Lafayette County WI Archives History - Books .....A Glimpse Of Pioneer Chivalry 1881
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 April 18, 2013, 6:05 pm

Book Title: History Of La Fayette County

A GLIMPSE OF PIONEER CHIVALRY.

Among those who appeared upon the scene, and contributed by his enterprise and
worth, was John Ames, who came almost before the forests renewed their foliage
or the earth had been released from winter's icy grasp. He was a Kentuckian, it
is said, and a fair embodiment of the most chivalrous type of those who first
saw light within the limits of that section of the country. While passing
through St. Louis, en route to his distant abiding-place of the future, he
became the transient guest of a Gallic Boniface, who kept open house for
travelers on the levee in that city. His capacity for entertainment, limited at
best, was materially increased by the presence of his wife, a genial, chirrupy,
fascinating little French woman, who ministered to the comfort of his guests,
and was subjected to the unvarying abuse of her legal protector. The host,
possessed of an irascible disposition, frequently levied upon the devotion of
his wife and inflicted punishment upon the defenseless woman as unchivalrous as
it was undeserved. Neither time nor occasion found him remiss in his attentions
in this behalf, and frequently his abuse was manifested in the presence of
travelers, who, while they severely condemned the conduct, studiously refrained
from interference. One day his ungovernable temper found expression in a severe
beating, and the poor woman, wearied of this constant discipline, appealed to
the by-standers for protection. No one seemed disposed to resent the assault or
defend the victim from his blows, until the cries for help assailed the hearing
of Ames, who hurried to ascertain the cause. Upon reaching the scene of her
brutal castigation, and without waiting to be informed in the premises, he threw
himself into the midst of the fray, and, hurling the cowardly Frenchman from his
point of vantage, rescued the woman and tendered her his protection. This she
willingly accepted, and, with words of womanly scorn for the graceless vagabond
who had exercised his cowardly privilege, shook off the "protection" he had
pledged in happier days, and left the house. Ames, conscious of having
vindicated his manhood according to the most approved methods, retired from the
stage of action and began preparations to resume his journey to the lead mines.
While thus occupied, the Frenchman's wife emerged from her hiding-place, and,
seeking out the whereabouts of Ames, besought him to permit her to become his
wife, with an eloquence and success that only attends the petitions of lovely
women. But he was averse to disturbing the household and advised her to remain
and seek a remedy through the uncertain channel of the law. This was not heeded,
however, but had the effect of only increasing the volume and conviction of her
oratory. She is represented to have been a woman of pronounced attractions and
intelligence, and it would seem strange in the young Kentuckian, but recently
from a land where the opposite sex are regarded with a deference bordering upon
the reverent, had he been able to resist the fascination of her charms or
sympathy for her afflictions. Scarcely any but an anchorite would have declined
the trust, and Ames proved no exception to the rule. He renewed his endeavors to
persuade her to a conclusion adverse to the plan she had projected, and, failing
to accomplish this object, consented to accept her defense. This conclusion
reached, the woman who subsequently became Mrs. Ames, dejure, as she then
regarded herself de facto, quietly got herself in readiness and became, with her
protector, a passenger on the first boat to Galena.

One bright morning the twain disappeared from the scenes that had witnessed her
trials and subsequent triumph, and, sailing out of the port of St. Louis, left
the brutal Gaul in ignorance of the turn affairs had taken. They reached Galena
in due course, and, continuing their journey, finally halted at a point on what
is now known as Ames' Branch, about three miles from Darlington, near the
present farm of John Mathews, where a home was erected and she became one of two
women who first settled in the county north of Gratiot's Grove.

The boat containing the subjects of this romantic episode had scarcely reached
the middle of the river opposite St. Louis when the husband was brought to a
full knowledge of the state of affairs as they then existed, by an officious
friend. When he realized the misfortune that had befallen his house, he hurried
to the river bank, and, by gestulations and actions expressive of his chagrin,
sought to recall the woman who had been driven from his care; but she was deaf
to entreaty, and continued her trip without dropping a tear at the memory of
what might have been, compensated for her life of troubles and abuse in the
knowledge that her affinity had materialized, and her happiness had been
consulted by a special dispensation. One would think that, thus rebuked, the
fractious Frenchman would have become resigned to his lot. and, securing another
spouse, endeavor to supply the absence of his unforgiving Traviata. Not so,
however, but, placing his affairs in a condition that enabled him to obtain a
temporary leave of absence, he started in pursuit of the departed pair, in the
hope that he might secure her return. Upon reaching their domicile, all possible
means were employed to quicken her old love into renewed life, and the
blandishments he submitted to intensify that fading affection must have been
convincing. She finally consented to forgive and forget, and, preparing herself
for the trip, began the voyage home. Upon reaching Galena, either her heart
failed or he was guilty of a repetition of that which caused her to fly him in
the first instance, and, relenting of her expressed determination, revoked the
consent then given, and went back to her modest home on Ames Branch. The sequel
attending his visitation was as unexpected as it was humiliating, and but
emphasized his disappointment in being unable to enforce his legal demands or
obtain redress for his alleged wrongs. He returned to St. Louis. He remained
there only a brief period, and, disposing of his interest, once more became a
resident of La Fayette County, remaining there until the Indians put a period to
his life temporal, and released his wife from subjection to his annoyances. He
was buried on the banks of the Branch, and his mortal remains, after slumbering
in undisturbed serenity for nearly half a century, were resurrected in the
spring of 1880 and re-interred in a neighboring churchyard.

During 1828, Charles Gear, Moses Eastman, Benoni R. Gillett, Ahab Bean and Col.
Moore came into the Territory, locating in Belmont; Noah De Vee, James Collins,
the Hulings family, Hugh R. Colter, Ephraim F. Ogden and others settled in White
Oak Springs; Mr. Duke began mining in Fayette; Thomas Kendle settled in Kendall,
where he subsequently built a mill on what was called Bonor Branch—one of the
first in the county; Benjamin Funk and Thomas Wiley made their homes in
Monticello; Col. D. M. Parkinson prepared for farming at the mouth of Wood's
Branch, in Willow Springs, and was followed into the same township, during the
same year, by James Smith, William Tate, John Tate, John Ray and S. F. M.
Fretwell, all of whom farmed or mined. Here, too, came, in 1828, George Carroll,
who opened the first farm in the township. He was from Maryland, and a nephew of
the distinguished Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, and for many years aided in
the efforts universally employed to procure the settlement and development of
the country. Col. Moore opened the Prairie Springs Hotel, in this township—one
of the three hotels then maintained in the county, these being that of
Fretwell's, that of Berry & Ransom and Col. John P. Moore's, at Prairie Springs.
Elias Shook, Samuel Paxton, Robert Paxton and wife, John Fowler and wife,
Benjamin Million and wife, Aaron Hawley and wife, Ezra Lamb, James McKnight and
some others came into Wiota, where they began to break up ground for farms, and,
by 1830, had become prosperous husbandmen. In all the townships, lead having
been once more taken in the direction of the mines, settlements were made this
year. The apparent determination of the authorities to enforce the provisions of
the Portage treaty gave confidence that settlers would be protected from attack,
and, as soon as this was assured, the wealth that lay hidden beneath the surface
ef La Fayette County was eagerly sought. The tide of emigration thus flowing
into the county was made up of miners generally, whose permanence was measured
by the quality of success which greeted their efforts, and, as a rule, the
improvements they made were of the most primitive character, consisting of
comfortless cabins, and, in some instances, "burrowing" in the ground. If
success attended their efforts, it was not always the case that they remained;
if, however, they did, they increased their facilities for securing permanent
and pronounced comfort. Farmers, on the contrary, came into the territory to
become fixtures. The cultivation of the soil was an art to which they paid
undivided attention, mining being an incident of their lives, not a necessity.
The result of all this seems to be, that, while comparatively few of the miners
amassed wealth or even the means of enjoyment for old age, the farmers, almost
without exception, are the owners of a broad domain, on which the decline of
life is passed amid ease and comfort, not to say luxury, that is justly their
portion.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF LA FAYETTE COUNTY, WISCONSIN,

CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF ITS SETTLEMENT, GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES; AN EXTENSIVE
AND MINUTE SKETCH OF ITS CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES—THEIR IMPROVEMENTS,
INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTORIES, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS AND SOCIETIES; ITS WAR RECORD,
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT MEN AND EARLY SETTLERS; THE WHOLE
PRECEDED BY A HISTORY OF WISCONSIN, STATISTICS OF THE STATE, AND AN ABSTRACT OF
ITS LAWS AND CONSTITUTION AND OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY.
MDCCCLXXXI. [1881]


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