Dane County WI Archives History - Books .....Madison 1877 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wi/wifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 27, 2006, 10:47 pm Book Title: Madison, Dane County And Surrounding Towns... MADISON. BY H. A. TENNEY. OWING to the wide area of the original town, the creation of villages and a city, and great municipal changes, it is difficult to make a satisfactory sketch of the town of Madison, since the shifting scene of forty years often leaves one in doubt what to include and what to reject, either as to boundaries, or as to early settlers. Strictly speaking the pioneer citizens of the village and city are a part of, and belong to, the town, and no sketch could be considered complete which did not include them, as many of them were the most prominent actors in early times. From the material at command I have made the best classification in my power. It is not entirely satisfactory to myself, and doubtless will not be to many who may read these pages and whose names have been necessarily omitted. I beg all to look upon this production with charity and a kindly eye to the difficulties of the undertaking. WHO FIRST VISITED THE LAKE COUNTRY. — Ebenezer Brigham, the first settler within the limits of Dane county, was probably the first white American who visited the site of Madison. In repeated conversations with the writer, many years since, he stated that, in company with a few other prospectors, he erected a cabin at Blue Mounds in 1828, and, having done so, accompanied by three others, a few days later, made a trip to Fort Winnebago, then a new frontier outpost, to ascertain whether supplies could be obtained there, and what facilities existed for the shipment of lead. He had heard of the Lake Country from the Indians, and, on his return, struck south at a venture, and the same night camped on the hill on which Madison is now located, eight years before the site was entered by Doty and Mason. Impressed with the beauty of the spot, in a moment of enthusiasm, he predicted that a city would in time grow up there, and that it might become the future capital of a state. He was a warm, personal friend of Doty, and it was probably through him that knowledge of the place was first communicated. It is not probable that Doty and his party, who visited the region in 1829 for the purpose of examination with reference to entering land, did so at random, and without previous information as to the existence of the lakes, or that they were the first comers here. The government surveys were not completed until 1834. At any rate, I record the statement of Mr. Brigham, made to me on several occasions, and place it in opposition to such historical works as give Doty and his party the credit of " discovery." No one who personally knew Brigham would for a moment question his veracity on this or any other subject. He was a pure type of western pioneer manhood, modest, quiet, unassuming, and never given to boasting. I ought to add, that he gave me the names of the companions who made the trip with him, but they have unfortunately been lost. He spoke of the excursion simply as a mere incident of his early experience in the country, and repeated to me what is above recorded the last time I met him, but a few weeks before his death. A PIONEER SCENE. — The first comers found everything in a primitive condition. The hand of man had not as yet made what, in modern terms, is called an "improvement." The waters tossed idly upon their pebbly beaches, unfurrowed by a keel. The rivers ran lazily through channels winding and crooked to such a degree as to prevent any rapidity of current. The marshes and low grounds were dank in oozy slime, un-drained, and with scarcely defined boundaries. Forests spread out on all sides over hill and dale. The prairies at rare intervals came down to the shores. Birds of passage in innumerable flocks swarmed upon all the waters and low grounds. The stately swan came fearlessly to feed or make his nest; the pelican and crane, seen standing in long lines about the shores, gave strange animation to the scene, as they sought their finny prey. Ducks, geese, all varieties of water-fowl, in multitudes "beyond computation, everywhere dotted the waters, while fish in great variety of species filled the pellucid depths. Nor was the land less densely peopled with wild animal life. The elk, deer, bear, wolf, fox, with many other species, found here a home and natural supplies for every want. The eagle and hawk were lords of the air. Songsters filled the woods with melody. The prairie hen, grouse, sand-hill crane, quail and other species abounded in the openings and prairies. And to this may be added the beaver, not as yet exterminated, the otter, mink, muskrat, etc., some individuals of which even yet survive. Add to these things Indian encampments about the shores, with their rude wigwams, their light canoes, their toil-worn squaws, their elfish pappooses [sic] and lazy warriors, and we shall have in brief retrospect the scene that greeted the pioneers of the Lake Country in the seasons of verdure and sunshine. It was a land without roads, bridges, or artificial landmarks, other than recent surveys, in which the only reliable guide to the traveler was his compass, and his successful journeying depended almost wholly upon his endurance, fortitude and practical good sense. Almost every prominent point was, in the pioneer time, covered with the embossed works of races classed now under the meaningless name of "Mound Builders." The ages were marked here with the symbols of this mysterious people, with a richness and profusion that proved long residence, and keen appreciation of all that was most beautiful in nature. About every variety of form of structure known in the north were to be met with —beasts, birds, reptiles and men. That any memory of them has been preserved, is due to the labors of a LAPHAM and one or two others. The plow has been as great a leveler as death — one removing the race, and the other eradicating its monuments. Our fields, indeed, are little else than the cemeteries of a people whose origin was doubtless cotemporaneous with the mammoth, the mastodon and the elephant. Nearly all their great works have now disappeared from the scene. Their unhonored dust scarce survives as a memory. Modern civilization has triumphed over the graves of a mighty past. Unless speedily surveyed, what still remain of these works — and they are still numerous in the woodlands — will soon meet the common fate. Is there no one, in this eleventh hour, to re-map the outlines of what still remain? FEOM 1836 TO 1846. — Madison was the parent town of Dane county, the first named, the first organized, and, with the exception of a single individual, the first settled. As its original boundaries probably coincided with those of the county, it is doubtful whether Ebenezer Brigham, the pioneer of all this section of country, ought not to be classed as its first settler, though living at Blue Mounds, as the township is now named. If he may not properly be thus classified, then Eben Peck and family are entitled to that distinction, by arriving a few weeks in advance of others who have remained permanently located from the beginning, while his stay was not of many years duration. The first entry of land in the town was made April 6, 1836, by James D. Doty and Stevens T. Mason, covering most of the present city site; and although the place then had no name, as other tracts about were soon taken, that date may be considered as the origin of all improvements and changes that have since followed. Anything like a correct history of the town requires a classification into three parts, according to municipal changes, which may be thus stated: 1. From 1836 to 1846, during most of which period the town and county were substantially the same, geographically, and had substantially the same officials. 2. The charter of the village in 1846, without interference with the town government, except as to purely municipal matters, which incorporation continued for ten years. 3. The chartering of the city in 1856, which ousted the village and town authority, and severed the two forms of government previously existing. The first election precincts into which the town was divided were ordered by the county commissioners May 15, 1839, viz.: Madison and Moundville (Blue Mounds). These were then the only points of settlement. The total population was estimated at three hundred. The county was still attached to Iowa for taxable and judicial purposes, and as yet no courts had been held. At the election held for delegate to congress, August 10, 1839, the total vote cast for all candidates was seventy-three. County officers, justices of the peace, etc., were at this time appointed by the governor. Officers of election were appointed by the county commissioners. Township government, in the sense we now understand it, can scarcely be said, during these ten years, to have had an existence. A quarrel between Gov. Doty and the legislature, in 1842-3, finally changed the whole system by taking the appointing power from the executive and conferring upon the people the right to elect their own local officers. The population, too, of this decade, was much too small and diffused either to support or to bear much civil control. There was little occasion for government where there were none to govern; and the pioneers of the wilderness were too poor in worldly goods to assume unnecessary burthens. The worst victims of the time were such speculators as had loaded heavily with wild lands, and lots in the village plat. They were naturally regarded as fair game, and whenever anything of a public nature was undertaken, it was almost always at their expense. The financial crash of 1836-7 had carried every enterprise down, and anything like renewed prosperity was not felt in the interior of Wisconsin until about 1845. The products of the farm literally had no commercial value. Wheat sold, when there was any market, at twenty-five cents per bushel, and when it reached fifty cents, farmers considered themselves on the high road to wealth, as they were, for lands could be bought at less than government price, and wants were much fewer than at the present time. It is economy and general cheapness, and not high prices and extravagant notions, that makes communities rich. Poverty and industry are the saving power of states. FROM 1846 TO 1856. — In 1846, the town was for the first time practically organized, and the village of Madison incorporated. The corporation did not conflict with the town government, and citizens participated equally in both elections, as if no internal municipal organization existed. The town, indeed, was for several years the controlling local authority. Owing to the effects of the panic of 1836-7, the settlement of the territory had been extremely slow. Madison was far isolated from all neighborhood, and the gain in population from year to year was scarcely appreciable. To show more clearly the exact location of population in 1846, I have copied two extracts from the town records: one creating new voting precincts in the town, which then embraced twenty-four townships (Albion, Dunkirk and Fitchburg having previously been designated as voting places, in addition to Madison and Moundville), and the order of the commissioners of common schools dividing the town into school districts in accordance with law, to wit: NEW PRECINCTS. — June 29, 1846.— At a meeting of the board of supervisors, held at the county room this day, the following precincts were ordered to he established for holding general elections: Ordered, "That a precinct be established at the house of George McFadden [now town of Montrose] in the town of Madison and county of Dane, to be known by the name of "Grand Springs Precinct," and that Geo. McFadden, Daniel M. Holt and Russell Tiffany be, and hereby are, appointed judges of election for said precinct. That a precinct be established at the house of John Clark, in the town of Madison [now probably town of Dane], to be known by the name of "Dane Precinct," and that John Clark, Arnold Downing and Freedom Simons be, and they hereby are, appointed judges of election for said precinct. That a precinct be established at the house of John M. Thomas, in the town of Madison and county of Dane [now Cross Plains], to be known by the name of "Cross Plains Precinct," and that John M. Thomas, Ripha Worden and John S. Mann be, and hereby are, appointed judges of election for said precinct. That a precinct be established at the house of Amos Beecher, in the town of Madison and county of Dane [now Cottage Grove], to be known by the name of "Cottage Grove Precinct," and that Horatio Catlin, Roswell Brown and Charles M. Nichols be, and are hereby appointed judges of election of said precinct." The erection of these precincts gave a total of nine voting places in the county, and the names then given were, with an exception or two, adopted by the towns when afterwards organized. The then town of Madison, by the change, had six places established for voting within its limits. NAMING THE TOWNS.—Up to this time but two or three townships had received names, and many were as yet without their first settler. They were known only by number and range; and nothing was more puzzling for a time to "old settlers" than to recognize towns by the names given them by successive boards of supervisors in subsequent years. Even now the writer confesses himself often in doubt as to the location of some of the towns from their names, long as they have been established, without reference to a map—having learned in the "old way." There is quite a difference between remembering thirty-six names and two or three, as in the early time, while the plats of survey were extremely simple. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS. — The first school district in either town or county was created December 25, 1841, on the formal application, by petition, of Almon Lull, I. W. Bird, E. Irving, P. W. Matts and Nicholas Smith. David Brigham, James Morrison and Bush Fairchild were commissioners of schools. The district was numbered 1, and comprised the whole township of Madison as at present organized, including most of the city site. In February, 1844, the district was enlarged by adding to it town 8, range 9 — now Westport. Up to 1846, seventeen districts had been designated in different portions of the county, to meet the wants of new settlement, but they were entirely disconnected, and without union or -uniform plan. Upon the formal beginning of town government by popular vote, the town of Madison, as then organized, was formally divided into districts, by the order following, given in full: TOWN SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN 1846. — The official division of the town of Madison into school districts will, perhaps, better illustrate the meagerness of population in 1846, than anything I might say on the subject. It was as follows: "Be it known that on this 29th day of June, A. D. 1846, we, the undersigned commissioners of common schools for the town of Madison, county of Dane and territory of Wisconsin, have divided the said town of Madison into districts, and have numbered them as follows, to-wit: No. 1. — Sections 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22 and 23 of town 7, range 9 (now plat of Madison), and all of town 8, range 9 (now Westport). No 2. —The west half of town 7, range 9 (now Madison). No. 3. —Sections 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36 in town 7, range 9 (now Madison). No. 4. —All of town 6, range 11 (now Pleasant Springs). No. 5. —Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and the west half of sections 11, 14 and 23, in town 8, range 10 (now Burke). No. 6, — Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, in town 8, range 10 (Burke), and secs. 25 to 36 in town 9, range 10 (now Windsor). No. 7. — Sections from 1 to 24, in town 9, range 10 (now Windsor). No. 8. — All of town 6, range 8 (now Verona). No. 9. —All of town 5, range 8 (now Montrose). No. 10.—The south half of town 7, range 11 (now Cottage Grove). No. 11. — All of town 9, range 8 (now Dane). No. 12. — Sections 13, 14, 15 and the south half of town 8, range 6 (now Black Earth). No. 13. — The north half of town 8, range 6, excepting sections 13, 14 and 15 (now Mazomanie). No. 14. — Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of town 8, range 7 (now Berry). No. 15. — All of town 9, range 9 (now Vienna). No. 16.—The north half of town 7, range 11 (Cottage Grove), and all of town 7, range 10 (now Blooming Grove), and sections 12, 13, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and the east half of sections 11, 14 and 23 of town 8, range 10 (Burke). No. 17. — All of town 8, range 8 (now Springfield). No. 18. — All of town 7, range 8 (now Middleton). No. 19. — All of town 8, range 7, excepting sec. 3 to 10 (now Berry). No. 20.—All of town 7, range 7 (now Cross Plains). No. 21.—All of town 6, range 7 (now Springdale). No. 22. — All or town 5, range 7 (now Primrose). No. 23. — All of town 7, range 6 (now Vermont). No. 24. —All of town 6, range 6 (now Blue Mounds). No. 25. — All of town 5, range 6 (now Perry). No. 26. —All of town 7, range 12 (now Deerfield)." This order is signed by J. Gillett Knapp, Benjamin Holt, and F. H. Talcott, school commissioners. It is doubtful if there were a dozen schools actually kept in the entire county. It will be seen that the commissioners divided the then town of Madison into districts, incorporating whole townships where there were no, or few inhabitants, and making them of lesser size only when actual colonies had been begun. Viewed in the light of the present, this order is a very significant indication of the then isolated location of settlements and population. The vote for state government at the spring election, 1846, was 200 for, and 47 against. A great many settlers deemed it too early to establish a state, as the general government relieved them of all burthens by paying the territorial expenses. The proposition was barely carried, mainly by the vote cast in villages and cities, through the activity of politicians desirous of place and distinction. VOTE FOR TOWN OFFICERS IN 1846. — The population of the town at this time may be inferred from the vote cast at the election held April 7, for town officers. Political division ran very high at this period, and as the settlers were all young or middle aged, it is presumed that few or none failed to attend the polls. The result as to supervisors was as follows: Democratic. Whig. James R. Larkin 134 Ebenezer Brigham 110 Edward Campbell 119 Benj. Dodge 100 Wm. C. Wells 126 Samuel G. Abbott 98 If the 232 votes cast indicated an average of four non-voters to each, the total population of the town would have been 928, and it did not probably much exceed this, including, of course, the village. Among the number voted for at this election, but few remain citizens of the present town, or now survive. J. D. Ruggles was elected clerk over E. M. Williamson by one majority. For treasurer, Darwin Clark was elected over Henry C. Parker. For collector, Andrus Viall was elected over Benjamin W. Wilcox and Abel Rasdall. For assessors, George Vroman, J. W. Thomas and William Larkin were elected over Wm. A. Webb, W. D. Bird and Michael M. McCord. For fence viewers, Eliab B. Dean, Jr., Thos. W. Sutherland and John Y. Smith triumphantly defeated S. F. Blanchard, R. F. Lowdon and Samuel Parkhurst. Justices, Wm. N. Seymour, Nathaniel Wheeler and Alonzo Wilcox were chosen over Adam Smith, Barlow Shackleford and Nathan Spaulding. Of these and the lesser candidates, it is painful to note how many have disappeared from the scene of their labors. The following items, extracted from the record of a few years, will give some idea of the doings and policy of the period: The clerk, at a meeting in April, was ordered to procure a printed form for town orders, suitable books for a town record, and a proper seal. The total taxes voted for all purposes amounted to about seven mills. The English settlement in the lower part of Black Earth valley, just commenced, owing to the poverty of some of its members, cost the town quite a heavy sum for poor purposes, and was a subject of much controversy. Cattle of all kinds, except bulls and stallions, were permitted, by official action, to run at large in all highways, the owners not being liable for damages to any one whose premises were not enclosed by a legal fence. At an election held April 6, 1847, the vote for state constitution "Yes" was 175; "No," 154. For license to sell liquors, "Yes," 27 votes; "No," 13. Equal suffrage to colored persons, "Yes," 18 votes; "No," 176. As yet the place had achieved but one colored "man and brother," and his voting enfranchisement was not popularly relished; and yet Titus Kirkpatrick was highly distinguished by the attentions received, both in prose and verse, as old settlers will all no doubt remember. A genial kindness pervaded communities at this time, unknown to the present. How often a score of able bodied men left their own work to go out ten or twenty miles to help a new settler raise his cabin, whose name even was scarcely known; and all without fee or reward. It was equally so with the sick, needy and destitute. The shams of modern society had no place here. The impulses of benevolence were sincere and genuine. Hypocrisy and selfishness had not as yet found a foothold. Degrees of wealth were not recognized as degrees in the scale of humanity. Piety was scarce; but practical good deeds were too common to attract notice. They were looked upon as matters of course. A vein of waggery tinged the whole social order. Every one was joker or jokist — made victims of others, or was himself victimized. Humor and fun were standard coin. Their circulation reached every one. But it is almost impossible to record in words the spirit that escaped in its essence, and overflowed on all occasions. Mirth, indeed, flowed like a river with full banks, and there was no such thing as strangers to the flood. Hardships and trouble were alike forgotten in its presence. This mercurial impulse made a "smiling land" of a wide waste of fertile but unoccupied desert. Nothing in the "show line" could at that time make its appearance without universal patronage. It did not matter whether good or bad, sport was bound to come out of it. Even the gravity of courts and legislatures were no barriers to the popular tendency. How vividly I recall the advent of a circus, in the summer of 1848.* The legislature was at the moment in dull and heavy session, myself reporting for the press. Suddenly strains of music floated into the Assembly Chamber. A moment more, there was a rush of members for the windows over seats and desks, and then a stampede for the doors. The speaker stopped with a "motion" on his lips, his gavel dropped, and, with one or two jumps, he landed on the stairway, and thence to the floor below, and out into the park with the crowd, and was among the first to reach the street. The clerks, astonished for a moment, joined in pursuit; and the reporter stood in an empty house in the space of about a minute, which no one had adjourned, and so he adjourned himself. But to dwell on these memories would take a volume. * Mr. N. T. Hawes, of Fitchburg, states that the first circus exhibited in Madison was in the summer of 1844, and exhibited on the corner of the block now occupied by J. E. Fisher as a furniture warehouse. In the Dane county minutes there is a record made of one Geo. K. Spaulding as being licensed to exhibit the "North American Circus," in Dane county, for ninety days, dating July 5th, 1844. Also on July 16th, 1845, and July 11th, 1846, the firm of June & Turner were licensed for the same purpose, and for about the the [sic] same number of days each time. EVENTS OF GENERAL IMPORTANCE. — The first event of local consequence was the location of the territorial capitol. At the time there was but one settler in the county. Next to it was the building of a steam sawmill on Fourth lake, near the present steamboat landing, whereby some oak lumber was obtainable for the floors of dwellings. Previous to this, the most "aristocratic" houses were covered with siding split by hand. Log houses were of course largely in excess. As this mill soon ceased work, owing to a quarrel over the ownership (having been built with territorial funds), Simeon Mills and William A. Wheeler, erected another in 1841, on a creek which empties into the northerly end of Third lake; and this small affair, which turned out 2,000 feet daily, of hard wood, was for a long time the sole reliance for a supply of lumber for the county. This mill was soon after sold to Philo Dunning, who run it for some years. Subsequently Mr. Mills built a steam mill on the edge of the marsh, between Main street and Washington avenue, in the year 1849. To his enterprise at this period and afterwards, the town and county owe far more than they have ever repaid. All these mills have, of course, long since disappeared. The crop of "prairie saw logs" is a thing of the past, but one whose memory is even yet a fragrance to the old settlers. In 1844 the first flouring mill was erected in the town by William A. Wheeler and Joseph Vroman, on a small branch of Sugar River in town 6, of range 8 (now Verona), and known as Badger Mill, which was the only grist mill for several years, and consequently the inhabitants were largely dependent upon Janesville and other towns in Rock river valley for their bread, until L. J. Farwell built a large flouring mill at the outlet of Lake Mendota, in 1851.* * To illustrate the dilemma of a community thus situated, let me give a brief example. On my first visit to Madison, in 1845, I was invited by Daniel M. Holt, an old acquaintance, to take tea with his family. On accompanying him to his house I soon discovered that his wife, from a whispered conversation was in a "peck of trouble." Finally, Holt, turning to me, said, "It is no use to conceal any thing. We have to depend on Janesville for flour, and the "flour man" is four days behind time. I bought an extra stock on his last visit, but the taverns and neighbors are all out, and we have lent until we have not an ounce for ourselves. I think the man must get along yet to-night. At any rate let us go out and watch the road for him. If he fails, we can't give you either bread or biscuit, for there is no such thing in town. You will have to fill up with potatoes and fish." We accordingly took up a position in the woods, near where the court house now stands, and eagerly scanned the "Janesville road." In about an hour a team was seen winding round the head of Third Lake, which proved to be the "flour man's." Some biscuit was speedily prepared, much to the relief of the wife, who persisted in feeling "mortified" at being caught in so common a predicament at that time in all families. The rule seemed to be that the "taverns" must be supplied in any event, for the good repute of the place, however short the citizens. Such a deprivation at the time, with me, as with others, would have simply excited a hearty laugh. But feminine hospitality was often put to a severe test in those days. THE ERA OF CANAL PROJECTS. — Among events of these early times, the survey of a canal route from Rock river to the Wisconsin, by way of the Four Lakes, ought not to be omitted, as the "canal fever" preceded the "railroad mania." In 1838-9, Capt. Cram made a canal survey from Rock river to Madison, under instructions from the general government, and in the latter year, Capt. Alex. M. Mitchell continued it from the head of Fourth Lake to "Mud Lake," and down Black Earth valley to the Wisconsin, and pronounced the project "perfectly feasible!" Here, then, was a scheme worth talking about — a water route both east and west from Madison, and our lakes, in imagination, all to be turned into reservoirs for steamers and canal boats! The ideas of the time were far ahead of present or possible reality. There was no such word as "visionary" to the new comer. A canal carried over a two hundred-feet crest, with no body of water as a feeder, did not seem an extravagant enterprise during this era of wild real estate speculation. SCANDINAVIAN IMMIGRATION.—Norwegian settlement was commenced around Lake Koshkonong about 1840. It soon pressed into the southeast corner towns of Dane county. Dressed in the costume of their native land, with customs and manners wholly un-American, the Scandinavian was at first regarded with great curiosity by the native element. As a rule, they selected the hilly lands out of the government domain, and built their dwellings mainly in excavations, often invisible at a distance. When a census was taken in midwinter in 1847, as a preliminary to the convention to frame a state constitution, Joel P. Mann, who was making the enumeration, had great trouble in finding this class of the population. In this emergency, Mr. Burdick (Elisha, for short,) suggested a plan that was eminently successful. It was to gain a high hill in early morning, count the smokes, and multiply the number by ten! The census was soon after satisfactorily completed. In the absence of polling places, the Norwegian settlers, in 1846, had to come to Cottage Grove (Beecher's place) to vote. There was much strife between political parties to gain this accession in strength, and the custom was, to send out a team on election day, with a deputy clerk to naturalize, together with a plethoric keg of whisky, and an agent to see that a supply of the right kind of tickets were given out and put into the ballot box. The following was said at the time to be the form of proceeding in making citizens of the newly arrived: Officer to applicant —"Hold up your hand. You swear." Applicant—"Yaw." Officer—"By Jesus Christ." Applicant—"Yaw." Officer—"You vote the democratic ticket!" Applicant—"Yaw." Officer —"Here is the straight vote. Go up to that window where you see those three men, and put it in the box, then come back and take a square drink. You are now invested with the whole dignity and every right of a free American citizen." The Norwegians were all democrats at that time. At present, democratic votes are conspicuously absent among them when they go to the polls. The wondrous career of the race in material wealth and mental improvement, under favorable and improving conditions, is, to the early American settlers, a marked phase in race development, conspicuous among all others witnessed in western life. There were few German settlers then, one I recollect by the name of Xavier Jordan. I can only remember the names of three Irishmen, Thomas and Matthew Dunn and Peter Kavanaugh and their families. A dozen English families located, near what is now Mazomanie and towns of Springfield and Berry, and a few Scotchmen in this town and Verona, comprised the "foreign element." The American type was generally predominant. Population, however, commenced flowing in very rapidly about this period, and but a short time elapsed before nearly every European nation had representatives among us. Owing to the rivalry between different counties, the census returns of the period are, on the score of exact accuracy, at least open to suspicion. The railroad, also, which first reached us in 1854, was another event whose impulse is scarcely yet over. For the first time our people were tied to the outer world by an enduring band — a tie whose cost many of them are not likely to forget. Its advent was regarded as a decidedly "big thing." Hundreds came from miles distant to see the first gravel train! THE TOWN AS NOW ORGANIZED. — The present area of the township of Madison is about 11,400 acres of land — the balance water. It stands like a sheep that has passed through the hands of the shearer. Years of steady clipping had shrunk it to square boundaries, when the legislative shears made a final clip about 1859, and set off a few sections to the town of Burke. As a result, its parts are no longer "contiguous territory." The two northern corners, "McBride's Point" and "Livesey's Woods," are isolations—the voters from one side having to pass through Springfield and Middleton to get into their own town, and on the other, to traverse some five miles of city site to attend the polls. Except these breaks, the town encloses the city as the shell does the kernel, or the setting the gem, and embraces about all the beauties of location and landscape that the city is so boastful over. The promontories and peninsulas, headlands, bluffs and bays are nearly all in the town, which probably has no counterpart in outline elsewhere upon the globe. Geologically, the valleys and lowlands lie at the junction of the Lower or Potsdam sandstone with the Lower Magnesian limestone, so that the wash from the hills is a perpetual source of fertility. In addition to this, the town is in the very focus of ancient glacial activity, which not only scooped out the lake basins, but piled the debris, mixed with transported material, along the skirts of our hills and into nearly all our valleys. The surface may be said to be nearly all rolling, and without levels, other than marsh grounds. The soil is generally good, and its fertilizing qualities likely to endure. There are no waste lands, or too little to make a note of in a general description. On the whole, our half a town has capabilities exceeding many whole ones elsewhere. Our population numbers now about 1,000. The farms lead all other pursuits. We have six or seven school districts, no churches, one or two saloons, as many hotels, and little of mechanic arts, manufacturing or merchandising, and no debt! A more intelligent, quiet, orderly and harmonious people cannot be found in the whole state. For more than twenty years past it has been difficult to get any one to qualify as a justice of the peace, and during part of the time we have rarely had such an official; and the same is equally true of constables. With few exceptions our criminals have all been imported, and were not "to the manor born." Eben Peck, the first person who located on the site of the city, is also credited with being the first who "broke the glebe" and turned the first furrow in the present town of Madison; and, for that matter, in the county of Dane. He broke about three acres, a little west of William Larkin's present homestead, in 1838, probably under the impression that it was government land; but, finding out his mistake, abandoned the work, and did not attempt cultivation. William Lawrence made a settlement near the north line of the town of Windsor, in 1838; but to what extent he broke the soil, if at all, is doubtful. In 1839, Abel Dunning and William D. Bird made breakings within the present town, and "Esq. Peaslee" did the same on the "76 farm," in Burke, which has passed through so many proprietors since. Wm. B. and G. H. Slaughter also settled in Middleton in the same year. Dunning sowed crops on his breaking in 1839, but Bird and others, it is reported, not until the next year. These two worthy gentlemen and pioneers are the fathers of agriculture in Dane county, preceding in date all others now remaining or living, and have continued in their chosen profession from the beginning. Both have filled many public stations of great usefulness to the county, but none as conspicuous as their merits deserved. Neither have ever had leisure to run after office; and when they have accepted trusts of the kind, it has been done as a duty owed to community, rather than from any desire for place. The beginners of our farms are certainly worthy of having their names commemorated, and of every honorable distinction in the power of the community to confer. Among others of our pioneers, the names of James R. Larkin, Jonathan Larkin, Daniel Larkin, William Larkin and B. F. Larkin, stand prominently and conspicuous as a family. To these should be added Harmon J. Hill, Andrus Viall, Russell and Daniel Sheldon, and many others not easily enumerated from memory — all good men — citizens to be proud of—worthy in all senses to have assisted in founding not alone a town and county, but the state as well. As all the old settlers in the city belonged to the town, their career, in a historical sense, is a part of our heritage. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Dane County Towns Section MADISON, DANE COUNTY AND SURROUNDING TOWNS; BEING A HISTORY AND GUIDE TO PLACES OF SCENIC BEAUTY AND HISTORICAL NOTE FOUND IN THE TOWNS OF DANE COUNTY AND SURROUNDINGS, INCLUDING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNS, AND EARLY INTERCOURSE OF THE SETTLERS WITH THE INDIANS, THEIR CAMPS, TRAILS, MOUNDS, ETC. WITH A COMPLETE LIST OF COUNTY SUPERVISORS AND OFFICERS, AND LEGISLATIVE MEMBEES, MADISON VILLAGE AND CITY COUNCIL. ILLUSTRATED, MADISON, WIS.: PUBLISHED BY WM. J. PARK & CO., BOOKSELLERS, STATIONERS AND BINDERS, 11 KING STREET. 1877. COPYRIGHT. WM. J. PARK & CO. 1877. DAVID ATWOOD, STEREOTYPER AND PRINTER, MADISON, WIS. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/dane/history/1877/madisond/madison8ms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/wifiles/ File size: 37.6 Kb