaster ; George R. Laughton, of Platteville ; J. C. Cover and Judge J. T. Mills, of Lancaster. The broken shackle, token of four and one-half millions of slaves made free: the declaratory mandate of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, that timely, giant stroke of a noble pen, which gives to this token its mighty significance, engraved upon the marble faces of Grant County's most honorable memento, speak also as well of the loyalty and humanitarian impulses of all the several members of this citizen committee.

True history, e.tpecially of a personal nature, affords grand incentives to all laudable ambition, and in this view it is not an unreasonable hope that the youth who may hereafter have their lots cast in Grant County, on reading this history of one of its earliest settlers, and learning to what high degree of merit and esteem he managed to attain by his own unaided efforts within this field of labor, mainly, will find herein a fresh and an abiding incentive to highest possible endeavors in the way of usefulness and good citizenship, within and for the advantage of this same field of labor.

Joseph C. Cover was born at Smithville, Fayette Co., Penn., February 1, 1819. From his childhood, Mr. Cover became attached to books, receiving this inclination from his mother, who was a great reader. His father possessed tastes directly opposite, and his son speaks of him as an inveterate hunter and lover of nature, often visiting the Alleghanies, living there alone days at a time, feasting on game and what wild fruits these mountains supplied. The subject of this sketch had an only brother, John, who was full of adventure, and when California became a part of the United States, he rushed to that region with the thousands that love of gold or novelty drew to that favored clime. Unfortunately he went into business at Panama, took the Chagres fever and died there in 1862, in his thirtieth year.

good common school and academic education, was a rapid thinker, and capable of reducing his thoughts to writing with great facility - with such a talent and with a deep interest ia the political issues of the times, a pretty wide acquaintance with the leading men, and an industrious reader of their speeches, it was very natural for Mr. Cover, then a young man, to find his way into a printing oflice, read the exchanges, and write occasional articles for the press. It was such tastes that finally determined the course of his future life. A young man to become successful must discover his adaptation. We cannot make farmers, lawyers, doctors, merchants and editors to order. Failure or half success will balk a young man till he finds the theater of activity for which nature intended him. Mr. Cover was not adapted to a trading mercantile life, and a generous nature could hardly exact the payment of a debt, when the debtor complained of hard times. A feeble constitution unfitted him for pursuits requiring great physical exertion. His scholarship and tact would have secured him an honorable position as a teacher, He could not brook the confinement. In 1851, Mr. Cover purchased the Herald office and paper of J. L. Marsh, Esq., and as editor of that paper found a position and employment adapted to his tastes, and giving free scope to his mental activity. It would be no disparagement to other journals to afiirm that no paper in the western part of the State has exerted a wider influence on public opinion than this sheet so long as Mr. Cover was its active editor. Mr. Cover was a member of the original Liberty party,, and voted for James G. Birney in 1844. Both the political parties were astonished at the persistence, strength, intellectual power and purpose of this strange party that threatened the extinction of one or both the then existing organizations. The Whig party was disintegrated after the defeat of Gen. Scott, and the Republican party was organized in 1856, inheriting the zeal and purposes of the Liberty party, but with larger national aims, embracing an entire programme of policy applicable to all branches of the government and all needed reforms. The columns of the Grant County Herald at that period showed abundant evidence of the industry, faithfulness and zeal of its editor in the cause of universal freedom. The Know-Nothing party soon disappeared with the organization of the Republican party. The Republican party by insisting on the rights of human nature, equal rights without regard to race or color, removed to a great extent the narrow prejudices which were the Know-Nothing stock in trade. The editor of the Herald saw the inconsistency between Know-Nothingism and Abolitionism, and claims and that political rights belonging to manhood could not be forfeited by the accident of birth. The editor of the Herald not only endeavored to teach anti-slavery to its readers; he was always observant of public opinion. He became a personal acquaintance of almost every old settler in the county, and took an interest in horticulture as devoted as that of the " white-coated philosopher." He and his partner, N. C. Goldsmith, were the founders of the first successful nursery in this part of the country.

He wrote incessantly, not only for his paper, but essays, arguments, letters, addressed to his fellow-citizens on all sorts of topics, wherever there was a desire to interchange opinion. Perhaps in half the dwellings in the county there are yet seen written pages that testify to the interest that Mr. Cover felt in the welfare of his fellow-citizens, in the dissemination of his opinions.

His active years were devoted to his country's welfare in the moments of its greatest peril. Like all the old Abolitionists, he entertained a deep-seated religious faith that the historical intent and purpose of the war was the annihilation of the curse and crime of African slavery. He never faltered. Physically unable to shoulder the musket himself, his son, who had attained to manhood's estate, represented him in the chances of war. The pathetic and trustful remarks he published in the Herald when the young soldier bid him adieu, perhaps forever, expressed the feelings of many a parental heart in those cruel times.

But continuous labor for a quarter of a century, extending through the excitements, hopes, fears and anxieties of the rebellion, told heavily on Mr. Cover's health and spirits. Are-action and physical prostration followed ; he needed repose. He expressed himself to a friend that the tone of his system must be restored, or he must die. It was for this purpose that he resigned the editorial chair and accepted the consulship at Fayal. For several months after his arrival at Fayal, Mr. Cover continued to improve in health, but the second year of his residence the effect of the climate upon his system seemed to have become neutralized, and he again began to lose ground. In June, 1872, be sailed in the barque Fredonia, for Boston. His health seemed no worse during the first part of the voyage, and he varied the monotony of the voyage with the companionship of books. The final dissolution came suddenly and without warning, on the morning of the 4th of July, and the tired soul passed on to join the early friends gone before.

Although not a resident of Grant County for many years previous to his death, the name of Judge Dunn is so indelibly connected with the early annals of the county as to claim a loving remembrance in the chapter of distinguished dead.

Charles Dunn was born in Bullet County, Ky., December 28, 1799. His father was from Dublin, Ireland, and his mother. Amy Burks, was a native of Virginia. After having received a collegiate education at the best institutions of learning in that State, he commenced reading law with Mr. Worden Pope, of Louisville, continuing his studies with Mr. John Pope, of Frankfort. In 1819, he removed to Illinois, and finished his legal studies with Hon. Nathaniel Pope, then United States District Judge for Illinois, and the following year was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice of his profession in Jonesboro, 111., and was married in 1821, to Miss Mary Shrader, of Missouri, the beginning of a companionship extending over fifty-one years. Four sons and one daughter - Mrs. Gov. Dewey - were the fruits of this union.

The young barrister was soon after appointed Chief Clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives, and in 1829 was appointed by Gov. Edwards Acting Commissioner of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and, with his associates, surveyed and platted the first town of Chicago, the Commissioners superintending the first sale of lots in 1829. The sales were continued during the two succeeding years.

In 1832, Mr. Dunn entered the service, and was engaged during the Black Hawk war as Captain of a company he raised in Pope County, 111. Capt. Dunn was severely, and it was thought mortally, wounded in what is now called the town of Dunn, in that county, by a cowardly sentinel, whom he, as oflBcer of the day, was proceeding to relieve. There were three in the company - Capt. Dunn, the Sergeant of the Guard and the relief. When, as they approached the sentinel on duty, in his terror forgetting the customary challenge, fired at the group at a distance of about ten paces, severely wounding Capt. Dunn in the groin. He was taken to Fort Dixon, where he remained until the close of the war.

He served a short time as Assistant Paymaster, and then resumed the practice of his profession. In 1835, he was elected a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, and served during the session as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

In 1836, upon the formation of the Territory of Wisconsin, Judge Dunn was appointed Chief Justice of the Territory, his associates being Judge Irvin and Judge Frazier, the latter being shortly after followed by Judge Miller. The bench, as thus composed, remained unchanged until the admission of the State into the Union in 1848. Judge Dunn was always esteemed a sound lawyer and upright judge ; he was a man of dignified appearance, and was generally acceptable to the bar and the people of the Territory. His duties were quite onerous, as, during the greater portion of the time he was on the bench, his district was the most populous and important in the Territory, and produced the largest amount of litigation. But, notwithstanding all this. Judge Dunn performed his judicial duties with "ability, fidelity and integrity."

Of the convention which framed the constitution of the State Judge Dunn was a member, he being made President, ^ro tern., in the organization of the convention, and afterward appointed Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He took a leading part in the proceedings of that body, and his counsel was influential in shaping many of the provisions of the organic law of our State. As a speaker, he was concise and clear. " There was no eloquence in his manner of speaking, but his argument was strong and convincing. His speeches in this body were

During the sessions of 1853, 1854, 1855 and 1856, Judge Dunn represented La Fayette Coumy in the State Senate, serving as Chairman a portion of the time on the Judiciary Committee. In 1856, the Judge was a candidate for Congress against C. C. Washburn, and he was also a candidate for the State Senate in 1870 against Hon. H. S. Magoon, who was elected.

In politics, Judge Dunn was always an able and true Democrat. A native of Kentucky, he retained Southern ideas of the slavery question, and opposed the Republican organization with all his power. While he was firm in his political faith, he treated his opponents with respect and fairness. In social life Judge Dunn was highly respected, and possessed qualities that rendered him very attractive and popular with his acquaintances. He was pleasant and instructive in conversation, and dignified and courteous at all times. He was without personal eccentricities, yet unlike other men. For years he continued to reside in the old capitol building at Belmont, the originEil capital of what are now four different States. His home was surrounded with extensive shrubbery and an excellent flower garden. With these, his books and his family, he passed his time, when not absent on professional business. He kept his body strong by constant exercise, spending much time with his gun, remaining for days in the woods, camping out in the autumn months. His annual deer-hunt was never adjourned, no matter what stood in the way. He kept his heart young by sunshine and regulated ambition. Judge Dunn was always averse to money-making outside of his profession, his usual remark being, " I tell you, my dear sir, these money-makers are not happy ; my little fees are sufficient to supply my wants, if my friends would not forget to pay me what they borrow." Judge Dunn died on the 7th day of April, 1872, in the seventy-second year of his age, at the residence of his sister, Mrs. David W. Jones, of Mineral Point. At the time of his death, he was the oldest member of the legal profession in the State, and was actively engaged in practice to the last.

At a meeting of the members of the bar of the Supreme Court, resolutions expressive of the extreme respect and reverence and esteem felt by all for their departed brother were passed, followed by addresses by leading members. At a meeting of the bar of the State, the Hon. E. G. Ryan (so soon to join his great cotemporary) said : " It was Judge Dunn's lot in life to fill many stations, professional and lay, executive, legislative and judicial. So far as I know or have been able to learn, these sought him rather than he them. He certainly intruded himself into none of them. There was a modesty in the man which was rare in its generation. I think that his own estimate of his own powers was below, not above the estimate of all who knew him well. And he was a thoroughly earnest man. He filled all his offices with a singular fidelity and zeal, as if each in its turn were the chief end of his life. To say that he filled them with ability would be faint praise. He did not achieve success in them by just escaping failure. He was a faithfiil oflScer ; his offices were never below him, but he was always above them. None of them gave opportunity of showing all that he was, of calling out the strength that was in him. They were all respectable, some of them were high. But his intellect, his culture, his general capacity, towered far above any station he ever occupied. We mourn for the untried powers which die out of the world with the young. Let us mourn for the world when it suffers great powers to die, unused in its service with the old.

" In his life Judge Dunn saw many men around him reach stations which he did not reach. Some of them rose worthily and usefully. Some rose only to show their own unfitness. With like pliancy or like artifice he, too, might have risen where his inferiors rose. But he was above these, and, standing below on the solid level of his own life and character, he ranked the superior of the most and the equal of any of his cotemporaries. He might have ennobled many positions filled by them - none of them could have ennobled him.

" His character was solid, strong and resolute, but not stern or harsh. His stronger qualities were softened by great sense of humor and great kindness of heart. He was generous and trustful to a fault. His foibles, for, like all born of woman, he had them, all arose from his genial character, the warmth of his heart and the kindness of his temper. Strong in character among the strongest, he was, in carriage and manner, gentle among the gentlest. His culture was of a high order in and out of his profession. His knowledge of men and things, of the world and its ways, was profound. There were singularly combined in him the sagacity of a man of the world and the personal simplicity of a child. His sense of self-respect was unerring, and never deserted, never betrayed him. It is little to say that he was the soul of honor. He could be nothing that is false or mean. He did not know what treason was. That which he believed, that which he loved, that to which he gave his faith, were parts of himself. He could not desert faith, or friend, or duty, without betraying his own life. Dishonor in him would have been moral suicide."

Hon. George B. Smith said, in a few remarks, " On the formation of our State government, he retired from the bench, and, from that time to his death, he was engaged in the practice of his profession. His high character as a jurist secured for him an extensive practice in the western part of the State, and his benevolent and pure character made him, at all times and in all respects, the counselor and friend of a large circle of acquaintances." Although he died in the fullness of years, he died deeply regretted by all who knew him."

To conclude, in the language of another biographer, " He was endowed with moral and physical courage in a high degree ; he was polite and condescending but no compromiser. For one-half of a century he has made history.

was born in Canfield, Ohio, on December 6, 1811. He removed, with his father's family, to this county in the year 1838, where they made the first settlement in Millville, and built their first shelter on the banks of the Wisconsin River. They were towed up the Mississippi in a keel-boat, with several other families. These C3,me not to make a fortune by speculating, or mining, or hunting, or gambling. They were among the first families that came to this new country to live here, to stay here, to die here. The school of " suckers " ascended the river in the spring, but swam south before winter. These families came here to make farms, build mills, and to test the fertility of our soil and its capacity to support a permanent population. That dull metal, known as "lead," has the honor of turning the attention of the enterprising classes in every part of the United States to the then Territory of Wisconsin. The idea of converting our great natural meadows into corn and wheat fields and spreading them out into a vast agricultural region, was hardly regarded as probable or possible. But cabins began to make their appearance, and small inclosures ran out into the prairies from thicket and grove ; there were beaten paths to the nearest spring ; attempts were made to cultivate the apple and even the peach. The sod dug-outs and pole shanties were supplanted by more pretentious cabins, and the cheerful word "home" found its way in ordinary conversation. Mr. Warner and his father built the first pine saw-mill in this county, as we are informed. The small stream that discharges into the Wisconsin in the town of Millville became the center of a large business. Here Mr. Warner, then a young man, engaged in the lumber business without a rival, and few houses were built in that part of the country at that time that had not some of its material from his manufacture. He loved business activity - it was a necessity of his nature, and he had less delight in making money than in the pleasures of employment and the perfection of machinery. The cunning handiwork of the inventor always attracted his study and admiration. Mr. Warner was too much of a student, too fervently attached to ideas and opinions ever to become a millionaire. Having secured what he thought was a competency, he abandoned his saw-mills, settled in Patch Grove, where he bought a fine tract of land, built a comfortable house, improved a neat but not extensive farm and superintended its cultivation till the season before his death. Here he enjoyed years of comparative leisure, read books, periodicals and newspapers on all sorts of subjects, and developed those mental traits and speculative opinions that will cause his name to be remembered long after his lumbering and farming are forgotten. Boldly asserting the most unpopular opinions and advocating them with original arguments and illustrations, he compelled his oponents to read and study like himself, so that there are few neighborhoods anywhere to be found where the arguments for and against revealed religion, involving' every branch of human knowledge, are more generally understood and examined. The majority of men and women must ever dissent from many of Mr. Warner's views on political and religious subjects ; still he believed them to be better adapted to further human happiness than any other, and, when satisfied of the sincerity of the heart, we should pardon the aberrations of the head.

Mr. Warner had been a great sufiFerer for several months before his death, but seemed desirous of concealing, as far as possible, his failing condition. He had been much in public life ; a member of the Legislature, often in the County Board. He was Collector of Taxes in his town at the time of his death. In this business his intimate friends discovered his memory began to fail. He was original in his modes of doing business. He believed men were more likely to pay a debt when not bound to it by mortgages and securities. He often lent money without even a note of hand, making a memorandum of it in his account book. At his death some of his loans had been forgotten, but those he had accommodated readily come forward and told what they owed. On the day he died, he was observed in the morning to be writing on a sheet of paper. He placed this paper in an atlas, where it was accidently found afterward. He then went to his barn, about one hundred yards distant from the house, to turn out his horse and cow. Mrs. Warner, knowing his custom was to walk every day down to the post office and through the village, thought nothing of his absence. At dinner time it was found he had not visited Mr. Paul's. Miss Weed, who was then living in the family, immediately ran down to the barn. Mr. Warner was lying on some hay as if asleep. She attempted to arouse him. She stepped back affrighted. Jared Warner was dead !

Mr. Warner thought an obligatory will might cause contention. The paper he had written in the forenoon was found to contain his wishes in reference to the division of his property.

And such was the effect of this simple writing, that his wife and children all met together at his house, in obedience to his injunction, and by solemn writing and deeds divided their inheritance precisely as he advised.

Joseph Grain Orr, one of the earliest settlers in the county, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, May 30, 1802. He was the eldest child of James Orr, who was born in Lancaster County, Penn., September 4, 1772.

The early years of his life were passed at Franklin, Ohio, where he received a commonschool education, and learned the tanner's trade. In 1826, he was married to Miss Levilette Dearth, at Springboro, Ohio. Ten children, eight of whom are now living, were the fruit of this long and happy union. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Orr emigrated to Michigan City, Ind. He was one of the first settlers in that place. He helped lay out the city, and built its first house.

In 1836, he came to Grant County, Wis., where he entered and improved a farm on Blake's Prairie. Here three years afterward he removed his family, and here continued to reside till his death, April 11, 1881, a period of forty-five years. Mr. Orr will long be remembered in the community in which he for so many years resided. His was a strong, and in many respects peculiar character. Self-contained and taciturn almost to eccentricity, cautious and conservative to the last degree, he possessed remarkable clearness of judgment and great firmness of will.

By nature silent and reserved, he mingled little in society ; in manners quiet and unobtrusive, he neither sought nor desired notoriety or influence. But to character such as his, influence always comes. By deeds rather than by words, he impressed upon the community in which he lived for almost half a century, the abiding lessons of a singularly pure and honest life. In his personal affairs, his cautious prudence, his broad good sense, resolute will and sterling integrity brought abundant success.

Too modest to seek political distinction, his practical knowledge of and sympathy with the public wants, and above all his uncompromising fidelity to every trust, brought him, in the early days of the county, into prominent notice. He was one of the Commissioners that first laid out most of the county roads, and at different times was a member of the County Board of Supervisors.

Of good laws and good order he was the cordial supporter. In education he took a personal active interest. The schoolhouse and the university found in him a ready friend and patron. Though he never obtruded his personal views upon strangers, and rarely engaged in political discussions, upon all matters of public interest he held clear, intelligent and wellgrounded opinions. In every cause he espoused, truth and right were the criterion of his choice, the end of his effort.

In his domestic relations he was peculiarly happy. He was the kindest and most indulgent husband, and parent. His large family of children, save one, who died in the war of the rebellion, grew to honorable manhood, and settled in life almost within sight of the paternal roof His wife, the faithful companion of his long life, was his companion as well in death. Surviving him but a few weeks, she was laid by his side ere the grass was green upon his burial-place.

Among the distinguished coterie whose names grace the pages of the early history of the county, and by whose talents and ability Grant County was pushed to the front rank almost from the beginning of its settlement, none filled a larger space than Mr. Eastman. The son of Hon. Samuel Eastman and Jane Eastman, he was born at Strong, Franklin County, Me., October 24, 1812. He received, as he advanced in years, a common school and academic education, after which he turned his thoughts to the legal profession, and commenced the study of law with Judge Emmons, of HoUowell, Me., afterward completing his studies with Judge Hall of New York. In 1838, he left the East for the new Territory of Wisconsin, stopping first at Green Bay, where he entered into a law partnership with Morgan L. Martin. The succeeding year, Mr. Eastman removed to Grant County, locating at Platteville, which remained his home from that time until the date of his death, February 2, 1857.

As a lawyer, Mr. Eastman exhibited marked abilities, ranking among the foremost of that bar which was rarely equaled and never excelled in the State.

Political questions were viewed by Mr. Eastman from a Democratic standpoint, and his marked abilities were recognized by that party, resulting in his election as a member of the Thirty-second Congress for the Second District. Upon the expiration of his term he was honored by a re-election, and faithfully did he protect the interests confided to his care by his constituents. At the close of his second term Mr. Eastman retired to private life, and, although an active participant in political matters and occupying a prominent position in the county, he accepted no further official position, but devoted the years previous to his death to his practice and attention to private interests.

Mr. Eastman married Miss Charlotte L. Snoall, of Hollowell, Me., who remained to mourn his early death. Though cut off in his prime, and just as the county of his adoption was entering upon its fullest prosperity, he had still left his imprint upon the pages of its history, which will ever remain as long as Grant County continues as an integral portion of this great State.