HISTORIES: History of Buffalo & Pepin Counties, WI, 1919 ********************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor,or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. Submitted by: oldstufn@hotmail.com 11/29/05 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ********************************************************************* Transcribed from the "History of Buffalo and Pepin Counties, Wisconsin, 1919" HISTORY OF BUFFALO AND PEPIN COUNTIES WISCONSIN COMPILED BY FRANKLYN CURTISS-WEDGE ILLUSTRATED WINONA, MINN. H.C.COOPER, JR., & CO. 1919 PREFACE The aim of this work is to presenting an available form certain facts in the life of Buffalo and Pepin counties which have been important in shaping the destinies of this important region. A volume of this kind can hope to do but little more than to present the groundwork for future study, investigation and research; and in selecting from the vast amount of material available such material as could be contained within the limits of this volume, it has seemed wise to present such material as is not readily accessible to the average reader rather than such material as is already contained in official local records where all may read it. The difficulties of the present undertaking have been many. The people of the two counties have been engaged in a World War, the toil and stress and anxieties of the citizens have been for the Great Conflict, the leading men who would otherwise have devoted considerable time to assisting with the history have been giving of their talents and energies to the utmost limit in the various War Activities. But in spite of the handicaps it is believed that this book will most admirably serve its purpose of preserving many important facts and stimulate interest in the gathering of others. The biographies should prove of especial value. It is in the lives of its people that the real story of a region is told. With the triumph of Democracy throughout the world, people are coming to realize more and more that the history of human progress is written not in officialdom, but in private lives. The biographies here presented have been gathered with the greatest care, and have been submitted for verification to the persons originally furnishing the information. As it is obviously impossible for the publishers to investigate the accuracy of biographical information furnished, responsibility for the fact contained in the sketches rests with the families themselves and not with the publishers. It is believed, however, that a high degree of accuracy has been obtained. These family records will be of constantly increasing importance, and countless generations to come will be benefited by the ancestral data thus preserved. While the facts as to names, dates and events have been gathered from the families and subjects themselves, all personal estimates of character, worth, standing and accomplishments are the work of the editors, and inserted after consultation with various members of the board The publishers are greatly indebted to Lawrence Kessinger, whose “History of Buffalo County” (Alma, 1888) is the basis for many of the chapters in this work. Credit should also be given to “The History of Northern Wisconsin,” published by A.T. Andreas (The Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1881); to the “Historical and Biographical Album of the Chippewa Valley,” edited by George Forrester (A. Warner, Chicago, 1891-92); to “Winona and Its Environs on the Mississippi,” by Lafayette H. Bunnell, M.D. (Winona, 1897); and to “The History of Chippewa Valley,” by T.E. Randall (Eau Claire, 1875). Hundreds of other authorities have also been consulted. Many people throughout the counties have rendered substantial aid by furnishing information desired, and in answering letters in regard to subjects of local interest. The fact that there are many others who could have assisted by sending reminiscences and information, but who have failed to reply to the requests made of them, has not detracted from the excellent results of the efforts of those who have so generously assisted. No work of this kind can be without errors; no work of such a nature can escape serious criticism. We believe, however, that this volume is comprehensive, reliable, accurate and interesting, a volume that will increase in value as the years go by and its scope is more fully realized, and a work that will be a credit to the patrons whose literary and financial assistance has made the publication possible. Our association with the people of the counties for over two years has been a most pleasant one. We have conscientiously and faithfully performed our task of preserving for the future centuries the story of the beginnings and progress of this region; and in placing the history in the hands of those whom it most concerns, our hope is that is will increase the interest that all should feel in the story of the state and nation, and that the work done by the pioneers will be an inspiration to the countless generations yet to enjoy the fruits of the efforts that are herein described. H.C. COOPER, JR., & CO. Chapters XVIII - XXI Pepin County P. 958 - 1038 Pepin County is located in the western part of Wisconsin, its neighboring counties being Dunn and Pierce on the north, Buffalo on the south and east, and Pierce on the north and west. The neighboring Minnesota counties are Goodhue and Wabasha. Its northern boundary is the line between Towns 25 and 26, and the line north of Sections 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, Town 24, Range 15 west, and Sections 25 and 26, Town 24, Range 16 west. Its eastern boundary is the line between Ranges 10 and 11, and the Chippewa River, which flows nearly southerly from the northwest corner of Range 13, Town 24, bearing slightly to west until it enters the Mississippi River in Range 14, Town 22. Its southern boundary is the line between Towns 24 and 25, and Lake Pepin almost due southeast from the northwest corner of Section 25, Town 24, Range 16 west, until it receives the Chippewa in Town 22, Range 14. Its western boundary is Lake Pepin and the line between Ranges 14 and 15. The Chippewa River runs across the country from northeast to southwest, consequently the drainage is good and the natural advantages are great. The general surface of the country is level, though some portions of it are slightly undulating. East of the Chippewa River are found Cranberry, Fall, Dutch and Bear creeks; the three former flowing northward nearly, and entering the Chippewa in the vicinity of Meridian, Dunn County, and the latter flowing due northwest and entering the Chippewa in the town of Durand, on Section 16, Range 13 west. Bear Creek has its source in Buffalo County; the others find their sources in Pepin County, and are formed by springs in the marshes on the lower lands. On each side of Cranberry Creek are found various small cranberry marshes, hence, its name. On the west side of the Chippewa River, the first stream of any importance is the Eau Galle River, which runs a little east of south, and enters the Chippewa in the town of Waterville, on Section 30, Range 13 west. This river, in former days, bore a great amount of pine lumber from the northern counties, all of which entered the Chippewa in Pepin County. The next stream is the little Missouri Creek, which has it source in Dunn County, and flows nearly southward and enters into the Eau Galle about half a mile from its mouth, on Section 7, Town 25, Range 13. The next stream is the Arkansaw Creek, which has its source in the northwest corner of the town of Waterville, on Section 6. Its general direction is due southeast and empties into the Eau Galle on Section 24, Town 25, Range 14. The next stream is th Porcupine Creek, which has its source in Pierce County, and flowing in a general southeasterly direction, empties in Plum Creek on Section 17, Town 24, Range 4. The next stream west is Plum Creek, which also has a general southeasterly direction, and empties into the Chippewa River on Section 26, Town 24, Range 14. The next stream is Little Plum Creek, which has its source on Section 30, Town 24, Range 14, flow also in a southeasterly direction and empties into Plum Creek about half a mile from its mouth. Roaring Creek has its source on Section 1, Town 23, Range 15, and runs in a southeasterly direction and empties into Lake Pepin, near its southern end, on Section 31, Town 23, Range 14. Lost Creek has its source on Section 2, Town 23, Range 15. This stream runs due south and loses itself about a mile north of Lake Pepin. Bogus Creek has its source on Section 4, Town 23, Range 15, flows due south and empties into the lake on Section 21, Town 23, Range 15. Near the central part of the county from the middle of Section 36, in the town of Waterville, and extending through Sections 1, 2, and 11, in the town of Frankfort, is Dead Lake. This lake is about three miles in length by one half mile in width, and is supplied by springs. Its outlet is the Chippewa River. The Chippewa River and Eau Galle River are navigable for rafts, and the former was once navigable for boats of small tonnage. All of the above streams afford abundant water-power, a resource, as yet, but litle used, although a number of flour mills, and a few sawmills, have been erected at various times. Most of the creeks are formed by springs, and as most of them are stocked, trout is quite plentiful. The two larger rivers, and Lake Pepin, furnish many fish, and at Pepin the fishing industry reaches large proportions. The eastern portion of the county is mostly prairie, originally interspersed with oak openings, hay marshes and tamarack swamps. The central portion in the Eau Galle and Chippewa bottoms originally consisted of a grat natural meadow. The western portion is more rolling, and was originally covered with hardwood timber such as oak, ash, elm, maple, basswood, butternut and birch, forming a part of the "Big Woods". The soil in the eastern portion is a rich loam. In the region originally timbered it is a heavy loam with clay subsoil. Geologically, there is much of interest concerning Pepin County. There is found here, quite generally the top of the Potsdam sandstone, and the bottom of the Magnesian limestone. The bed-rocks have been seen cropping out in places in the Chippewa River. The Potsdam sandstone, varying from 100 to 150 feet in thickness, which appears to be filled up with a great many kinds of trilobites and various kinds of insects, the nearer the top of the sandstone the more trilobites, then comes for a few feet in thickness a rather impure limestone on the hill-tops, the county being rather broken, with ranges of high hills on the east side of the Chippewa River. The soil, between the hills, varies from a few feet to about one hundred feet in thickness above the sandstone, and appears to be made up of drift earth and stones of many kinds. It appears in many places like a sand bar in a river. Stones of nearly every formation, from small pebbles to large syenite and granite bowlders of two thousand pounds or more in wieght, are scattered throughout the valleys. The soils are of various kinds, from a course sand to the finest black muck. The sandstones are a very fair rock for building purposes. Some of the limestone makes a first class lime for plastering purposes. All of these rocks where they crop out show marks of water and ice. On the top of the hills are found large quantities of porous flint rocks, which are full of fossil shells, also bowlders of quartz, syenite, granite, etc., scattered over the surface. On the west side of the Chippewa River the rocks are very much the same, but the limestone becomes thicker to the westward, and the sandstones are very rarely brought to view. Twenty or thirty milse west of the Chippewa River, the limestone reaches the thickness of 400 feet and over, and in many places the rocks are almost entirely made up of shells, different from what are found on the east side of the river. These shells vary in size from the size of a man's thumb nail to two inches across. The soil in this part of the country is mostly made from the fragments and decay of lime rocks, but even here at an elevation from 500 to 700 feet above the Chippewa, the high lands are strewn with these large bowlders. The limestone on the west side of the Chippewa River is in many places well adapted for building purposes, and a good quality of lime is made from the same. The lands west of the Chippewa River, in the Magnesian limestone area, was originally thickly set with a heavy growth of hardwood timber, and is well watered with springs. About one-half of the towns of Waterville, Stockholm, Frankfort and Pepin extend into the limestone region, and the other half runs to the river, and Lake Pepin occupying the sandy soils of all kinds. Mounds abound in various places thoughout the county. A few have been surveyed and some have been opened by local investigators, and skeletons and stone implements found. The land now included in Pepin County was claimed by Wabasha's band of Indians. Wabasha's Indians were Dakotas, the Dakotas, as a branch of the great Siouan family, being commonly called the Sioux. The claim of these Dakotas was, however, disputed by the Chippewa, who made many a murderous foray down the Chippewa Valley against their ancient enemies. The Dakotas relinquished thier claim by a treaty signed Dec. 29, 1837, but war parties continued to surge back and forth through the valley, several battle parties passing through the valley as late as 1856. After the Minnesota massacre of 1862, the indians practically disappeared from this region. The first white men to wiew the county were Father Louis Hennepin and his two companions, in 1680. The first white men to establish themselves in the county were Nicholas Perrot, and his companions, who probably about 1686, possible had a fort near the present village of Stockholm. There was issued the proclamation claiming the upper Mississippi in the name of the King of France. The first white man to ascend the Chippewa for any considerable distance was Jonathan Carver, in 1767. The first settler in the county was John McCain, who selected a claim in what is now Pepin Township, in 1844, and moved onto it in 1846. In that year he erected a log cabin, assisted by his cousin, W.B. Newcomb, who at the same time selected a claim on the present site of Pepin Village, though he did not do much toward its development until several years later. In the fall of 1847 Robert, William, Samuel, and J. Hix came from Illinois, and settled four miles east of McCain on Roaring Creek, near the trail leading up the Chippewa River, and the energy and public spirit displayed by these men in laying out and working the roads in different directions, soon had the effect to settle the country, and their prospect seemed hopeful. In 1848 James White, from Beloit, settled west, and S. Newcomb, from Fort Madison, Iowa, settled two miles north of the McCain farm. Truman Curtis came in 1849, and settled in the northern part of the county, in the present town of Waubeek. Pepin County was formed from Dunn County, by a special act of the legislature, approved Feb. 25, 1858. This act also located the county seat on Section 25, in Township 23, of Range 15 west, the village of Pepin. By the same act, the Governor was requested to appoint the necessary county officers, who were to serve until the first day of the following January. He appointed Henry D. Barron, county judge; N.W. Grippin, clerk of the court; Benjamin Allen, district attorney; Ebenezer Lathrop, treasurer; Edward Livingston, sheriff; U.B. Shaver, clerk of the board of supervisors; Lucius Cannon, register of deeds; J.C. Wolcott, surveyor; W.F.Holbrook, coroner. The first electionfor county officers occured Nov. 2, 1858, and resulted in the selection of Lyman Gale, sheriff; George B. Rickard, treasurer; M.B. Axtell, district attorney; U.B. Shaver, county clerk; B.T. Hastings, clerk of the court; A.W. Miller, surveyer. The first meeting of the board of supervisors was held at Pepin, March 15, 1858. The supervisors were J.C. Davis from Pepin Township and L.G. Wood from Bear Creek Township, the clerk being U.B. Shaver. Davis was a young attorney of Pepin, who soon after moved to Wabasha. Wood and Shaver were both surveyors. W.F. Holbrook, of Pepin, was present at the meeting and attempted to take part in it. On motion of Wood, Davis was made chairman. The bonds of the clerk and treasurer were approved. Wood introduced a resolution creating the towns of Albany, Lima, Waubeek, and Frankfort, and a motion to adopt the resolution was made by Mr. Holbrook. But he was ruled out, and the motion was lost, Mr. Wood voting for it, and Mr. Davis against it. At the township election in April, 1858, L.G.W. Wood was chosen chairman of Bear Creek Township, and H.D. Barron, of Pepin. Although the act of creating the towns of Albany, Lima, and Frankfort had not passed the previous county board, the towns of Albany and Lima made an attempt at organization. Under this attempted orginization they did not attempt to seat members of the county board, but they did attempt to secure representation on the board of equalization. The assessor elected from Bear Creek was V.W. Dorin, the assessor elected from Pepin was P.M. McInerney. Emerson M. Crandall claimed to be the assessor from Albany and Charles Gwiss from Lima. These four, together with the county clerk, U.B. Shaver, met at Pepin Sept. 20, 1858, for the purpose of equalizing the county taxes. But the clerk refused to recognize Messrs. Crandall and Gwiss, as they had no credentials, and Mr. Dorwin, who believed that they should be given membership in the board, withdrew from the meeting with them. Whereupon, Mr. McInerney took the chair and adjourned the meeting until the next day, at which time he sat alone as the equalization board rendered the opinion that, owing to the fact that there was so little personal property in Bear Creek Township, no reduction should be made in the valuation per acre placed on real estate. The chairmen of the county board have been: 1858- J.C. Davis; 1859 - Henry D. Barron and Henry Barber; 1860 -Henry Barber; 1861- S.D. Washburn; 1862 - Henry Barber; 1863 - S.L. Plummer and Henry Barber; 1864-69 - Henry Barber; 1870- 1874- C.W. Dorin; 1875-1878 George Tarrant; 1879-1882 -V.W. Dorin; 1883-1885- S.L. Plummer; 1886- W.H. Huntington; 1887-88- V.W. Dorin; 1889- P.J.Ryan; 1890- A.R. Dorin; 1891-1892- S.L. Hunstable; 1893- D.C. Topping; 1894- C.M. Hilliard; 1895- P.J. Ryan; 1896- G. Dowd; 1897-1900- S.L. Hunstable; 1901- Charles Richardson; 1902-1906 Fred Knaack, 1907-1908 M. Dorwin; 1908- W.A. Parker; 1910-1911 E.J. Ryan; 1912 E.J. Parker; 1913- Fred Pittman; 1914-1916- M. Dorwin; 1917- John Brunner, Jr.; 1918- M. Dorwin. The rapid growth of Durand caused that place to aspire to county seat honors. A vote taken in November, 1859, resulted in a vote of 348 in favor of the removal from Pepin to Durand, and 351 against it. The question was again before the voters in November, 1861, and the decision reversed, by a vote of 429 in favor of the removal, and 327 against it. The seat of government was accordingly taken before the courts. After long litigation, a decision was rendered by the courts in 1867, confirming the removal. In a few years Arkansas became an aspirant for county seat honors, and as early as 1872, when the building of the courthouse was considered, petitions were presented to the county board, asking for the removal, before the county should be put to the expense of erecting a building on a site which later might have to be changed. In November, 1881, the voters were called upon to consider the question of removing the county seat to Arkansas, a proposition which was decided favorably by a vote of 697 to 648. The next year the question of removing the county seat back to Durand was voted upon, but was defeated by a vote of 357 for the proposition, and 764 against it. But in 1886 a vote was again taken on removing the county seat back to Durand, and this time a favorable decision was reached by a vote of 937 to 618. The courthouse, a sightly structure of simple lines, standing on a favorable site, was started in 1873, and completed the next year, at a cost of about $7000. The first Judge to preside in Pepin County was S.S.N. Fuller. He held court at Pepin Village in 1858. Judge Fuller resigned Oct. 1, 1860. Henry D. Barron was appointed. He was followed by L.P. Wetherby, who served one term. Then came H.L. Humphrey, who was twice elected. Judge Humphrey resigned March 1, 1877, to enter Congress. Then came the famous fight for the position which is still a conspicuous phase in western Wisconsin politics. John C. Spooner strongly favored Egbert B. Bundy, of Menomonie. He could not persuade the Governor to appoint him, but he did obtain the Governor's promise not to appoint anyone. A convention was called at Baldwin, and several candidated were brought forward. In the contest John Fraser and Horace E. Houghton, of Durand, both took a prominent part. Seventy eight ballots were taken before Judge Bundy was chosen as the candidate. The disgruntled ones at once put Horace E. Houghton in the field as a candidate, but he was defeated. Judge Bundy served until Jan. 1, 1897, in all nearly twenty years. He was followed by E.W. Helms. Judge Helmes resigned Jan. 1, 1914, and George Thompson of Thompson, has since been on the bench. When Pepin County was created in 1858, it was included in the eighth Judicial Circuit, which was composed of the counties of Eau Claire, Chippewa, Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, St.Croix, Polk ( to which Burnett was attached for judicial purposes), LaPointe and Douglas. In 1876, the circuit was reduced to St. Croix, Pierce, Dunn, and Pepin counties; the Thirteenth circuit, created that year, taking Eau Claire from the Eighth; Buffalo and Trempealeau from the Sixth. The Thirteeth Circuit went out of existance in 1878, and the counties of Eau Claire and Buffalo were placed in the Eighth, while Trempealeau was placed in the Sixth. In 1878, the Eighth was made to consist of the counties of Eau Claire, Dunn, St. Croix, Pierce, Pepin and Buffalo. Eau Claire was taken with Clark and Jackson in 1891 to form the Seventeenth, leaving the Eighth with its present counties of St. Croix, Pierce, Dunn, Pepin and Buffalo. Among the early attorneys of Pepin County were H.C. Williams, M.D. Bartlett, Frank Clark, H.D. Barron, A.D. Gray, H.E. Houghton, and John Fraser. Private banking houses were started in Pepin in the fifties, one being the Oakwood Bank, of which B. O'Connor was president and A.C. Allen cashier; and the other being the Chippewa Bank, of which E. Lathrop was president and J.C. Mann cashier. These institutions loaned money to the pre-emptors at a high rate of interest, and also dealt in land warrants. They were in existance but a few years. The oldest bank in the county is the Bank of Durand, founded in 1884. The next is the First National Bank of Durand, founded as the State Bank of Durand in 1890. The First National Bank of Pepin was founded as the State Bank of Pepin in 1911. In the past ten years, the banking business of Pepin County has increased about fourfold. In 1905, the Bank of Durand had a capital of $25,000, surplus and undivided profits of $12,033.12; deposits of $206,988.34; loans and discounts of $184,240.32. The State Bank of Durand has a capital of $25,000; surplus and undivided profits of $3251.55; deposits of $66,109.47; loans and discounts $63,769.49. The total for the county was: Capital, $50,000; surplus and undivided profits, $15,284.67; deposits $273,097.81; loans and discounts, $248,009.81. In 1910, the Bank of Durand had a capital of $25,000; surplus and undivided profits of $25,946.46; deposits of $360,828.32; loans and discounts of $278,340.99. The State Bank of Durand had a capital of $25,000; surplus and undivided profits of $3,973.11; deposits of $163,251.00; loans and discounts of $142,870.86. The total for the county was: Capital $50,000; surplus and undivided profits, $29,919.57; deposits, $524,079.32; loans and discounts, $421,211.85. Much progress in banking was made in the next five years. In 1915 the Bank of Durand had a capital of $25,000; surplus and undivided profits of $32,624.96; deposits of $441,660.62; loans and discounts of $418,642.64. The First National Bank of Pepin had a capital of $35,000; surplus and undivided profits of $12,880.14; deposits of $258,295.65; loans and discounts of $236,190.79. The First National Bank of Pepin had a capital of $25,000; surplus and undivided profits of $2,791.72; deposits of $94,577.66; loans and discounts of $96,487.60. The total for the county was: Capital, $85,000; surplus and undivided profits$48,296.82; deposits $794,533.97; loans and discounts, $751,321.03. When Pepin County was created in 1858, it had a population of less than 2000. In 1860, the population was 2,392, in 1870 it was 4,659; in 1880 it was 6,226; in 1890 it was 6,932; in 1895 it was 7,567; in 1900 it was 7,905; in 1905 it was 7,569; in 1910 it was 7,577; and at the present time it is probably not much changed. The population of the various towns, cities and villages at the various periods of the county's developement are as follows: Albany: 1860 - 104; 1870 - 275; 1880 - 431; 1890 - 459; 1895 - 568; 1900 - 650; 1905 - 612; 1910 - 624. Durand City (included in Durand Township in Census of 1860 and 1870): 1860 - 642; 1890 - 1,154; 1895 - 1,372 (first ward, 544; second ward, 828); 1900 - 1,458; 1905 - 1,359 (first ward, 563; second ward, 796); 1900- 1,503 (first ward, 588; second ward, 914). Durand Township: 1860 - 427 (including Durand Village); 1870 - 917 (including Durand Village); 1880 - 642; (877 with Durand Village); 1890 - 253; 1895 - 250; 1900 - 267; 1905 - 247; 1910 - 236. Frankfort: 1860 - 251; 1870 - 340; 1880 - 639; 1890 - 648; 1895 - 775; 1900 - 877; 1905 - 888; 1910 - 856. Lima: 1860 - 175; 1870 - 477; 1880 - 605; 1890 - 765; 1895 - 748; 1900 - 743; 1905 - 763; 1910 - 730. Pepin: 1860 - 867; 1870 - 956; 1880 - 1,515; 1890 - 1,491; 1895 - 1,194 (with village, 1,569); 1900 - 1,142; 1905 - 1,071; 1910 - 1,023. Pepin Village (included in Pepin Township in previous censuses): 1895 - 375; 1900 - 407; 1905 - 398; 1910 - 397. Stockholm: 1860 - 209; 1870 - 409; 1880 - 763; 1890 - 711; 1895 - 743; 1900 - 671; 1905 - 396; 1910 - 392. Stockholm Village (included in Stockholm Township in previous censuses): 1905 - 244; 1910 - 204. Waterville: 1870 - 835; 1880 - 1,197; 1890 - 1,287; 1895 - 1,382; 1900 - 1,522; 1905 - 1,446; 1910 - 1,462. Waubeck Township: 1870 - 360; 1880 - 197; 1890 - 164; 1895 - 160; 1900 - 168; 1905 - 145; 1910 - 150. Agriculture on its fertile acres, and logging on the Chippewa have been the principal industries in Chippewa County since its first settlement, and of these agriculture has taken a predominating place. In 1860 there were 25,456 acres of land in farms in Pepin County. This would be but little more than two sections more than one complete government townshiop, a government township containing 23,040 acres. Of this land, but 5,271 acres were under cultivation, a tract which if all the cultivated area were contiguous would be less than three miles square. The cash value of the farms of the county was estimated at $228,780, while the value of the implements and machinery was estimated at $10,354. There were but 191 horses and two mules. Oxen were still being used to a considerable extent, there being 206 in the county. The milch cows numbered 306, and the steers, bulls and calves 550. There were but 30 sheep in the county, but the swine industry had become important, there being 1,391 hogs, a little more than one for every two people in the county. The total live stock in the county had an estimated value of $35,543. Corn was the principal crop, there being 27,910 bushels of corn, 19,775 bushels of potatoes, 16,741 bushels of wheat, 13,728 bushels of oats, and 164 bushels of rye. An estimate of the peas and beans raised was 364 bushels. The tobacco, all grown for home use, amounted to about fifty pounds. The thirty sheep produced 70 pounds of wool, all used at home. The story of agriculture in the county since then is briefly told in the statistics of the United States census as follows: 1870. Number of farms, 471; under three acres, 8; from 3 to 9 acres inclusive, 28; from 10 to 19 acres inclusive, 59; from 20 to 49 acres inclusive, 218; from 50 to 99 acres inclusive, 124; from 100 to 500 acres inclusive, 34. 1880. Number of farms, 902; from 3 to 9 acres inclusive, 5; from 10 to 19 acres inclusive, 18; from 20 to 49 acres inclusive, 172; from 50 to 99 acres inclusive, 324; from 100 to 499 acres inclusive, 381; from 500 to 999 acres inclusive, 2. 1890. Number of farms, 964; from 3 to 9 acres inclusive, 3; from 10 to 19 acres inclusive, 9; from 20 to 49 acres inclusive, 204; from 50 to 99 acres inclusive, 293; from 100 to 499 acres inclusive, 449; from 500 to 999 acres inclusive, 5; over 1000 acres, 1. 1900. Number of farms, 1054; under 3 acres, 5; from 3 to 9 acres inclusive, 15; from 10 to 19 acres inclusive, 10; from 20 to 49 acres inclusive, 168; from 50 to 99 acres inclusive, 278; from 100 to 499 acres inclusive, 578; from 500 to 999 acres inclusive, 5. 1910. Number of farms, 1038; under 3 acres, 3; from 3 to 9 acres, inclusive 19; form 10 to 19 acres, inclusive 33; from 20 to 49 acres, inclusive 150; from 50 to 99 acres, inclusive 259; from 100 to 499 acres, inclusive 564; from 500 to 999 acres, inclusive 10. In the half century from 1860 to 1910 the cultivated area increased from 5,271 acres to 61,500 acres, and the value of the farm land and buildings increased from $228,780 to $4,931,201. Oxen: 1870 - 491; 1880 - 142; 1890 - 94. Dairy cows: 1870 - 1,298; 1880 - 2,275; 1890 - 3,455; 1900 - 4,062; 1910 - 6,593. Horses: 1870 - 958; 1880 - 1,664; 1890 - 2,438; 1900 - 2,775; 1910 - 3,406. Asses and burros: 1870 - 30; 1880 - 144; 1890 - 82; 1900 - 28; 1910 - 11. Swine: 1870 - 2,818; 1880 - 3,415; 1890 - 6,712; 1900 - 14,316; 1910 - 12,495. Sheep: 1870 - 2,746; 1880 - 3,560; 1890 - 4,159; 1900 - 5,046; 1910 - 7,572. Corn: 1870 - 108,232 bushels; 1880 - 158,013 bushels, 5,553 acres; 1890 - 268,431 bushels, 9,803 acres; 1900 - 345,290 bushels, 11,581 acres; 1910 - 314,305 bushels, 10,470 acres. Oats: 1870 - 79,378 bushels; 1880 - 135,541 bushels, 4,125 acres; 1890 - 244,897 bushels, 7,175 acres; 1900 - 446,720 bushels, 12,111 acres; 1910 - 411,502 bushels, 12,800 acres. Barley: 1870 - 7,419 bushels; 1880 - 9,170 bushels, 357 acres; 1890 - 42,450 bushels, 1,529 acres; 1900 - 190,750 bushels, 6,736 acres; 1910 - 247,875 bushels, 9,511 acres. Wheat; 1870 - 97,990 bushels; 1880 - 184,396 bushels, 15,345 acres; 1890 - 124,447 bushels, 7,402 acres; 1900 - 93,510 bushels, 5,420 acres; 1910 - 40,996 bushels, 1,803 acres. Rye: 1870 - 4,774 bushels; 1880 - 16,521 bushels, 1,434 acres; 1890 - 28,250 bushels, 2,066 acres; 1900: 45,490 bushels, 4,260 acres; 1910 - 50,964 bushels, 39,32 acres. Buckwheat: 1870 - 5,086 bushels; 1880 - 2,717 bushels, 224 acres; 1890 - 9,985 bushels, 818 acres; 1900 - 8,140, 554 acres; 1910 - 1,907 bushels, 128 acres. Potatoes: 1870 - 27,187 bushels; 1880 - 47,313 bushels; 1890 - 96,750 bushels, 812 acres; 1900 - 79,713 bushels, 723 acres; 1910 - 66,610 bushels, 514 acres. The annual report of George Schmidt, assessor of incomes, for the year of 1917, when the patriotic farmers of Pepin County were putting forth their best efforts to assist in feeding the country contains many items of great interest. In that year there were no less than 3,974 horses in the county divided as follows: Albany, 633; Durand, 227; Frankfort, 486; Lima, 577; Pepin, 705; Stockholm, 299; Waterville, 718; Waubeek, 153; Durand City, 118; Pepin Village, 37; Stockholm Village, 21. The meat cattle were numbered at 12,168 as follows: Albany, 1,671; Durand, 801; Frankfort, 1,814; Lima, 1,762; Pepin, 2,406; Stockholm, 785; Waterville, 2,319; Waubeek, 439; Durand City, 78; Pepin Village, 29; Stockholm Village, 64. There were 4,199 sheep assessed in the county, divided as follows: Albany, 876; Durand, 375; Frankfort, 804; Lima, 272; Pepin, 874; Stockholm, none; Waterville, 910; Waubeek, 88; Durand City, Pepin Village and Stockholm Village, none. The swine numbered 3,155 as follows: Albany,499; Durand,219; Frankfort, 304; Lima, 554; Pepin, 578; Stockholm, 152; Waterville, 700; Waubeek, 142; Durand City, 7; Pepin and Stockholm Villages, 7. There are 421 automobiles divided as follows: Albany, 36; Durand, 17; Frankfort, 41; Lima, 46; Pepin, 66; Stockholm, 27; Waterville, 68; Waubeek, 68; Durand City, 69; Pepin Village, 27; Stockholm Village, 17. Horticulture is proving an industry of icreasing importance. In 1890 there were about 1,000 trees in the county yielding about 600 bushels. Now there are over 10,000 trees yielding more than 12,000 bushels annually. A few cherries and plums are grown for home use. The making of maple sugar for home use has continued since the early days, and some sugar and syrup are now shipped to nearby cities. The Pepin County Agricultural Society was organized in Durand in March, 1878. The first officers were: President, S.L. Plummer; secretary, W.H.H. Matteson; treasurer, George Tarrant. Shortly after its formation the citizens of Durand fitted up the grounds with funds raised by subscription, and the first fair was held in September of the same year. There is a fine half-mile track, a good grandstand and other buildings, the grounds covering an area of 40 acres. The fairs are well conducted, and are welll supported and patronised by the local public. Three tragedies of more than local interest have marked the history of Pepin County, and till furnish subjects of discussion and speculation, as well as dispute and some acrimony. The first was the murder of Ira Bradley Wheeler. Wheeler, commonly called "Brad," was a man about forty years old, who lived on the banks of the Chippewa, at Five Mile Bluff, three miles west of Pepin Village. His wife Margaret E., usually called "Mag," was a comely young woman of twenty -three. They had two children. A young man named James E. Carter, lived with them, and he and Wheeler supplied the river steamboats with fuel. The neighborhood was a friendly one, and the three were accustomed to spend the evenings with their friends playing cards. On Saturday, March 24, 1866, they were preparing to go to the home of Carter's sister for that purpose, when Mrs. Wheeler began to upbraid her husband with making a practice of cheating. A bitter quarrel ensued in which Carter took Mrs. Wheeler's part. Words led to blows, and in the melee, Wheeler was killed. Carter and Mrs. Wheeler, fearing the consequences of their act, dropped Wheeler into a hole in the ice, and then backed Wheeler's horse and old cutter in the hole, to give the impression that he had been accidentally drowned. Carter and Mrs. Wheeler were arrested on suspicion, but were dismissed for lack of evidence. Carter continued to live at the Wheeler home. When the ice went out in the spring, the body was found, and the inquest revealed that Wheeler had met death from a blow on the head, probably inflicted with a hatchet or a gun barrel. Carter and Mrs. Wheeler were indicted, and taken to Eua Claire to await trial. A change of venue was taken first to Dunn County and then to La Crosse County, where the prisoners came up for trial in May, 1867. District Attorney John Frazier conducted the prosecution, assisted by Allan Dawson, of Hudson. The prisoners were defended by Alex Meggett, of Eau Claire, and J.W. Losey, of La Crosse. Both pleaded not guilty, but during the trial, Carter withdrew his plea, and confessed that he had committed the deed with a gun barrel after Wheeler had attacked him with a club. The jury, however, believed that he was shielding Mrs. Wheeler, and found them both guilty of murder in the first degree. They were consequently sentenced to life imprisonment. Carter started to serve out his sentence, but the case of Mrs. Wheeler was appealed and went to the Supreme Court (4th Wisconsin, 52). In the meantime she was cared for in the home of the sheriff of Eau Claire County. A writ of habeus corpus was granted and she was released, but she was immediately rearrested by an officer of Pepin County. Escaping, she fled south with a former suitor, and was married. No effort was made to follow her. She died at Venice, Ill., in April, 1891. After serving for several years, Carter applied for a pardon, which was granted in the summer of 1874. He claimed that Mrs. Wheeler had struck the fatal blow with a hatchet, that he had pleaded guilty at the advice of friends and from a sense of chivalry, and that Mrs. Wheeler had broken her promise to him that in case he took the blame, she would be faithful to him, and in due time use every effort to secure him a pardon. Being released, Carter became a decent and respectable citizen, married, and lived a useful life as foreman of a lumber mill on the Chippewa. Charles G. Coleman, former sheriff of Pepin County, and Milton Coleman, deputy sheriff of Dunn County, were shot and instantly killed on July 10, 1881, by Edward and Alonzo Maxwell, alias Williams, notorious criminals. As the result of this crime, Edward Maxwell was lynched in the courthouse yard at Durand, Nov. 19, 1881. The Maxwell brothers, "Ed" and "Lon", were the sons of a refugee family, which arrived in Illinois at the beginning of the Civil War. Beginning with petty thieving, the boys soon became burglars, horse thieves, gunmen and jail-breakers. As the result of their crimes "Ed" was sentenced to six years and "Lon" to three years in the penitentiary. Upon his release, "Lon" lived in various towns in the Chippewa pineries, mixing in various crimes, but escaping conviction. Upon the release of "Ed," the two went to Illinois, and engaged in horse stealing once more. At last, cornered in a schoolhouse by a posse, they fought their way out, and came to this region. A general alarm was sent out, and all the officials in the Chippewa Valley were on the lookout for the criminals. The recovery of an abandoned horse and buggy by Deputy Sheriff Miletus Knight confirmed the belief that they were in this region. Consequently,when on Sunday, July 10. 1881, two strangers made inquiries of Frank Goodrich as to the location of the jail and the whereabouts of Knight, and had William Goodrich bring them across the river, the authorities decided to investigate. Milton Coleman, who was on his way to his home in Dunn County from Wabasha, where he had been after another prisoner, enlisted the services of his brother, Charles G., a resident of Durand, and the two started out after the strangers. Knowing the desperate character of the Maxwell brothers they went well armed. The criminals were encountered in the upper part of the town, and shots were exchanged, both of the Colemans being killed and both of the Maxwells wounded. The Maxwells made their escape and continued their career in Pike and Calhoun coutnies, Illinois. In the latter county, to escape capture, they killed the sheriff and wounded two members of his posse and escaped to Nebraska. There they took up their home with a farmer living near Grand Island, in Hall County. Suspicious of their identity, the sheriff of that county went to the house with a posse, pretending to be a hunter, accompanied by friends. In this manner he succeeded in arresting "Ed," but "Lon" escaped. "Ed" was brought back to Durand. Then followed the most dramatic incident in the history of the county. An eye witness describes the event as follows: Edward Maxwell, today, waived examination before an earthly judge, and in ten minutes was summoned before the Eternal Judge. He was hanged by a crowd of excited Pepin and Dunn county citizens, at 2:15 in the afternoon, in front of at least 500 people, among whom were the brother, widow and children of one of his victims. The jail in Durand, a common two-story frame house, with iron gratings at the windows and wooden ones inside, a flimsy, insecure structure throughout, stands on a little eminence about a block and a half from the courthouse. The courthouse is surrounded by a large yard in which are several small trees and one large tree, one with a projecting limb reaching to the walls of the building. When I reached the yard, I found a number of people therein, all talking about Maxwell, and all waiting patiently, though it was far from warm and there were several inches of snow on the ground, for a sight of the prisoner when he should be brought out for his preliminary examination. Most of those gathered there seemed like farmers or lumbermen from out of town, and there was a fair sprinkling of women and children. As the minutes passed the crowd augmented, and when two o'clock came, the courtroom upstairs - a small apartment at best - was crowded to suffocation. As Maxwell, cool and collected as he was yesterday, when he landed from a skiff in the midst of a crowd on the river-bank and not showing the faintest trace of nervousness, was led through the aisle between Deputies Miletus Knight and Edward C. Coleman, the crowd surged and pushed to get a better sight of him, and threats grew from mutterings to menaces, but he flinched not a whit, and stood before Justices Dwyer and Huntington as unconcerned as if he had been on the bench and they in the dock. To the formal question he pleaded not guilty, and then said: " I waive examination and would like to make a statement." He was told to go on and spoke as follows: "We killed the Coleman boys in self-defense. We were sitting in the grove up town when we saw them pass us. They had guns with them and looked around often as if searching for something. We knew there was no game about there, and they wouldn't be hunting Sunday, so we knew they were after us, and kept a sharp lookout. When they got past us they started to run. Then we got over the fence and followed them up the road, thinking we were surrounded and caught in a trap. We had gone but a short distance before we met them, and the one nearest the fence (Milton Coleman) fired first, his shot hitting 'Lon' in the face and arm. The other (Charles G.) fired at me, and I at him in a second later. His shot struck my arm, and he fell to my bullet, but got on his knee and fired again. 'Lon' had shot the other one before that, and both were down. We then turned and ran." All this was delivered in a conversational tone, as if it were a recital of the most ordinary adventure, and I could see as the story progressed that the spectators were edging nearer and nearer to him. He had scarcely finished - indeed, I am inclined to think he was about to continue - when, with a growl like a wild beast, a dozen men sprang on him. Women shrieked as the melee grew greater, and it was impossible to tell for a moment what was being done. The officers made resistance , but not a very determined one, and in less than a moment the prisoner was dragged through the yelling crowd to the door. A rope had made its appearance as if by magic, and when he reached the outer door the noose was round his neck. I caught one glimpse of his face as he was going down the stairs. It was pale as marble, but his eyes glared defiance. The crowd, the initiative having been taken, was wild with passion. "Hang him!" "Choke him!" "Burn him!" were heard on all sides , and if pity was felt by a single creature its expression was not heard. It took minutes to write this, it took seconds only to reach the tree I spoke of above. The end of the rope was over the projecting bough in an instant, and a shuddering sob went up from the onlookers as the body of the desperado was jerked into the air, a score of willing hands tugging at the other end of the rope. There were a few spasmodic clutches of the ironed hands, the feet were drawn up once or twice, and then the head fell over with that sickening droop familiar to all who have ever witnessed such a death, and all was over. The cord of the rope was made fast, the crowd dispersed in the awsome silence that fell after the deed was done, and the body, so full of muscular energy a few moments before, swung to and fro in the cold wind, the drifting snow ever and anon hiding it in its drifting rush. Maxwell died as he had lived, a desperate man, but endowed with an amount of physical courage rare indeed, and filled with a restless energy that preferred crime to inaction. The sentiment here is, of course, divided on the question of the right or the wrong of the lynching. Many deprecate the whole affair, and say its effect will only be evil. One thing is certain. The people of Durand had very little to do with the affair. Of the arrival from out of town, many of them were blue or red shirted lumbermen. I do not believe, either, that there was any concert of action beyond a circle of five or six, who knew, however, that they had only to commence to receive ample support. If the district attorney had not put off the examination till this afternoon, but had held it at 9 a.m., as first intended, Maxwell would, in all probability, be alive in Menomonee jail at this moment. Knight intended, he says, to take him to Menomonee on Monday, and the team that brought him here yesterday was held across the river for his return. The Coleman brothers, Charles G. and Milton, were among the most honored citizens of the valley. They were born in Bloomington, Illinois, Charles G. in 1841 and Milton in 1856, the sons of Henry Coleman. The family came to Buffalo County in 1857. Charles G. fought in the Civil War as a private in the 12th Wis. Vol. Inf., and was severely wounded at the battle of Perryville. At the close of the war, he settled in Pepin County, and served as sheriff one term and as undersheriff several terms. Milton settled in Dunn County and served several terms as undersheriff. Original entries in Pepin County Pepin County, like all the land in the Northwest, is divided by the government into bodies of land six miles square, called Congressional Townships, containing as near as possible 23,040 acres. The townships are subdivided into thirty-six tract called sections, of a mile square, each containing as near as may be, 640 acres. Any number or series of contiguous townships, situate north and south, constitutes a range. It is provided by act of congress that the lines of public survey shall be governed by the true meridian, and also that the townships shall be six miles square, which is a mathematical impossibility, for, by conforming to the true meridian, it necessarily throws the township out of square,by reason of the convergency of meridians; so by reason of this, an act of congress passed May 18, 1796, it was provided that the sections should contain the quantity of 640 acres, as near as may be; and by the act of congress of May 10, 1800, it was further provided, that in all cases where the exterior lines of the township to be subdivided into sections shall exceed, or shall not extend , six miles, the excess or the deficiency, as the case may be, shall be added to or deducted from the western or northern ranges of sections in such township, according as the error may be in running the lines from east to west, or from north to south. The section lines are surveyed from south to north and from east to west in order to throw the excesses or deficiencies on the north and west sides of the township. The townships in Wisconsin are numbered from the southern boundary line of the state separating it from Illinois, Township No. 1 being the township immediately north of the south boundary line of the state. The United States government established a principal meridian, that runs from the south line of the state, north through Wisconsin, known as the Fourth Principal Meridian. On the east side of it is range 1 east, and on the west side Range 1 west. These ranges with their appropriate number continue through the state, to the east and west of the Fourth Principal Meridian. Township 25, Range 12 (Lima Township). The influx of settlement in this governmental township came in 1855- 56. In 1855, Oscar Godfred filed in sec. 3; Christian Maynard and Geo. M. Tutte, in sec. 4; Alba Jeffers, in secs. 4, 10, and 15; Chester Tuttle, in sec. 4; John H. Captil in sec. 6; Ellen M. Fox, in sec. 8; Adam L. Fox, in sec. 8; Colbert Hanchett, in secs. 9 and 20; John Dedrick, in sec. 10; Reuben W. Golden, in sec. 14; Samuel W.W. Sherburne, in secs. 14 and 15; Nathaniel Larabee, in sec. 15; Selah Whedon, in sec. 17; Silas Borlow, in sec. 17; Mark Elvidge, in sec. 18; John W. Armstrong, in sec. 18; John Alsop, sec. 18; Lorenzo Greenman, in sec. 18; Helen M. Cannon, in secs. 19 and 30; Nathan Powell, in sec.20; Martin Larabee, in sec. 21; Patrick I. Ryan, in sec. 29; David B. Plummer, in secs. 29,30, 34, and 35; Fayette Allen, in sec. 30; Charles N. and Harvey P. Averill, in sec. 31; Nelson Cannon, in sec. 31; Daniel Lee, in secs. 32 and 33; Hiram Delap, in sec. 32; Henry L. Fox and Peter Riley, in sec. 32; John Cambell in secs. 33 and 34; Jesse F. Hardy, in sec. 33; Jerome Burbanks, in sec. 35; and Oliver O. Hearn, in sec. 36. In 1856 the following entries were made: Arthur B. Flagler, in sec. 1; John Hodgdon, in secs. 1,5,6,10,17,19 and 20; Julius Edwards, in secs. 2 and 15; Henry Godfrey, in secs. 2,3, and 23; John and Robert Collier, in secs. 2 and 22; Charles Twis, in sec. 3; Charles W. Maynard, in sec. 4; Ira S. Story, in sec. 4; Theodore B. Edwards, in secs. 4 and 19; Hollis B. Dewitt, in sec. 4; Giles R. Montague, in secs. 5 and 18; Alvinus B. Wood, in secs. 6,27,34 and 35; Peter Secor, in sec. 6; Wheeler B. Guptil, in sec. 6; John Holverson, in sec. 7; Zalmon Skinner, in secs. 7 and 8; Orlando Skinner, in sec. 7; Jonathon L. Davidson, in sec. 9; Nicholas Dedrick, in secs. 10 and 23, Walter S. Mack, in sec. 14; Zalmon B. Wasson, in sec. 14; Amasa Tripp, in sec. 18; Joseph Somes, in sec. 19; Henry I. Cannon, in secs. 19 and 21; Richard L. Hallock, in sec. 23; Walter S. Mack, in sec. 23; Jerome Burbanks, in sec. 26; John Eagan, in sec. 27; Hiram Walker, in sec. 29; Mark I. Pritchard, in sec. 29; Francis Granger, in secs. 2, 9 and 32; Rufus D. Pritchard, in sec. 29; Jeremiah Arndt, in sec. 30; Ephraim A. Parish, in secs. 31 and 33; Jeremiah Landt, in sec. 32; Jesse F. Hardy, in sec. 32; Samuel Conger, in sec. 35; Samuel Dickason, in sec. 36; Caroline S. Dickason, in sec. 36. In 1857 the entries were: Layton Mathewson, in sec. 9, and Francis R. Lockwood, in sec. 13. 1859 --- Richard Ellis, in sec 28. 1863 --- Daniel Robbins and David C. Gue, in sec. 8; Stephen Gregory, in sec. 14; Thomas Brookens, in sec. 20; Chauncy S. Root, in sec. 26; Lucius Howard, in sec. 28; and William Kreyer, in sec. 34. 1864 ---Hamilton W. Hubbard, in sec. 12; Alfred B. Robinson, in sec. 12, and Hiram Wilson, in sec. 26. 1865 -- - Seymour Conger, in sec. 36; Ezra and Harrison Conger, in sec. 36. 1866 --- Wm. H. Schultz, in sec. 14; Thomas Hurley, Maine Hill, in sec. 26. 1867 ---Joseph Kinney, in sec. 28. 1868 ---Wm. Dickinson, in sec. 20; Lorenz Schlosser, in sec. 22; Joseph T. Ray, in sec. 26. 1869 --- Rufus T. Ainsworth, in sec. 28. Township 25, Range 11 (Albany Township). The first land taken in this township was in 1855, when Oliver Brown filed in sec. 34. Subsequent entries were: 1856 --- Ephraim Brown, sec. 2; Thomas A. Tomlinson, sec. 2; Levi Belknap, sec. 5; Naaman Belknap, sec. 6; Valentine Belknap, sec. 6; Milton Barber, secs. 13 and 14; Cyrus Woodman, secs. 13 and 24; Christian Gessner, in secs. 31 and 32; Charles Schsisner, in sec. 32. 1857 --- Jeremiah Crandall, in secs. 1 and 12; John E. Prichard, in sec. 1; Hiram Turner and William Eddington, in sec. 2; Lincoln Belknap, in sec. 6; Joseph Spafford, in secs. 6 and 7; Asa Delano, in secs. 8 and 17; John R. Russell, in sec. 8; Samuel Wood, in sec. 9; Nathan Wood, in sec. 9; Jerry Crapser, in secs. 9 and 10; George Sprague, in secs. 10 and 11; John H. Silvernail, in sec. 11; John E. Pritchard, in sec. 12; Wm. W. Brown, in sec. 15. 1858 --- Augustus C. Curveston and Charles H. Howard, in sec.4; Andrew Moore, Cornelius Silvernail and Harvey Adams, in sec. 12; Jacob Nichols, in secs. 17 and 18. 1859 --- Thomas Eddington, in sec. 2; Delos R. Moon and Barton W. Chase, in sec. 4; John Casper, in sec. 9; Phillip Melrose, in sec. 10; Peter B. Armory, in sec. 12. 1863 --- Horace W. Sherman, in sec. 26; Christian Pabst, in sec. 34. 1864 --- Henry Dreyse, in sec. 28. 1857 --- Henry Beach, in sec. 17; Michael Albert, in sec. 32. 1865 -- - Franklin Ball, in sec24; George Lamb, in sec. 36. 1866 --- John Gaffney, in sec. 34; Frederick Bloom, in sec. 34. 1867 --- Daniel Moyer, in sec. 6; John Murman, in sec. 14; Thomas Elliot, in sec. 24. 1868 --- Ephraim Brown, in sec. 14; Catherine M. Bennett, in sec. 14; William Duffer, in sec. 20; Ernest Roetter, in sec. 28; Casher Nusberger, in sec. 30; J.G. Rohrscheib, in sec. 32; James M. Holmes, in sec. 36. 1869 --- W.H. Sherman, in sec. 36. Township 23, Range 15 (Part of Pepin Township). In 1850 Heinrick Christeman entered land in sec. 7. Those entering land in 1852 were: Ira B. Wheeler, in secs. 24 and 28; Sybella Pierce, in secs. 25 and 26. 1853 --- William B. Newcomb, in secs. 14 and 25; George Ecklor, in secs. 15, 23 and 26; Mary Newcomb, in sec. 15; John Holden, in secs. 15 and 25; Joseph Porter, in secs. 17 and 21; Edward M. Booth, in secs. 17 and 20; Albert J. Buckmaller, in sec 18; John McCain, in secs. 21,22, 23, 26, 27 and 28; Isaac Ingalls, in sec. 23; Nancy Ballard, in secs. 23 and 26; Charles M. Miles, in sec. 25; Ira M. Newcomb, in secs. 25 and 26; John Ecklor, in sec. 26. 1854 --- John Ecklor, Wm. Ecklor, Hannah and Amelia Ecklor, Abraham Josehson and William Wakefield, in sec. 6; Charles Carpenter, Verdine Carpenter and Joseph Porter, in sec. 7. 1855 --- Mark Howard, in sec. 4; Benjamin Allen, George Langert, John Scharr, L.M. Harrsberger and Wm. Smuthers, in secs. 3 and 4; Jonathan Hoyt, in secs. 17 and 18; Joseph Porter, in sec. 9; Ezra B. More, in sec. 9; Joseph Fritschler, in sec. 10; Howard P. Ballard, in secs. 10 and 11; John Newcomb, in sec. 10; Peter J. McCain, in sec. 11; Ira Bullard, in secs. 13, 14, 15 and 25; Samuel S. Newcomb, in sec. 14; John Newcomb, in sec. 15; Joseph Headwik, in sec. 17; Nelson Doty, in sec. 18; Alfred W. Hall, in sec. 18; James White, in secs. 20 and 21; Joseph Knapp, in sec. 21; William McCain, in sec. 22; Jacob Peterson, in sec. 18; Robert P. Sheldon, in sec. 24; Hiram Fuller, in secs. 24 and 25; Edgar O’Conner, in sec. 24. 1855 --- Mark Howard, in secs. 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 24; Sylvester M. Webster, in secs. 8 and 9; John Markdont, in secs. 8 and 10; R.M. Nichols and L. Gardner, in sec. 8; James C. Davis, in sec. 8; Stephen Rawson, in sec. 9; Linas Richard, in secs. 9, 10 and 15; Iver Johnson, in sec. 10; Charles McClane, in sec. 11; Harvey D. Kellogg, in sec. 12; John Rogers, in sec. 21; Martin H. Bullard, in sec. 13; David E. Leflay, in sec. 13; Geo M. Barnard, in sec. 13; Moses S. Gibson, in sec. 15; Frederick Engel, in sec. 22; Benjamin Allen, in secs. 23 and 24; Jonathan S. Hoyt, in secs. 22 and 27; John Decker, in sec. 23; Church Doty and Niel, in sec. 24; David Fayerweather, in sec. 24; David White, in sec. 27. 1856 --- Moses S. Gibson, in secs. 13 and 14; Asiel Bullard, in secs. 13, 14 and 22; Marcus B. Osborn, in secs. 17 and 20; Henrick Christnan, in sec. 18; Michael Byerly, John Lowry and Oscar Pierce, in sec. 1. 1857 --- Amos B. Caldwell, in sec. 2; Thomas Huleatt, in sec. 4; Carl Hartstrom, in sec. 5. 1866 --- Andrew Anderson and Peter Eric Peterson, in sec. 5. 1867 --- Joseph Manning in secs. 1,2 and 3. 1869 --- P.M. McInerney and Carl Nillson, in sec. 5. 1858 --- Howard S. Smith, in sec. 12; P.M. McInerney, in sec. 12; Horace D. Kellogg, in sec. 13; Dudley H. Manning, in sec. 14. 1859 --- Charles Mock, in sec. 11; Charles H. Sage, in sec. 12. 1860 --- Charles Peters, in sec 11. 1861 --- John J. Hallock, in sec. 1. 1862 --- Harvey D. Kellogg, in sec. 11. 1863 --- Lewis M. Harnsberger, in sec. 10. 1864 --- Reuben Oltman, in sec. 12; L.M. Barnard, in sec. 12. 1866 ---Charles Peters, in sec. 12. 1868 --- Stephen Cunningham, in sec. 9; New S. Clapp, in sec. 12; William Brownlee, in sec. 18. 1869 --- Andrew Christ, in sec. 10; P.M. McInerney, in sec 11; John Sandstrom, in sec. 12. 1870 --- Sven J. Frisk, in sec. 10. Township 23, Range 14 (Part of Pepin Township). Land in this township was taken up as early as 1852, when Miles White filed on sec. 20 and Sybil Pierce, in sec. 21. Successive entries are as follows: 1853 --- Milton Holden, in sec. 19; Edward Hawkins, in sec. 20; John Stevens, in sec. 29; and David Fayerweather, in secs. 32 and 33. 1854 --- Charles M. Miles, in secs. 4,5,7 and 9; Wm. R.W. Hicks, in sec. 27; Barton T. Hastings, in secs. 9, 20, 28, 29 and 30; Samuel Millerson, in sec. 9; John McCain, in sec. 17; Linns Richards, in secs. 17, 18 and 20; Robert B. Hicks, in secs. 17 and 20; Wm. B. Hicks, in secs. 17, 18 and 19; David Lefay, in secs. 18 and 21; David Mears, in sec. 18; John A. Hicks, in sec. 19; Robert P. Sheldon, in sec. 19; Sarah Ingalls, in sec. 19; Andrew Shafer, in sec. 19; Henry Densmore, in secs. 19, 20, 21, and 22; Alexander Guthrie, in sec. 19; Isaiah Matter, in secs. 20 and 22; J. Bradley Wheeler, in secs. 21 and 22; Wm Eiklor, in sec. 21; James Little, in sec. 28; Irving Gray, in sec. 32; James White, in sec. 32; Hiram Sallen, in sec. 32. 1855 --- John J. Shaw, in sec. 4; Abraham Magill, in secs. 4 and 5; Abram Marten, in sec. 5; Robert F. Hicks, in sec. 5; Reuben M. Sikes, in sec. 5; William Matter, in sec. 5; Susan R. Densmore, in sec. 7; Louisa Ingalls, in secs. 7 and 8; Richard Webster, in sec. 7; Perkins Tuttle, in sec. 7; Jesse Peterson, in sec. 8; William F. Saddler, in secs. 8 and 19; William N. B. Hicks, in sec. 8; Samuel Fayerweather, Hiram Fuller and Amidon W. Miller, in sec. 9; Paphirus Tuttle, in secs. 9 and 18; Peter and James Little, in sec. 15; Peter D. McCain, in sec. 15; Thomas Tevelles, in sec. 15 and 17; Moses S. Gibson, in sec. 15; Samuel Tuttle, in sec. 17; Joshua Phelps, in sec. 18; Newell S. Clapp, in secs. 20, 21, 28 and 32; James C. Davis, in sec. 20; George W. Densmore, in sec. 28; Benjamin Allen, in secs. 28 and 29; Merton H. Bullard, secs. 28 and 32; Azro Densmore, in sec. 28; Andrew Swearinger, in secs. 32 and 33; Ezra J. Wilson, in sec. 32; Chauncey Carpenter, in sec. 33. 1856 --- Oscar M. Lowry, in sec. 4; Caleb Howard, in sec. 5; Robert Clark, in sec. 7; Samuel Hicks, in sec. 8; Frederick Engel, in sec. 8; William Matter, in secs. 8 and 29; Harmon Heidman, in sec. 8; David Fayerweather, in sec. 20. 1858 --- David Hephart, in sec. 8; William Hielman, in sec. 6; William Parkinson, in sec. 6; John McBeath, in secs. 6 and 7; Thomas Seldon, in sec. 6. 1860 --- John Nieman, in sec. 3; Robert Jones, in secs. 6 and 9. 1862 --- A.L. Kinne, in sec. 10; Gideon Webster, in sec. 10. 1863 --- James Fleming, in sec. 17; John Fleming, in sec. 17. 1866 --- Greenup J.H. Howard, in sec. 2; John Scharr, in sec. 7; G.M. Bosnord, 1862, in secs. 6 and 10. 1867 --- William Parkinson, in sec. 15. 1868 --- John Schmall, in sec. 3; James A. Lentes, in sec. 15. 1869 ---- Herman Lenhart, in sec. 4; P. McInerney, in sec. 7; John Bradley, in sec. 3. 1870 ---- Albert Ganger, in sec. 3; Robert Massback, in sec. 3; Andrew Nilson, in sec. 6. 1871 --- Charles Doorman, in sec. 4. 1872 --- Herman Lenhart, in sec. 3. Township 24, Range 15 (part of Pepin Township). The first to file on land in this town was Benjamin Parsons in secs. 31, 32 and 34, and James Lowry, in secs. 3, 1, and 34, in 1854. In 1855 came Mark Howard, entered in secs. 25, 34 and 35; Battezzar Sein, in secs. 25 and 26; Church Doty and Niel, in sec. 26; Jacob Cupps, in sec. 27; Dillon Hyde, in sec. 27; Feliz Kraft, in secs. 27 and 34; Bostwick O'Connor, in secs. 28, 33 and 36; John Decker, in sec. 28; Andrew Thompson, in secs. 30 and 31. 1856 --- Richard Mills filed in sec. 25; Henry A. Lockwood, in sec. 25; Levi Drake, in secs. 26, 35 and 36; Josiah Sawyer, in secs. 27 and 33; Stephen Scales, Jr., in sec. 27; David White, in sec. 27; J. Jay Knox, in sec. 28 and 29; James B. Gray, in sec. 28; James Gurley, in secs. 27, 32 and 33; Langdon H. Nichols, in sec. 29; Finely G. Clark, in secs. 29 and 30; William S. Mattison, in sec. 32; Adam Byerly, in sec. 36. 1857 --- Michael Donaven and Cornelius Helby, in sec. 28; John Hill, in sec. 31. 1858 --- Henry S. Fairchild, in secs. 26 and 32. 1859 --- Dudley H. Manning and S. A. Robinson, in sec. 30; Ingebright Svendson, in sec. 30. 1862 --- Amos Harris, in sec. 30. 1867 --- Anne Elizabeth Shears, in sec. 25; Balzer Sein, John Olson and Thomas Christopherson, in sec. 25. 1872 --- Nils Olson, in sec. 36. Township 23, Range 16 (part of Stockholm Township). Among the first entries of land in this part of the township were those of Eric Peterson in 1852-1853, in secs. 12 and 13; Eric Erickson, in 1854- 1855, located in secs. 1 and 12; Carl Abrahamson, Dec. 6, 1855, filed on sec. 1; Horatio Woodman and Isaac Josephson, in sec. 1; Moses S. Gibson, in October, 1855, filed on land in secs. 1 and 12; John Anderson, in secs. 1 and 2; George C. Gridley, in sec. 1. In 1859 Harvey Kellog located in sec. 1; Peter Nilson, in 1857, in sec. 2. In 1854 William Rogers located on lots 2, 3 and of sec. 2; Maria Horst on lot 1, sec. 11. On sec. 12 we find Lars Olson in 1854, and Carles Hatstrom, in 1855; also Jacob Peterson. Township 24, Range 16 (part of Stockholm Township). In 1855 William McCain; in 1857, Anderw Janson and August Colson; in 1858, John D. Tribbey and Charles H. Marshall, and on June 24, 1859, Paul Hanson, all located in sec. 25. In 1855-57, Charles Olson and Elic Jansen filed in sec. 26. In 1858, William Powell and Samuel McCain, H.D. Kellogg, Harrison Gilbert, and Benjamin Baldwin, filed in sec. 26, as did Elias White, in 1860. David Olmsted filed in 1854, in sec. 35; in 1859 Mattis Sandstrom, Ohef Sandstrom and Harvey D. Kellogg, in sec. 35; Elias A. White, in 1860, and Frank Wilson in 1866. The following located in sec. 36: 1855 --- John Johnson, Abraham Josephson and Frank Wilson. 1856 --- Isaac Josephson, Andrew Johnson. 1857 --- Andrew Janson. Township 24, Range 14 (nearly all of Frankfort Township). As early as 1851 Samuel Pritchell filed in secs. 23 and 26; Edward M. Booth in sec. 23. Pepin County War Work The preservation of the names of those who have gone forth from Pepin County to fight the battles of freedom and democracy in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the World War, is of utmost importance. Unfortunately, a list of those who served from this county in the first two wars are not available. The records of the Adjutant General's office are of value, as giving the records of the state, but it is practically impossible to pick from them the names of the soldiers of any one county, as the soldiers did not always inlist in the counties in which they were actually living at the time of the enlistment. It is believed, however, that each county will have a complete record of its part in the World War, both military and civilian. A State War Historical Commision with John W. Oliver as state director, has been appointed, and this commission has a committee in each county, the duty of which it is to compile a complete history of each county in the present war. Unfortunately, it is yet too early for the completion of the war record of all in the service, but in due time it will be completed and preserved in permanent form. The work was started in Pepin County, April 22, 1918, when a Pepin County War History Committee was appointed, consisting of M. Hilliard, chairman; Mrs. Amelia Gillman, secretary; George W. McGillon, of Eau Galle; Lloyd Axtell, of Pepin and Reuben Sandburg, of Stockholm. Later, the committee added Mrs. Glenn Howard, of Stockholm, and Mrs. W.A. Parker of Albany. The committee soon arranged the scope of the work to be covered. A roster of the soldiers who left Pepin County to take part in the war, with sufficient biography, was of first importance. To this end a blank statement was prepared, and relatives and friends invited to fill them out so far as possible, with a view to calling on the soldiers after their return for more information, and for a brief account of their experiences. These are bing obtained as rapidly as possible. It was also decided that all the civil activities of organizations and individuals, in the various war work, should be recorded, including the efforts of the County Council of Defense, the Red Cross, the Liberty Loan Committee, the several war drives, the public speakers, and the Food and Fuel Administrators, in fact, that a complete history should be prepared of all phases of Pepin County's part in the great war at home and abroad. The results thus far accomplished are of much interest. That a state of war existed between the United States and Germany was declared by Congress on April 6, 1917. The American people became aroused and got busy at once. Stores that had exposed cards bearing such inscriptions as "Don't Talk War, This Place Is Neutral," soon removed them and went to work to win the war. Among the first demonstrations at Durand was a large public parade set for May 30, 1917. This was postponed by reason of storm till June 5, when it was held on the Fair Ground in this city. Public addresses were delivered then by Marshall Cousins, now in the United States service; C.A. Ingram and others. After that loyalty and war work held the right of way in Pepin County. Mr. Ingram delivered many speeches and short addresses in Pepin and adjoining counties. On the eve of June 21, 1917, the Auditorium at Durand was packed by citizens from all the surrounding country to listen to an address by Gen. Charles King, of Milwaukee. Men came from as far distant places as the towns of Modena and Gilmanton to enlist. Eight men from the town of Pepin gave their names to the roll of honor made up that evening. Mr. Ingram headed the effort to raise a company from Pepin County that afterward drilled for six weeks at the Fair Ground and left for camp on Aug. 23, 1917. The first Liberty Loan drive came on Oct. 24, 1917. The committee was composed of George Tarrant, county chairman; K.K. Brainard, chairman of the executive committee, and H.P. Nicklas, J. Engelinger, Judge W.B. Newcomb, C.A. Ingram and C.C.Clemens, all residents of Durand. The committee, as thus constituted, was made permanent, and headed all subsequent loan efforts, with other persons wisely added. They went to work with a will and raised in all $432,000, of which $13,000 was the first loan, $90,000 for the second, $151,000 for the third and $175,000 for the fourth. The Council of Defense for Pepin County was the first of the patriotic organizations fromed in the coutny. It was composed of Marcellus Dorwin, county chairman; W.H. Biles, vice chairman, and C.C.Clemens, secretary and treasurer, all of Durand. The above general officers, with John Brunner, Jr., G.W. Kees, George Tarrant and H.P. Nicklas, all of Durand; with A.C. Throne, of Eau Galle; Charles Longsdorf, of Arkansaw, and W.A. Parker, of Mondovi, composed this staunchly loyal body of workers. Meetings were held frequently to handle the money questions and difficulties the war conditions presented. On Feb. 6, 1918, this committee met at Durand, and S.G. Gilman addressed a public meeting in the evening at the Auditorium. Mr. Gilman addressed many public meetings in Buffalo, Pepin, and adjoining counties in the early part of 1918. The Exemption Board appointed June 21, 1917, consisted of W.P. Taylor (chairman), W.C. Richardson (secretary), E.F. Woods, N.A. McMahon, C.J. Swanson, Virus Dorwin, and Dr. W.W. Cassidy. S.B. Tarrant served on the board from August, 1917, to July, 1918. Dr. Cassidy died Oct. 25, 1918, and on November 2, 1918, Dr. J.J.Morgan was appointed examining physician in his place. The first chief clerk was Virus Dorwin. He was succeeded by Henry Brunner, who in turn was succeeded by A.C. Smith. The first appeal agent, W.E. Plummer, was succeeded Jan. 31, 1918, by S.B. Ingram. It was the proctice in raising men to act on the orders of Provost Marshall General Crowder at Washington. He telegraphed his orders to He telegraphed his orders to Hon. E.L. Philipp, governor of Wisconsin, and he passed them on to Hon. Orlando Holway, adjutant- general of Wisconsin, or direct to the local Exemption Board, as seemed best. Governor Philipp was a busy, hard working man for his state during war time. He was the agent of the state to receive and act on the orders from the War Department, and filled an interesting and responsible position in the part Wisconsin took in the great war. It was his ambition to place and keep his state at the forefront in everything desired by the national administration. Every proclamation, order or call made by President Wilson was promptly re- echoed by our governor and sent to the people. Although each man is a partisan as to his own political party, there is nothing in the war record of our President and governor that shows there has been a division of counsel with respect to the conduct of the war. So far a Pepin County acted she did her bit in every way. It was upon the County Council of Defense that the burden of the civilian activities fell. This body was organized pursuant to the law enacted by the legislature that was in session when the war was declared. Its first meeting was held in the court house at Durand, May 3, 1917. Auxiliary to the Executive Committee were the Publicity Committee, the Liberty Loan Committee, the War Savings Stamp Committee and the Speaker's Committee. The Publicity Committee was composed of A.W. Crippen of the Entering Wedge, and Ed. Bardill, of the Pepin County Courier, with George Tarrant and K.K. Brainard, all of Durand. The War Stamp Committee was composed of George Tarrant, chairman; H. Pattison (postmaster), Ed. Pattison, K.K. Brainerd and C.C. Clemens, all of Durand. The Speaker's Committee consisted of C.A. Ingram, chairman; H.A. Miles, Prof. L.U. St. Peter and A.W. Crippen. The Food Administrator was George W. Kees, for Pepin County. Mr. Kees, although 76 years of age, took hold of war work as vigorously as men two score years younger. He was busy all the time to see to a fair distribution of food products at fair prices. He drove his own car at his own expense in winter time to distant parts of the county to arrange with merchants on quantities to sell and prices to be charged. The people owe him a debt of gratitude for his services that money cannot pay. W.A. Parker, of Albany, proved an efficient public-spirited servant in work on YMCA drives and Liberty Loans, both in Pepin and Buffalo counties. He gave generously of his time at his own expense to all forms of war work. The Legal Advisory Board for Pepin County, appointed by the Governor about Dec. 1, 1917, was C.M. Hilliard, chairman; C.A. Ingram and E.S. Pattison. They met December 10, and C.A. Ingram was made secretary of the board. At that meeting it added to its membership Louis Guildner, of Albany; John Brunner, of Lima; Richard Walter, town of Durand; A.C. Smith, first ward of the city, and Roy Kins, second ward; Paul Leffering , town of Waubeek; Henry Hortung, Waterville; Sheridan Livingston, Frankfort; C.J. Thies, village of Pepin; Edwin Edblom, town of Pepin; Hjalmer Wallin, town of Stockholm, and H.R. Anderson, village of Stockholm. Mr. Anderson resigned during the summer of 1918, and A.F. Peterson, the same village, filled his place. These men, with efficient aid by C.P. Lasyne, John Weishoppel and other, of Durand, Wis., filled the questionnaires before the second and third enrollments of Aug. 24 and Sept. 12, 1918, and with the aid of Mrs. W.A. Gilmore, Mrs. Cora Horner and Clarissa Drier, all of Durand, wrote the questionnaires after Sept. 12, 1918, until all were written. The first appointment made to the office of Government Appeal Agent was W.E. Plummer. Owing to Mr. Plummer's declining health the Governor filled his place by naming S.B. Ingram, of Waubeek. Mr. Ingram proved to be an intensely loyal, active and watchful officer. He gave liberally of his time to the duties of his position. By working with the local draft board Pepin County made up her quota of soldiers in time for each call made upon her. Resident physicians in Pepin County when the war broke upon us were J.J. Morgan, A.C. Huleatt, E.C. Jacobs, W.W. Cassidy and J.V. King, who lived in Pepin, but later removed to Bismarck, N.D. W.W. Cassidy was selected for chief government examiner and proved efficiency in all his work. He died Oct. 25, 1918. In his death the community sustained a great loss, and the government lost a faithful public officer. It so happened that few remained to be called for examination and Dr. J.J. Morgan attended to the work until the close of the war. Governor Philipp visited the annual county fair of this county in 1918 and addressed the people on the subject of the war. His official position enabled him to do the subject justice. His declaration that Wisconsin now had about 115,000 men in Europe was the first information we had as to what the state had been doing in this line. He urged loyal co-operation of all citizens, and expressed the hope to the assembled parents that their sons would soon be returned to them. By the scourge of Spanish influenza that broke out among the soldiers and cantonments in the late summer of 1918, the harvest of death garnered in some of Pepin County's young men. Arthur Percy, of Durand, and George Larson, of Stockholm, both died Percy at Camp Grant and Larson at Indianapolis, Ind. Both were brought home and buried on the same day and hour in their home cemeteries. One of the best fields for obtaining results for war work was Red Cross auction sales. Frank Ecklor, of Ella, in Pepin County, is one of the most experienced of auctioneers. Sales were projected and held in Pepin, Pierce and Dunn counties, tributary to Durand. Mr. Ecklor conducted twenty-two auctions, and the amount of the sales reached about $13,000. He gave his fees in all cases and paid his own expenses, and when it is realized that his fees are as a rule 2 per cent, it is easily seen how much he contributed to Red Cross work of his time and money. He with S.M. Kirkpatrick, of Red Cedar, Wis., conducted the sales of Durand on Court House Square, May, 8, 1918, when $3,100 was netted to the fund for soldiers' aid "over there." In addition to the committees and individuals already mentioned who did efficient and valuable work for the county were the following: Fuel Administrator, W.H. Biles, of Durand. Women's Committee,Mrs. H. M. Orlady, of Durand, county chairman; Mrs. B.R. Tarrant, of Durand, president of the Red Cross organization. Labor Committee, K.K. Brainard, of Durand, county chairman; N.J. Dunlap, of Pepin. Agricultural Committee, Charles Longsdorf, of Arkansaw, county chairman; soils, Alfred Biles, of Pepin; field crops, Charles Longsdorf, of Arkansaw; dairying, G.L. Howard, of Durand; livestock, Mat Brunner, of Durand; labor, Will Harmon, of Arkansaw; markets and exchange, H. Nicklas, of Durand, and N. Harmon, of Arkansaw; meetings and demonstrations, A.C. Throne, of Eau Galle, Wis. Educational Committee, Miss Cynthia Carlisle, of Durand; L.U. St. Peter and F.W. Goodrich, also of Durand. Transportation and Communication Committee, Oscar Swanson, K.K. Brainard, F.J. Vautrot, Loyd Lobdell and John Weishapple, all of Durand. The following are the city, village and township Councils of Defense. Durand - First Ward, Dr. A.J. Will, chairman; executive committee, H Marquardt, Will Black, H.A. Miles. Committee at Large, Second to Third and Fourth avenue, East Prospect, H. Marquardt, chairman; C.P.Layne, N.W. Bowman, W.W. Hoeser, R. Schoenbeck, A.C. Smith. Blocks between First and second avenues H.A. Miles, chairman; C.Hewett, H. Goodrich, William Streese, James Carlisle, Lee Leffering. Third avenue, east of tracks, Will Black, chairman; J.A. Breunig, George Sanders, Andrew Nussberger, Robert Semple, John Quixtner. Third avenue, west of tracks, A.J. Will, chairman; L. Boehm, A. Oesterricher, Walter McMahon, Jake Bauer, Frank Bauer,. Second Ward, F.J. Vautrot, chairman,. Executive Committee, H.C. Olson, L.U. St. Peter, J. Weishapple. Committee at Large. W. Hurlburt, Tom Boehrer, Charles Smiley, R. Doughty, F.X. Albedinger, Will Roepke, F. Polzer, H.Engledinger, C.A. Van Brunt, W.E. Paul, Bert Barton, E. Pericol, E. Insco, M.H. Carroll., H. Brunner, H.Helbig, Jr., S. Erickson, D. Constantine, J. Wiessinger. Waterville Township - Will Harmon, chairman; executive committee, E.M. miles, Thomas Murry, E.N. Rounds, George Brooks, . Committee at Large, Charles Donley, Judy Cody, M.F. Farnham, Erve Holden, Charles Fleishauer, Harry Ogden, Earl Proue, Clint Taylor, James Liddy, E.L. Curtiss, Frank Keys, James Black, J.P. Auth, Ad Coburn, Henry Hartung. Pepin Township - O.K. Anderson, chairman; executive committee, Charles Maxe, Axle F. Moline, George Wheeler, B.A. Jahnke, Antone Wallin, Albert Peters, Edwin Edblom. Committee at Large, Charles Maxe, chairman; Alfred Sundberg, Oode Larson, Charles Saline, Roland Johnson. Edwin Edblom, chairman; E. Welberg, Norten Nelson, Mannie Wallin, Edwin Gustafson. Axle Moline , chairman; J.F. Marska, John Bergmark, Herman Frank. George Wheeler, chairman; C.B. Gardner, Ed. Singen, David Gore, Phill Flint. B.A. Jahnke, chairman; Clarence Hawkins, Erle Hicks, Cyrus Allen, John McKain. Antone Wallin, chairman; Peter Busk, Emil Halling, Eddie Sundvall, David Jackson, Emanuel Newlund. Albert Peters, chairman; Charles Brunkow, Elmar Haglund, Lawrence Dorwin, S.S. Wright. Village of Pepin - O.M. Axtell, chairman; executive committee, E. Langers, L.A. Axtell, R.D. Newcomb, W.O. Marks; committee at large, T.H. Lage, Sherman Fleming, Dr. King, Walter Hunter, Frank Raditz, J.L. McKowan, A.G. Allen, H.A. Thies. Waubeek Township - A.C. Throne, chairman; executive committee, George McGilton, Sam Ingram, Pete Thompson. On account of the smallness of the township, which contains but forty families, there was no committee at large. Frankfort Township - Charles Longsdorf, chairman; executive committee, Ruben Anderson, Elic Johnson, Theo. Olson, George Schruth, L.J. De Marce; committee at large, S.E. Livingston, Delbert Minder, Napoleon Coady, John Setterlund, Charles Byington, Frank Ecklor, John Anderson, Francis Biles, Emil Anderson, William Moline. Lima Township - Council for Defense, John Brunner, Jr., chairman; executive committee; L.M. Goss, T.J. Pattison, Boyd Weber, Ed. Koller; Committees at large, L.M. Goss, chairman; Charles Brunner, John X. Bauer, Louis Bauer, Ludwig J. Bauer. Boyd Weber chairman; John Danzinger, Joe P. Bauer, John Abledinger, Elmer Rushenberg. T.J. Pattison, chairman; Frank Weber, Art Dickson, Tom Anibas, George Sankey. Ed. Koller, chairman; Ed. Catt, Leo Mason, Pete Massey. Village of Stockholm - E.T. Josephson, chairman; executive committee, Oakley Olund, H.R. Anderson, Andrew Bock. Stockholm Township - Charles Moline, chairman; executive committee, C.P. Norcross, Hjalmar Wallin, Samuel E. Steien; committee at large, Lewey Runquist, Tom Carpenter, Gust Julin, Edwin Westerberg, Nels Quarnstrom, Aug. Edelin, Lars A. Melcher, Friden Lindrgren, Olaf Anderson. Albany Township - W.A. Parker, chairman; executive committee, Lewis Thalacker, John Melrose, E.D. Hakes, Antone Bauer; committee at large, Lewis Machmeier, August Schreiner, Henry Weber, Frank Rosenthal, Gustav Wild, Charles Pabst, Robert Brandtner, John Mackintosh, Joe Hoover, Sever Broberg, John Komro, Florin Bauer, Leo Bauer. Durand Township - H.A. Vrandenburg, chairman; executive committee, Ed. Van Brunt , R.A. Achenbach, August Pelke; committee at large, John McQuinn, R.E. Walters, Nate Plummer, Alex Koller, Henry Kees, Tom Weiken, Frank Abelinger, William Yarrington, W.T. Plummer. CITY, VILLAGES AND TOWNSHIPS Pepin County has one city, Durand, two incorporated villages, Pepin and Stockholm, and several hamlets such as Arkansaw and Lakeport. DURAND Durand, the judicial seat of Pepin County, is a prosperous incorporated city of about 1,600 population, located on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, 30 miles from Eau Claire and 20 miles from the Mississippi River. The location is very picturesque. It is on the east side of the Chippewa River, which is more than a quarter of a mile wide at this point. On the east is a range of sandstone bluffs, which is thickly studded with trees whose summer foliage tends to make a charming background to the general view. North of the city is Waubeek Mound, on the west side of the river. Towering above everything else it forms a conspicuous landmark. The softness and dryness of the atmosphere is remarkable and the climate is considered very healthful. The commercial section of Durand is confined largely to Main street, being about six blocks long, the business houses being mostly constructed of brick, and containing stock suited to the trade of this section, which is of both a commercial and agricultural character. Their patronage is drawn from a radius of man miles, including Pepin, Dunn, Pierce and Buffalo counties. The makeup of the commercial population comprises over 100 firms or individuals, this representation being equal to that of places of much larger size, a fact emphasizing the importance of Durand as a trade center. Mail stages run daily to Arkansaw and Eau Galle. The churches, some five in number, represent the Catholic, German Lutheran, Methodist Episcopal, Congregational and Church of Nazarene denominations. The public school system consists of two buildings and staff of eleven teachers. The high school is on the accredited list and the general efficiency of the system embodies the essential advantages for which Wisconsin is distinguished. A Catholic school also assists in the good work of local education, for which purpose it has the best and most up-to-date school building in Durand. As an adjunct to the schools, the public library fills a mission of usefulness in educational work. It is a Carnegie contribution, and its list of books comprises about 3,500 volumes. The local press consists of a weekly paper and The Link, a monthly publication, devoted to the interest of the Eau Claire district Methodism, both of which are well qualified to represent the class of literature with which they are identified. About all the leading fraternal, benevolent and social organizations are well represented and supported. Public and private utilities and conveniences, to a large extent, reflect the character of the inhabitants, in pride, progress and public spirit. Durand is provided with good light and telephone systems and service, both of which are owned by private corporations. With the influx of settlement in the Chippewa Valley during the early fifties, and the increasing development of the Chippewa lumber regions, it became apparent that there was an opportunity for the establishment of a village which would form a convenient stopping place between North Pepin and Eau Claire. To Perry Curtiss, who, in 1846 had settled near Eau Galle, in Dunn County, and opened the first farm in this entire region, the mouth of Bear Creek, in Pepin County, appeared to be an ideal location. Accordingly, in 1855, he started a hamlet which he called Chippewa. Quite a settlement sprang up, including a hotel, several stores, a postoffice, and a number of residences, making in all some thirty buildings. But it was soon found that the site was subject to overflow in high water, and after several spring floods the hamlet was abandoned. Several of the buildings were removed to Durand. Durand had its beginning in the summer of 1856, when Miles Durand Prindle, a native of Derby, Conn., journeyed up the Chippewa River in a keel boat, and took government land on the site of the present city. He was not, however, the first arrival. Alexander Babatz had been living in a claim shanty in the neighborhood for several years, and Charles Billings had a small board cabin on the bank of the river, which he used when traveling up and down the river. No real roads had been built, but there was a lumberman's trail on each bank of the Chippewa. Miles D. Prindle and Charles Billings laid out a village in July, 1856, the survey being made by Lorenzo G. Wood. On July 4, 1856, a board was put up with the name of Durand on it, and the village was started on its career. Peter Gerber bought the first lot, and erected a building in which he opened the first boarding house. Miles D. Prindle and Charles Weatherbee opened the first store. Alonzo Allen put up a blacksmith shop. Casper Hugg started a boarding house which he named the "Bean Sandwich," a popular place for passing woodsmen. The next year, W.F. Prindle, George Ellsworth and W.E. Hays erected a sawmill with a capacity of 15, 000 feet of lumber a day. In 1858 the post office was moved in from Chippewa, and that same year Dan Rankin commenced to build a hotel. It passed through the hands of several parties before it was finished by A.W. Grippin and opened in 1859. It was called Grippen's Hotel, and was the first on in the village worthy of the latter name. Four miles up the river, east of Durand, a water-power grist mill on Bear Creek was built by V.W. Dorwin, in 1859. It was a small, old fashioned stone mill. In 1879 several additions and improvements were made to it, and in 1880 it was operated by the V.W. Dorwin Mill Company, which was organized in that year with a capital of $25,000. This same company owned and operated the carding-mill, built in 1876, and a cheese factory, erected in 1871 on the farm belonging to Mr. Dorwin. A new factory was built in 189, and production commenced in it in May of that year. Among the early settlers of Durand were: George Tarrant, who came in 1863 and opened a store on the present Frank Fox corner; A.J. Wallace who learned the plumbing trade in Mr. Prindle's store, and later, in company with William Hammond, established what is now the Durand hardware store; Fraser & Houghton, the first lawyers in Durand, as Clay Williams, was at Bear Creek; Samuel Plummer, who came from Boston, being followed by other members of that family; Dr. E.C. Baker, who also owned a drug store; M.D.Bartlett and John Meggett, attorneys; Harding & Scott, woodworkers; H.C. Green, contractor; W.H. Bailey, painter; M.H. Tucker, cabinetmaker; E.R. Forster, dry goods; Thomas McGuire, brick maker; Thomas Stokes, owner of the Eagle Hotel; Dr. M.A. Shaw, Publisher of the Home Mirror, the first newspaper in Durand; Philo Barton, one of the first owners of a meat market, for some time in partnership with E. Oesterreicher; Alexander Grippen, uncle of William Grippen, an early proprietor of the "Bean Sandwich", a hotel which stood where Rosenthal's Fair store stands today; Charles Billings, who opened the Billings Addition, and Kuhn & Snell, who also opened up additions to the village, together with Charles Weatherbee and Peter Gerber, N. Plummer, R.R. Root, D.C. Topping, Capt. V.W.Dorwin, George Babcock, J.J. Stafford, and P.E. Hardy. All of them were industrious, persevering, enduring and enterprising men; otherwise it would have been impossible for them to surmount the obstacles in the way to their advancement, or endure the hardships attendant upon settling in a region away from any civilization, except that which existed among themselves, and many miles distance from any place where the comforts of life could be procured, assuming that hey had the means to do so. The struggle was an arduous one for several years, but success crowned the efforts of many of them in the end, and they rose to be men of mark and substance in the community. Even in the early days they found time occasionally for social enjoyment and the celebration of public anniversaries. The "Glorious Fourth" in 1857 was celebrated in the usual patriotic American fashion. The services of Mr. Brown of La Crosse had been secured and the customary patriotic speech was delivered, Harry Eaton being the chairman of the evening. The speech was so satisfactory that Mr. Prindle gave Mr. Brown a village lot. The festivities concluded with a dance in the evening. Christmas of the same year was celebrated with a barbecue, a large steer being roasted whole. As the agricultural resources of the county became developed, Durand was found to be the nearest market to a large wheat-growing country and quite a flourishing business was soon established in shipping that cereal to Eastern markets. It was not a place that held out great inducements for the investment of capital, and until the coming of the railroad the people were handicapped by the lack of adequate means of transportation. All merchandise had to be brought up the Chippewa River by steamboat in the summer or by teams from Menomonie and Read's Landing in the winter. The railroad, constructed in 1882, supplied the one element lacking to the growth and prosperity of the town. Since then the enterprise of the citizens has done the rest, and by industry and economy they have surrounded themselves with a fair amount of the comforts and elegancies of life. On Dec. 25, 1882, the Ecklor House was discovered to be on fire. The fire being beyond control when discovered, efforts were made to save the contents. A strong wind was blowing and in a few minutes several buildings across the street were on fire. A clean sweep of both sides of the street was made from the Ecklor House corner to the post office, including in all 34 buildings. The losses were as follows: W.H. Huntington, Ecklor House; Mons Anderson, meat market; E.A. Holser, shoe store; Joseph Schul, harness shop; H.E. Houghton, "Whirlpool Corner," two store buildings, residence and barn; Seth Scott, feed store; L.D. Parkhurst, barber shop; Arkansaw Furniture Co.; Mark Moore, household goods; George Moore, household goods; Tiffany's store, occupied by Wells & Harrison's railroad store; P.M. Barton and family residing upstairs; Peter Gerber's residence and barn; Tarrant and Dorwin's store building; S.J. Humphrey's drug store; J. Van Norman's harness shop and hardware store ( George Dunlap and family residing upstairs); the meat market of Philo and Henry Goodrich; the Brown and Davidson dress-making rooms; E.B. Parkhurst's two-story building; the Hutchinson drug store; H.C. Page, dentist; the railroad station, total loss; S.M. Scott, saloon; E. Oesterreicher, meat market; Barton and Co., meat market; William Seely, confectionary store; Van Trot Bros., hardware; H.E. Houghton, law office; A.J. Wallace, store building; W.L.Bachelder, photo gallery; Mrs. Houghton, millinery store; D.C. Topping, store building; R.B. Goss, store building; H.D. Dyer, post office; Mrs. Miles, millinery store; H.A. Knapps, barn; Charles Wright, house and barn with most of contents. The damage sustained, particularly to the stocks in trade, was placed at $100,000. The total insurance was $48,000. Each of the Freemason, United Workmen, Temple of Honor, Good Templars and Odd Fellows organizations had handsomely furnished lodge rooms; everything was lost except the charters. When the blocks were rebuilt the business houses were substantially constructed of brick, as this product is easily obtainable. James T. Dorchester operated a brick-yard a short distance northeast of the city, with an output of several hundred thousand each season. It was established in the summer of 1880. The city had been visited by several severe floods, which have caused serious inconvenience, but no great loss of property. Durand was incorporated as a village by a special act of the legislature, in 1871. The first president was D.C. Topping. Another act of the legislature in 1887 incorporated Durand as a city. The first officers were: Mayor, A. Vantrot; clerk, W.H. Huntington; Treasurer, P.W. Goodrich; assessor, A.G.Coffin; aldermen (first ward), E. Oesterreicher, J.H. Parkhust and Henry Bruen; (second ward), H.A. Knapp, G.W. Dunlap and H.E. Stanton. The officers for 1918 are: Mayor, Finley Goodrich; aldermen - First Ward, Lee Seiffring and H.P. Nickolas; Second Ward, William Bartlett and Christ Hougen; clerk, C.P. Layne; treasurer, R.E. Kins; assessor, Fred Polzer. The Durand water supply is derived chiefly from a flowing artesian well, 303 feet deep, the distributing pressure being both direct and of gravitational force, reaching all parts of the city. In 1912 the city put in a system of waterworks at a cost of $20,000. The water is pumped by electricity, furnished by the Durand Light and Power Co., from its Eau Galle plant. A number of private artesian wells, from 150 to 500 feet deep, are also in use. The Durand Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1888 with 50 men, and with an equipment of one steam fire-engine and one hook and ladder truck. The steam fire-engine was sold in 1918. The department now consists of 25 men, one horse-cart, with 3,000 feet of hose, and one hook and ladder truck, W.E. Barton, being chief. The water is furnished from the city standpipe and pumping station, being forced by electric pumps at a pressure of 80 pounds. The department is housed in the city hall, in which also are the city offices and council chamber. It is a two-story brick building equal to the present needs of the city. The Durand Public Library was established in 1898 by subscription and was housed by Dr. Hutchinson's drug store, at which time it had five or six hundred volumes. In 1900 the city took it in hand and moved it to a room furnished for the purpose, where it remained until the library building was completed in 1907. Several applications were made to the Carnegie Library Association for a building, which in due course of time was granted. The city furnishes funds for its maintenance. The library now contains 4,000 volumes, including periodicals and a fine line of reference books. Mrs. E.M. Dunlap has been librarian since 1900. Tarrant's Park owes its birth to the liberality and kind consideration of the family of that name. It comprises twelve acres of wooded land, well suited for park purposes. It was a gift to the city from the Tarrants as a family presentation to perpetuate the intimate association of this name with the commercial and social history of Durand. The Durand Light & Power Company was originated in 1900 by the present company with a paid-up capital stock of $35,000. It has met with general support and its services are in universal demand for the lighting of the city homes and stores, besides the power. The company owns its water power of 565 horse capacity, located on the Eau Galle River. It now has in service about 4,000 lights. Its official staff is made up of G.M. Miles, president; E.M. Miles, vice president, and H.A. Miles secretary, treasurer and manager, all men of enterprise and high local standing, whose worth is reflected in the good electrical service rendered and influence in industrial promotion in other undertakings. In 1856 a keel boat was built by M.D. Prindle and called the "Dutch Lady." It was run for a number of years between Reed's Landing, Durand and Eau Claire, carrying the freight between those places. In 1857 a ferry was started across the Chippewa River at Durand by Jacob Kuhn and John Schnell. This was a pole ferry and was run as such until 1860, when Sol Crosby a horse ferry. It was subsequently purchased by George Babcock. Then the Goodrich Brothers became the owners of it, and they afterwards sold out to Carlisle & Smith, who introduced the first steam ferry-boat. H.R. Smith purchased his partner's interest in the enterprise and operated the ferry until the bridge was built across the river. As this was the only place on the river between the Mississippi and Eau Claire at which a crossing could be made, it necessarily brought man people here and was beneficial to the town. In 1884 a wooden bridge was constructed across the Chippewa River by the Chippewa Bridge Co., at a cost of $17,000, the city granting the necessary charter and donating $3,000, which was raised by subscription. The structure was built of wood and iron, with four spans of 200 feet each, and a draw 100 feet in the clear, spanning 225 feet. Its total length was 1,240 feet. It operated as a toll bridge, a charge of 25 cents being made for teams, or 40 cents both ways, and five cents for foot passengers. After being in operation for 20 years the charter expired, and on Sept. 11, 1906, during a high wind, the bridge was blown off its abutments and destroyed. In ;the spring of 1902 the city started the construction of a steel bridge, which was completed in the fall at a cost of $33,000. It has four spans of 200 feet each, and a draw of 326 feet. It is operated as a toll bridge during the day time, but passage is free after 8:00 p. m. This bridge has been of the greatest advantage to the people and merchants of Durand. There is no other crossing place lower down the Chippewa River, and people desiring to get by automobile from the Mississippi River towns below the mouth of the Mississippi to those above, and vice versa must pass through Durand. This brings to the city tourists who patronize the hotels and advertise its advantages, and business men who spend considerable money here. Much rural trade is also brought from the westward. The first school available for the children of the earliest settlers of Durand was taught by Emma Ide (afterwards Mrs. H.R. Smith) in the summer of 1857 at Chippewa, the small settlement a mile and a half above Durand, now known as Bear Creek. The first school in Durand was taught by Mary Morse, in a small frame building, she being succeeded by Emma Ide, the first teacher at Chippewa. In 1860 the first district schoolhouse, with one department, was built. It was known as the stone schoolhouse. Since 1873 it has been occupied as a dwelling. The district schoolhouse on Burgess' addition was substituted for it when the high school was established under the free high school law of the state. It was moved about a mile out of the city, in 1876, and converted into a residence. The present schools consist of two frame buildings, each of two stories, one being used for grades and high school, and the other for grades only. The main building was erected in 1876, at a cost of $4,000, additions being made in the eighties. It is electrically lighted, heated with hot air furnace, and furnished with running water and toilets. In this building eight grades are taught, together with a full high school course of four years, and courses in agriculture and domestic science. The Durand Postoffice has an interesting history. In the spring of 1858, the postoffice at the village of Chippewa, at the mouth of Bear Creek, was removed to Durand, D.C. Topping was the first postmaster, and the office was in his store in what was afterwards known as the old Barton Block. In 1861, he was succeeded by W.F. Prindle, whose successor was C.J. Smith. The next to hold the office was Myron A. Shaw. He was followed by H.D. Dyer, who continued to serve the public for 21 years. A.W. Hammond was then postmaster for three years, his successor W.L. Bachelder, being appointed in 1889. Patrick Ryan was appointed in 1896 and remained in office until Sept. 1, 1899. On Sept. 1, 1899, Mabel Ryan succeeded Patrick Ryan and was postmistress to Jan. 1, 1900, at which time John Gillmore was appointed and was postmaster to December, 1915. His successor was Henry Pattison who is postmaster at the present time. The mail service at the present time comprises a free city and rural delivery, made up of one city, four rural and two star route carriers. Durand is one of the few cities its size in the United States having free mail delivery, a privilege created by the large local business. Rural Route No. 1 was established and commenced delivering mail about 1902. August Fisher was the first carrier. F.G. Slumph has been carrier on the route for some fifteen years. Rural Route No. 2 was established and commenced to deliver mail on Feb. 2, 1903. Charles G. Branch was the first mail carrier and is still delivering mail on this route. The Tarrant postoffice on this route was discontinued into the Durand office. Rural Route No. 3 was established and commenced to deliver mail on June 15, 1905. August Schlumpf is now delivering mail on this route. The Misha Mokwa postoffice on this route was discontinued. Rural Route No. 4 was established next. Roy Forster is now the mail carrier on this route. The Urne postoffice was discontinued when the route was established. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Durand dates back to religious activities in the days of early settlement. As long ago as 1855 prayer meetings were held on Maxville Prairie and the following year several meeting were held by local preachers. At these early meetings, the most prominent and active participants were Mr. and Mrs. C.F. Kingsland, Mr. and Mrs. M. Aaron, and Edward Doughty and other members of the Doughty family. Of these C.F. Kingsland became an ordained clergyman in the Minnesota conference, and all became leaders in Christian work. Meetings continued to be held throughout this region from Alma to Eau Claire and much good resulted. As the result of this activity, Rev. Chauncey Hobart, presiding elder of the Prescott district, came to Maxville Prairie on July 17, 1858, organized the Maxville Prairie-Bear Creek Circuit, installed Rev. S.M. Webster as circuit preacher, and held the first quarterly conference. James B. Drew and Edward Doughty were made local preacher and exhorters, while U.P. Purcell , Henry Coleman, Perry Hardy, L. Howard, J.U. Stafford, and Henry Doughty were selected to serve as stewards. Of these, Henry Doughty is still a member of the official board of the church at Durand. The old time quarterly conference was an important event in any Methodist community. This was more than that. It was a climax. A revival broke out, and about one hundred persons are recorded as converted The participants came together from a wide region. One came from beyond Beef River with an ox team. Parties were made up the trip from Durand, Alma, Chippewa City and other points. The second quarterly conference was held Oct. 9, 1858, at Tuttle’s Schoolhouse, in the Bear Creek Valley, north of the David Gifford farm. Among the prominent at this conference were P.Hardy, Edward Doughty, Andrew Lobdell, J.B. Green, F. Neal, G. Doud, Henry Doughty, and Daniel Doughty. The third quarterly conference was held at Maxville Prairie. The fourth quarterly conference was held at Chippewa Village, at the mouth of Bear Creek, a mile above Durand. Nelson Sabin and Jeremiah Newville were elected stewards. S.M Webster was recommended to the Bishop to be returned to the circuit. This year a parsonage was erected on Maxville Prairie. The second year opened under favorable circumstances. Four stations were in the circuit, Maxville Prairie, Chippewa City, Tuttle’s Schoolhouse in Bear Creek, and Luna in Lima Township. Rev. S.M. Webster was circuit preacher and Edward Doughty his assistant. The first quarterly conference was held at Luna, June 25, 1858. Timothy S. Kilgore was added to the list of steward. Daniel Beeman was present and received into full membership from the Primitive Methodist Church, and his license as a local preacher in that church recognized. Beeman was a well-known character of those days. He had lived in New Orleans, and was an ardent abolitionist. For some years he had been a daring agent of the underground railroad, but being discovered and his usefulness thus ended there, he fled north and settled near Eau Claire. The second quarterly conference was held at a camp meeting on the land of Delos Allen, just east of the present limits of Durand. After the camp meeting, the lumber from the sheds, stands and shacks was piled on a lot in Durand for the purpose of erecting a church. But a deed to the lot was not obtained, the plan did not materialize and the lumber was disposed of otherwise. This was the last as well as the second conference, the annual conference thereafter being held in the fall. A number of new names had by this time begun to appear in official connection with the circuit, among whom may be mentioned E.S. Havens (local preacher), M.D. Ford, J.W. Harding, R.F. Brown and George Teal. In 1860-61, Rev. S.M. Webster continued as circuit preacher, with M. Woodley and D.W. Downs as junior preachers. The circuit now included Alma, Maxwell, Little Bear Creek, Durand, Tuttle’s, Wood’s, Luna and Locks. The second quarterly conference was held at Durand Feb. 9, 1861. The fourth quarterly conference was also held there. Tyrone was added to the circuit. A missionary collection for the year amounted to$10.50. The conference recommended that the circuit be split north and south, cutting off Mondovi. The first quarterly conference for 1861-62 was held at Luna with M. Sorin as preaching elder, Thomas Harwood as circuit preacher and C.F. Kingsland as junior preacher. Daniel Doughty was appointed class leader of the Durand Class. At the fourth quarterly conference held at Durand, Sept. 10, 1862, the financial report of that year was read. It had been estimated that for the year’s work and expenses the presiding elder should have$24, the preacher $210, and the junior preacher $350, a total of $584. But of this, only $159.07 was collected. For missions $6.04 was raised in the whole circuit. At the beginning of the new conference that fall, M. Sorin was the presiding elder. Rev. C.P. Hackney was circuit preacher, and J.S. Ackers junior preacher. Mondovi, Durand and all outlying points were in one circuit. In 1863-64 the same preachers remained. The building of a church at Durand continued to be considered. In 1864-65, the pastor was the Rev. M. Woodley, and James Gurley of Maxville, the local preacher. At the quarterly conference held in July, 1865, Mr. Woodley announced that poverty compelled him to leave the circuit. He had served forty-five weeks, driven the circuit in all kinds of weather, had advanced his own expenses, had himself contributed to various church funds, and had received from the circuit but $254.16, or about $1 a day. The Civil war was just ending, and after four years of struggle, the scattered settlers in this region were without money. Mr. Gurley filled out the year, receiving for his services, $38.00. But a renewed prosperity and interest were about to dawn. In the fall of 1865 came Rev. L.E. Sprenger. Mr. Sprenger had served through the Civil war as chaplain of the Third Wis. Vol. Inf., and had done excellent work. He brought with him to this circuit both energy and ability. Before he had been working here long he had at Durand a class of 37 members, with an average attendance of 18 at the class meeting and six at the prayer meetings. He also had at Durand a flourishing Sunday school, with some eighty members. The work at Maxwell’s, Tuttle’s and Wood’s flourished in proportion. In 1866, with a view to building a church, a board of trustees was appointed to acquire and hold property at Durand. This board consisted of Daniel Doughty, Seth Stott, Fayette Allen, Henry Doughty, and Samuel Doughty. The fall or early winter of 1866, Rev. Mr. Sprenger started the erection of church edifice which was 40 by 60 feet, ground dimensions, and cost $1,200. It was completed during the pastorate of Rev. A.J. Davis, 1867-68 and dedicated by Rev. J.B. Richardson, presiding elder of the La Crosse District. It cost about $4,000. The next pastors were Rev. W.H. Bushnell, 1869; Rev. W.T. Boughton, 1870; Rev. G.D. Brown, 1871-73. F.W. Dighton supplied for a few months and died here in 1874. The Rev. W.W. Wheaton was pastor in 1875-76; Rev. C.C. Schwartz, 1877-78; Rev. W.C. Cross, 1879-80; Rev. J. Harrington in 1881; Rev. N.C. Bradley in 1882; Rev. G.D. Brown in 1883-84; Rev. P.K. Jones in 1885-86. During Mr. Jones pastorate, the church building was improved and a good parsonage erected. These ventures left the congregation considerably in debt, but this was partly liquidated under the pastorate of the Rev. John Holt, 1887-91. During this pastorate a tower was built on the church and a furnace installed. Rev G.W. Smith served the charge in 1892 and G.W. Smith in 1893. During the pastorate of Rev. Warren Woodruff in 1894-95, the parsonage was painted and an addition erected. Under Rev. W.E. Emery, in 1896, the church was painted and electric lights put in. Rev John Leinmbuhler served in 1899-1900; Rev H.C. Chambers in 1901; Rev. A.W. Luce in 1902-03; Rev. R.A. Atkins, 1904-05. Under the Rev. Frank Bell, 1906-08, improvements were made on the church and parsonage and the parsonage again painted. Rev. R.H. Reed served from 1909 to the spring of 1911. Since then the Rev. J.W. Harris has had the church in charge. Under his pastorate the church has taken on new life. The locations of the church and parsonage have been changed, the church being placed on the corner of the block. The church was repapered on the interior, a full basement constructed and a new furnace and heating system installed. The parsonage was repapered and repainted on the interior, a full basement constructed, and the remodeled church furnace placed therein. Thus both buildings were made more suitable for their present use and the property greatly increased in beauty and value. Among the pioneer members of the church whose early toils made the later success possible may be mentioned: John Stafford; Edward, Henry, Samuel, William, Henrietta, and Phoebe Doughty; Daniel and Elizabeth Graff; Charles (Sr) and Zillah Van Brunt; Perry and Lucinda Hardy; Seth and M.B. Scott; Joseph and Susan Harding. The Plymouth Congregational Church of Durand was established by Rev. A. Kidder, of Eau Claire, who commenced missionary work here in February, 1874. In the following September, the Chippewa Convention was held in the village, when a church of twelve members was organized. These members were: Caleb Spooner, Matthias Vickery, Lucinda Spooner, Mrs. Augusta Greenwood, Mrs. Alma Tunison, Mrs. Lucy E. Kidder, Alberone Kidder, Mrs. Jessie Fraser, Mrs. Tercelie Sterling, Mrs. Sarah J. Kinnery, Mrs. Hattie Dyer and Mrs. Angelina A. Hutchinson. Caleb Spooner was unanimously chosen the first deacon. There was a revival in 1875, when the membership was increased to twenty. Services were held at the Courthouse until the frame house of worship, 33 by 66 feet, with a seating capacity of 280, was erected in 1879-80 at a cost of $4,500. Mr. Kidder was mainly instrumental in securing efficient aid for this purpose. The dedication took place on Oct. 17, 1880. The Rev. F.B. Doe officiated at the ceremonies and raised the balance of the indebtedness, $700, thus rendering the congregation free from pecuniary obligations. Mr. Kidder resigned in 1883, having served nearly ten years. He was followed in the pastorate by the Rev. J.A. Wood, who remained two years, retiring July 26, 1886. His successor was the Rev. E.L. Morse, who served as pastor until October, 1891. Under his leadership, the present Manse was erected at a cost of $1,400. Since then the pastors have been: the Rev. Messrs E.B. Boggess, October, 1891- February 1893; Henry Baker, December, 1893 – April, 1894; F.B.Doe, June, 1894 – September, 1894; J.F. Bacon, November, 1894- October, 1895; J.E.Eakon, December – August, 1898; Alex Chambers, January 1889- May, 1901; L.A.Holt, January, 1902-November, 1902; F.H. Anderson, April, 1903- September, 1905; J.H. Roland, February, 1906-October, 1909; O.W. Smith, October, 1911-March, 1914; N.W. Conkle, March,1915-May, 1917; T.T. Phelps, the present pastor came in September, 1917. Under his leadership the church has more than doubled its membership, seventy new members being admitted his first year here. The Manse has also been greatly improved, the exterior being stuccoed and the interior decorated. The church is in a flourishing condition and is doing its share toward the progress of the community. St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Durand is pleasantly situated on West Montgomery street. The church dates back to 1889, when services were held in Gerber’s Hall by Rev. F.Schaffnit. These services continued to be held and in 1898 an organization was perfected by Henry Bruenn , George P. Gerber, C.Bruenn, H. Klems, J. Hartman and Albert Strese. Among others who have since come into prominence may be mentioned Richard Dreysee, William Strese, John Bruenn, and Fred Block. The church building was erected in 1901, and dedicated Nov., 10 of that year. The pastors have been the Rev. Messrs F. Schaffnit, H. Claassen, W.Flachmeier, C. Baetke, J. Preu, J. Kruger and P. Schedler, the present pastor. On a high elevation, commanding a splendid view of the valley of the Chippewa River, stands, almost on the outskirts of the city, the Church of Durand Catholic Parish, St. Mary’s, erected in 1885, by the Rev. Joseph M. Baur. Many years prior to its settlement as a parish, the Catholic Congregation in Durand had been in existence as a mission, being attended in succession by priests from Chippewa Falls, Hudson and Eau Galle. The first Catholic settlers in and around Durand were Daniel Fitzpatrick, Bernard McDonough, Maurice Powers, Thomas Fox, Thomas Egan and others who had emigrated from Ireland during the potato famine and, after many wanderings had settled here in the fifties of the last century. They were followed in the sixties by Catholic settlers from Germany and Belgium, among whom the Nussberger, Kralowski, and Kieffring families deserve special mention. In the seventies there came a large influx of Catholics of the German race, who came from the province of lower Austria, in the former Austrian empire; this influx continued until 1890, and at present the great bulk of the congregation consists of Catholics of Austrian descent, with a good sprinkling of people of the Irish and French race. The present church property was purchased in 1866 and the first Catholic Church erected on it in 1874. In 1876 Father Albert Mendl, who was appointed the first resident pastor in Durand, built a new parsonage. He was succeeded by the Rev. N. Flammang, who remained until Dec. 31, 1880, when Rev. Joseph M. Baur assumed the duties of that office. During his pastorate, which lasted 18 years, many valuable improvements and additions were made. Among these is the present substantial brick church, 42 x 82 feet, which was erected in 1885 and dedicated by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Flasch of the La Crosse diocese. The following year a parochial school was opened in the building which had formerly served as a church. The present spacious parsonage was built in 1891 and the old parsonage turned into a residence for the School Sisters. January 1, 1898, Rev. Charles B. Weikmann was appointed pastor of the congregation and continued until July, 1909, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, Rev. Peter Trierweiler. Father Weikmann liquidated the debts of the congregation and added many valuable improvements to the school and parsonage. In 1914 the present imposing Parochial School building was erected at a cost of $10,000. The congregation at the present time is estimated at 800 souls. The parochial school, which is connected with this congregation, consists of three departments, the total average attendance of scholars being one hundred. The school is in charge of the Sisters of St. Francis of La Crosse, Wis. The Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene was organized in the G.A.R. Hall, on July 31, 1915, by the Rev. Lyman Brough with eleven charter members as follows: J.T. Dorchester, Mr. and Mrs. Orrin Moore, Mrs. William Moore, Mrs. Walter Moore, Mr. and Mrs. F.L Harding, Esther Harding, Ruth Harding, Earl Smith, and Mrs. Lewis Ganoe. Mr. and Mrs. William Eagan have since been added. The church is located on Third street, and through the faithfulness and sacrifice of the members, the property is free from debt. The first pastor, the Rev. C.H. Beck, was succeeded by Rev. D.D. Tower, who in turn was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Theodore F. Harrington. Of the purpose of this church, the present pastor says: “The above church exists to preach the salvation purchased for all mankind by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It believes that this salvation is free, full and present, and not for a chosen few but for all. It has no desire nor intent to tear down God’s work or fight any other church, but to build up the church and fight sin in all its forms by preaching the truth as found in the word of God. Truth is bound to triumph as Christ is bound to triumph, and so is his truth and that we believe. We preach a sin-eliminating salvation, bringing full salvation to every heart that accepts it on God’s terms.” The first newspaper publish in Durand was the Home Mirror, established in October, 1861, by Myron A. Shaw, and conducted by him one year, from March to October, 1862, in partnership with W.W.Wood. Mr. Shaw then sold to George Van Waters, the paper two months later being called the Alembic. Early in 1863 it became the Durand Times, and was conducted by Van Waters till June, 1869, during the last six months in partnership with Sidney A. Foster. It was then sold to Foster and J.D. Powers, and after February, 1870, was conducted by Foster alone till October, 1873. Its proprietor from that time to June, 1876 was W.H. Huntington, his successor being W.H.H. Matteson, who conducted the times until November, 1878, when the office was destroyed by fire. Soon after that disaster, the subscription list was transferred to the Pepin County Courier. The paper was styled the Durand Weekly Times after April, 1871. In politics it was Republican. The Pepin County Courier was started by W.H. Huntington in December, 1877 and in November or December of the following year he secured the subscription lists of the Times from W.H.H. Matteson and changed the name of his paper to the Pepin County Times and Courier. In January, 1880, Mr. Huntington dropped the word “Times” and his paper became the Courier only. In January, 1885, J.D.Eldridge and E.F Morsbach became the owners of it and published it until 1889, when Mr. Huntington again became its proprietor. He had as partner one time E.F. Morsbach and at another time B.E.Barton. The next owner was J.D.Eldridge, who conducted it until March, 1908, his widow subsequently continuing its publication. In June, 1914, Mrs. Eldridge sold the Courier to Ed M. Bardill and Emil Bardill. These young men were born in Alma, Wis., and had considerable experience in the newspaper field. Ed M Bardill took charge of the editorial work, while Emil Bardill supervised the mechanical department. In April, 1918, both young men being in the draft, they were compelled to dispose of their business. Consequently, they sold out to Barton and Crippin, of the Entering Wedge who combined the two papers under the title of the Courier-Wedge. The Entering Wedge was founded in July, 1893, by C.A. Ingram and John N. Kirk, as the “entering wedge” of a new movement in local politics. Mr. Kirk continued as a partner until April, 1894, when he sold his share to James W. Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd sold to LeRoy A. Goodrich in March, 1895. In January, 1902, Mr. Goodrich bought out Mr. Ingram and became sole owner. In March, 1904, Mr. Goodrich formed a partnership with B.E.Barton. Four years later C.A. Ingram purchased the interest of Mr. Goodrich and he and Mr. Barton published the paper for about a year. Then L.M. Poquette joined them in the firm which was incorporated under the name of the Entering Wedge Co. About fifteen months later, Mr. Ingram sold his interest to his partners, retiring in July, 1909. September 1, of that year, the paper was purchased by August Ender and family. Early in November, 1914, Mr. Ender sold the Entering Wedge to B.E. Barton and A.W. Crippin. In April, 1918, Messrs Barton and Crippin bought the Pepin County Courier and combined the two papers under the name of the Courier- Wedge. The paper has developed from its original purpose as a political organ to one that voices the general welfare along all lines worthy of discussion, so its pages are filled with breezy local items and the current happenings of the world. Its makeup and general character reflect experience and complete knowledge of the demands of each respective department. It is a seven column quarto fully up to the standard of high-grade newspaper endeavor and in full sympathy with the progressive sentiment of the day. A bright newsy paper, it meets with liberal support and appreciation. Messrs. Barton & Crippin both are men of demonstrated ability. B.E. Barton, who supervises the mechanical end, had been interested in both local papers before his present purchase, besides working in some of the large print shops of other cities. A.W. Crippin, the editor, has been associated with newspapers in Kansas and Illinois and is thoroughly familiar with the duties of his position. C.J. Roland, now a newspaper man at Clear Lake, S.D., writing to the Entering Wedge under date of Jan. 19, 1918, gives some sketchy but strong outlines of some of the early Durand journalists. He says in part: “I don’t know whether a line from me would be of interest in your ‘Non-Resident’ issue, or not. I used to call Durand my home, and I spent many happy years there; in fact, I learned my trade in the printing offices of that town prior to the year 1876. I first saw Durand in the year 1868, just ‘after the war.’ My mother’s people lived in Arkansaw, and after my father’s death in the war, mother, with her three children, moved from Auburn, N.Y., to Durand. I had had some experience in a newspaper office in Auburn, and naturally drifted into the office when I reached Durand. George Van Waters published the old Durand Times at the time, and besides teaching us to stick type, he taught us all the mean things about a printing office that were known to the craft at the time. He afterwards sold the plant to Sid A. Foster, and I was one of the “articles” transferred. Foster was more of a politician and general mixer than, he was an editor, and as a consequence he lasted but a short time in the business. He sold the plant to W.H. Huntington, and as I was still an asset of the old plant, I was transferred to him. Before Huntington actually purchased the times, Foster engaged him one winter to take charge of the paper while he filled a clerkship in the legislature in Madison. And here, I want to tell you, Huntington and I gave the people of that town such a newspaper as they had never had before, and as a result some of the leading merchants of the town – Tarrant, Dorwin, Topping, Vautrot and others urged Huntington to buy it, and he did. Huntington was a good writer, a good fellow, but he soon drifted into other lines, and the paper took a slump.” The Lean Wolfe was issued here in 1869, for about three months, by George Van Waters, and then transferred to Menomonie. The Durand Zeitung was published in German here for a few years. The Bank of Durand was organized in 1884. About 1915 the bank building was remodeled and modernized into an attractive banking house, of substantial construction and pleasing and tasteful exterior. The interior is the embodiment of refinement and good taste in its finish, furniture and equipment, in which marble, mahogany and tile combine to produce an attractive whole. The present official force is made up of A.J. Wallace, President; George Tarrant, Vice President; Joseph Weber, cashier; John Gillmore, assistant cashier, and a directorate consisting of A.J. Wallace, George Tarrant, Joseph Weber, H.M. Orlady, W.A. Gillmore, Dr. W.W. Cassidy and H.P. Nicklas, all men of affairs and prominence hereabouts, who inspire the fullest confidence and trust. The bank’s report of condition at the close of business, March 4, 1918, showed: Resources – Loans and discounts, $531,999.73; overdrafts, $2,091.55; bonds, $4,750.00; banking house, furniture and fixtures, $14,658.67; due from banks, $169,745.27; cash on hand, $16,625.84; total $739,871.06. Liabilities – Capital stock, $25,000.00; surplus and undivided profits, $45,078.84; deposits $669,792.22; total $739,871.06. The guiding principles of the institution are “to share with our customers the benefits of our facilities, equipment and resources - to give each individual banking account personal attention.” The First National Bank of Durand was founded as the The State Bank of Durand, in 1890, and was re-chartered as a national bank in October, 1915. Its building is one of the city’s most handsome structures, externally and internally, and so equipped in bank fixtures and protection as to harmonize with modern progress in efficiency, appearance and character. The bank is officered as follows: John Brunner, Jr., president; E. Osterreicher, vice president; George L. Howard, vice president; K.K. Brainard, cashier; Joseph F. Poeschel, assistant cashier. The statement of condition of this institution for March 4, 1918, showed the following resources and liabilities: Resources – Loans and discounts, $306,065.22; overdrafts, unsecured, $442.18; U.S. bonds and certificates, $80,000.00; stock in Federal Reserve Bank, $1,350; Liberty Loan bonds, unpledged 3 ½ and 4 percent, $4,250.00; securities other than U.S. bonds $2,695.00; banking house and fixtures, $15,000.00; due from other banks, $25,54196; cash on hand and due from other banks $52,732.47; total $488,076.83. Liabilities – Capital stock $35,000.00; surplus $15,000.00; undivided profits, $937.49; dividends unpaid, $32.00; deposits, $437,107.34; total, $488,076.83. The Auditorium and Grand theatres cater to the amusement fancy. The former is for the spoken drama and the latter for the motion pictures. The auditorium was built in 1912 at a cost of $16,000 by the local order of the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin. It is a credit to their enterprise and an honor to the city. It is a brick building of imposing construction and design, with an interior and stage equipment equal to much larger places. Its seating capacity is about 600. There are two organizations devoted to instrumental music: Hoeser’s Brass Band of 18 pieces, under the direction of William Hoeser, and Harrington’s orchestra, so plenty of good music is available for festal occasions. The Home Telephone Company has established a service and price system that has made the use of the telephone hereabouts a practical economy in commercial and home management. As a result it has a satisfied patronage which now use about 400 phones connecting with all local and long distance lines. This company is practically a family organization, made up of members of the Lobdell family, who are the executives in charge of its various operations, and whose management has given the public entire satisfaction in the way of an economical and reliable service. The Durand Creamery, of which W.G. Roepke is the proprietor, was started April 4, 1913, and has been gradually built up into a prosperous venture, which in 1916 paid patrons $44,237.19 for butterfat. In the fall of that year Mr. Roepke remodeled a stone building, into an attractive, up-to-date creamery, with full equipment., including one churn with a capacity of 800 pounds of butter, two ripeners of 600 galloons capacity and an ice cream freezer of 20 gallons capacity. The creamery gives employment to six people, and has about 150 cream patrons. In 1917 it paid for butterfat $65,271.32, and sold 174,878 pounds of butter and 3,500 gallons of ice cream, receiving for the same $75,605.26. The Durand Brewing Co., whose plant is one of the pioneer breweries of Wisconsin, was founded in 1863 by Philip Lorenz, who conducted it until he went out of business, the plant ceasing to do business in 1882. In 1890 the property was bought by Frank Baur, who put it into operation again, and it met with almost instant success. For a short time Mr. Baur had for a partner N.H. Mertis, but the latter sold his interests to Jacob Breunig, the style of the firm them becoming Baur and Breunig. In January, 1915, Mr. Breunig retired from the business and later on bought the Bloomer Brewery. The plant comprises an imposing brick and iron structure, 56 by 200 feet, which houses the malt house, ice storage, brewery, and other departments. Here about 3,000 barrels of beer are made yearly and several people are employed. The product is sold mostly in Durand, but Mr. Baur has also quite a shipping trade in both the keg and bottle beer. The bottling works occupy a separate building. The beer is all made from artesian water and other pure ingredients, without the admixture of anything injurious, and Mr. Baur has made his own malt since starting. The beer has been kept at a high grade and has obtained a wide reputation. Mrs. M.D. Prindle was born in Barnston, Lower Canada, Jan. 8, 1842, daughter of Frederick and Atlanta (Glover) Ide, both natives of New England. Frederick Ide had secured contracts for building railroad bridges in Canada, owing to which reason the family had moved there. Mrs. Prindle says: “I came to Wisconsin with my parents in 1854, first settling on Fox Lake, where we remained a short time. Early in 1856 a wagon train of thirty teams, including three of our own, left Fox Lake bound for the Farrington settlement in Buffalo County, which was afterwards named Mondovi by my uncles. Chester Ide and E.B. Gifford built the first hotel there. All there was when we arrived was the log house belonging to the four Farrington brothers. When I first came to Durand, Peter Gerber had a house where he kept boarders. My husband, Miles Durand Prindle, had the first store. There was a sawmill on Bear Creek run by Mr. Babcock. The river in the early days used to run so full of logs and lumber that a person could almost walk across on them. The first school here was taught at the little place called Chippewa by my sister, Emma Ide, and the first school in Durand was taught by Mary Morse, who was succeeded by my sister, Emma, the school being held in a small shanty. The second schoolhouse was built of stone and was used for a number of years. It is still standing and now used for a residence. My husband came from Derby, Conn. He came up the Mississippi River to Reed’s Landing, and then up the Chippewa River by keel boat, in 1856, arriving at what is now Durand. Here he found Charles Billings who had a small shanty, with whom he stopped a while, locating his land. He bought a part of the land where Durand now stand, from Mr. Billings, and he and Mr. Billings platted the town and named it Durand, after Mr. Prindle’s middle name. I had worked and earned the money to build a little home across from where the Court House now stands, and where I was living when the mob lynched one of the Williams, or Maxwell, brothers to a tree in the court house yard, for the killing of the Coleman brother, the sheriff of Pepin County and the deputy sheriff of Dunn county. When they had these boys on trial in the court house I went over to see how they looked, and after seeing the men I started to go back home. When I cam down the steps I saw a coil of rope on one of the steps, but saw no men, but before I got out of the court house the mob had the man, and when I got outdoors his body was hanging from one of the oak tree. I was never so scared in my life. I t was the custom here in early days to dedicate al the new buildings erected with a dance, and many enjoyable times were had on these occasions, the people dancing to the music of the Ide band. After the big fire burned the hotel we raised the roof of our cottage – put a corner here and a corner there – and turned it into a hotel, which was called Prindle’s Little Inn. Among my husband’s papers I find a sketch of the first celebration ever held in Durand, and for the benefit of the rising generation I will give it to you. There was a small shanty with a stone fireplace in one end, situated where the Gerber block now stands. The side fronting the river, opposite the postoffice, was covered with pine siding, and our artist cut with a knife the mane Durand. This was the first time the name of our village had been displayed. The village had been surveyed a few days previous to this anniversary by Lorenzo G. Wood. The cornerstone is located on the northeast corner of the courthouse square. The plat was recorded in Dunn county, of which this was a part. I was then in Mondovi, waiting the return of my sister Emma, who, with my Aunt Samantha Ide, accompanied the Ide band to Durand to celebrate the Fourth. They had a big time, roasted an ox and had an orator from La Crosse. In return for the speech Miles gave him a village lot. The ball in the evening was attended by over one hundred, and the supper was served by John Stafford, and was pronounced a success. It was served on a long table constructed of sawhorses covered with boards – pretty expensive, too. For a tablecloth they had a good, long strip of unbleached cotton. There was plenty of game, for there were no wardens in those days to say “what ye should eat and what ye should drink,” and while the deer would often swim the Chippewa we could have venison without stint, so you may imagine the supper was a success. The first hotel, the “Bean Sandwich,” stood where Rosenthal’s store now stands, and was then run by Alexander Grippen and his bright little wife. My recollection is that the capacity of the place was tested to the utmost, but the grove and platform would accommodate a good many people, and we had more confidence in each other than we have nowadays. I remember what a royal time they had, and I never tired hearing them tell of it. The second anniversary that I shall allude to is the celebration of 1856. I know more personally about this than about the others. The number present was few, and the flags less. My recollection is that we didn’t have any flag. There was present some six or seven persons, of whom I remember Charles Bi8llings, Charles Wetherbee, Peter Gerber and family, Michael Smith, John Schnell and some river men. Frank D.V. Browne, in a recent letter to the Entering Wedge, from Madison, Wis. (published Feb. 14, 1918), recalls some reminiscences of his boyhood, several years of which were spent in Durand. His father being a Methodist minister, was stationed successively at various places in neighboring counties, and from time to time for a number of years Frank made visits to this city. He says, in part: “How many will recall the times when we went swimming down at the mouth of Mill Lake. As for a bathing suit, the most popular style was patterned after the one Adam wore previous to the time he ate the core of Eve’s apple, Then with these bathing suits on we spent more time crawling over saw logs than we did in swimming, and I never was able to determine whether the bark scratches on my stomach or the sunburn on my back were causing the most trouble. At any rate, neither hurt was sufficient to prevent us from doing the same thing over again. And then how many people remember when the town cattle were herded up on the bottoms at the mouth of Bear Creek? The charge, as I remember it, was 15 cents per week for each. While the wages were not large, the fun we had was worth many times what we received as compensation , and I believe there were very few boys in the east end of town who did not at some tine or other engage to do this work. Further than this, we always had plenty of assistants. I wonder how many remember the circus performances we used to have in Tarrant’s barn. This event usually followed closely after “The World’s Greatest Shows” had given an exhibition in the town. I do not recall anyone having been injured, but the stunts undertaken certainly put us in class that would be termed ‘hazardous occupation’ by any insurance company. The great event of the year, of course, was the Pepin County Annual Fair, lasting for three whole days, and mighty unfortunate, indeed, was the youngster who could not attend. I can recall to mind many things that were in common with any county fair – the poultry, live stock, fruits, vegetables, fancy work, art work, not to mention the games of chance, horse races, and so on- but the one event that looms strong in may memory was the bicycle race in which ‘Willie’ Dyer entered with his ‘Star,’ and cleaned up the whole field. This, of course, was in the days of high wheelers, and not the modern safety. Yes, there is one more event that is fresh in my memory, and that is the cigar I won throwing at the doll babies. I can see today just how it looked. It was of the ordinary size, but the color was a very light brown – well, about the color of dead cabbage leaf. I undertook to smoke the thing, and, in fact did burn up at least half of it, but after that the fair had no more attraction for me. Not even the ‘Silver Cornet Band,’ with Anse Morsbach playing the baritone solo, ‘Put me in my little bed,’ could induce me to remain longer, and as fast as the whirling condition of the path would permit, I sought the nearest way home and went to my little bed without asking anyone to put me there.” William Manor, Sr., who was born in Clinton County, New York, in 1848, came to Pepin County in the fall of 1866, with his parents, who settled on Dead Lake Prairie. For four seasons he was engaged in steamboat work, at first on the Idell Prindle, the captain of which was Chester Hall. In letter to the Entering Wedge (published Feb. 14, 1918, from Rice Lake, Wis., he says: “In those days the Chippewa had in the steamboat line the Idell Prindle, the Silas Wright, the Johnnie Smoker, the Peter Wilson and the Monitor. The captain of the Peter Wilson was Philip Schakiel, the captain of the Silas Wright was Lowe Maylon. The Johnnie Smoker was commanded by Captain Duffie, the Monitor by Captain Douglas. In the year 1868 the Ida Campbell was built in Durand by Joseph Gazley. She was brought to Wabasha. When she received her machinery when she was completed.” Mr. Manor, who afterwards engaged in farming, lived in Pepin County for fifty years and four months, but is now a resident of Rice Lake. George P. Gerber was born in Oneida County, New York, in 1844, the son of Peter and Catherine Gerber, the former of Germany and the latter of Alsace, France. Mr. Gerber relates his experiences as follows: “In the spring of 1856 I left the state of New York with my parents for the West. We traveled by train via Chicago to Dunleith, Ill., thence by boat up the Mississippi River to Reed’s Landing, Minn. From there we came by keel boat up the Chippewa River to what is now Durand. At that time there was nothing here but a small shack, built by Charles Billings for a residence, he being the first man to settle on the village site. M.D. Prindle came at about the same time as we did, and he and Mr. Billings platted and layed out the village of Durand. Mr. Prindle gave father a lot to build on, and father put up a building which was used as a boarding house. Our family lived with Mr. Billings while erecting this building. The land was all timbered, and Mr. Prindle had it cut off from the town site. Alexander Babatz owned land upon which he later laid out Babatz’s addition to Durand. The brewery now stands on a part of that land. After locating the town Mr. Prindle gathered around him several men, among whom were Mr. Wells, a carpenter, and Mr. Gilestar, a mason, and Charles Wetherby. Gilester opened a lime kiln in the bluff and burnt the lime used in plastering the buildings in town. Mr. Prindle erected a building, which he sued for a store. Alexander Grippen erected another building, which was used for a hotel called the Bean Sandwich. When we first came here there was small town a mile and a half up the river, named Chippewa, afterwards by some called Bear Creek. There was a couple of stores, a sawmill and two hotels there. This place was nearly wiped off after a few years by a big flood, and part moved to Durand and some of the buildings went for farm houses. In 1857, a sawmill was built by Fred Prindle and Washington E. Hayes on the lake above Durand. At first village growth was slow, but settlers commenced to come in and the town started up, and at the time the railroad came it had a population of about 1,300. The old stage line from Wabasha to Eau Claire used to pass over the hills just in front of where my residence now stands. This was in 1859, or 1860. Scott and Harding built a chair factory here in 1861, which they ran for a number of years, then sold to Bruenn & Kuhn, who later sold to Jacob Fritz. For about twenty years we burned lime and kept boarding house in town, and ran the farm, which is now in the city limits. During the fire of 1882 our boarding house burned down, and father then built a residence on the farm. We used to get our mail from the town of Chippewa until the postoffice was established here in 1858. At one time, before the town of Chippewa was flooded out, the Indians had big war dance, to which we all went; and it was fun to see them act. The early settlers were all of a social character, and we had many good times at dances and spelling schools. After quitting the lime business in town I came to the farm, in 1890. With the exception of one year spent in California, I have lived here continuously since I came from New York state at the age of twelve years.” Nelson Sabin, the first settler in Bear Creek Valley, moved with his family from Rock County, and on May 28, 1856, settled on land in the present Lima Township on a farm, later owned by N.P. Ward, Sr. It was before the enaction of the homestead law, and at that time government was secured by settlers under the preemption act at the rate of $1.25 per acre. The following facts are gathered from his reminisces. When R. Sabin and family settled in the Bear Creek country much of the land was already claimed, but there were no houses between the mouth of Bear Creek and Osseo. There were many wild animals, including bears, deer and timber wolves. Deer were often seen in large numbers. The wolves were large ones, of the timber variety, and did considerable howling at night. The winter of 1856-57 was known as “the winter of deep snow” as far south as the Ohio River. In this section it was four feet deep on the level, making it difficult matter to get around. As a result of the vast snowfall, deer died in large numbers, and there were never so many afterward. There were destructive floods in the spring of 1857. In 1855 an attempt was made to start a town called Chippewa at the mouth of Bear Creek, in Durand Township, but the flood of the spring of 1857 was so disastrous that the future of that town did not look encouraging and it was subsequently abandoned.. For a time there was considerable rivalry between Durand and Chippewa, and one year there were rival Fourth of July celebrations. After, the town at the mouth of Bear Creek gave up the struggle. Since that time the channel of the Chippewa River has changed to some extent and the river now occupies some of the space occupied by the old townsite. Many of the buildings at the mouth of Bear Creek were moved to the city. Among those still standing are the following: The Isaac Plume building, now part of the home of Sam Shapiro; the home of Dominic Boehm, near the brewery, and the house occupied by Ole Paulson. Skinner’s Prairie was thus named because of the fact that a man named Orlando Skinner developed and operated a large farm on the edge of the prairie for a number of years. The erection of Dorwin’s mill by V.W. Dorwin, about the year 1859, was an improvement much welcomed. It was the first grist mill on this side of the river for many miles and did a great deal of grinding. In its early years the dam was often washed out by spring freshets and it became necessary to rebuild before any more grinding could be done. A grist mill was put in at Mondovi about the time Dorwin mill was built. The early settlers were energetic and industrious, and it was not long until large quantities of grain were raised. Charles Averill was among the first to purchase an Esterly reaper in Bear Creek Valley. In order to get this machine along the roads it was often necessary to chop off stumps. Truman Curtis, who lived at the mouth of Bear Creek, witnessed a war dance of a band of Chippewa Indians one night in 1854. He could understand the language of the Indians and asked them what they were going to do. They informed him that they were going down near the mouth of the Chippewa River, probably at Battle Slough, and get “heap Sioux scalps.” They went down the river in canoes and appear to have met with a warm reception, for only a few of them came straggling back a day or two later. When asked how the battle went they admitted that they got the worst of it, saying they encountered “heap Sioux.” It is not recorded that they went on any more expeditions of that kind. The Chippewa Indians and the whites never had any difficulty in this section, but the white settlers became more and more numerous and the Indians became scarcer and scarcer. To help get a start, many of the early pioneers worked in the woods in the winter and helped raft lumber in the spring. In the early days there was little rafting or floating of logs. This came later and with much damage to the channel of the river, resulting from jams of logs. PEPIN Pepin Township is the largest of the eight townships in Pepin County, and is of irregular shape. It is bounded on the north by Pierce County, and the town of Frankfort; on the east by the town of Frankfort and the Chippewa River; on the south and southwest by Lake Pepin and on the west by Stockholm. Bogus and Lost Creeds and Roaring River flow in a southerly direction through the township. The first settler in Pepin County and Pepin township was John McCain, who selected a claim in 1844 and moved here in 1846. The next was McCain’s cousin W.B. Newcomb, who assisted him in putting up his log cabin, and who that fall took a claim on the present site of Pepin Village, on which he did some breaking. The next were Robert, William, Samuel and John Hix, who came up from Illinois, and settled on Roaring Creek, four miles east of McCain, near the trail leading up the Chippewa. These men were energetic inlaying out and working roads in various directions and to their efforts much of the development of the faring community was due. In 1848, James White, from Beloit, settled west of McCain, and in 1849 Samuel Newcomb, of Fort Madison, Iowa, settled two miles north of McCain. The first mill in the township was built in 1853, on Roaring River, and furnished the early settlers with grist. It was owned by Isaac Ingalls and Melville Mills. In 1856 Philip Plaff established a mill on the same river, and operated it until his death in 1890. It was destroyed by fire in the fall of that year. In 1871 he had erected a steam feed-mill, which, upon his death, passed into the possession of his widow. Pepin is an incorporated village of about 500 population, situated near the foot of Lake Pepin, in the southern part of Pepin township, and on the Chicago-St. Paul branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. It is 22 miles southwest of Durand, the county seat. The situation is one of unusual beauty, with its wide expanse of lake, bounded on the Minnesota side by rugged bluffs, and on the Wisconsin side by undulating hills and prairies, giving a most charming variety to the scene. The village has good telegraph, telephone and express service. The most important enterprise is the fishing business, which flourishes on a large scale. There are also in Pepin two general stores, two hardware stores and garages, one restaurant, on drug store, one millinery store, a newspaper and printing office, four saloons, a lumber yard, two elevators, a creamery, a hotel, a furniture and crockery store, a pickle factory, a factory manufacturing children’s bob sleds, and a bank. A good school affords education facilities in the grade and high school courses, and two churches, the Methodist Episcopal and the Evangelist Lutheran Immanuels, minister to the moral and religious needs of the community. Originally, the village extended along the levee, but with the exception of the hotel, the business houses have been moved a block farther back on higher ground, commanding a view of the lake, and here also most of the residential portion of the village is located. In 1908 the village erected a neat little village hall, and recently a small natural park has been laid out and improvements started. The village is lighted by electricity, which is furnished by a private corporation, and with the last en years cement sidewalks have been laid and a healthy civic pride aroused which has led to beneficial results in public improvements. Pepin has successively known a Newcomb’s Landing, Kansas, North Pepin and Pepin. The earliest settler on the present site of Pepin Village was William Boyd Newcomb, a river pilot, who came to this vicinity from Fort Madison, Iowa, in 1845, resided for a year on the other side of the river, and in 1846 came to what is now Pepin, split some rails, plowed some ground and assisted his cousin, John McCain, erect a log cabin at Lakeport. He did little toward developing his Pepin claim until after his marriage, in 1849, when he brought his bride here, and made plans for a permanent location. When the land office was opened at Hudson he entered a claim, embracing the main part of the present village. The point selected, though it did not embody a good boat landing, was on the main route of travel between Lake Pepin and the pineries of the Chippewa region, and several pioneers, quick to see the advantages of the location, gathered around Mr. Newcomb. Among them may be mentioned Otis Hoyt, Elias Brock, James Little, Ebenezer Thompson, B. O’Connor and S. Carlos Fayerweather. The years of 1850-1854 were busy ones in the development of the Chippewa pineries, and there were indications that Newcomb’s little settlement would become an important center. A road was opened along the line of the old trail between North Pepin and Chippewa Falls, and through the efforts of Col. Benjamin Allen, a stage line was opened between the two towns, making the round trip in two days, at a fare each way of $3. In the winter of 1854-55 a postoffice was established with John Newcomb as postmaster. In 1855 the village was platted as North Pepin, the surveying being done by A.W. Miller, then a resident of Hudson, later of Maxville, Buffalo County. On the plat members of the Newcomb family appear as the sole owners, although Otis Hoyt, Benjamin Newcomb and John O’Connor were probably interested to some extent. The first village lots were purchased by Elias Brock. Ebenezer Thompson erected a suitable building and opened a hotel in it. He also put up a building in which B. O’Connor opened the first store. A warehouse was erected by A.C. Allen and others and was afterward converted into a hotel. Several residences were put up. Masonic lodge was instituted this year. In 1856 a large store and warehouse was erected, afterward converted into an elevator. The same year a church, the first in the county, was erected by the Methodist Episcopal denomination, services having been held as early as 1850 by the Rev. John W. Hancock, of Red Wing, Minn. In 1857 a schoolhouse was erected, the first school having been taught as early as 1853-54 by Louisa Ingalls, in a house erected a few months previous by Elias Brock. The same year, 1857, a newspaper was established under the tiles of the Pepin County Independent. The year of 1857 marked the high tide of early Pepin prosperity. Up to this time the village had grown rapidly. Building after building had been erected in quick succession, hotels and stores were in full operation, and two banking houses were started, the Oakwood Bank, with B. O’Connor as president, and A.C. Allen as cashier; and the Chippewa Bank, with E. Lathrop as president, and J.C. Mann as cashier. At this time anticipations of the pioneers that Pepin would become a flourishing city, the “Queen City of Lake Pepin,” the “Gate City of Chippewa” seemed to be about to be realized. The place seemed the natural outlet of the Chippewa trade. Raftsmen, after taking rafts down the Mississippi, were landed here by the steamboats, and walked to the penuries. Travelers came here to take the stage to that region. Everything was booming. Everything was busy. Settlers were taking up the land, men anxious for opportunities for investment were thronging here, building lots were selling at a high figure. Then came the financial panic of 1857. But this was general all over the country, the other villages of the Upper Mississippi shared the same fate, and like the others, Pepin in due time began to recover enough so, indeed, that in 1859 the village was incorporated by special act of the legislature. The first president was W.B. Newcomb, the first settler. The trustees were Joseph Manning, Dudley Manning, Peter B. Granger, and H.D. Barron; the first clerk was U.B. Shaver. Four years later the incorporation was abandoned. For there were causes at work which were to defeat the high aspirations of the people of Pepin. Pepin had no adequate steamboat landing, and in low water it was practically impossible for steamboats to land either passenger or freight here. So to a considerable degree the steamboat business at Pepin languished. Light draft boats began to ply the Chippewa, diminishing the business of the stage line which had brought the village so much of its business. Shorter routes were opened between Mississippi points and the pineries by way of Durand, and Durand became a successful rival. Beef Slough was opened, taking the business of the raftsmen to Alma. Pepin even lost its advantages as the county seat, Durand being the fortunate winner. In 1870 railroads were opened on the Mississippi side of the Mississippi, and this also diverted considerable business. Thus perished the aspirations of the village to become one of the great cities of the upper Mississippi. But with the development of the farming region tributary to this region, Pepin again became a thriving agricultural center, and plans were made for a reincorporation. A petition was presented March 4, 1882, the census of the previous day taken by Amos S. Gray having shown a population of 340. The petition was granted, and at an election held May 11, 1882, in charge of A.S. Gray, C.M. Hilliard and Philip Plaf, every one of the fifty votes was cast in favor of the proposition. The first election of officers was held June 5, resulting as follows: President, M.B. Axtell; trustees, F.A. Fisher, James Hullsworth, John Lowry, Hugh Francis, August Their and Claus Stoltenberg; supervisor, A. D. Gray; clerk C.M. Hilliard; treasurer, Philip Pfaff; Justice, S.C. Fayerweather; police justice, M.B. Axtell. The officers for 1918 are: President, O.G. Fuller; trustees, I.M. Newcomb, E.F. Woods, L.F. Marsh, William Juliot, L.P. Mears and M.H. Newcomb: clerk R.D. Newcomb; supervisor, L.O. Fuller; assessor , O.M. Axtell; treasurer, O.G. Potter; justice, B.L. Mitter; police justice, A. Clifford. The Chicago, Burlington & Northern was opened for business Aug. 23, 1886, and while it brought no immediate growth to the village, has nevertheless been an important factor in its prosperity. The fishing industry of Pepin originated many years ago, but in 1893 a more rapid growth set in which has since continued to increase, until now the annual catch amount to from $125,000 to $250,000, the busiest season being for three months in the winter. Lake Pepin fish, on account of their superior quality, command a better price in the markets than fish from most other sources. As much as $15,000 worth in a week have been shipped from here. All scale fish go to New York and the skin fish to southern markets. The first school in Pepin was held in the winter of 1853 in a frame house, just erected by Elias Brock, situated on land afterwards platted as Block 9, and was supported by subscription. W.B. Newcomb was the chief promoter, he having induced Mrs. Louisa Ingalls to m come from Ft. Madison, Iowa, to instruct youth here. In this school there were enrolled twenty pupils. In 1854 another private, or select school, was taught by Mr. Caldwell, in a building owned by John Newcomb, Sr. Mrs. Mary Miles followed as teacher in 1855. In 1856, Prof. E.W. Gurley was the principal, with Mrs. Miles as assistant. The first school house was built by subscription, in 1857, the chief promoter being Prof. Gurley, whose object was to establish an academy known at the Hesperian Institute. After the school was in session a few years, with students from points as far off as Hudson, Wis., the Civil War broke out, and Prof. Gurley enlisted. The academy was then closed as such, and the people bought the building for their use as public school. Several principals succeeded during the war and shortly after, of whom no record is available. Among them were Dr. M.B. Axtell and Ezra Moore. It was in this building that the Peace Celebration, shortly before the assassination of President Lincoln, was held in April, 1865. It was burned on Jan. 1, 1902, and the present building erected in that year, of red brick, two stories and basement, heated by steam and lighted by electricity. The school covers the usual grades and the full four years of high school work, there being three teachers in the high school and four in the grades. From 1868 on the record show the following to have been principals in the order named: V.D. Carruth, JS. Garvin, E.T. Fitch, W.E. Barker, C.H.Keyes, A.B.Burr, C.H. Evans, W.E. Barker, D.S.Schuler, O.E. Rice, T.H. Lage, D.E.Cameron, J.M. Bold, G.E. Pratt, F.B. Webster, W.T. Darling, G.A. Bowden, John W. Burkholder, Oscar Klang, T.H. Lage, J.C. Householder and L.C. Banker. The interest always taken by Pepin’s citizens in education is well shown by their action in 1875, when they organized their school as a free high school, under Chapter 323, Laws of 1875, when the first special aid to high schools was given. This aid has been continued to this date; without it, it is highly probable that not many small high schools would have been started, or even maintained, if organized. At the organization of the high school E. T. Fitch was the principal, and there was forty-two students, ready to pursue at some point a high school course. It was not then the rule to require the course to be followed closely, and no class was graduated until under Principal C.H. Keyes, in 1882, when the first class of three was duly honored by commencement exercises. Since 1882 a class has been graduated every year, except in 1890. The first course was a three-year course, though many students, especially the first class, did more work than the course called for. The first class receiving a credit of four years’ work was that of 1905, since which time all students have received the benefit of a four year course. The first newspaper in the county, called the Pepin Independent, was founded in January, 1857, by U.B. Shaver. It was suspended within a year, but was revived in April, 1858, by E.W. Gurley and E.B. Newcomb. In the following autumn it was again suspended. In 1858 Richard Copeland started the Hesperian Monthly, a paper that, like the Independent, had but a brief experience. The Pepin County News and Pepin Star originated with the Pepin Star, an independent weekly, established in 1884, by Leo E. Kirkpatrick. In August, 1885, it was acquired by Robert A. and Orla B. Axtell, who conducted it jointly until 1894, when Orla B. withdrew. It was then conducted by Robert A. alone until 1897, when it was sold to J.M. Axtell, who owned it until June, 1906, having in March, 1904, moved it to Durand, and changed the name to the Pepin County News and Pepin Star. The subscription list was taken by the Courier and the outfit was purchased by the Entering Wedge. The Pepin County Press, a Republican weekly paper, was established in Pepin, in June, 1860, by U.B. Shaver, and was continued by him until its suspension, in May, 1862. From February to April, 1862, it published a series of articles on the history of Pepin. The Era of Progress, a bi-weekly paper, was started in Pepin, Dec. 25, 1861, by John Sterling. The Pepin Herald was established Feb. 13, 1908, by Lloyd A. Axtell, son of Dr. Milton B. Axtell. Mr. Axtell acquired his first journalistic experience in the office of the Pepin Star, then conducted by his brothers, Robert A. and Orla B. Axtell, and subsequently worked as a journeyman printer on the Pacific Coast. The Herald is enjoying a good circulation and in connection with the paper Mr. Axtell has also built up a profitable job printing business, having complete equipment in both departments. The Methodist Episcopal Church had its beginning in the fall of 1849. Samuel Newcomb and family came to Pepin from Iowa. He, with his wife, one son, and one daughter, were members of that denomination. At that time this region was missionary ground. On May 16, 1852, the Rev. George W. Richardson, a missionary on this field of labor preached to the people and formed a class of nine members, appointing Ebenezer Thompson, a Baptist, as class leader. The class was called Newcomb’s Landing Class, St.Peter’s Mission. In the fall of 1852 S.M. Webster and wife came from Illinois and joined the class, and he was appointed class leader, with Rev. Samuel L. Leonard, preacher, in charge, and Rev. Chauncey Hobart presiding elder. In the spring following (1854) a number of Methodist brethren immigrated from Pennsylvania and other parts and joined the society. At the conference of 1853 the Rev. David Brooks was appointed presiding elder, and the Rev. Matthew Sorin, of Red Wing, the preacher in charge. He preached to the people once every four weeks. During this year several more were added, so that the society numbered twenty- four members. In 1854 the conference again appointed the Rev. David Brooks presiding elder, and Rev. Dwight Kidder preacher in charge. The charge was then called Chippewa Mission, and embraced the country between Lake Pepin and the Eau Galle Mills. The first quarterly conference of the Chippewa Mission was held at Newcomb’s Landing, or as it was pretty extensively called, Kansas, on Oct. 7, 1854, in the schoolhouse, the members present being Rev David Brooks, presiding elder; Rev. Dwight Kidder, preacher in charge, and David Fayerweather, steward. At the conference of 1855 this northwestern field of labor was divided into two districts, and the Rev. David Brooks was appointed to the St. Paul District, and the Rev Norris Hobart to the other, called the Winona District, which included North Pepin. The Re. Calvin Kellogg was sent as preacher in charge to North Pepin. This was still missionary ground, and $100 was appropriated for the support of the gospel in the mission. At the general conference of May, 1856, which was held at Indianapolis, the northwestern part of Wisconsin was joined to Minnesota and made a separate conference, called the Minnesota Conference, which held its first session at Red Wing, Bishop Simpson presiding. There was nothing appropriated to the Kansas or North Pepin mission, so it became a circuit to support its own preacher, and Thomas Day was appointed preacher in charge. At that time there were six preaching places: North Pepin, Plum Valley, Dead Lake Prairie, Spring Creek, Big Bear and Eau Galle Mills. On Monday, Sept.1, 1856, a meeting was held for the purpose of considering the advisability of erecting a church edifice at this place. On Sunday, Jan. 7, 1857, a little over four months later, the church was dedicated. It was a plain building, 36 by 30 feet, with 12 foot walls, and cost $470. It was the first church erected by and Christian denomination in Dunn County, then including Pepin County. Rev. Thomas Day was the preacher in charge. On April 24, 1857, M. Webster, George W. Densmore, William I. Saddler, and L.O. Ferris were appointed trustees. The present church was built in 1875, at a cost of $2,500. It was dedicated June 27,1885, with D.E. Carrier, J. Newcomb, William McCain, J.Hilliard, P.N. Tuttle, J. Holden and George Toplis, trustees; Rev. M Woodly, pastor, and Rev. J.D. Searles presiding elder. Originally the German Methodist Episcopal Church of Pepin was embodied in the Wabasha and Lake City circuit. Pepin and Beef Slough were in 1886 organized into a separate mission. The first board of trustees of the Pepin society consisted of Jon Peters, Charles Peters and Joseph Betz. The frame church was built in 1861 under the pastorate of Rev. Frederick Groschtenmeyer, and the parsonage was built in 1891 under the pastorate of Rev. F.J. Weigand. William Krienke was pastor in 1886-87, C.H. Sauter, 1887-89; W.F. Eberhardt, 1889-90; F.J. Wiegand, 1890-93; C.A. Borchardt, 1893-94; H. Ziegler, 1894-95; J.G Steffer, 1895-97; H. Schmittker, 1897-1901; William Pagenhardt, 1901-02; Carl Krueger, 1902-07, W.F. Eberhardt, 1907-11; Leon Koch, 1911-12, and H.E. Young, 1912-13. After considering the feasibility of uniting the two M.E. churches, The English M.E. and the German M.E. churches, for several years, it was finally agreed upon at the Fourth Quarterly Conference, held Aug. 3, 1913, by unanimous vote of the conference, and the two churches were consolidated. It was further agreed that the one property be sold and the returns applied toward the other property; also that the West Wisconsin Conference be requested to transfer the custodianship of the English property to the Northern German Conference, and that the said conference have charge of the consolidated work, with Rev. J.J. Hoffman district superintendent, Rev. H.E. Young, preacher in charge, and with R.D. Newcomb, N.M. Dunlap, Thomas Gore, Charles Richardson, W.L. Hunter and David Fayerweather, trustees of the English church, and John Peters, Louis Peters, William Batz, Charles Brunkow and William Peters, trustees of the German church. The Rev. E. G. Meierbachtol was the first pastor of the consolidated churches. Under his pastorate the church property was greatly improved, and a new parsonage erected, and it was his mission to0 harmonize the two congregations. The present pastor is Rev. H. Clement. The Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Church of the Evangelical synod of Iowa and other states, located on Pine Street in Pepin, has been established for many years. The first services were held about 1886, at the public schoolhouse, and continued to be held there subsequently, at infrequent intervals, for several years, being presided over by the Rev. Mr. Kurz. Under his successor, the Rev. F.A. Schaffnit, the services were held above the printing office, which is now the pickle factory. The charter members were William Jahnke, John Jahnke, F.A. Ficker, C.H. Schuleter, F.C.Heinemann, F. Seyffer, Phillip Pfaff, H. Singen, D. Ehemann, F. Debertin, J. Schneecloth, C.Kircher, H. Glassbrenner and H. Singen. The congregation grew in strength and in 1889 erected the church edifice on Pine street, which was dedicated September 15, the same year, and is still in use. The parsonage was built in 1903, the last year of the Rev. C. Baetke’s pastorate. The successors of the first pastor, Rev. Mr. Kurz, have been as follows: Rev. F.A. Schaffnit, 1889 to 1892; Rev H. Claassen, 1893 to 1896; Rev. Flachmeyer, 1896 to 1898; C. Baetke, 1898 to 1903; J. Preu, 1903 to 1907; Rev. Kreuger., 1907 – 1910; A.Boer, 1910 to 1913; Rev. Schultz, 1914 to 1915; .A.C.. Huth, 1915 to the present time. Among the prominent members past and present may b mentioned Phillip Pfaff, C.H Schlueter, J. Henry Thies, August Thies, Herman Jahnke, Henry Glassbrenner, William Jahnke, John Betz, Herny Schneecloth and Julius Thies. The First National Bank of Pepin was originally organized as a state bank, with a capital of $10,000, being incorporated April 10, 1911, by E. Langers, T.S. Saby, C.J. Thies, J.H. Thies, Ole Hem, C.E. Peterson and E.S. LaFrance. The first officers were: E.Langers, president; T.S. Saby, vice president; Arthur Schilling, cashier. No change in the official board has since occurred. The bank opened for business Sept. 29, 1911, the bank building being erected in that year. On Feb. 26, 1915, the capital was increased to $25,000, and on April 14, the same year, the institution was converted into a national bank, the guiding principle of which has always been “Fair and square dealing, and the promotion of anything for the good of the community.” The Pepin Creamery Company, locate in the village of Pepin, is a cooperative concern, organized in 1910 by E.S. La France, C.J. Thies and C.L.Von Haden, with a capital of $4,600. The creamery is a successor to the Farmers’ Co-operative Creamery of Lost Creek Valley, which was taken over by Mr. Von Haden, the machinery being moved to Pepin when the present creamery was started. The present building, two stories high, with living rooms above for the butter maker, was erected in the year of organization, 1910and butter making started. In 1914 the company added to the plant a storehouse and supply room. The creamery has now 100 patrons, having 700 cows of mixed grades. The present officers are: Andrew Grund, president; C.L. Von Haden, secretary, treasurer and manager. Lakeport, formerly called Johnsonville, the site of the first settlement in Pepin County, is a pretty little hamlet of a few residences, on the shores of Lake Pepin, about two miles from Pepin. It was founded by John McCain. McCain began lumbering in the upper Chippewa region in 1841, and soon became a pilot on the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers. He selected a claim on the present site of Lakeport, in 1844, and moved theron in 1846, his cousin, W.B. Newcomb, the first settler of Pepin, assisting him. At the time of his arrival this region was practically a wilderness, as the influx of settlement had not yet begun and the land was not yet open to pre- emption. At one time there was considerable rivalry between the two embryo villages, but Pepin soon outdistanced Lakeport. STOCKHOLM Stockholm Township is in the extreme western edge of Pepin County. It is irregular in form, being bounded on the north by Pierce County, on the east by Pepin Township, and on the south and west by Lake Pepin. The township contains the supposed site of the fort of Nicholas Perrot. Probably erected in the summer of 1688. Remains, believed to be those of the fort, have been discovered in section 20, township 23, range 15. The first settlement dates from 1851, when Eric Peterson settled in the village. Stockholm is an incorporated village on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, beautifully situated, overlooking the broad expanse of Lake Pepin. It is a small, but prosperous place, with a population of about 250, and express, telegraph, telephone and banking facilities. Its business enterprises include three general stores, one hardware store, one feed store, a blacksmith shop and a garage. There are two churches, a Swedish Baptist and a Swedish Mission. The first settler in the village was Eric Peterson, who fixed upon a location here, and on March 16, 1852, entered his claim to land in sections 12 and 13. Later, he returned to Sweden, and was married. In the spring of 1854, during his absence, a colony of his fellow countrymen arrived, among whom may be named Jacob Peterson, John Anderson, Eric Frieck, Lars Olson and Frank Nelson and their families, who came up from Illinois, where they had spent the winter. Jacob Peterson put up a log house and in this all found shelter until each family was provided with a separate house. Later in the year John Anderson put up a frame house. In the fall Eric Peterson returned with his wife, who, on the day of arrival, gave birth to a child, Matilde, the first white child born in the settlement. The next spring several of the settlers planted some corn and potatoes and other crops. The colony prospered and in 1856 plans were made for the establishment of a village. The name of Stockholm was selected, and A.W. Miller laid out the plat on land of Eric Peterson, Jacob Peterson and John Anderson. Eric Peterson opened a store, and George Rickerd established a hotel. This year Abram Josephson and Annie Peterson were married, the first marriage in the township. A Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized by Rev. Eric Norelius, of Red Wing, and a small house of worship erected. The financial panic of the following year, 1857, was scarcely noticed in the little settlement, as they had little intercourse with the outside world. Gradually the settlers came in, all of the same nationality, and scattered not only through the township, but also into the surrounding region, of which Stockholm became the center. In 1860 a steam feed mill and grain warehouse were erected by Eric Peterson, and in 1873 A.D. Post erected a grain warehouse. In 1886 the railroad came through. In 1906 Stockholm was visited by a fire, which destroyed a whole block, consisting of two residences, a hardware, store, drug store, livery stable, saloon and hotel. In 1909 the store of Larson and Swanson was destroyed by fire. The village of Stockholm was incorporated in November, 1903. The first officers were: Andrew Bock, president; Paul Hilkie, Andrew Stromberg, Vern Brownlee, Harry Brownlee, C.J. Swanson, Joe Sirvas, trustees; E.M. Larson, clerk; E.N. Peterson, assessor; W.F. Gearing, police justice. The present officers are: A.F. Peterson, president; E.N. Peterson, Julius Hanson, Victor Wahlstrom, Martin Larson, Elvin Blomquist and Wickford Josephson, trustees; Harold Larson, clerk; E.T. Josephson, supervisor; A.F. Peterson, justice; Anton Peterson, treasurer; Charles G. Swanson, police justice, and Olaf Matteson, assessor. The first school in Stockholm was a Swedish school, taught by a young man from Sweden. The district school was started in 1858, or 1859, in a small frame building that had been used as a house of public worship. The teacher was Amelia Smith. In 1877 a school was erected with two departments. In 1905 a brick school building of four rooms was erected. There are two teachers, the work covering the usual eight grades and one year of high school work. The Stockholm postoffice was established in 1860, with John Rosenberg as the first postmaster, since which time the postmasters have been Andrew Gilberg, P. Sandquist, August Sahlstrom, A.F. Peterson, Alfred Abrahamson, Erick Peterson, Karl A. Peterson and Andrew Bock, the last mentioned, who is now serving, having been appointed July 6, 1897. His assistant is Mrs. E.D.Bock. Stockholm was made a domestic money order office thirty-five years ago, or about 1883, and for about twenty-three years has been an international money order office. The first rural route was established in 1904, with Levi W. Newmann as carrier. In 1906 Route No. 2 was established, with A.F. Peterson carrier. The establishment of the rural delivery caused the postoffice of Lund to be discontinued. This was a farm house postoffice, six miles north of Stockholm, with a semi weekly mail service. A new era in the business life of Stockholm village was inaugurated July 28, 1916, with the opening of the Stockholm State Bank. This bank was incorporated Dec. 7, 1915, by Andrew Bock, Chris Olson, L. Holmer, John Lingren, Fred Bruckman, O.G. Kinney, Levi W. Newman, Morton Larson and Herman Larson. The first officers were: O.G. Kinney, president; Anton Peterson, vice president, and H.R. Anderson, cashier. The board of directors was composed of O.G. Kinney, Anton Peterson, E.T. Josephson, Morton Larson, Charles E. Moline, August Edlin and Fred Bruckman. The bank building, which is owned by the bank, was erected in May and June, 1916, the front being of concrete granite. It is provided with a burglar-proof time-lock sage, and is thoroughly modern in equipment. At the stockholders’ meeting Jan. 17, 1917, C.Olsen was elected a director in the place of Freed Bruckman. At the stockholders’ meeting Jan 31, 1918, H.R. Anderson was elected a director in place of O.G. Kinney and at the directors’ meeting on the same date, E.T. Josephson was elected president in place of O.G. Kinney. The present officers of the Bank are: E.T. Josephson, president; Anton Peterson, vice president, and H.R. Anderson, cashier. The present board of directors consists of E.T. Josephson, Anton Peterson, Morton Larson, Chris Olsen, Charles E. Moline, August Edlin and H.R. Anderson. The officials of this long- needed institution thus define its policy: “To treat our customers as liberally as is consistent with safety and always be ‘on the square.’ We stand for our country first of all.” The bank’s report of condition, March 4, 1918, showed the following items: Resources – Loans and discounts, $66,758.80; over-drafts, $676.74; bonds, $300; banking house, $2,701; furniture and fixtures, $2,217.55; expenses, $481.75; due from approved reserve banks, $419,558.97; due from other banks, $160.05; exchanges for clearing house, $$571.39; cash on hand , $4,197.04; total, $97,623.29. Liabilities – Capital stock paid in $10,000; surplus fund, $1,000; individual deposits subject to check, $31,274.15; time certificates of deposit, $50,767.10; cashier’s checks outstanding, $4,582.04; total, $97,623.29. The Stockholm Co-operative Creamery was incorporated in 1915, with a capital of $5,000, by E.T. Josephson, Tom Carpenter and Theodore Gustafson. Mr. Gustafson was made president, Mr. Carpenter, vice president, and Mr. Josephosn, secretary and treasurer, with James H. Malles as manager, and E.O. Anderson and L.C. Fosberg. The official and governing staff still remained unchanged. The present building of concrete blocks was erected in 1916; operations being commenced June 15, that year, and in the fall a warehouse and coal house were added. The report of business for 1917 is as follows: Number of pounds of mild received, 222,540; butter fat, 62,762 pounds; for which the patrons were paid $26,134.49. The amount of butter made was 77,217 pounds, for which the sum of $30,155.21 was received, $244.16 being received for buttermilk. The factory has 150 patrons with an average of about ten cows each, the latter being mostly of mixed grades, but with some Guernseys and Holsteins. -------------------------------------- Mrs. Hannah Bast, a daughter of Jacob and Sarah M. Peterson, was born in Sweden, and , in 1853, when nine years old, embarked with her parents on a sailing vessel for America, their ultimate destination being Wisconsin. Landing at Boston after a voyage of ten and a half weeks, they came west by rail to Peru, Ill., at which place they hired teams to drive them to Moline, where they remained until May, 1854. They then took passage on a Mississippi River steamer coming north, and after an uneventful trip disembarked at Lakeport, then called McCain’s Landing. In describing the rest of the journey and subsequent experiences, Mr. Bast says: “Father rigged up a sort of a skid, on which we piled our household goods and supplies, and to which he hitched the oxen, and we started for Stockholm, walking all the way and driving our cows. In those days we used to go down the river to Dubuque and get our supplies and provisions. When we arrived here there was nothing but oak trees, grass and snakes. Father built the first house in the town, which was a small log structure, and the first spring father cleared some land and planted potatoes and corn, and after that followed farming. The second summer we were here they had a great time at maypole dance, a fiddler from Red Wing furnishing the music. In those days people seemed more friendly and sociable than they do now.” The First Swedish Baptist Church, of Stockholm, was organized by the Rev. M.L. Lelley, of Eggleston, Minn., being incorporated Nov. 5, 1887, by N.A. Erickson, chairman; M.Lind, secretary, and G. Lind, N.A. Erickson and M. Lind, trustees. WATERVILLE Waterville Township is in the northwest corner of the county. It is well watered by the Eau Galle River and many small creeks, among which may be mentioned Arkansaw, Little Arkansaw and Porcupine Creeks. Dead Lake extends into the southeastern corner. Originally the town was nearly all heavily wooded, being a part of a large tract of hardwood timber lying in Pepin, Pierce and St. Croix counties. In the eastern part are the Chippewa bottoms, and in the southeastern part in Dead Lake Prairie. There were two centers of early settlement, Arkansaw Village and Dead Lake Prairie. Arkansaw Village, the scene of many an historic event in the early days, is now a hamlet of about 200 people, on Arkansaw Creek, a short distance west of the Eau Galle River, and about two and a half miles from the Chippewa River. It is connected by stage with Durand, four miles away, and the mails are brought from that place twice each day. From here three rural routes carry mail to the surrounding countryside. Its present industries consist of a creamery, a flour mill, a sawmill, a general store, a hardware store, a blacksmith shop, a barber shop and a hotel. There is a good store here and a Methodist Church. The waterpower here is very valuable, and will doubtless, at some future time, be used to the fullest extent. The story of Dead Lake Prairie is told under the head of Frankfort Township, by Mrs. David B. McCourtie. It was first settled in 1852 by Grant and Elisha Stevens. The early history of the village centers about the activities of Willard F. Holbrook. He came down from the Eau Galle Mills in 1854, with his brother, George, selected a site and, in 1855, built a log house. He also built a sawmill, and in February, 1856, commenced sawing. At this time he started making furniture in one corner of his mill, and, in 1866, he erected a separate factory for this purpose. In 1870 he formed a partnership with James Pauley, of Reed’s Landing. The mill was enlarged, a new furniture factory erected, a store was built and opened, and the manufacture of potash and pearlash started. The factory was burned in 1872, but was rebuilt the following year. At one time this factory employed as many as thirty-five or forty hands, and did an annual business of $30,000. In 1881 the mill was sold to E.C. Bill. He made furniture for number of years, then sold to S.Z. Dickson, who converted it into a basket factory under the management of J.L. Throne. About two years later it was acquired by S.L. Plummer, who sold the buildings. In 1885, Mr. Holbrook erected a steam planning mill for the manufacture of furniture and lumbermen’s supplies. He operated it until his death, in 1887, when it was purchased by S.L. Plummer. It was afterward burned. In the meantime, a village had been built. It was platted Oct. 10, 1857, by Willard F. Holbrook, the platting being done by G.C. Wolcott. About this time H.M. Miles put up a small waterpower roller flour and grist mill. It was later destroyed by fire and rebuilt. It was washed away in the flood of 1878, but was rebuilt and given an enlarged capacity. The year of 1870, in which Mr. Holbrook increased his activities and erected his store and new factory, marked the beginning of a new era in Arkansaw. To accommodate the growing travel, a hotel, the Cropsy House, was erected. It was later turned into a private dwelling. In 1870 Abel Parker put up a sawmill, and conducted it until his death, in 1883, since which time it has been occupied by his son, Joseph Parker. In 1871 H. M. Miles, the proprietor of the flour mill, opened a store, in partnership with Miletus Knight. The next year, 1872 that Stephen Cliff erected the Cliff House, which he operated for many years. It was burned, but rebuilt by Henry Parson, and after a few years sold to Thomas Richardson, the present landlord. The Miles & Knight store is still running, the present owner is Henry Hartung. The Hillard & Rounds store was sold to the I.O.O.F., which was organized in 1881, and of which David B. McCourtie and George Willis were the first members to be initiated. The upper story is used as the hall, and the lower part as kitchen and dining room. The prosperity of the village was interrupted by the great flood of 1878, which carried away three dams, all the bridges, the grist mill, and many barns and residences. Educational facilities have been enjoyed since 1856. A little school house, with one room, was built in that year, and the first teacher was Minnie Kelton, who afterward became the wife of T.N. Schwartz. It was destroyed in the flood of 1878. The next schoolhouse was a log building, which was later made into a residence, and is now occupied by August Schultz. In 1883 a two-roomed building was erected by H.M. Miles, and a graded school established. In 1911 it was made into a two-story building of four rooms by William Cross. Four teachers are in charge, giving instruction in the eight grades, and in two years’ high school work. The first marriage in the village was solemnized, Nov. 20, 1857, the contracting parties being Willard F. Holbrook and Mary Ames, of Waubeek Township, this county. In the early days of the village mail was received at the Dead Lake postoffice, of which Jacob S. McCourtie store was asked to bring back the mail for the other neighbors. The postoffice was moved to the village about 1864, with Miletus Knight as first postmaster. Mrs. David B. McCourtie has many interesting stories to tell of early days in Arkansaw and the neighboring environs of Dead Lake Prairie. She says in part: “ I have heard, and he often repeats the story, my husband, David B. McCourtie, tell how he and his brother, Charlie, used to come here to fish in the Arkansaw Creek. In the years 1854-1855, the creek abounded in trout, the real speckled trout, I would not dare tell you how long they were, or how many they could catch in such a short time, for it would be called fish story, but I will say that as fast as they would drop their hooks in the water they would pull out a trout. “At this time not a white man lived in or very near Arkansaw and the Indians would not catch a trout, as they thought that the trout kept the water pure. Before the flood of 1878, the Arkansaw creek was narrow, but deep, and the water as clear as crystal. “In the year 1855 Willard F. Holbrook came and built a log house just large enough for himself, about half way from the present sites of the bridge and the church. In the spring of 1856 he planted a little patch of potatoes about where William Snow’s house stands, and I have often heard my husband tell of one time after the potatoes had matured he and his brother came trouting here together, and after a good catch, went with Mr. Holbrook to the potato patch, built a hot fire and roasted potatoes in the ashes while broiling the trout on a stick. “In the winter of 1855, William Fletcher, who lived on the Eau Galle bottoms, started for Dead Lake Prairie to do some trading, and as was then his custom, he took his gun. Striking an elk track he followed it to where the church now stands, and succeeded in killing it. He then went to the store, which was owned by J.S. McCourtie and telling his story, offered the flesh as a present, saying that all he wanted was the hide. Accordingly, David B. hitched the oxen to the sled and went with Mr. Fletcher, secured the elk, which dressed, weighed 400 pounds, and brought it home, where it furnished the material for many a substantial meal. “The first time I crossed the bridge in Arkansas, the stringers were round poles or trees, twelve or fifteen inches through, flattened on one side, and stretching from bank to bank, covered with planks, about ten in number, fastened down with wooden pins. In 1878 it was washed away, and as the creek then became wider and deeper, a larger bridge was built, with a very low railing. This bridge was also washed away, and was replaced with a framed wooden bridge. After some years, this gave away, while William Richardson and his horse were crossing it. Mr. Richardson escaped uninjured, but the horse received injuries which necessitated its being killed. Then an iron bridge was built. This too, was carried away by a flood some ten years or so ago. It was replaced by the present bridge, an iron structure about 75 feet long, and some eighteen to twenty feet above the water.” The Waterville Co-operative Creamery Company, located at Arkansaw, owes it inception to S.L. Plummer, who founded it at the time he organized the Plummer Mercantile Company, of Arkansaw, in 1889. For the first five years operations were carried on in a frame shed next to the planing-mill, and then a better frame building was erected and used. The business was started on a small scale, but has gradually increased. About the year 1900 the Waterville Co-operative Creamery Company was formed and took over the business, and in 1917 the company erected a good concrete factory, installed with a complete modern equipment for butter manufacture. The seventeenth annual report of the company for the year ending Jan. 2, 1918, shows that the amount of butter manufactured sold for $157,016.00, an increase of about $30,000.00 over the figures for 1916. The Woodmen Hall Company, of Arkansaw, was incorporated May 11, 1903, with a capital stock of $2, 000, by Ernest M. Miler, W.C. Thompson, G.F. Hibbard, E.L. Curtis, James Knight and Adam Coburn. In 1913 the capital was increased to $3,000. The Arkansaw Telephone Company was incorporated Dec. 17, 1907, with a capital of $5,000, and with F.G. Hibbard as president, and E.L. Curtis, secretary. Henry W. Barber was one of the earliest settlers in Frankfort Township. He came here in 1855, and in the spring of 1858 brought his bride here. Of her early experiences, Mrs. Barber, at an Old Settler’s meeting said in part: “On the morning of Nov. 25, 1857, just as daylight was breaking over Chautauqua’s grand old New York State hills, in the presence of friends and neighbors, Henry W. Barber and myself, Cecelia A. Dickson, pledged our mutual love for life. The tables were spread, and as soon as the wedding breakfast was eaten and congratulations extended, we left for my husband’s boyhood home, three hundred miles further east in Livingston County, in the same state. After returning to my mother’s home about four weeks later, we received friends and visited about until the first of February, when I bade my dear old home goodbye, and with a brave trusting heart started for this then wild new home, feeling that whatever was in store for my husband, I was ready and willing to share it with him. “On our way westward, we visited at Delavan, where I had a brother, at East Troy, where Mr. Barber had two sisters and at Elkhorn, where we had friends, all these places being in Walworth County, this stat. Then continuing our way, we arrived at Reed’s Landing, April 1, and put up at the Sevy House. The next morning we boarded a keel boat, bound for our present home. I had a comfortable place among the sacks of grain and raftsmens’s blankets, which were carefully arranged for my especial benefit. My imagination ran quite high, wondering why or how anyone could be possessed to wander into this wild, and apparently unattractive region. That anyone should do so seemed a great mystery to me. Our friend E.M. Bartlett, who had accompanied us from East Troy, left us a few miles before reaching the Marks’s House, for the purpose of going ahead and getting oxen and a cart to take us to our journey’s end. When we reached the Mark’s House, it seemed like a Haven of Rest. How inviting the sitting room looked with its one chair, and its pine benches and stools. So white and spotless. And the table, with its snow white cloth, was spread with nice bread and butter, blackberry jam, and a fragrant cup of tea. The lunch, with such surroundings so neat and clean was truly reviving, after I had been so disgusted with the hotel at Reed’s Landing. “Mr. Bartlett came even sooner than we expected, and we were soon jogging over a road so wild and rugged, that it seemed almost impossible to ride. But by careful driving and by holding fast to the seat, we were soon in sight of Dead Lake Prairie. Imagine my surprise and delight at once more beholding a level spot of earth. We had not rode much further when we nearly ran into a little pile of scantling fastened together by some means, and supporting a half dozen or so rafters. When we sighted this crude structure, Mr. Bartlett said to me: ‘Do you see your new domicile?’ My heart stopped for a minute, but then I realized that he was jesting, so I kept silent. My thoughts, however, were bushy, and after riding a way further, I said; ‘If that is my domicile, where is Frankfort?’ And I was informed that the two crude buildings we had passed a short way back constituted the village of Frankfort, one being the postoffice and the other the hotel. So I was again silent. A few minutes more brought us to an ill-looking log house. Preparations were made to alight, and with sick heart I whispered to Mr. Barber and asked him if we were to stop at such a place. “But upon entering, the scene was changed, and I felt a great degree of satisfaction at meeting a lady of intelligence and refinement presiding over a well kept home. Not only the comforts but the luxuries were there, and the noble Christian gentleman, and two lovely children, made the home complete. Indeed, I felt that we were not alone. Later we found many noble hearts scattered here and there over the prairie, men and women who had ventured out the same as we, to see what could be done in this new land. “After two weeks’ stay at this lovely home, we secured a room in a log cabin, owned by Hubbard Arnold, where we remained while Mr. Barber prepared for housekeeping in our own home. On the day that we were to leave, a sugar party was to be held, and it was insisted that we stay. Dancing was on the program, and Brother John Closson was the musician. After making some new acquaintances, and partaking of the sugar, we climbed into some kind of vehicle and drove the oxen to our cabin, which consisted of one room, serving as kitchen, dining room and sleeping apartment. I did not see just how it did look that night, but the next morning I raised my head from the pillow and took a survey of things, laying down again as quickly as possible and covering my head with the bed covers. “But in the course of a few days, I felt a degree of pride in that one room. In one corner was our bed, adorned with a white canopy overhead to prevent the snakes from dropping onto our faces through the bark roof, and the long mosquito curtains which made it look more homelike. In the next corner stood the shining new stove, with all the bright tinware so nicely hung up. Then came a drygoods box with shelves for a cupboard, nailed to the wall, and filled with dishes, Nearby was the table. We had four wooden chairs, with a home made rocking chair, which had been used while Alfred Cropsy, E.M. Bartlett and Henry W. Barber had kept house in an old log cabin on the banks of Dead Lake. “After a few months we came to our present home, the main floor being laid just far enough for the table and cookstove, and the floor above just enough for the beds. The doors were not hung, and the windows were only partly in. Every night after going upstairs, Mr. Barber took the ladder up after us and was also sure to take an axe and revolver, fearing that we might be molested by the Indians, or by some white outlaw, both of which were plentiful in those days. Mr. Barber held county office at that time, going to Pepin to do his business. I was in constant fear when left alone, for I had a great dread of the Indians, remaining from childhood days, when I had heard stories of my widowed great grandmother who was scalped by the Indians when Cherry Valley was burned, and of my grandfather, who thus left parentless and homeless, enlisted at fourteen and served until the end of the revolution, being scarcely twenty-one when he came out, serving seven years and seven months. “We enjoyed many blessings even I those days of trial and tribulations. Our first Fourth here was spent at a picnic at Round Hill. A jollier, finer crowd would be hard to find anywhere at any time. Mary Miles taught our school at that time. A covered wagon brought Miss Miles and her little band, amid both vocal and instrumental music, and the grove rang with cheers as they rendered their well learned program. “But those days are long since past. Since the days of which I speak, beautiful homes have taken the place of log cabins, well kept roads have taken the place of the rough trails, modern inventions of every kind have taken the place of the few things with which we had to work in those days. School and churches have sprung up, and our once wild land buds and blossoms like the rose with prosperity and blessing.” St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Arkansas. (By the Rev. William Stuhlmann.) The wanderer going about two miles northwest of the village of Arkansaw, into the Big Arkansaw Valley, will be most agreeably surprised to see this beautiful, fertile valley decorated by a nice church with two stables and near the church a spacious, well looking rectory. At once he understands that the people of Waterville Township are not only excellent, progressive farmers, but that they are conscious of the higher morals and ideals of life. Whilst they are busy during the week in working their farms, earning their bread by the sweat of their brow, on Sundays they can be seen gathering together from all directions to worship the Lord, imploring His help and blessing for the coming week. The passerby may admire the beautiful brick building with its colored windows; he may look with surprise at the cemetery with its costly marble monuments, its artistic and majestic crucifixion group, but little will he suspect the privations, the difficulties and sacrifices of the past. For long years the brave Catholic farmers had to walk or to drive with oxen from ten to fifteen miles to Eau Galle or Durand, the nearest churches; children walked to catechism with the same pioneer spirit hardly known today. Finally, in 1888, about thirty farmers met together to discuss the possibility of having their own church and cemetery. Frank Meisener, Steven Seiler and Joe Hutter made the first sacrifice, in paying for two acres respectively for church ground and cemetery. Rt. Rev. Bishop Flarsh, of La Crosse, authorized a cemetery and a mission church with service once a month. But new difficulties arose, partly through lack of unity from within, partly from outside. Only three years later another meeting was held, a petition was signed by about thirty names and Fr. Neixner sent for Rt. Rev. Bishop Schwebach to come to a settlement about the building of a church. Bishop Schwebach perfectly realized the needs of the Catholic population of Arkansaw, and granted all the concessions asked for. Immediately in the spring of 1892 the farmers went to work, furnished all the rough lumber, and with the help of some skilled carpenters, soon the first frame church was finished. In June Rev. Fr. Baur, from Durand, came over, blessed the new building and offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the first time in the Arkansaw Valley. Great was the joy of everybody present and with full confidence our farmers looked into the future. The new cemetery was started the following year through the unfortunate and sad death of the only son of Tom Spies. Still the conditions of the new congregation were not satisfactory, because for most of their religious needs they had yet to go to Au Galle, Durand or Plum City. It always had been their aim to have a parish and a priest of their own. “But how are the few of us able to keep a parish going?” they asked themselves. “Arkansaw will never be able to build up a parish, Arkansaw will never amount to anything,” said outsiders. Our farmers were now in the unfair situation to have to contribute to two churches, their own, and the Eau Galle church. Respectfully George Dreier went to La Crosse to lay the situation before the Bishop. When in the summer of 1912 the Bishop came to Durand for confirmation, several members again explained the whole situation to him. The Bishop himself came over for the first time and inspected with greatest satisfaction our neat little church, authorized the building of a priesthouse and promised to send a priest. In the fall a priesthouse was built. Rev. Fr. Vousan came as the first resident priest. But several other difficulties were in store for the people, just when all wishes seemed to be fulfilled. One winter morning the new priesthouse lay in ashes, hardly anything could be saved. This was a hard stroke for people and priest. But they were not discouraged. Still the pioneer spirit was alive. Soon everybody, Fr. Vousan, men and women and children became busy again to build up a new priesthouse. Not only this! Past experiences seemed to have given a new life, new energy to the whole congregation. The old frame church, although beautiful, soon did not seem to be up to date any longer. Fr. Lanfer, who in the same year had succeeded Fr. Vousan, got everybody interested in the building of the new church, which you now see completed. The generosity of the farmers seemed to increase at the same rate as their material well being progressed. Also their number increased every year, so that the formerly small congregation now counts up to 85 families. In relatively few years this small community has been perfectly organized, different societies, like the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, the Ladies’ Altar Society, the Young Ladies’ Society, the Sacred Heart League are active and flourishing. On Dec. 8, 1916, Fr. Lanfer, whose merits for the congregation will never be forgotten, left Arkansaw to lay the foundation for a missionary house in St. Mary’s Hill, formerly Round Hill. Rev. Fr. Stuhlmann succeeded him. The congregation is resolved always to keep alive his spirit of energy, generosity and thus progress in every way to temporal and eternal happiness. That Arkansas Methodist Church has a most interesting history dating back to the earliest days of settlement. In a little log house on Dead Lake Prairie in the year 1855, the first religious services were held in the town of Waterville, conducted by Rev. Mr. Kellogg, at which only four persons were present. In the succeeding years some of the clergymen who conducted services here were Woodley Crouch, Hobert Doughty, Gurley Brown and others. These meetings were held in homes, schoolhouses, or any other place that was convenient. As the territory became more thickly settled it became evident that a suitable house of worship was necessary. The plans did not mature, however, until 1868. To start the work Miletus Knight gave forty acres of land in the upper Arkansas Valley. This land, which today is worth some $12,000, was sold for $150, and the sum became the nucleus to which the pioneers added their hard-earned savings. A building, intended as a Union Church was erected, 30 by 40 feet, at a cost of $2,500, under the supervision of Rev. W.D. Jellison. This was dedicated as a Methodist Episcopal Church in the summer of 1869. At this time the preacher’s salary was $625. In 1892, through the interest aroused by Rev. L.B Akers, a parsonage was erected, a suitable and comfortable building, costing some $3,000 or $4,000. In 1898 the people began to talk of improving their church. The Rev. John Holt, then pastor, insisted that the building ought to be remodeled, and pledged a quarter of his year’s salary for that purpose. A meeting was called on Jan. 8, 1900, with twenty people present. It was agreed if $800 were raised by subscription; the building could be remodeled according to plans drawn by Rev. L.W. McKibben, which provided for the addition of a kitchen, parlor, alcove and hall. Before Feb. 1, 1900, the sum of $1,200 had been raised. The contract was let to William J. Seeley, of Durand. November of that year, found the building ready for the interior work, which was done by C.F. Gleason. The windows were all of a memorial nature, donated by relatives of various deceased members. The church was dedicated Dec. 12, 1900. The expenses had been more than was anticipated, and $600 needed to clear the debt was that day raised, with an extra balance of $36 to leave in the treasury. Through the influence of Rev. John Holt, Kimball organ was presented to the church. In 1902, Parker & Humphrey installed the electric lights. The church is therefore a comfortable, convenient, modern building, fully adequate for its needs as a religious and community center. The pastors of the church, since the original building was dedicated under the supervision of W.D. Jellison in 1868, have been the Rev. Messrs. J.M.Wells, E.B. Russell, W.J.Bullivant, G.D. Brown, N.C. Bradley, G.W. Smith, F.J. Borgia, L.B. Akers, J. Conner, W. M. Philpott, John Holt, E.C. Knowlton, J.G. Peterson, D.S. Householder, Thomas Harris, J.B. Braddock, E.J. Jeffres, W.P. Powell, R.G. Rainey, Joseph Allard. FRANKFORT Frankfort Township is an irrigular (sic) shaped township, bounded on the north by Waterville Township, on the east by Waterville Township and the Chippewa River, on the south by Pepin Township and on the west by Pierce. Its position is unique in that its width represents the entire width of Pepin county at this point. Plum Creek crosses it from northwest to southeast. Its tributaries in this township are Elk, Little Plum and Porcupine Creek. Dead Lake lies largely in the township and empties into the Chippewa River. Round Hill, formerly called Meredith, was surveyed and platted in April 1858, under the latter name, but nothing ever came of it. Nicholas Bowman erected a small sawmill here many years ago and operated it until he died. He also maintained a warehouse and operated a ferry. Later the Mississippi River Logging Co. had a boarding house here, and established booms in the river. The village of Ella, situated on the bank of the Chippewa River, just above Round Hill, and eight miles from Durand, was surveyed and platted in October, 1871. In 1882 it contained about fifty residents, with a post office, general store, a sawmill, owned and conducted by Magill & Minder, a district school, and Lutheran and Methodist churches. Like Porcupine, however, it was not destined to have a continued growth, and the population is now very small. Porcupine, about a quarter of a century ago, was a small hamlet of 100 peopl3, located in Frankfort Township, about eight miles southwest of Durand. There was a post office with a mail service twice a week, and a steam sawmill, with a capacity of 20,000 feet a day, which was built in 1880, and was owned and operated by J.P. Flagg. In course of time, however, the population has sought other fields of endeavor, and practically nothing now remains of the old- time village except the name. There was at one time a postoffice called Ida in this township, some eight miles from Durand. Dead Lake was platted as a summer resort, Aug 5, 1910, by Ed and Arthur Smith. The first settler in Frankfort Township was Henry Fletcher, who, in 1850, built a tavern at the mouth of Dead Lake for the accommodation of travelers going up and down the Chippewa River, from Lake Pepin to the lumber regions. The first settlers on Dead Lake Prairie, which extends into this township, were Grant and Elisha Stevens, the former a man with a family and the latter a bachelor. They came in 1852 and settled over the line in Waterville Township. Jacob S. McCourtie came in 1854, and became the first permanent settler in Frankfort Township. Mrs David B. McCourtie, a daughter-in- law, read a most interesting paper regarding the early days, before the Old Settlers’ Meeting in 1917. She said in part: “Of events previous to the fall of 1860, I have no personal knowledge, but I will give them as I received them from a source I believe to be trustworthy. “I will first give you a little description of a journey as given to me by the Jacob S. McCourtie family, who settled on Dead Lake Prairie in October, 1854. This party, consisting of Mr. McCourtie, his wife and five children, Charles R., David B., Ellen E., William J., and Eugenia A., set out with a yoke of oxen and covered wagon, a horse and buggy, two cows, two dogs, household goods, and provisions from their home in Savanna, Ill., in the latter part of August, their destination being Reed’s Landing, Minn., and their object being to find a place where fever and ague did not prevail. In due time they reached the vicinity of Eau Claire, where they found on the east side of the Chi-ppewa River, a small waterpower mill, and one small log house. Here they crossed the river on a flat-boat, engineered with poles. The river was not then so wide as at present, but very deep. To their surprise all the road they found leading from Dunnville on the Menomonie River, was an Indian trail, showing no signs of travel by white men, except the evidence that a light wagon, sometimes in those days called a “crackey wagon,” had evidently attempted the trip. “The first night after leaving Eau Claire, the party camped four miles above Dunnville on Chippewa Bottoms. Reaching Dunnville they found a little board house whose only inmate was a bachelor by the names of Amos Colburn, afterward first sheriff of Dunn County. Here they had to ford the Red Cedar, then called the Menomonie River. When they were about half way across, the tongue of the wagon dropped down and the oxen went ashore. The oxen refusing to obey when told to go back into the river, the next to the oldest son, whose name was David, had to wade in, hitch the chain to the end of the tongue and make the oxen pull the wagon ashore. When crossing Waubeek Prairie they were somewhat surprised in meeting a young man riding an Indian pony and carrying a gun. Perhaps in those days it would have been a greater surprise to see a man or boy without a gun. Both parties appeared to be interested in each other, but exchanged not a word. After crossing the prairie they came to a road which was quite well traveled, then to a planked hill, and they surely thought it would bring them to a little town, but instead it was a warehouse on the bank of the Eau Galle River, about half way between the present location of Arkansaw and Durand, and belonged to Carson & Eaton, who owned the mills at Eau Galle. Here was where the company stored goods and provisions after bringing them up the Chippewa River from Reed’s Landing, in a keel-boat. “Now, after finding a road that was traveled, a hill that was planked, and a building constructed by boards and nails, the McCourtie party surely thought that white men were not far distant, and so camped for the night; and, sure enough, when morning came and they were about to continue their journey on the Indian trail, what did they see coming but the same Indian Pony, its rider being a man instead of a boy. The boy, Marcel Stevens, had returned home the night before, and told his father, whose name was Grant Stevens, what he had seen, and as soon as morning came the latter started in search of the train. Anyone remembering Mr. Stevens can imagine to themselves the picturesque description he gave of Dead Lake Prairie and its surroundings, at that time, bounded on the west by those beautiful bluffs and heavy timber, which was called the ‘Big Woods,’ and on the east by the lake, whose average depth was from eight to ten feet, and its water as clear as crystal, so that when riding on its surface one could plainly see the bottom, and every now and then a boiling spring. I never could understand why it was called Dead Lake. The lake was literally alive with fish of many kinds and sizes. Sometimes you could almost think you had seen a whale, while it was no more than a shovelnose sturgeon. “Very soon the train started, Mr. Stevens leading the way to his log cabin on the west side of the prairie. There they found the young man Marcel Stevens, whom they had seen on horseback the day before. “Jacob S. McCourtie, being entranced with the surroundings, was not long in finding a man by the name of Nathaniel Gray, who had files on a claim, broken ten acres and built a shanty down by the lake. This he bought. The shanty not being large enough for the McCourtie family, very soon Mr. McCourtie built an addition out of slabs and boards which he gathered on the shores of the lake. The party had brought no stove with them. They succeeded, however, in finding one, and although it had no oven, this lack was supplied by an iron bake kettle. Only one old joint of stove pipe was found, but his was pieced out with a hollowed out pine log. Thus the party was ready for pioneer life. “This was in October, 1854. Grant Stevens and family and a bachelor brother, Elisha Stevens, had preceded them by about two years. In 1854, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Grant Stevens, and was named Marian, though he was always better known as ‘Doc.’ He now lives in Graceville. In January, 1855, a daughter, Elvira, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob S. McCourtie; she is now Mrs. Lewis Martin. These were the two first children born on Dead Lake Prairie. “In the winter of 1854-55, one Levi Marin, caught the western fever. He must have had it bad, for he hitched his horses to a cutter, drove to Fulton, Ill., and thence making the entire trip on ice, drove up the Mississippi River to Reed’s Landing, Minn., from Reed’s Landing up the Chippewa to the mouth of Dead Lake, where at that time Henry Fletcher kept what in those days was called a tavern. Here he learned that Jacob S. McCourtie was living on the farm now owned by Frank Latoo, and continued his sleigh ride up the lake, notwithstanding that the mercury was seldom above 40 below. Mr. Marble was easily convinced that this was the place for an ideal home, and bought the land where Joseph Gordon now lives. In the spring of 1855 he brought his family and built a little board house at the foot of the hill now called Silver Birch. After erecting a board house on the prairie, the old house under the hill was used for school purposes. “Hervy Rounds taught the first school in the then called Dead Lake district. It was comprised of what now are known as the Barber, Plummer and Marble districts, and more, for it extended to the head of the big coulie (sic) and as much farther the other ways. The teachers who taught under the hill now called Silver Birch were Amelia Smith, of Pepin; Mary Wilcox, of Dead Lake Prairie; and Alice Bradshaw of Eau Galle. Hervy Rounds taught all of the winter schools until the winter of 1862. “In the years between 1854 and 1860 numerous families came and made their homes on and around the prairie. Isaac Egglesston entered 80 acres west of the Marble place, and built on the brow of the hill above Silver Birch, what then was called a large log cabin, but his wife being dissatisfied, he sold to Hervy Rounds, who, with his wife and two children Victor and Kathleen, took up their home there. Victor has now gone to meet his father and mother over the river, while Kathleen is now Mrs. Forrest Hillard, of Brainerd, Minn. Charles Rounds entered land on the northeast side of the prairie, and then transferred it to his brother Cyrus, who later married Mary Boyd and brought his bride to the pioneer home. Their children born there now living are Edward and Gertrude, now better known as Birdie, both of Arkansaw, Erle, of Eau Claire, and Rolf, of Milwaukee. This home was sold to Mike Resler, but has recently been purchased by Frank Richardson. “Milton Bartlett entered land and built a board house where Frank Trinco now lives. Lowell Curtiss bought land and built a shanty directly on the spot where Louis Brandshaw’s house now stands. Asa and Hanley Closson and James Burnett built log cabins under the hill at the head of the lake, Helep and Andrew Closson making their home with their brothers. Henry W. Barber, thinking he had found the garden of Eden, soon purchased about 300 acres of land and built the first frame house on Dead Lake Prairie. Just before its completion he went to Westfield, New York, and married Cecillia Dickson, and the two started housekeeping in their new home. There they spent the remainder of their lives. Of their children there are now living two: Fannie Bell, now Mrs. N. Walter Bowman, of Durand, and Erle, who lives on the old homestead. George Merrett and William Brunson entered land on the west side of the road, between Arkansaw and the George Brooks place, Mr. Brunson, who taught singing school, helped to pass the long and cold winter evenings. The family of Henry Benton were the first settlers on the farm where Gerhardt Luther now lives. Lucius Dunbar made a home for himself and three children, Jane, Albert and Auston, on the place now occupied by his grandson, Bert Dunbar. An Englishman by the name of James Rands, purchased something like two acres of land a little north of east of where Frank Latoo lives, and built a log cabin, making a home where he cared for his aged father and mother, Robert and Elizabeth Rands. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in the 16th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and was later taken prisoner at the battle of Shiloh, April 6 or 7, 1862, which was the last time he was ever heard from. A sister of James Rands, Mrs. Ann Richardson, a widow, came from England, bringing three children: Charles Richardson, of Pepin; Susan, Mrs. John Holden, of Dead Lake Prairie, and Lizzie, Mrs. Henry Clay, of Arkansas. Nicholas and Martin Bowman made their homes at Round Hill, on the Chippewa River, on the northeast part of Dead Lake Prairie. Nicholas Bowman bought land and built a house to which he brought his wife and two daughters, Evangeline, who married John McMahon, of Dead Lake Prairie, and Mattie, who married William Bachelder, of Florida. Nicholas Bowman soon erected a sawmill. Later, his son, N. Walter, now of Durand, was born. He owns the old homestead. Marcus Mosier, with his mother and three sisters, now Mrs. David Humphrey and Mrs. Albert Dunbar, of Arkansas, and Mrs. Samuel Doughty, of Boulder, Colo., came on the prairie and made their home, the girls teaching school, while the mother did the domestic work. Levi McCourtie, who bought 40 acres on the west side of the prairie, married the widow, Mrs. Ann Richardson, built a house and made a home. In hearing the early settlers talk, one cannot but believe as they tell of the good spirit which existed between neighbors – and they claimed that everyone for miles around was a neighbor – that they really believed that they had reached the land of Beulah. But this idea was shattered at the time when the Sioux and the Chippewa became so blood-thirsty that nothing would satisfy them but warfare on each other. How people were terrified one day when, without warning, the war whoop and yells of the Sioux Indians fairly deafened them. They were going north, some 400 strong, to fight the Chippewas. Henry W. Barber and wife lived at that time in a part of the log cabin owned by Hubbard Arnold. It stood across from where Mrs. Frank Plummer now lives, on the hill above the lake. They occupied one room, there being but two in the house, and a door in both sides. The Indians were coming directly toward the house, as it was very near the Indian trail and the greater part of the 400 walked in at one door and out of the other. I have heard Mr. Barber say that he thought at the time that his hair had turned white. At another time they could hear plainly the battle raging on Porcupine, right on the place where Francis Biles now lives. About 60 Indians were buried there. Chief Saugamosier had a son killed there. He was about 16 years of age, and weighted over 200 pounds. His body was taken a little above Reed’s Landing and buried. At another time a battle was fought on Battle Island, whence it derived its name. I want to add here that when the Sioux returned, after passing through the Barber home, they were decorated by scalps tied to their belts, necklaces of finger nails, and bracelets made from the lips as cut from around the mouths of the Chippewas. The people of the prairie and nearby settlers never experienced a massacre, but truly they did pass through the shadow of one. The next year Jacob S. McCourtie came he built a store north of the Latoo home, and purchased a keel boat, and John Closson was its captain. This was the only method of transportation up the Chippewa. He later built the home where Frank Latoo lives. Hanley Closson and Alfred Cropsy erected a tavern still north of the store. In a few words I will tell you of as great and remarkable experience with the Indians. One morning, when Mr. McCourtie and his two sons, Charles and David, were in the store, Chief Saugamosier, and Indian weighing over 300 pounds walked in and took McCourtie by the arm and walked him out of the door. The boys followed, expecting, as did their father, that he would be scalped, on reaching the door. Think of the terror of seeing before them 500 Indians sitting in a circle. Mr. McCourtie was led into the center of the circle, and instead of a tomahawk it was a beautiful pipe, something less than two feet in length, made of red pipestone. This the chief filled and refilled with kinnekenic. He then took a whiff, then gave it to Mr. McCourtie, and so on until the whole 500 had smoked the pipe of peace. He then presented the pipe to Mr. McCourtie. Previous to this they had never traded a penny with him, but ever after his store was their headquarters. Time will not permit me to say more about the fifties, but I feel as though I must say something of the early sixties, as it was the fall of sixty, and in the ideal month of October, when I first came on to Dead Lake Prairie. My soul was certainly absorbed in wonder, love and praise as I looked upon the handiwork of nature, and, as never before, through nature to nature’s God. I can never forget the beauty of the prairie at that time, bounded as it was on the south and west with magnificent bluffs covered with heavy timber, which the white man’s axe had never defaced, and which at this time was clothed in all the colors of the rainbow; and on the east by a then beautiful lake, and a little farther by the swift running waters of the Chippewa. Many were the days that the very atmosphere seemed tinted by colors reflected from the hills. It was a great desire and pleasure to one who was a lover of nature to arise before the sun to watch its first rays as they kissed the western hills and listen to the numberless prairie chickens as they made the welkin ring with their voices, and often while absorbed in thought to be aroused by the passing of the wild but innocent deer, intent upon an errand to the lake for the purpose of quenching their thirst, or feeding on the moss which in some places grew under the waters. In the early days the mirage was not infrequent. To view it was a privilege I greatly prized, as I have always been interested in the wonderful as well as the beautiful things of this world. I think that the first one to come and make a home in the sixties was Josiah Loomis, who built a log cabin by the lake, between the prairie and the Henry Fletcher tavern, at the mouth of the lake. I think its dimensions were about 12 by 14 feet. He brought his family, which, besides himself, consisted of his wife and ten children, only four of whom are now living. He came in the fall of 1860. In the winter of 1860-61, to pass the time, I attended school, the teacher being Hervy Rounds – and a good teacher he was. Occasionally we had a spelling school, and usually were spelled down by Lydia Mosier. A few times we had a lecture on geology by a Baptist minister by the name of William Sturgeon, which, to me, were instructive and interesting. In those days I attended dances, which were about our only amusement. Not a great while after I came I was invited to attend what they called a ball. At first I did not understand what it meant, for in the state of New York it would have been called a “hop.” Of course, I went, for I certainly did love to dance. Among those who were present and participated in the dance were Mr. and Mrs. Henry Miles, Absalom and Tobias Schwartz, Jennie and Minnie Kelton, Moses Tucker, Terrance Roony, three of Christopher Thompson’s daughters, Charles, David and Ellen McCourtie, with others whose names I do not now recall. The building where this ball was given stood where now stands the store owned by Forest S. Plummer, and just vacated by Ed. Rounds. It was built for a paint shop, about 15 feet square. The music was furnished by one old man, “Old Fiddler Taylor,” who played a violin. I will pass to the spring of 1861, when districts began to look for teachers, and as I was a teacher from the east I was in great demand to instruct pupils in the little log schoolhouses. To my surprise, very early one morning, there came a rap on Henry Barber’s door, the opening of which disclosed a stranger who introduced himself as Mr. Houghton, of Waubeek, in search of a teacher, and as they had understood I was a teacher from the east, would like to secure my services, and would give me better wages than they had previously given, which would be $16 a month and board, but I would have to board around. Then every town had a superintendent, and as I had no certificate from that town, I told him I would give him my answer later. But no sooner did John Closson, who was invested with power to hire a teacher for the so-called Dead Lake district, hear of this, than he came to hire me and offered me $20 a month, and I could board around or board myself; and as I knew my board would cost me nothing, the contract was drawn, as I was promised a certificate from Hervy Rounds, town superintendent of Frankfort. But a few days passed before the clerk from Durand came and offered me $25 a month and board. Milton Bartlett, having moved to Durand, Hervy Rounds moved into his house. The log cabin thus vacated was reconstructed into a schoolhouse. This standing on the hill above Silver Birch gave me the honor of teaching the first school ever taught on Dead Lake Prairie. It seems almost impossible, but I had sixty scholars enrolled. I suppose it was because everyone sent their babies. The following October I took a school of one scholar, David B. McCourtie, who on November 11, following, enlisted in Co. G. 16th Wis. Vol. Inf. Our home has been blessed with one daughter, and one foster-daughter, Mrs. J.L. Throne, of Argyle, Wis., and Mrs. D.A. Schwartz, of Stevens Point, Wis. In the years 1861, 1862 and 1863, a number of families came to make their home with us; those of George Brooks, Sr., William Steel and Thomas Pearl. George Brooks, Jr., who came with his parents, still lives on the prairie. It was much easier now for people to reach what ws then Dunn County, for the keel boats were of the past and steamboats taking their place. The first boat to come up Chippewa River was the “Chippewa Falls.” The Chippewa River does not look today much like it did then. Then it was narrow and deep, and only in very low water were sandbars to be seen. It was nothing unusual to see two or three steamboats in sight at the same time. I must mention the little “Monitor,” which was built at Reed’s Landing by Sevia & Thorp, in the winter and spring of 1862, making her second trip up the river in June, and the first steamboat to run up Dead Lake, and this was to bring my better half home from the war. Again, in 1862, fears were entertained that we might have trouble with the Indians – this was about the time of the massacre at New Ulm – so much so that “Cap” Wilson, of Menomonie, sent and got a hundred stacks of arms. I believe some were sent to Eau Galle and word was sent along to the people from Menomonie to Lake Pepin to be on the lookout. I remember well hgtat if a gun was heard, or any unusual noise, the first thought was of Indians. Mrs. Thomas Duclow once told me that she could remember well that her father, Dr. Berry, had a sawmill at Irvington, about four miles south of Menomonie, and that every night for about four weeks the neighbors for a good ways around came to the mill to sleep and kept guards stationed out. Well I do remember the Civil War prices. We paid $18 a barrel for flour, could only get two and a half pounds of sugar for a dollar, and poor calico 50 to 75 cents a yard. I was well acquainted with a man who paid $12 for a pair of boots, and they did not have red tops, either; and I know a lady who paid $7 for a pair of boots for her boy and paid in eggs at six cents a dozen. While wild game of all sorts was plentiful in the early days, noe was so plentiful as the pigeons. In the year of 1869, or 1870, numberless flocks rested on the bottoms between Dead Lake and the Chippewa River. To anyone who has never listened to the noise they made, I could not describe it so that ehy would anywhere near understand it. Some days, for hours at a time, the sun would almost be darkened when the young pigeons began to fly, and especially after a little rain it was impossible to drive along the road without killing a goodly number. Farmers were greatly worried for fear that the crops would all be destroyed. But the pigeons are all gone now, and I believe that almost everyone would be pleased to welcome them back. There is alwys the bitter with the sweet, so I must not foret to tell you of the snakes which infested the prairies in the early days. They were of various kinds, but most of them wre prairie or bull snakes, blow snakes and the blue racers, measuring all the way from a fgew ionches to at least five fet. One hardly expected to go far in any direction without seeing a snake. A few rattlesnakes were sometimes seen, occasionally one as it was going from the bluffs to the lake in very dry time. I remember that one time a man named Robert Stutson came touour chouse with a rattle snake which he killed as he was coming down the bulff on the west side of the prairie, which measured five feet long and nine inches around. In 1854 and a few years afterward, the bottoms between Dead Lake and Chippewa River abounded with the massasauga, a short, but quite thick rattle snake, more to be feared than the mountain rattle snake as it was quiet and gave no warning. The mosquitos were almost everywhere in the early days, and often enterfered with outdoor events. The first Fourth of July in Pepin County was held in a bowery built wher Mrs. Frank Plummer’s house now stands, the mosquitoes being so thick that it could not be held in the grove. The bowery did not need to be very large as there were not many people to go. The address was delivered by Milton Bartlett. The first camp meeting held in Pepin County was at Round Hill on Chippewa River, on the east side of Dead Lake Prairie, conducted by Rev. Woodley. But these events are of the dim distant past. Today I am not unmindful of the years that have passed, and often say, “How long!” but when memory silently wraps her wings around me, and so swiftly carries me back from here to there she tells me the journey is short; but when left to travel the path back alone occasionally an unforbidden tear dims my eyes; and why? Because the friends of other years are gone – scarcely one to cheer me on my way. Then I realize that the journey from there to here has been long. You ask me where are the friends of other days? Come and go with me into the cemetery on this side of the prairie, to which there had never a thought been given; and lastly to the silent city here in Arkansaw, where never a tear had been shed, and the answer comes to you – gone! Frank M. Keith, now a resident of La Grange, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, in a letter dated Jan. 19, 1918, to the Entering Wedge, of Durand, writes in part as follows: “I used to live on the Porcupine, about nine miles from Durand and one mile down the creek from the Porcupine postoffice, in a little basin almost entirely surrounded by hells. I think there were four houses and a sawmill at the place when I left there about May 1, 1880, for Chicago.* * * When I left the Porcupine my brother “Lafe” was in partnership with a man named John Dahl, and they operated the sawmill formerly known as Gilbert’s mill. John Dahl was also a tailor and made the suit that I wore when I invaded Chicago. It ws made of brown Kentucky jeans, and made wrong side out, as I liked the wrong side better than the right. * * * I remember living in Pepin about the year 1868 in a house which my father bought from a man named Richards – Porter Richard’s father, I think. This house was of immense size, and I never could understand why father purchased it. I attended school in Pepin a short tie and remember that the principal’s name was V.D. Carruth There was a grocer there named Phillip Pfaff, and I also remember Robert and Mary Axtell. The conveniences we had in the Porcupine woods in those days were very primitive compared with the equipment of today. I can recall when we used to go to evening writing school in the old log schoolhouse, and each one had to supply his own ink and candle, and the one who reached the schoolhouse first would build a fire in the stove. There were no telephones or electric light in those days, but the spelling matches, sleighing, maple sugar and other parties are among the pleasantest of my memories. I can remember well the school girls of those days, some of whom have passed on. There was Amanda and Maryette Bowen, Mary, Lona and Amanda Whicher, Hattie Gates, Ruth Lewis, Lona and Phoebe Loomis, Sallie Hight, Synthia Ames, Sarah and Maggie Biles, Abbie Myers, Bertie and Ida Jackson, Meta and Josephine Juliot, Carrie and Denie Dahl and Estelle Gilbert. Several of my friends among the boys are still on the Porcupine, among them being Henry Forster, Seymor Hoyt, Melvin Bishop, Will Jackson, Will French, and I think the Juliot boys. George Gates, I believe, is at Long Beach, Cal. Some of the others have strayed away, I know not where. LIMA Lima Township consists of a full government township, and is bounded on the north by Dunn County, on the east by Albany Township, on the south by Buffalo County, and on the west by Durand Township. It is watered by Bear and Fall Creeks and by Dry Brook. The early settlement centers in the Bear Creek Valley. Joseph Erwin Ward came here with surveyors in 1852, and selected a tract of land, but did not return to live here until some years later. The first actual settlers in the township were C.N. Averill and Nelson Sabin, with their families, who came on May 28, 1856. At that time Durand had not been started, but there was a small hamlet called Chippewa, located at the mouth of Bear Creek. The next few years brought quite a few families to the valley, some of whom settled in Lima and some over the line in Canton, in Buffalo County, all, however, forming the same settlement. Among them may be mentioned N.P. Ward, R.H. Newton, Lucius Howard, James Dedrick, Jeremiah Landt, Henry Stevens, Andrew Lobdill, C.O. Preston, Merritt Sabins, O.A. Doane, P.J. Ryan, Aschel Goss, D.B. Gifford, E. Parish, James Fox, Loftus Fox, Harvey Averill, Hiram, Frank, and Nicholas Dedrick and a number of others. Orlando Skinnner, Charles Twis, Ira Story and others settled at Skinner’s Corners. The Bear Creek Valley Old Settler’s Reunion had its beginning May 28, 1895, in the Little Bear Creek Valley Methodist Church. It was held annually on that date, and at that place for several years. The meeting place was then transferred to Goss’ Grove, and the meeting time changed to June. The reunion was started with the idea of keeping alive the old traditions by gathering the old settlers and their descendants for a picnic dinner and a day spent in visiting and talking over old times. Usually a short program was planned with addresses, papers and talks by the old settlers. At the reunion held May 28, 1906, Mrs. Nathaniel Plumer Ward, Sr., read the following article: Fifty years ago the first white settlers came to upper Bear Creek. Durand had not yet been started, but at the mouth of Bear Creek they found a small cluster of little wooden buildings, at the hamlet that was then called Chippewa. This hamlet was several times washed out, and was succeeded by Durand. The C.N.Averill and Nelson Sabin families were the first to make homes in the valley, coming when there were no roads in this whole section. After them, from time to time, for the next ten years, came others, until there was quite a settlement here and on Maxville and Skinner’s prairies, and quite a little village at Durand. At first times were necessarily hard; the land had to be cleared acre by acre before crops could be raised. Everyone could keep a few cattle, for the woods furnished a common pasture, and the wild marshes provided hay for the winter. There were one or more loud, clear sounding bells on each herd, and all the members of the owner’s family knew the bells by sound. It was the boys’ job to find the cattle, to bring them home at evening, and as those owned by several neighbors usually ran together in one drove, the boys would hunt them in company, and a hunt it often was, for sure, if they had strayed so far that the bells couldn’t be heard. The boys of today may think that wasn’t much of a task, but when a person realizes that to go a few rods from the buildings brought one into woods so thick that one couldn’t see out in any direction, they will realize that their fathers must have been pretty plucky little fellows to brave the dark woods and the wild animals to bring home the cows. As some crops began to be raised, that part that could be spared for sale was hauled to Durand, loaded onto a flat boat and floated to Alma or Reed’s Landing. Part of the money received was paid for the actual necessaries of life, but the necessities of those days were very different from the necessities of today. These purchases were loaded onto the flat boat, which was then poled and towed by hand back up the river; the remaining money was brought home and carefully laid out in clearing and breaking more land so as to raise more crops the next year. A little later, when some kind of roads had been made, the grain was hauled to Alma or Reed’s Landing by ox teams, and the settlers were able to buy most of their necessaries at Durand. During the first few the years the nearest post office was at Eau Galle. On Saturdays one of the men would walk to Durand, row himself across the river in a skiff, then walk to Eau Galle, get the mail for the neighborhood, and return home, considering he had had quite a holiday. Later, and until comparatively a few years ago, we all got our mail from Durand; anyone going to town brought the mail for the neighbors. Sometimes we got it two or three times a week, but oftener a week or more would elapse without hearing from the office. During the first twenty years horses were almost unknown, oxen being used entirely then. Occasionally some one who had been particularly successful got a horse team, until in time oxen became the exception and horses the rule. Twenty-five years ago there was only one covered carriage in this valley, and but few buggies. The first houses built on the farms through here were of logs, with one exception; J.E. Ward built the upright of the house he now lives in when he settled the land. But we children in those log homes were just as happy and, I believe, more content than the children of today. We expected no luxuries, so were not fretting about wanting this or that; they were so entirely out of the question that we never thought of them. We had to find and make all our toys and playthings, letting imagination supply whatever was lacking in them. Then a large apple had to do for two children for a long time, oranges were unknown. A little candy, a few raisins and a whole red apple in our stockings at Christmas made us perfectly happy and contented. Just as times were becoming a trifle easier, the war broke out and prices soared to the sky, more than doubling the cost of living. A few men volunteered, but the others, though no less patriotic, thought it impossible to leave their families destitute and unprotected. Then in the summer of 1862 came the great Indian scare. Following the Minnesota massacre rumor spread throughout this whole region, to every scattered home, that on a certain day the Indians would sweep through here, killing and burning everything before them. The excitement was intense. People left their homes and all they had and took their families to some place of greater security. Father lived at Fall Creek, and those in our neighborhood came to our house, it being new and strongly built of logs. Here they brought axes, pitchforks, rocks for throwing, and whatever arms and ammunition they could muster, laid in a stock of water and provisions, and waited for two days and nights in fear and trembling, expecting every moment to see smoke rising from their homes, or to hear the cries of the savages. Many of the people of Bear Creek collected in Durand and there prepared for the coming of the Indians as best they could. One little incident happened which caused some amusement even at so serious a time. Several of the neighbors with their families had collected at J.E. Wards, to go in a company from there to Durand. They loaded their provisions and some small valuables and started, expecting every moment to see or hear some sign that the Indians were just upon them, when they heard a child’s cry and looking back, saw Nattie, the two year hopeful of the Ward family, standing in the yard, just realizing that he was being left and raising his voice in remonstrance. In the hurry and excitement he had been overlooked, each thinking someone else had him in charge. After two or three days of sleepless anxiety, people began to fearfully return to their homes, and finally all returned and settled down to their ususal occupations without an Indian having been seen by any one. How the rumor started was never discovered, but certain it is that the scare was very widespread and intense. My mother wrote a farewell letter to her friends in Ohio, nearly frightening them to death, until they got her next letter, telling them she was alive and her hair still fast to her head. During the next year a number of men from Bear Creek were drafted and obliged to go to the war. Think what a trial it was to the husband and father to leave his family in this wild new country with no one to support and protect them; what anxiety and hardship for the wife and mother left in lonliness and privation to take the best care of the home and little ones. The first school in Bear Creek, before any school districts were organized, was taught by Mrs. J.E. Ward in the bedroom of their house in the summer of 1857, and there being an early frost that fall, she took her pay in soft corn, so many bushels per scholar. Some of her pupils were Evin Inschoe, Ezra Sabin, John Sodel and others of about that age. All of the first schoolhouses were of logs with home-made seats. The blackboards were made of matched boards, planed and painted black, with pieces of sheepskin for erasers. There were no globes, maps or charts; lead pencils were only used by the large scholars, and tables and paper were entirely wanting, excepting for home-made copy books, in which the teacher or some good penman in the district set the copy – very rude and uninteresting, I think I hear our boys and girls say. Yes, but many of those boys and girls became very thorough scholars in the common branches. Having no high school to look forward to, they spent more time on those studies which constitute the essential bases (sic) of all good scholarship. And then what fun and frolic we had. Not one among us ever had an overshoe, nor did we think of cold feet. Lucky the ones who had mittens, for we had no purchased one in those days. The busy mothers spun the yarn and knit mittens, and after being once fitted out, if we lost them, ten chances to one we went without the rest of the winter. I usually lost mine. We built snow forts, stormed and took them, and were stormed and routed in turn. One winter we dammed the spring a few rods from its source and made a pond of no mean size. Then the big boys made a raft for their own special use, but I wept until they took me on board, when, by some mischance, so they vowed, the raft tipped and I went in, kerplash. Sleds were few, and those few home-made, but when we couldn’t get a sled to slide down hill on we took a board, or stood up and slid down the hill on our feet, at which we became so skilled that only occasionally did anyone bring up in the spring which lay at the foot of the hill. The schoolhouses were then the center of the social life of the community. There were held spelling schools, debates, singing schools and religious services. The schools then were much larger than now. In the winter the older boys and girls all attended, many of them until they were 18 or 20. In the summer the large boys worked on the farms, and some of the older girls taught school, and, as the summer schools were attended only by the younger children, they were perfectly qualified to teach them, providing they had the teaching faculty. Great pains were taken to procure teachers for the winter terms who were thoroughly informed in all the common branches, and, as many big boys, men grown, attended in the winter, it was generally thought best to employ a man teacher. Among those who taught in the schools about here, from 30 to 40 years ago, are: John Allison, Philo Goodrich, C.F. Eager, Ryland Southworth and a little later, Portland Richards, J.D. Eldridge and Andrew Allison. Through the winter each of the three or four schools nearest here, particularly the Wood, Averill, Stringer and Newton schools, would have a spelling school about once a month, so timing them so that there would be one at some one of the schools about every Friday night. As each school attended and took part in the entertainments of the others, we had many merry happy times. The program would consist of dialogues, interspersed with recitations, or “pieces” as we called them then, and an occasional song. Then came the general spelling, in which old and young took part, and last of all the “spelling down,” when the champions from the several schools would wrestle long and valiantly to see who could spell down the others. How the school which won would cheer the victor. No theater or opera that I have seen in later years has seemed grander or more interesting than did a dialogue of considerable pretensions which several of the older scholars, including my brother and sister, each dressed to suit the part, presented at a spelling school one winter when John Allison taught our school. Then what animated debates we sometimes had, waged as hotly as if the fate of a nation depended on which side won. We of the middle generation, as we may call ourselves – this vicinity knowing only the three generations, our fathers, ourselves and our children - are glad we can give our children more comforts and advantages than could our parents give us. They were obliged to put every dollar, excepting what was needed for the actual necessities of life, into clearing the land, we, their children, farm today. Our fathers cut these farms out of the dense woods, and it was about all they had time and strength to do. We of the next generation have cleared for action, and have been able to spend our time and strength improving them and building comfortable, pleasant homes so that those of the third generation know little or nothing of want or privation. But don’t on that account think lightly of the effort it has cost to bring this about, and if you would be truly happy, learn to despise not, the simple, everyday things, for they are what must make up a great part of each life. Let us all try to get out of each day that goes by some good, and not wait for some great thing to do by and by. Many of those who bore the burden and heat of the day have crossed the river, but their work remains; let us hold them in tender remembrance. To the few who are still among us let us show, in every way our affection and esteem, and let us each return sincerest thanks to those who have made it possible for our lives to be easier and broader than theirs. _____________________________________ The Church of the Brethren in this vicinity dates back about forty years. The first services were held in the Oak Grove Schoolhouse, in Peru Township, Dunn County, Sept. 14, 1879, by Daniel Fry, Enoch Eby, and C.F. Wirt. On that date a church was organized with the following members: Henry Baker, Martha Baker, D.B. Thomas, Elizabeth Thomas, Joseph Keck, Magdalene Keck, S.H. Baker, Mary Baker, George Hower, Esther Hower, Hannah Moser, Emeline Moser, Joseph Morrison, Solomon Yoder, Hannah Yoder, Joseph Mishler, Rebecca Mishler, J.A. Baker, L.M. Baker, H.C. Baker, Katie A. Baker, Jacob Wheeler, Benjamin Clements, Susan Clements, Levi Stanton, Katherine Hoover, Ada A. Robbins, Henderson Joyce and Mary Ann Joyce. The first church was erected I the township of Rock Creek, Dunn County, ion 1892. In 1903 the church in Albany Township was erected. Among some of the most prominent members were: Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Baker, Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Joyce, Mr. and Mrs. D.B. Thomas, Mr. and Mrs. Warren Ayers, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Wheeler, Mr. and Mrs. Drinkwine, Mrs. Andy Keck, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Moser, Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Holmes, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Parker, Mr. and Mrs. H.J. Cripe, Mr. and Mrs. David Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Davis, Mr. and Mrs. F. Peden, Mr. and Mrs. M.L. Cripe, Mr. and Mrs. O.D. Mikesell, Mr. and Mrs. Freenan Mikesell, Mr. and Mrs. Erwin Baker, Mr. and Mrs. John Mikesell, Mr. and Mrs. David Cripe, Mr. and Mrs. John Cripe, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Peden, Mr. and Mrs. George Cripe, Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Salsbury, Lester Root, Mr. and Mrs. Mannas Moser, Mrs. Ira Isham, with many members of their families and other younger members. In a history of this church, special mention shuld be madeof the work and life of Elder and Mrs. H.C. Baker, who labored long and conscientiously in this organization. Mr. Baker was placed in the eldership of the congregation Dec. 14, 1886, and served continually and most faithfully until his death some two years ago. He was a good man and always untiring in his efforts for the good of his congregation. He held the first revival meeting after the organization of the church, and as the immediate result, twenty-five new members were gained. His later efforts were likewise successful. His widow is the only charter member now living here. Nearly all the others have died, only a very few having moved away. Those who have served this congregation as pastor are Elder H.C. Baker, E.E. Joyce, Lester Root and C.L. Salsbury.