HISTORY OF THE CHIPPEWA VALLEY - Chapter 43 ***** Transcribed and contributed to the USGenWeb Archives by Timm Severud Ondamitag@aol.com Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ***** Faithful Record of all Important Events, Incidents, and Circumstances that have Transpired in the Valley of the Chippewa from its Earliest Settlement by White People, Indian Treaties, Organization of the Territory and State; Also of the Counties Embracing the Valley, Senatorial, Assembly and Congressional Districts, and a Brief Biographical Sketch of the Most Prominent Persons in the Settlement of the Valley. BY Thomas E. Randall 1875. Free Press Print. Eau Claire, Wisconsin Chapter 43 In the settlement of all new countries frequent changes become necessary in the organization of Senatorial and Assembly Districts, and questions often arise in conversation as to the number or description of the district in which a certain locality is included at a given period. Such changes have occurred in the districts in which this valley is situated at every decade and semi-decade since the organization of the Territory, and a concise statement districts in which our valley has been included, time of their formation, and the various Senators and Assemblymen whom the people have delighted to honor with seats in our Legislature, may be of interest to my readers. But in the first, place a short account of the organization of the Territorial and State governments will claim our attention. The name, Wisconsin, first of our Territory and since of our State was derived from its principle river, Wees-kon-san, signifying in Indian, 'The Gathering of Waters.' It contains 53,924 square miles, or nearly 35,000,000 acres of land, besides rivers and lakes, etc. The act establishing the Territorial was passed and approved on April 20, 1836, and organized on the following 4th of July following, with Henry Dodge, one of the heroes of the Sac & Fox war, for Governor. What is now the State of Iowa constituted part of this territory, but in accordance with the proclamation of the Governor, the first Legislature convened at Belmont, now in Lafayette County. The second session was in Burlington, Iowa, after which the seat of government was permanently located at Madison, where the first session of the second Legislative Assembly met November 26, 1838, the Territory having been divided, by an act of Congress, in June previous. As usual in such cases, the general government made an appropriation of forty thousand dollars of the capitol building and other sums were given by Dane County and the Territory equal to twenty thousand dollars more, and a very sumptuous house was erected. As indicating the times of that early day, a quotation from the Legislative Manual of 1874, as given by Colonel Childs, one of the early pioneers of the Territory, will amuse the reader. He says: "The Legislature met for the first time at Madison on the 26th of November 1838. The new capitol edifice was not yet in suitable condition to receive the Legislature, so we hat to assemble in the basement of the American House, where Governor Dodge delivered his first message at the new seat of government." "After some time, we took possession of the new Assembly Hall, the floors of which were laid with green oak boards full of ice; the walls of the room iced over; green oak seats and desks were made of rough boards; one fireplace and one small stove. In a few days the flooring near the stove and fireplace shrank so that one could run his hands between the boards. The basement story was all open and James Morrison's large drove of hogs had taken possession; they were awfully poor, and it would have taken two of them standing side-by-side to make a decent shadow on a bright day. We had a great many smart members in the House, and sometimes they spoke for buncombe. When members of this ilk would become too tedious, I would take a long pole and go at the hogs and stir them up, when they would raise a young pandemonium for noise and confusion. The speaker's voice would be completely drowned, and he would be compelled to stop; not however, without giving his squealing disturbers a sample of his swearing ability." "The American House was the only hotel in Madison, but Mr. Peck kept a few boarders in his log house, and we used to have tall time in those days - times remembered. Stealing was carried on in a small way, and the Territory would occasionally get gouged a little, now and then." The Territorial government continued for the time before stated, July 4th, 1836, until May 29th, 1848, nearly 12 years. Until the year 1840, the entire northwestern portion of the Territory was included in Crawford County, and of course the settlements on this river; represented the first year, 1836, in the House, by James H. Lockwood and James B. Dallam, no member of the Council being allowed; and the second year by Ira B. Brunson and Jean Brunett. The first session of the second Legislature convened and adjourned in 1838; in the Council, Crawford County was represented for the first time by George Wilson, and in the House by Alexander McGregor, who established a ferry across the Mississippi and founded the city of McGregor, in Iowa. The next year, the second session of second Legislature, Ira B. Brunson was added to the House for Crawford. At the third session of the Assembly, 1839-40, Joseph Brisbois was elected to the Council, Wilson having resigned. St. Croix County was established at the extra session of the Legislature, Charles J. Learned having taken the place of Brisbois in the Council. At the first session of the third Assembly, Crawford and St. Croix being still one district, Mr. Learned was in the Council, and Alfred Brunson (the Reverend Dr.) and Joseph R. Brow were members of the House, but at the next session 1841-2, the seat of the former was successfully contested by and awarded to Theophilus La Chappelle. The first and second sessions of the fourth Legislative Assembly, 1842-4, found this district the same, with Mr. La Chappelle in the Council, and John H. Manahan in the House, and at the third session of the fourth Assembly, 1845, Wiram Knowlton was Councilman and Jason Fisher in the House, for Crawford and St. Croix. At this session acts were passed to organize the countries of Chippewa and La Pointe, but the four counties still constituted one district, and in the fourth session of the fourth Assembly, 1846, were represented by the same parties, Knowlton in the Council and Fisher in the House. Benjamin F. Manahan, afterward a prominent lumberman on O'Neil's Creek, in Chippewa County, was member of the Council and Joseph W. Furber of the House during the fist session of the fifth assembly, 1847, form this district, the same four counties, but for the special session Henry Jackson was in the House. The same members were in the Council and House for the second and last session, 1848. On October 5, 1846, the first Constitutional Convention assembled and submitted the results of its deliberations to the people who rejected it on the first Tuesday of April 1847. Peter A.R. Bruce, of Crawford County, and James P. Hays, of La Pointe County, were members from this district; and Chippewa and Crawford counties were represented in the second Convention by Daniel G. Fenton. Its wisdom was embodied in our present State Constitution and submitted to the people for their adoption on the second Monday of March 1848, a large majority voting for it. Under the Constitutional apportionments, the four counties of Crawford, Chippewa, St. Croix and La Pointe composed the Third Senatorial District, and the counties of Crawford and Chippewa made an Assembly District. The State was also divided into two Congressional Districts, the second embracing all the western portions and of course this valley. Five Judicial Districts were also created by the same instrument, and the fifth comprised almost one-half of the territory of the State, including Crawford, to which Chippewa was attached by judicial purposes. This arrangement of the various Senatorial, Assembly, and Congressional districts continued until 1838, nearly four years. Where then were the great populous counties of La Crosse, Monroe, and Vernon, now so potent in directing the political destinies of the State, the territory of which, with half a dozen other counties, lay between Crawford and Chippewa? D.G. Fenton was our first Senator and William T. Stirling the fist to represent us in the Assembly of the State, which assembled, as before stated, on the fifth day of June, 1848. But in 1849 we find James Fisher in the Senate and James O'Neil of Black River Falls, in the Assembly, the former for two years, and in 1850 Mr. Stirling was elected to the Assembly. Hiram A. Wright, of Prairie du Chien, was on the floor of the Senate for this wide spread district for the next term 1851-2, and William T. Price (our Billy) the first year, and Andrew Briggs, of Bad Ax, the second year, in the assembly. At the last session of 1852, the district was reorganized, and we find ourselves in the nineteenth Senatorial District, comprising the counties of Crawford, La Crosse, Bad Ax, Chippewa, St. Croix and La Pointe. Chippewa and La Crosse constituted an Assembly District. This arrangement continued four years, during which time the Honorable Benjamin Allen of Pepin, was in the Senate the first term, 1853-4, and William J. Gibson, of Black River Falls, for the next, 1855-6, and in the Assembly for 1853 we find Albert D. La Due, of La Crosse; 1854; William J. Gibson; 1855 Chase A. Stevens, of La Crosse; 1856, Dugald D. Cameron, of La Crosse. At the session of the last named year, the State was re- districted under the State census of 1855, and this valley is included in the twenty-eighth Senatorial District, composed of La Pointe, Douglas, Polk, (now Barron), St. Croix, Chippewa, Pierce, Dunn, Clark, and Brunett, while Clark, Chippewa, Eau Claire, Dunn and Pierce made an Assembly District. The Honorable William Wilson, of Menomonie, was chosen the first Senator, for one year, 1857, Daniel Mears, of St. Croix, the second term, 1858-9, Charles B. Cox, River Falls, the third, 1860-1. And our Assemblymen for those years were, 1857, Orrin T. Maxon, Prescott; 1858, Lucius Cannon Pepin; 1859, Richard Dewhurst, Neillsville; 1860, W.P. Bartlett, Eau Claire; 1861, Rodman Palmer, Chippewa Falls. This was the fourteenth session of the State Legislature, and being the year following the national census, a new organization of districts was necessary, and the counties of Jackson, Clark, Trempealeau, Buffalo, Pepin, Eau Claire, Dunn, and Chippewa were included in the thirty-second Senatorial District, while, Chippewa, Dunn and Eau Claire made one, and Buffalo, Trempealeau, and Pepin made another, Assembly District. The Honorable M.D. Bartlett of Durand, was chosen the first Senator in the thirty-second district, 1862-3; Carl C. Pope, Black River Falls, for the next term, 1864-5; and for 1866- 7, the Honorable Joseph G. Thorpe was elected. There was no change in the Senatorial district until 1871. A.W. Newman, Trempealeau, was our next Senator, 1868-9, and for the next term, 1870-1, William T. Price, Black River Falls. Our Assembly districts were represented as follows, during this period: Chippewa, Dunn and Eau Claire: 1862, Horace W. Barns, Eau Claire; 1863, William H. Smith, Eau Galle; 1864, Thaddeus C. Pound, Chippewa Falls, 1865, Francis Church, Menomonie; 1866, T.C. Pound, Chippewa Falls. Buffalo, Pepin and Trempealeau: 1862, Orlando Brown, Gilmantown; 1863, Alfred W. Newman, Trempealeau; 1864, Fayette Allen, Durand; 1865, John Burgess, Maxville; 1866, William H. Thomas, Sumner. At this session the Assembly Districts were remodeled that Pepin and Eau Claire constituted one district, and Chippewa and Dunn another. The latter was represented in 1867 by Thad C. Pound, Chippewa Falls; 1868, Samuel W Hunt, Menomonie; 1869, Thad C. Pound; 1870, Jedediah Granger, Menomonie; 1871, James A. Bate. The former, in 1867, Fayette Allen, Durand; 1868, Horace Barnes, Eau Claire; 1869, Fayette Allen, Durand; 1870, Charles Gleason, Eau Claire; 1871, Henry Cousins, Eau Claire. The apportionment of 1871 made the counties embraced in this valley one Senatorial District, the thirteenth; Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire and Pepin; while Chippewa and Eau Claire each constitute on Assembly District, and Pepin and Dunn another. The Honorable Joseph G. Thorp, of Eau Claire, represented the thirteenth district in 1872-3, and the Honorable Hiram P. Graham, of Eau Claire, in 1874-5. Chippewa County was represented in the Assembly in 1872 by John J. Jenkins; 1873, Albert E. Pound; 1874, James M. Bingham;, 1875, Thomas L. Halbert; all of Chippewa Falls. Eau Claire County was represented in 1872, by the Reverend Bradley Phillips; 1873, the Honorable William Pitt Bartlett; 1874, Thomas Carmichael; 1875, Jonathan Callahan. Dunn and Pepin was represented in 1872 by Elias P. Bailey, of Menomonie; 1873, Horace E. Houghton; 1874, Samuel Plummer, of Waterville, Pepin County; and in 1875, R.G. Flint, editor of the Dunn County News. The Blue Book, or Legislative Manual, abounds in valuable statistical and other information, and persons in possession of the consecutive number as annually issued, could easily collate the facts contained in this chapter, but very few are so fortunate, and I therefore give a complete list of the members of Congress from the several districts since the organization of the State Government. Until 1863 this valley was included in the second district, then for the next decade it was in the sixth, and since 1871 the counties of Chippewa, Dunn and Barron have composed part of the eighth, and the remainder is in the seventh. Representatives in the Congress since the Organization of the State Government 1st District William Pitt Lynde * 30th Congress 1847-49 2nd " Mason C. Darling * " " 1st " Charles Durkee 31st Congress 1849-51 2nd " Orsamus Cole " " 3rd " Jason D. Doty " " 1st " Charles Durkee 32nd Congress 1851-53 2nd " Ben C Eastman " " 3rd " John B Macy " " 1st " Daniel Wells, Jr. 33rd Congress 1853-55 2nd " C.C. Washburn " " 3rd " John B Macy " " 1st " John F Potter 34th Congress 1855-57 2nd " C.C. Washburn " " 3rd " Charles Billingshurst " " 1st " John F Potter 35th Congress 1857-59 2nd " C.C. Washburn " " 3rd " Charles Billingshurst " " 1st " John F Potter 36th Congress 1859-61 2nd " C.C. Washburn " " 3rd " Charles H Larrabee " " 1st " John F Potter 37th Congress 1861-63 2nd " Luther Hanchett ** " " 2nd " Walter D. McIndoe " " 3rd " A. Scott Sloan " " 1st " James S. Brown 38th Congress 1863-65 2nd " Ithamar C. Sloan " " 3rd " Amasa Cobb " " 4th " Charles A. Eldridge " " 5th " Ezra Wheeler " " 6th " Walter D. McIndoe " " 1st " Halbert E. Paine 39th Congress 1865-67 2nd " Ithamar C. Sloan " " 3rd " Amasa Cobb " " 4th " Charles A. Eldridge " " 5th " Philetus Sawyer " " 6th " Walter D. McIndoe " " 1st " Halbert E. Paine 40th Congress 1867-69 2nd " Benjamin F. Hopkins " " 3rd " Amasa Cobb " " 4th " Charles A. Eldridge " " 5th " Philetus Sawyer " " 6th " C.C. Washburn " " 1st " Halbert E. Paine 41st Congress 1869-71 2nd " Benjamin F. Hopkins*** " " 2nd " David Atwood " " 3rd " Amasa Cobb " " 4th " Charles A. Eldridge " " 5th " Philetus Sawyer " " 6th " C.C. Washburn " " 1st " Alex Mitchell 42nd Congress 1871-73 2nd " Gerry W. Hazelton " " 3rd " J. Allen Barber " " 4th " Charles A. Eldridge " " 5th " Philetus Sawyer " " 6th " Jeremy M. Rusk " " * Elected May 8th, and took their seats June 5th and 9th, 1848 ** Died November 24, 1862, and W.D. McIndoe elected to fill the vacancy December 30, 1862. *** Died January 1, 1870, and David Atwood elected for balance of term February 15, 1870. The Honorable J.M. Rusk was re-elected in 1872 for the 7th District and the Honorable Alex S. McDill to represent the 8th District in the 43rd Congress. The 8th Judicial District has embraced all the counties of our valley since it organization in 1853, except one year, 1861, when, by a strange freak of legislation, we were placed in the 12th District. In the 8th, has been presided over by the Honorable S.S.N. Fuller from 1854 to 1861, by the Honorable L.P. Wetherby from 1861 to 1866, by the honorable H.L. Humphrey from 1866 to 1872, and re-elected for six years.