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 JNCIDENTS and ANECDOTES 
 OF EARLY DAYS 
 
 = AND 
 
 HISTORY OF BUSINESS 
 
 IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF FOND DU LAC 
 FROM EARLY TIMES TO THE PRESENT 
 
 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES 
 
 REMARKABLE EVENTS 
 
 ELECTION RESULTS 
 
 MILITARY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 By A. T. GLAZE 
 
 1905 
 
 P. B. HABER PRINTING COMPANY 
 FOND DU LAC. WISCONSIN 
 
 F-r
 
 A. T. GLAZE
 
 TO THE READER 
 
 /m^ IME flies; days, weeks, months and years rush, into the past with 
 \^^ astounding rapidity. Half centuries pass over our heads and we 
 hardly realize it. Every day of these rushing years we are helping, 
 more or less, in the development of events which become history to 
 those who are to follow us. 
 
 Rushing through the affairs of daily life, absorbed in business, we do 
 not stop to consider the importance of collecting and preserving historical 
 facts and relics, although we concede that simple justice to the old in years 
 who have shaped the history of their time, as well as for the help, guidance 
 and gratification of the young, that a record of important events should be 
 made and relics collected and preserved. In the present condition, many of 
 the interesting and important events in the history of the city and county of 
 Fond du Lac, are practically lost to the people of today because of the widely 
 scattered sources from which they can be obtained and the time requisite for 
 the search. A few relics and curiosities of the early days of the city and 
 county have been collected by private parties, and very many more might be 
 obtained from old residents and the few pioneers who are yet living. Many 
 of these, of peculiar historical interest, as the years pass, may be wholly lost 
 or destroyed. To this extent at least, delay is dangerous and every active 
 citizen unquestionably feels that no further time should be lost in this 
 matter. 
 
 Impobtant to the Community. — A true record of the time and place of 
 important events, in a form of easy and prompt access, is almost a necessity; 
 when noted enterprises originated and how developed; dates of individual and 
 society efforts in public affairs; when public improvements were entered upon 
 and when completed; dates and results of local elections, and a wide range 
 in the histories of churches and societies. Is there one person in the city to- 
 day who can readily and promptly answer the questions of how many and 
 what regiments went into camp heire at the time of the war of the rebellion 
 and where their camps were located; what military companies were organized 
 wholly or in part in this city or county and to what regiments were they 
 assigned for duty; who of the Fond du Lac men returned from the war with 
 military rank higher than first sergeant; what is the record of this city as to 
 independent military companies; where is the ground upon which the first 
 house in this city was built, and for whom; what was the starting point of 
 our present public library, who was identified with xc and what changes and 
 vicissitudes has it passed through in reaching its present grand proportions; 
 Lake Winnebago navigation — when, where and by whom was first steamboats 
 built and the names of them; when were our railroads built; when, where
 
 and by whom were first artesian wells drilled and from which we get the 
 name "Fountain City"; the straightening of the river, together with hundreds 
 of like interesting subjects. 
 
 Important to Individuals. — Correct records place individuals in rightful 
 positions in matters of local history, of which they are often deprived or re- 
 garding which they are more frequently misrepresented because of incorrect 
 information. 
 
 There are now about 45 men and 12 women living in Fond du Lac who 
 were residents in 1850 or earlier, and of those who have lived here 45 years 
 and less than 50 years, there are about 120 men and 45 women, a total of but 
 about 225 people in Fond du Lac today who have lived here more than 45 
 years. Of fals total, only about 57 resided here in 1850 or earlier. In the 
 natural course of things, these people must now rapidly pass away. Their 
 memory cannot be depended upon much longer, and with them must go per- 
 sonal knowledge of events in pioneer days. Is it not important then, that 
 means be adopted to preserve the facts and such relics as may yet be gath- 
 ered bearing upon the early history of Fond du Lac. We have a State His- 
 torical Society, of which every intelligent citizen of tine state is proud, and 
 like local societies now exist in many of the cities of the state, among them 
 Milwaukee, Kenosha, Waukesha, Janesville, Beloit, La Crosse, Eau Claire, 
 Osihkosh, Green Bay, and even so small a city as Ripon has a prosperous 
 society for this work. Such a society, with its collection of records and 
 relics, is able to claim and prove what rightfully belongs to the locality and 
 its citizens. And in after years, those wTno were at the front in shaping the 
 destiny of Fond du Lac, wiil not be wholly lost to the memory of their suc- 
 cessors. 
 
 At least five histories of the state and three of the county, have been 
 compiled and printed by others, and may be readily consulted when desired, 
 therefore for this work it is desirable to speak only of personal and city 
 matters. Some errors will creep in though the most determined efforts are 
 made to avoid them. The writer has been familiar with the scenes and with 
 the people for nearly sixty years and has endeavored to avoid the provoking 
 mistakes of those who have preceded him. 
 
 The pioneers who settled this county worked under disadvantages, but 
 
 success followed hard work. They came, they saw, they conquered the land 
 
 to the south of Lake Winnebago, and today we have one of the grandest 
 
 sections of the great state of Wisconsin. 
 
 A. T. GLAZE. 
 
 Vrofit by the Vast; 
 
 Live for the Present; 
 
 Hope for the Future,
 
 MILITARY HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Our Independent Military Companies and Part Taken in the War 
 
 of the Rebellion. Company E and the Part it Took 
 
 in the Spanish-American War. 
 
 Fond du Lac National Guard. 
 
 Few people residing in Fond du Lac today, have knowledge of 
 the fact that at a comparatively early day of the city's history, there 
 was a military company here known as the Fond du Lac National 
 Guard, of which D. E. Wood was Captain, D. E. Hoskins, First 
 Lieutenant, J. W. Partridge, Second Lieutenant, E. H. Jones, 
 Orderly. It was organized in 1857, and with its beautiful uniforms 
 and soldierly movements, was the pride of the young city. An inci- 
 dent of state historical interest, was the loss and recovery of some of 
 the cbmpany's arms. T. S. Weeks was the company Armorer, and 
 as such, kept and cared for the guns. One morning while the excite- 
 ment was on in connection with the arrest of the negro Glover under 
 the provisions of the fugitive slave law and rushing him from Mil- 
 waukee to Ripon for concealment, these company arms suddenly 
 disappeared and immediately the question for investigation was, who 
 took them and where were they? The feeling was high over the 
 rescue of Glover from the custody of the U. S. Marshal, and the 
 determination to hide and protect him shown by Booth, Rycraft and 
 the anti-slave element at Milwaukee, and La Grange. Daniels, 
 Pickett and their friends at Ripon. The U. S. ]\Iarshal and deputies, 
 the latter including F. D. McCarty, then Sheriff of this county, and 
 John S. Horner, of Ripon. were in lively pursuit, and it was feared 
 by many that there might be trouble. The morning that Tom Weeks 
 discovered the guns were gone, followed a night of considerable ex- 
 citement at Ripon, and the evening of that day occurred the memor- 
 able gate-pin scene, a standing joke in the region for many years. 
 The joke was perpetrated in this way : Glover was supposed to be 
 and in reality was concealed on the premises of Armine Pickett, five 
 miles northeast of Ripon, and McCarty, Horner and two other men, 
 whose names are lost to history, proceeded in that direction. In 
 front of -the Pickett home was a gate of heavy proportions, and to 
 hold it in place when not in use, a pin was used in a hole bored in 
 the gate-post. Arriving at the scene in the dusk of the evening, the 
 officers were met by Mr. Pickett, who led the way through the gate, 
 but just as he passed through, he seized the gate-pin, and in a very 
 determined manner threatened to shoot if they did not get out of 
 there. And they got at a lively rate, for they imagined the gate-pin 
 to be a revolver and knew Pickett to be a man of determination. It
 
 6 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 seems Judge Horner was slow to run and was led away by an animal 
 yoke around his neck. 
 
 But as to the guns — Lieut. Hoskins by careful and persistent 
 detective work, found that Colwert Pier, 3-oung and full of political 
 enthusiasm, led the boys who took away the guns, and explaining 
 the penalty to them, the guns next morning were found in their usual 
 place and the scene closed. 
 
 But as to the subsequent career of the National Guard, the beauti- 
 fully uniformed and well equipped military company. Its ending 
 was neither bright or pleasing. It went out because the men tired 
 of it and did not come out for drill. Gen. C. S. Hamilton, a graduate 
 of West Point and a Mexican war veteran, then a resident of Fond 
 du Lac and known as Capt. Hamilton, agreed to drill the company, 
 and faithfully did so when he could get enough of the men to come 
 to make it worth while. Amory Hall was used for a drill room, and 
 while some worked hard to become proficient, others were said to 
 be too lazy for anything and especially so for military duty. Result — 
 the company died in i860 from neglect. There was a total of sixty- 
 four men in the ranks, comprising many of the most popular young 
 men in the city. Capt. D. E. Wood, afterward Colonel of the 14th 
 Regiment in the war, was a remarkably fine appearing ofificer, as also 
 w^ere Lieutenants Hoskins and Partridge, and when they appeared 
 on the streets. Fond du Lac people were proud of them. Capt. Wood 
 was full six feet tall, well proportioned and as straight as an arrow. 
 
 For many years preceding the war, there was a great deal of 
 pride taken in local military companies, and nearly all cities had them. 
 Fond du Lac was not an exception. But the war came and the 
 people had all the military side of life they cared for. Few such 
 companies are in existence now outside of regular state authority. 
 The National Guard is recognized by most of the states, but the 
 companies are on a far different basis than those of ante-war times. 
 
 Of the members of this the first military company in Fond du 
 Lac, E. H. Jones, Milt. Ewen, T. S. Weeks, Fred Kalk, C. L. Pierce, 
 are the only ones known to be now living. 
 
 A full history of the S. M. Booth troubles before spoken of. may 
 be found in the History of Wisconsin by Moses M. Strong. 
 
 Hibernian Guards. 
 
 The Hibernian Guards was an acti\'e military company in exist- 
 ence in Fond du Lac in 1861 when the war of the rebellion started. 
 It was composed of ninety-three of the active young Irishmen then 
 living here. They had an armory at the corner of Johnson and Ban- 
 nister streets, where they met for drill, but when the weather would 
 permit drilled on a large parade ground where St. Patrick's church 
 now stands. The of^cers of the company were: 
 
 Captain — James Maginnis. 
 
 First Lieutenant — Samuel Ray. 
 
 Second Lieutenant — Martin Curran. 
 
 First Sergeant — Edward Midglc}-. 
 
 Lieutenant Ray had seen service in the Mexican war as a captain
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 7 
 
 and was the drill master. When news came of the firing upon Fort 
 Sumter and excitement was great, the young men in the ranks of the 
 Hibernians partook of the feeling that prevailed and expressed 
 themselves as ready to enter the army and take part in putting down 
 the rebellion. Two days after the news came the men were called 
 out by Capt. Maginnis and directed to meet at the court house at 
 7 :30 p. m. to formally offer their services to the government. The 
 boys were there almost to a man and after some patriotic speeches, 
 Capt. Maginnis formally made the offer of services. But now came 
 an incident that caused a row and broke up the meeting. S. E. 
 Lefiferts, holding a commission as Quartermaster General in the 
 state militia from Gov. Randall, was present, and after the remarks 
 by Capt. Alaginnis, was said to have declared that "there are enough 
 young Americans to put down this trouble inside of ninety days and 
 we do not want any red faced foreigners." Air. Lefferts soon dis- 
 covered that this remark was a foolish one and disappeared, so that 
 the men could not find him for punishment. The men then formed 
 in company order, marched to their armory, stacked arms and voted 
 unanimously to disband. The governor was notified and the guns 
 and entire equipment returned to Madison. This ended the Hiber- 
 nian Guards of Fond du Lac, after an existence of something more 
 than two years. The company was under command of very com- 
 petent officers and was well drilled. The uniform was quite showy 
 and they made a most handsome appearance on the street. The war 
 came along after the disbanding and it was found by examination 
 of the muster roll, that nearly all the members became soldiers in 
 other companies. The war gave the people enough of military duty 
 and experience and there has not since been that desire for independ- 
 ent military companies that existed before. 
 
 It is proper to state here that Mr. Lefferts contended that he 
 did not make the statement a^ charged, but what he did say was that 
 there were enough active young men in this country to put down 
 this trouble inside of ninety days, and made no allusion to Irishmen 
 or foreigners. 
 
 Fond du Lac in the War. 
 
 It is doubtful if there was a county in the state that showed 
 more patriotism and showed it more promptly than Fond du Lac. 
 On that bright April morning of 1861, when the news flashed over 
 the wires that Fort Sumter had been fired upon, Fond du Lac people 
 were fully aroused. There was no daily paper here then, but so 
 eager were we for news that at noon of each day A. T. Glaze printed 
 a dodger at Beeson's Job Office, containing the telegrams obtainable, 
 and about two hundred of these were quickly sold at five cents each. 
 Captain, afterwards General Hamilton, was sure to be on hand to 
 get one of the first copies. When the call for troops was issued, 
 Co. I, First Wisconsin, was filled to the maximum in less than two 
 days, and the names on the muster roll were from Fond du Lac's 
 brightest young business men. It was thought at Washington that 
 "it would not be much of a shower" and the call was for three months'
 
 8 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 service. Then came the enlistment for three years or during the war 
 and nearly all of the Co. I boys put their names to this roll, but they 
 were now Co. K. Capt. J. V. McCall had good reasons to be proud 
 of his boys. 
 
 Capt. E. S. Bragg and First Lieutenant E. A. Brown organized 
 Co. E of the 6th Wisconsin. The company was enlisted for the 2d 
 Regiment but was assigned to the Sixth and Col. Lysander Cutler 
 took a splendid body of men to the Army of the Potomac. Capt. 
 Bragg was rapidly promoted and became the general in command 
 of the renowned Iron Brigade, composed of the 6th and 7th Wiscon- 
 sin, 19th Indiana and 24th Michigan. Capt. Brown was killed at 
 Antietam, and disease thinned the ranks. Col. J. A. Watrous came 
 to the company from Appleton. It was a sorry scene that September 
 evening at dusk, as the funeral procession of Capt. Brown slowly 
 moved through Main street to the Pier cemetery. 
 
 Col. D. E. Wood, Surgeon W. H. Walker and Chaplain J. B. 
 ■Rogers were Fond du Lac men. Co. A, Capt. Lyman ]\I. Ward, was 
 mostly recruited here. There were some Fond du Lac men in other 
 companies of this regiment, but the names are not now obtainable. 
 Col. Wood cam.e home sick and died at home, early in the war, and 
 Capt. Ward became the colonel. 
 
 Lieutenant, afterwards Captain Martin Curran, took a goodly 
 number of Fond du Lac men to Milwaukee to join the 17th or Irish 
 regiment. Col. John L. Doran. 
 
 First Lieut. Edward Colman became Colonel of the i8th Regi- 
 ment and former Lieut. Governor Beall, was Lieut. Colonel. 
 
 The 2ist was a grand regiment, all of the men from this 
 part of the state and in its ranks were many Fond du Lac county 
 men. Capt. Alex White, Co. A, Capt. Edgar Conklin, Co. F, Capt. 
 George Bentley, Co. H and their Lieutenants, Milt. Ewen, Fred L. 
 Clark and T. F. Strong, Jr., together with Ed. Delany, of Co. I, and 
 Surgeon S. J. Carolin, were all Fond du Lac men. 
 
 The 32d Regiment was one of the grandest that left the state. 
 Capt. C. H. DeGroat, Co. A, afterwards Colonel, W. R. Hodges, Co. 
 B, and Capt. W. S. Burrows, Co. H, and Lieutenants Thos. Bryant 
 and J. K. Pompelly, were all Fond du Lac men. Captains G. G. 
 Woodruff and M. B. Pierce were from Waupun. This regiment made 
 a grand record at Memphis, before Atlanta and in Sherman's mem- 
 orable "march to the sea." Their long march ended in the streets 
 of Washington. 
 
 Col. C. K. Pier was transferred from the First and given com- 
 mand of the 38th Regiment, which did some rough work near Rich- 
 mond, where Col. Pier was seriously wounded. 
 
 In the skeleton infantry regiments which followed to the end of 
 the war, were many Fond du Lac men. 
 
 The 1st Cavalry was organized at Ripon by Prof. Ed. Daniels 
 and O. H. La Grange. It camped on the college campus, but the 
 feet of the horses so cut the ground that it required three or four 
 years to get it smooth again. Col. Daniels had to quit the regiment 
 on account of poor health and Col. La Grange was in command to
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 9 
 
 the end of the war. Maj. H. S. Eggleston, of Ripon, died of disease, 
 but Maj. H. S. Town survived the war and aied in 1897. Capt. Hugh 
 La Grange died of disease before the close of the war. Col. N. 
 Boardman belonged to the Second Cavalry. 
 
 The Fourth Infantry was reorganized for the cavalry service, 
 and among its members was the late Capt. Elihu Colman. 
 
 The Third Wisconsin Battery had its origin at Ripon. Lu. H. 
 Drury, the well known editor, was the Captain. This battery 
 changed its light guns for four thirty-two-pounders, with ten horses 
 each, and did tremendous work in several battles. Capt. Drury was 
 shot through the lungs before Atlanta, but recovered. 
 
 When seven batteries were called for from this state, in 1862, 
 Alex. White's Co. A, of the Twenty-first Regiment, was recruited 
 for one of them, but failed to get ready in time and went into the 
 infantry. • 
 
 The draft of 1863 did not strike Fond du Lac hard, as the quota 
 of men had been provided for. A few towns were struck pretty hard. 
 In the draft of 1864, the same towns were struck, but in the last 
 draft, in 1865, just before the close of the war, the wheel did not turn 
 in this county at all. A few years after the war some very foolish 
 falsehoods gained currency about the drafts and other events, and 
 some of them found their way into an alleged history of the county. 
 It is to be regretted that any of these stories got into print. Should 
 the reader find one of them, let him reflect that it is a lie, told long 
 after the alleged occurrence. 
 
 The amount of money paid by private parties for substitutes, 
 could only be guessed at, but there w^ere many of them and it must 
 have been large in the total. The estimate was that the city paid 
 about $100,000 in bounties. The city paid $30,000 at one time. Some 
 of these bounty soldiers ran away from service, but the number that 
 deserted was but a small fraction of the number that has been 
 stated to be bounty jumpers. Many men were enlisted in Fond du 
 Lac, Ripon and Waupun by men who aspired to commands, and 
 taken to other places, some of them out of the state. These we often 
 got no credit for on our quotas. 
 
 Capt. Charles S. Hamilton was an old time resident of Fond du 
 Lac, coming here in 1849. He was a graduate of West Point and a 
 Mexican war veteran. As Colonel he took the Third Wisconsin to 
 the Army of the Potomac, but was soon promoted to command of a 
 brigade in the western army. Other well known Fond du Lac men 
 in the army were Gen. Roswell M. Sawyer, Surgeon H. M. Lilly, Capt. 
 J. V. Frost, Col. Bertine Pinkney, Surgeon H. L. Barnes, Capt. Thos. 
 H. Green, Capt. Thos. Bryant, Capt. W. S. Burrows, Capt. J. A. 
 Watrous, Capt. Hiram K. Edwards, Col. Delos A. Ward, Capt. Milt. 
 Ewen, Capt. L. H. D. Crane, Col. Geo. W. Carter, Surgeon W. H. 
 Walker, Surgeon D. A. Raymond, Capt. J- O. Ackerman, Capt. C. H. 
 Benton, Capt. Geo. E. Sutherland, Capt. Michael Mangan, Maj. A. 
 E. Bovay and Maj. K. M. Adams. 
 
 In this list of commissioned officers should be the Lieutenants, 
 but the names of many of them are among the things forever lost
 
 10 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 by lapse of time. Besides these, Fond du Lac county had in the 
 ranks as private soldiers, more than two thousand of as brave men 
 as ever shouldered a musket or swapped tobacco, whiskey or bacon 
 with a Johnnie on the picket line. 
 
 Fond du Lac Guards. 
 
 In late years so well known as Co. E, had its origin at a meeting 
 held at the law ofifice of Geo. E. Sutherland, on Forest street, on the 
 evening of March 25, 1880. Notice of the meeting was published in 
 the Daily Commonwealth on that day, and pursuant to the notice, 
 twenty-foiir men assembled in the evening to organize a military 
 company as a part of the Wisconsin National Guard. The following 
 named men signed the roll : 
 
 A. W. Starr. 
 J. E. Sullivan. 
 Frank A. Flower. 
 Sumner L. Brasted. 
 George S. Burrows, 
 E. M. Moore. 
 
 Frank Wallace. 
 J. C. Kenneally. 
 Ed. Foulkes. 
 J. D. Radford. 
 A. F. Starr. 
 F. S. Wiley. 
 
 J. C. Murphy. 
 
 A. H. Rottmeyer. 
 
 C. M. Cooley. 
 
 J. R. Libbey. 
 
 A. D. Estabrooks. 
 
 J. B. Gibson. 
 
 E. A. Hanks. 
 J. J. Kunze. 
 J. L. Martin. 
 J. H. Morse. 
 C. L. Handt. 
 M. L. Normile. 
 
 After appointing a recruiting committee, the meeting was ad- 
 journed one week, to meet at the council rooms. April ist the mert 
 met and the following names were added to the roll : 
 
 A. A. Kelly 
 J. Q. Haas. 
 F. A. Dawes. 
 J. E. Kent. 
 Jolin E. Waters. 
 C. J. Hunter. 
 Waldo Sweet. 
 
 Fred. Eycleshimer. E. A. Galloway. 
 
 Lamont Hunter. 
 Otto Fetters. . 
 W. H. Shattuck. 
 Lester Noble. 
 F. A. Brasted. 
 
 P. B. Haber 
 C. R. Boardman. 
 E. T. Tallmadge. 
 H. T. Sackett. 
 Frank Sweet. 
 
 Richard Furcell. 
 John Rogers. 
 E. A. Little. 
 C. A. Erhart. 
 Harrison Fade. 
 Fred French. 
 
 Governor Smith having been applied to for a mustering officer 
 to muster the company into the Wisconsin National Guard, notice 
 was received that Jerome A. Watrous, of the governor's stafif, had 
 been appointed. At the meeting of April 7, the following additional 
 members signed the roll : 
 
 C. E. Dickinson. 
 H. R. Potter. 
 J. C. Hanson. 
 O. C. Davis. 
 
 R. H. O'Meara. 
 Geo. B. Sweet. 
 E. A. Adams. 
 John Hamilton. 
 
 .John Magnussen 
 W. T. Treleven. 
 C. T. Galland. 
 
 F. S. Lippett. 
 E. A. Lang. 
 W. H. Olmsted. 
 
 The ten days' notice having been given by publication, the 
 mustering officer met the coiupany on April 21, but it was found that 
 the company was two men short of the required minimum of sixty- 
 five men, and an adjournment of twenty minutes was taken and the 
 following named men signed the roll, bringing it to a total of sixty- 
 eight : 
 
 R. M. Wilson. F. F. Duffy. 
 
 H. W. Wilkner. T. H. Shepard. 
 
 Joseph Carberry. 
 
 The company having complied with all the requirements of law,, 
 was. mustered into the service of the state April 21, 1880. The men 
 were evidently very fond of band music, for on May 5, they incurred
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT H 
 
 a debt of $57.00, and in August $40 more, but the soldiers and sailors' 
 reunion, at Milwaukee, donated $100 to the company, which helped 
 it out of debt for music. All through its early life the company had 
 ups and downs of all sorts as all new organizations do. It required 
 administrative power of a high order to keep the company on its 
 feet. Jealousy crept in, of course, and some of the men were constant 
 breeders of discord. But Capt. Brasted was a man of force and kept 
 trouble at the lowest point. 
 
 After the company had been mustered in, the following commis- 
 sioned officers were elected : 
 
 Captain — Sumner L. Brasted. 
 
 First Lieutenant — John C. Kenneally. 
 
 Second Lieutenant — Charles J. Hunter. 
 
 Commissioned Officers- 
 Following have been the commissioned officers of Co. E from 
 the organization of the company to the present time : 
 
 Captain S. L. Brasted, commissioned Captain April 7, 1880; 
 Colonel May 21, 1883. Died 1886. 
 
 Captain C. J. Hunter, commissioned Captain August i, 1883, 
 promoted to Major February 24, 1892. 
 
 Captain E. T. Markle, commissioned Captain April 5, 1892, Com- 
 missary of Subsistence with same rank, July 5, 1899. 
 
 Captain Emil C. Plonsky, commissioned Captain December 2, 
 1899. Resigned October 30, 1904. 
 
 Captain Wm. J. Seeve, commissioned Captain December 2, 1904. 
 
 First Lieutenant John C. Kenneally, commissioned April 7, 1880, 
 promoted to Quartermaster February 18, 1881. 
 
 C. J. Hunter, commissioned Second Lieutenant April 9, 1880, 
 and First Lieutenant March 18, 1881. 
 
 C. E. Dickinson, commissioned Second Lieutenant March 18, 
 1881. Resigned April 7. 1882. 
 
 J. D. Radford, commissioned . First Lieutenant June 2, 1882. 
 Resigned March 13, 1883. 
 
 A. A. Kelly, commissioned Second Lieutenant June 2, 1882, First 
 Lieutenant March 30, 1883, Major August 30, 1883, Lieutenant 
 Colonel February 8, 1886. Resigned Februar}- 23, 1892. Died 
 July 4, 1897. 
 
 Edward Foulkes, commissioned Second Lieutenant March 30, 
 
 1883. promoted to Adjutant with rank of Captain April 15, 1885. 
 Resigned February 8, 1887. 
 
 Otto H. Fetters, commissioned First Lieutenant July 30, 1883. 
 Resigned March 17, 1884. 
 
 James M. Moore, commissioned Second Lieutenant July 30, 1883. 
 Resigned January 28, 1884. 
 
 G. H. McNeel, commissioned Second Lieutenant January 24, 
 
 1884. Inspector Rifle Practice April 30, 1884. 
 
 Geo. S. Burrows, commissioned Second Lieutenant March 2y, 
 1884. Resigned April 26, 1885.
 
 12 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 E. T. IMarkle, commissioned Second Lieutenant June ii, 1885, 
 First Lieutenant May i, 1887. 
 
 S. H. Longdin, commissioned First Lieutenant Alay 5, 1892, 
 Battalion Adjutant February 5, 1892. 
 
 L. H. Gillet, commissioned Second Lieutenant May i, 1887. Re- 
 signed November i, 1889. 
 
 Otto A. Abel, commissioned Second Lieutenant November 14, 
 1889. Resigned April 6, 1892. 
 
 Chas. H. Tripp, commissioned Second Lieutenant April 5, 1892, 
 First Lieutenant December 15, 1895. Resigned December 14, 1898. 
 
 E. C. Plonsky, commissioned Second Lieutenant December 15, 
 1895, Captain November 30, 1898. Resigned October 18, 1904. 
 
 J. F. Dittmar, commissioned Second Lieutenant December 10, 
 1898. Resigned July i, 1900. 
 
 W. F. Bruett, commissioned Second Lieutenant July 2t„ 1900. 
 Resigned September 28, 1904. 
 
 A. R. Brunet, commissioned Second Lieutenant December 7, 
 
 1904- 
 
 A. H. Trier, commissioned First Lieutenant December 7, 1904. 
 
 Wm. J. Seeve, commissioned First Lieutenant December 10, 
 1898, Captain December 2, 1904. 
 
 The officers serving the company at the present time are : 
 
 Captain — Wm. J. Seeve. 
 
 First Lieutenant — Adolph M. Trier. 
 
 Second Lieutenant — Adelbert R. Brunet. 
 
 In the war of the rebellion and in infantry formation in the field 
 of which we have knowledge until 1889, a regiment consisted always 
 of ten companies of one hundred men each. In 1889 the German- 
 French system was adopted for the National Guard in Wisconsin. 
 This system increased the number of companies to twelve, divided 
 into three battalions of four companies each and a major in command 
 of each battalion. This system is much more efficient, and it is said 
 by experts that it enables the officers to handle the men more effect- 
 ively. The old Spanish officers in the Spanish-American war could 
 not understand how the American troops were hurled upon them 
 so rapidly and with such effective results. They found out later on. 
 Previous to 1889 the Wisconsin National Guard had the old regi- 
 mental formations of ten companies each, with a Colonel, Lieutenant 
 Colonel and one Major, but they readily took to the new formation 
 and drill and today are said by experts to be the equal of any troops 
 in the country. 
 
 In 1882 the state fair was held at Fond du Lac, and the last day 
 of the fair the Guards made a fine appearance in neat and new uni- 
 forms. Governor Smith was present and made a speech to the boys 
 highly com])limentary of their appearance and conduct. With full 
 ranks and new uniforms they did look very nice. 
 
 In July, 1883, the regiment was formed and the boys had their 
 first camp at Oshkosh. Here it was that the old name of Fond du 
 Lac Guards was dropped and the company to be since known as
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 13 
 
 Company E. In forming the regimental line, this company was as- 
 signed to that place, and it has since been known by that name. 
 
 From the start the company has been very fortunate in having 
 in its ranks young men who took readily to military drill and had 
 pride in the work, hence the company always showed well in public 
 and brought out good figures at inspections. The captains have 
 been men of high character and great zeal and determination in 
 bringing the command to the highest degree of proficiency. From 
 the beginning the company has always been more or less handi- 
 capped by the loss of well drilled, active young men from the ranks 
 by removals from the city, deaths and expiration of enlistment, yet 
 at the inspections the company did not lose its standing. The skill 
 and efficiency of the company officers, soon brings new recruits to 
 the required proficiency. 
 
 The drill of military companies is not all for show in street 
 parades in pretty uniforms. There may be troubles, as in the labor 
 riots at Milwaukee and the military may be needed, and there may 
 be war in which our border may need protection. Few people realize 
 the value of military drill in the development of the physical powers 
 of young men. Especially since the adoption of the setting up drill 
 or exercises, has there been great development of the powers of the 
 athlete and physical powers generally. 
 
 In the year 1886, there were three of the marked events in the 
 early life of the company. On February 8, an order was issued for 
 every man and officer to appear at the armory February 10, at 12:45, 
 in full dress uniform to attend the funeral of Col. S. L. Brasted, and 
 every man and officer was present prompt to the minute. 
 
 On May 5, 1886, came an order from Governor Rusk for every 
 man to appear for duty at once and be in readiness to march at an 
 hour's notice to aid in the suppression of the Milwaukee riot. The 
 men were at the armory as ordered and were held until midnight, 
 when a detail was made to give notice if needed. Next day notice 
 was given that their services would not be needed. Subsequently 
 Col. Patton in general orders thanked the company for its prompt- 
 ness and soldierly conduct. 
 
 In September the company had its first inspection at the hands 
 of an officer of the state outside the company's own commanders. 
 This inspection was made by Adjutant General Chapman, and was 
 mostly in evolutions in marching. Even at this early day the boys 
 were complimented. In 1895 the company won its position at the 
 head of the Wisconsin National Guard, which it has continued to 
 hold until 1905, excepting two years, when it lost by small fractions 
 of a point. The inspections were mostly made by Gen. King, a West 
 Pointer regarded as one of the most exacting officers in the service. 
 The work of the company has been very successful from the begin- 
 ning. • ' 
 
 At the competitive drills at St. Louis in 1900, Co. E was awarded 
 first place and won a prize of $700. At the same place in 1904, the 
 exhibition drills gave Co. E almost a world-wide notoriety. All of 
 the drills of Co. E, competition or exhibition, were passed upon by
 
 14 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 high grade U. S. Army officers. In this year of 1905, the company 
 is twenty-five years old and has always ranked high. Today the 
 muster roll numbers sixty-four men and the compan}' has never been 
 short but has often had more applications for membership than was 
 needed. 
 
 When the company was organized the Helmer Hall, on Fourth 
 street, was rented for a drill room, but in 1888 the Watke- skating 
 rink, on Second street, was purchased for $2,700, and the present 
 armory is the result. The improvements made by the company from 
 time to time, at a cost of something over $5,000, has resulted in one 
 of the best armories in the state. The title of the property is in the 
 name of the company and the boys are proud of it. 
 
 In the Spanish-American war, Co. E left home April 28, 1898, 
 to join the other companies of the Second Regiment in camp at Mil- 
 waukee. They broke camp and left the state May 15, 1898. They 
 were at Chattanooga, Tenn., nine weeks, and at Charleston, S. C, 
 thirteen days, when they took transport for Ponce. Porto Rico. They 
 left Ponce September ist and arrived home September 9th. While 
 in Porto Rico the boys had a brush with the enemy at Coamo. Dur- 
 ing the absence of the company Arthur McCourt died of disease and 
 was the only death from the ranks. 
 
 The Co. E Athletic Association is an organization which shows 
 something of the sort of men connected with the company. While 
 this association has no part in the military work, all members of it 
 must be members of Co. E. Organized in 1897 for company and 
 personal amusement and benefit, it at once took high rank in the 
 athletics of the city. In basket ball it acquired a state and even 
 national reputation. The team was held in readiness to play any 
 team in the United States, and did play many of the strongest, east 
 and west. While Yale held the eastern basket ball championship in 
 1899, Co. E was anxious to meet Yale and expended $1,000 to get 
 that team to the west, only to send it back with bowed heads. In 
 1899 and 1900, Co. E achieved the wonderful results of winning 32 
 of the 36 championship games played. The team which brought 
 these surprising results was under excellent management and the 
 men gentlemen. Following are the names of the men in the team 
 and their positions : 
 
 Wm. F. Bruett, Center. 
 
 J. L. Rogers, Forward. 
 
 August Buch, Back. 
 
 Adelbert r^nmet. Wnrk. 
 
 Albert Brunkhorst, Forward. 
 
 Max Severin, Substitute. 
 
 Carl H. Brugger, Manager. 
 
 Eugene Bartlett, Trainer. 
 
 Robert Jenkinson was elected Sheriff in 1852 and County Treas-- 
 urer in 1854, but died in a few weeks after assuming the duties of 
 the latter office, and W. H. Hiner served the balance of the term.
 
 FOUNTAINS AND WATER WORKS 
 
 Discovery of Artesian Wells From Which We Get the Name of 
 
 "Fountain City." First Ones 
 
 Drilled Here. 
 
 From the earliest settlement of Fond du Lac until 1849, water 
 for household and general purposes, was obtained as in most new- 
 countries, by digging wells. A man named Curtis, a practical well 
 driller from the east, came here from Sheboygan with his outfit, and 
 as J. C. Lewis and R. L. Morris were building the old Badger Hotel, 
 corner of Main street and Western avenue, they employed Mr. Curtis 
 to drill a well there. When the hole had reached a depth of eighty 
 feet, all hands were discouraged, as a sufficient supply of water for 
 even a small hotel had not been struck. But it was resolved to sfo a 
 little deeper and in a few hours water gushed out of the top of the 
 hole in such quantity as to overflow the surroundings and a ditch 
 had to be dug to the Bissell sawmill race to carry away the surplus. 
 
 Here was the first of the celebrated Fond du Lac fountains, 
 which gave us the title of "Fountain City." The next one sunk was 
 at the home of George ]\IcWilliams, where the malt house now 
 stands. It overflowed into the river and was for many years one of 
 the most noted fountains in the city. Specimens of the water from it 
 were sent to Chicago for analysis and was found to contain "valuable 
 medicinal qualities," but it was never utilized as a health resort. It 
 was nearly one hundred feet deep. The third fountain in Fond du 
 Lac was sunk at Phinney's livery barn, located about where the gas 
 holders of the gas works are now. This fountain was but about 
 seventy feet deep, yet the water rose nearly four feet above the 
 ground and discharged its surplus into the ravine. 
 
 John Sealy then went into the business and fountains went down 
 rapidly all over the city. It was in 1853 that what was known for 
 years as "the big fountain," was struck at the corner of Marr and 
 Sixth streets. The water rose more than two feet above the ground 
 and the stream was nearly the full size of the bore. It was fortunate 
 that the ravine was near for the overflow. There has not been a drop 
 of water from it in many years. The next big fountain was at the resi- 
 dence of Mr. Follette, on Follette street, now the home of Mrs. D. 
 Babcock. The overflow swamped all the low places north of Arndt 
 street, and the old Cotton street school house stood in a pond. It 
 was necessary to carry the surplus water so far that it was difficult 
 to get rid of it. In the winter when the drain was frozen, it gave the 
 boys a beautiful skating park north of Arndt street. After a few 
 years, however, it ceased to give trouble. 
 
 Next came the era of the deep fountains. Heretofore the depth
 
 16 ■ BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 was 60 to 120 feet, but now they went down 230 to 250 feet. The 
 first one of these was sunk by Mr. Wild, at his bakery and candy 
 factory, on East First street, and was 256 feet deep. It was the 
 belief that if the bore reached to the sandstone strata, the water 
 would be comparatively soft, instead of being loaded with lime. The 
 object of Mr. Wild was to obtain soft water for use in the bakery, 
 but he did not fully succeed. The water is" better but is not like rain 
 water, by any means. 
 
 Dr. Bishop and Father Taugher put down a fountain somewhat 
 later, and at a depth of 256 feet secured a splendid flow of water which 
 continued a few years and has since been pumped. Since the advent 
 of the deep wells, the shallow ones of former years are impractical, 
 as pumping from them brings surface water only. It is therefore 
 manifest that the water supply or head has been exhausted. The 
 well at the laundry on East First street, sunk two years ago by 
 Thomas Dobyns for X. R. Heath, is 286 feet deep but does not flow, 
 yet yields an abundant supply of water by pumping. 
 
 Now conies the era of the water works which requires such a 
 vast amount of water, but it is feared by some that the head of the 
 deep wells will eventually be exhausted atid Fond du Lac will be 
 compelled to depend upon Lake Winnebago for its water supply. It 
 is well, however, not to borrow trouble but wait in patience and hope 
 for better results. But should this time come the lake will give us a 
 better supply than many cities have. 
 
 The Fond du Lac AA^ater Company received its franchise from 
 the city of Fond du Lac in 1885. The original owners were Messrs. 
 T. F. Flaggler, H. H. Flaggler, G. A. Gaskill and P. H. Linneen. The 
 company now has seven wells. The shallowest of them is 475 feet 
 in depth, and the deepest is 1,103 ^^^^ in depth. The remaining five 
 of said wells have an average depth of 750 feet. Four of the wells 
 are six inches in diameter. One is eight inches in diameter, and two 
 of them are ten inches in diameter. The last one was drilled in 1900. 
 The general pressure for domestic purposes is- 30 to 35 pounds per 
 square inch. Fire pressure is from 90 to 100 pounds per square inch, 
 dependent upon the locality of the fire, although the pressure can 
 readily be run up, if required, to 150 pounds per square inch and over. 
 When the pressure in the central part of the city is 100 pounds, or 
 over, it is very apt to burst the hose, and make the hose almost un- 
 manageable. The first superintendent of the plant was Mr. Frank 
 Barnes. He was superintendent during its construction in 1885. 
 His successor was Mr. Fred Tenbrook. He was superintendent for 
 two years. Since Mr. Tenbrook ceased to be superintendent, Mr. 
 William Masson has continuously occupied that position. Mr. 
 Masson has been connected with the company since the beginning, 
 having been employed as a mechanical assistant in installing the 
 engines in the plant of the company at the pumping station. 
 
 Two low pressure engines of large capacity do the pumping at 
 the water works. They are perfect in construction and as handsome 
 pieces of machinery as this city ever had. But one of the engines is
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 17 
 
 run at a time, so that if there is a breakdown or need for help the other 
 one can immediately be brought into use. 
 
 That the water should be the best possible, it is provided in the 
 franchise that all water above the sandstone shall be packed out of 
 reach of the pumps with seed-bags. This was done and probablv 
 three better men than the men appointed to superintend this work, 
 Col. James Ewen. ex-Aiayor John Nichols and AV. M. Phalen, could 
 not be found in the wdiole city to guard the interests of the people. 
 They watched closely every move. It is generally conceded by those 
 who know about such things, that there is not a water system in the 
 whole state that has given less cause for complaint than has ours. 
 
 The fairly well remembered Hunter Magnetic Fountain, was 
 quite a noted place for a few years, but it long since passed away 
 and today the exact location of it is unknown and cannot be found. 
 In 1872 George Hunter built a paper mill on the west bank of the 
 river about thirty rods south of Scott street bridge. For. this mill 
 Mr. Hunter needed a good supply of pure water and a fountain was 
 decided upon. When the bore had reached a depth of about 120 feet a 
 powerful stream was struck and it was soon found that some of the 
 tools were magnetized. Rev. Dr. Barry, a somewhat noted scientist, 
 examined it and declared it the strongest magnetic spring of which 
 he had any knowledge. A moderate sized screw driver immersed in 
 the water a short time, would lift a tenpenny nail. The fame of this 
 fountain spread and people came with jugs and kegs for the water. 
 
 A large bath house was built and T. M. Bowen, the barber, went 
 down there to run it, but after a year or two the bath house burned 
 and was not rebuilt, as it had been found that the water held lime in 
 solution to the extent that it was so hard that soap could not be used. 
 The bath rooms at no time contained a cake of soap. Of course a 
 great many people who desired to use it were disappointed and it 
 was a severe loss to Mr. Hunter. The paper mill also burned and the 
 fountain was left alone to go into decay, which it did, and noted as 
 it was, no man today knows exactly where it was. The late C. R. 
 Harrison told the writer he believed he could find it, but he did not 
 have the opportunity to look for it. He was so familiar with the spot 
 he no doubt could have found it if any one could. 
 
 Such was the origin, progress and history of Fond du Lac's 
 noted artesian wells from the beginning. Our success with them 
 has been phenomenal and the question now is, how long will they 
 continue to serve us? 
 
 Caskets in Use But Few Years. 
 
 The caskets now seen at funerals have been in use but a few 
 years. Before they came the flat and swell top coffins were in general 
 use. The casket is less repulsive, hence was not long in getting into 
 general use. Hie coffin is no longer seen anywhere, and it is well 
 that it is not, for nothing is more repulsive to humanity.
 
 18 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Foolish Forms of Speech. 
 
 Is it possible to give anything like a sensible reason for some 
 methods of expressing- thought? Is it ■ not foolish in the highest 
 degree to give a sort of smooth double grunt when you wish to say 
 yes, and a spasmodic double grunt to say no? This grunt expres- 
 sion of yes and no cannot be spelled — -they are not words at all — 
 simply grunts that originated among the negroes. If you wish the 
 repetition of something you did not understand, is there much sense 
 in the use of a long drawn out "hay." And is not. the constant use 
 of "you know," almost idiotic? If you catch yourself in this form 
 of speech, why not drop it if the person addressed really does know. 
 If the person don't know, you are asserting that which is not true, 
 and if he does know, where is the sense in telling him about it? It 
 is simply a habit of speech and a foolish one. And in the use of 
 adjectives, did you ever think how foolish it is to say "awful pretty," 
 or "awful nice." Our language furnishes much better and far more 
 appropriate words. These are very foolish habits of speech that we 
 drop into but should stop. 
 
 Ben. Gilbert and His Cap. 
 
 In 1846 no matter how one worked, they did not expect pay in 
 money, for there wasn't any in the country. All payments were in 
 trade and dicker. Ben. Gilbert earned seventy-five cents and re- 
 ceived an order on Moses S. Gibson's store, and bought a cap with 
 it. On his way home with the cap on his head, a front wheel of his 
 wagon struck a stump at Second street bridge, the yoke of young 
 oxen jumped and Ben was thrown into a mud hole anywhere from 
 six inches to two feet deep, head first. The cap remained in the 
 mud, but Ben pulled his head and hands out, and after getting his 
 hair, eyes, face and hands in usable condition, he fished out the cap 
 and threw it into the wagon. At home his mother washed it, but 
 the shine was all gone and Ben was disconsolate. He felt it all the 
 more because he needed and wanted the cap and the price of it was 
 the first seventy-five cents he ever earned away from home. 
 
 A. T. Glaze had a Russian Cossack fur cap which he bought of 
 a Jew on the Indian pay ground. Lake Poygan, in 1851, which did 
 not get into a mud hole, but did get into the hands of Mrs. Beeson, 
 which was all the worse for the cap, for it was ripped and made into 
 a collar. 
 
 Passenger Steamboats on the Lake. 
 
 It is only fifty years ago that steamboats carrying passengers, 
 ran regularly on Lake Winnebago. Trips on them were not espec- 
 ially enjoyable, but they furnished the easiest and best means of 
 reaching the northern region.
 
 LUMBER AND LUMBERMEN 
 
 The Making and Handling of Lumber in Fond du Lac, From the 
 
 Beginning. The Mills and the Men Who Have Taken 
 
 Part in This Great Industry. 
 
 Almost from the day of their arrival, the pioneer settlers seri- 
 ously felt the need of lumber. The shelter they were able to provide 
 for their families was made of logs, poles, brush and grass. Lumber 
 was not obtainable, and for some time after there began to be milb 
 it could not be supplied in sufficient quantity to meet the demand. 
 Dr. Darling, in this as in many other things, very soon realized the 
 situation, and looking around for relief he bought the then nearly 
 completed structure on the west branch of the Fond du Lac river in 
 the town of Fond du Lac. This mill was completed and set 
 to work in 1845, ^^'^ was the first lumber cut here. The mill 
 was driven by water power and the output was by no means large, 
 but it was a beginning. Other small mills were started at various 
 places and in the meantime the hardy lumbermen from the east hav- 
 ing penetrated the country from Green Bay westward to the Wolf 
 ■river, mills were erected and lumber sawed, a portion of which found 
 its way to Fond du Lac in rafts as early as 1847. Col. James Ewen 
 and Curt. Lewis were the pioneers in this rafting business. Among 
 the mills built here was the Bissell mill, a sash saw affair, built by 
 Wheeler and Short, the dam for which was at Western Avenue 
 bridge over the east branch of the river, and the mill was on the land 
 now occupied by the Crofoot lumber yard now owned by Walter 
 Wild. The mill was a lazy affair, but managed to cut considerable 
 lumber when there was water enough. A frame was also erected 
 for a flouring mill at what is now the corner of Macy and Court 
 streets, where the plow shop stands, but was never completed, and 
 after standing a number of years until it became dangerous, was 
 taken down. The Bissell mill disappeared in 1855, when the water 
 ceased to be sufficient to run it. 
 
 In 1849 Brand & Olcott established a lumber yard, and were 
 soon followed by P. Sawyer, I. K. & W. C. Hamilton and others. 
 In the meantime sawmills appeared with ample steam power and the 
 lumber cut was sufficient for all purposes. There was now no trouble 
 in obtaining lumber if the settler had the money to pay for it. The 
 log houses and shanties began to disappear and frame houses and 
 fine barns often graced the farms. 
 
 From 1850 onward there was a steady increase in the magnitude 
 of lumber interests until the maximum was reached in the ten years
 
 20 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 from 1868 to 1878, at one time during this period there being twenty- 
 eight himber and shingle mills at Oshkosh and twelve in Fond du 
 Lac. The Wolf River Boom Company had its enormous works on 
 the river, which included detaining booms between New London and 
 Oshkosh and the large booms, sorting and rafting works at Lake 
 Poygan, near Winneconne. Eight tugs were required to sort logs 
 and handle them after they were rafted. Some of the mills had a 
 capacity of more than an even million feet of Ivimber a year, and the 
 product was shipped to all parts of the United States. 
 
 But while all this was taking place, the railroads were pushing 
 their lines into the timber lands northward, with branches turning 
 to the right and left into the heavy timber formerly reached by the 
 streams and logs ceased to be floated downward. The mills now 
 began to disappear from their old locations, being taken north to the 
 timber, instead of the timber to the mills as formerly. This continued 
 until in ten years more nearly all the mills had been moved, only 
 enough remaining to cut the local supply of logs. The Winneconne 
 boom has gone into ruins and work on the river has ceased. The 
 logs are now made into lumber in the woods where cut, loaded on 
 cars and taken to market, saving much time and expense. The situ- 
 ation now is three mills at Oshkosh and one at Fond du Lac. There 
 is now an ample supply of lumber at Fond du Lac, but it is not cut 
 here. This is the situation here after about forty years of forest 
 slaughter. There is much timber yet, but railroads have made a 
 great change of methods in handling it. 
 
 Dr. Darling, Edward Pier, John H. Martin, Reuben Simmons, 
 Selim Newton and others of the pioneers, lived long enough to see 
 the marked change in the lumber supply. They saw the mills in- 
 crease in number and capacity, and the lumber supply become ample 
 for all purposes, but not the subsequent local decline. But the local 
 decline did not bring back the log house and shanty experience. 
 Could they return and look the field over, they would doubtless be 
 much surprised. Time works great changes and business methods 
 are equally wonderful in results. 
 
 Persons without experience have little idea of the expense and 
 difficulties of getting logs down the small streams on which they 
 were banked from the woods, running them on the river to the boom, 
 getting them through the sorting race and rafting them ready for 
 the mills. During this work some of the logs became water-logged 
 and sunk. A few of these were recovered by the use of tugs with 
 barges and grapples, but it is thought that many thousands of feet 
 now re])Ose on the i^ottom of Lake Poygan and the river. Pine and 
 cedar are the only logs that can be successfully rafted. Even hem- 
 lock have to be mixed with pine, and to get hardwood logs, such as 
 oak, maple, ash and elm, it is needful to place three or four good sized 
 pine logs by the side of each hardwood log, and even then they will 
 be very nearly under water. Such rafts were sometimes brought to 
 Fond du Lac, and it was found that T. S. Henry was the only man 
 in the mills here, who could file a circular saw to successfully cut 
 these hardwood logs. The circular saw was then universally used in
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 21 
 
 the mills here. The band saw was then practically unknown. The 
 person who undertook to burn the slab wood from these hardwood 
 logs was entitled to sympathy. The" water took all the life out of 
 the wood, and ashes the shape of the stick, with little heat, was left 
 in the stove. 
 
 The local decline in the number and work of the sawmills is not 
 wholly due to the building of the railroads, however, and the con- 
 tention of practical men that the roads were built because of a de- 
 mand, is no doubt true. The decrease in the water flow in the streams 
 made the running of logs difificult and expensive and there seemed to 
 be a necessity for cutting the lumber further north and employing 
 railroad transportation. Hence the building of roads and moving 
 of mills. 
 
 It will be remembered that there was a time that the flow of 
 water in Wolf river^ was ample at all seasons of the year for the 
 running of such large steamers as the Tigress, Milwaukee, Tom Wall 
 and W. A. Knapp between Oshkosh and New London as a daily 
 line, and the Diamond and Badger State to Berlin. This was long 
 since abandoned as impossible and as small a boat as the John Lynch 
 can now reach only as far north as Fremont. Formerly the largest logs 
 floated over the Mukwa bar, but at some seasons it is now hardly 
 practical to float a canoe over it. This being the situation, logs were 
 liable to be "hung up" for a whole year, and the risk was too great. 
 The small tributary streams of the A\^olf, that formerly -oated out 
 logs in the spring, are now almost destitute of water. 
 
 It will also be remembered by old settlers that there was a time 
 that the east and west branches of the Fond du Lac river at some 
 seasons of the year had so much water as to be burdensome and 
 basements and streets in low places were flooded. This occurred 
 almost every year, and at no time were these streams deficient in 
 water as they are most of the time now. In early times the Soper 
 and Bissell mills on the east branch and the Seymour and Clark mills 
 on the west branch, were able to run with water for power. All of 
 this long since disappeared, and oftentimes now there is hardly 
 water sufflcient to water a flock of geese. The mills are dead and 
 gone into ruin long ago. 
 
 It is in place here to say that while R'ipon had five water mills 
 and one woolen mill in i860, all run by the water of Silver creek, all 
 but one have disappeared as water mills. No lumber was ever cut 
 at that place, though Julius Eggleston at one time proposed to start 
 a mill and bring logs from Winneconne by rail, but it was abandoned 
 as impractical. ]\iills still run on the small streams in the county, 
 but they are weak. It has been said that the Phalanx had a small 
 water mill there at one time, but if so it was very short lived. 
 
 The following sawmills have had an existence in Fond du Lac 
 and they appeared in about the order here given. As previously 
 stated, there were some small water mills before the Davis mill was 
 built, but these were steam mills capable of doing heavier work:
 
 22 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 The Col. Davis Mill. 
 
 Located on bank of the river midway between Arndt and Scott 
 streets. Built in 1847, but not started until spring of 1848. This 
 w^as the first steam mill in Fond du Lac. 
 
 The Littlefield Mill. 
 
 Located on east side of the river near Johnson street. Started 
 in 1849. Burned after a year or two. 
 
 The Butler Mill. 
 
 On west bank of river near where the Wisconsin Central bridge 
 is now. It also burned after two or three years' service. 1850. 
 
 Henry & McKibbin Mill. 
 
 This mill was in the warehouse at the foot of Arndt street, 
 erected by E. H. Galloway in 1848, for the use of steamboats, but 
 was never so used. T. S. Henry and John McKibbin started it in 
 1850, and it was the first mill in Fond du Lac to use a circular saw. 
 It was sold to Alex. McDonald, who run it several years. 
 
 Second Littlefield Mill. 
 
 East bank of river south of Scott street. Built in 1851, after the 
 first Littlefield mill was destroyed. 
 
 The Scribner Mill. 
 
 West side of the river near Johnson street. Built in 1852. 
 
 The Sawyer Mill. 
 
 AVest side of the river near Scott street. Built by James 
 Sawyer in 1853. 
 
 Leavitt Mill — Hunter & Jewell, Deacon Fuller, J. Q. Griffith. 
 
 On west side of river at Forest street bridge, where the Fond du 
 Lac Implement Company's plant is now. Built by Mr. Leavitt in 
 1855- 
 
 Asa Pierce & Leonard Bissell Mill — Merryman & Hunter, D. W. 
 Smith, E. N. Foster, Chas. Chandler. 
 
 On east bank of river at the forks. Built in 1854 and the largest 
 and strongest mill in Fond du Lac up to this time. 
 
 Galloway & Hunter Mill. 
 
 On east bank of river below Arndt street, E. H. Galloway and 
 George Hunter. Built in 1854. 
 
 I. K. & W. C. Hamilton Mill— A. K. Hamilton. 
 
 At Luco and a very active mill. Started in 1856 and burned in 
 1884. Was rebuilt the following year and sold to A. K. Hamilton. 
 After two or three seasons, it was again burned in an incendiary fire 
 and the location abandoned.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 23 
 
 The Grain Mill. 
 
 Built in 1865, and in 1866 was bought by M. D. ]\Ioore and has 
 for many years been known as the Moore & Galloway mill. It has 
 burned three times and rebuilt. 
 
 A. K. Hamilton Mill. 
 
 ' Northwest of West Division street bridge. Built in 1879 by J. 
 Q. Griffith & Sons and bought by Mr. Hamilton in 1884, after the 
 burning of the Luco mill. He sold it in 1891 to ]\Ir. Curtis, who took 
 it north, Mr. Hamilton retaining the land. 
 
 The Railroad Mill. 
 
 Below Scott street and the landing. Was built in 1857, mainly 
 to cut hardwood for the car shops. Was run but a couple of years. 
 
 C. J. L. Meyer Mill. 
 
 On the marsh near the Blast Furnace. Built in 1868. 
 
 The Moore & Galloway Mill. 
 
 East bank of the river near Scott street. Built in 1866 and is 
 the only sawmill now in Fond du Lac. 
 
 The Second Littlefield Mill. 
 
 The second Littlefield mill wa'S overhauled by G. W. Sexmith 
 and run two seasons. He also remodeled the Railroad mill and run 
 it. The Asa Pierce mill at the forks of the river, and the Leavitt mill 
 at Forest street bridge, were given overhaulings two or three times 
 by different parties and did fair work for a time. 
 
 It is a fact perhaps not peculiar, that all of the Fond du Lac mills 
 were destroyed sooner or later by fire. It seems to have been their 
 fate to burn. The mills of a later period that were rebuilt, were 
 burned. The Meyer mill, the Moore & Galloway mill and the Steen- 
 berg factory, are of this class. The Meyer factory was on fire two 
 or three times but escaped destruction. W^e can truthfully say that 
 the Fond du Lac mills went up in smoke. 
 
 A large proportion of the sawmills named here, also cut 
 shingles and lath, but the following were distinct shingle mills: 
 
 The Shingle Mills. 
 
 The Littlefield Mill — East bank of river near Scott street. 
 
 Beaudreau Mill — East side of river near Arndt street. 
 
 Galloway & Hunter Mill — East side of river below Arndt street. 
 
 J. W. Lusk Mill — East side of the river near the forks. 
 
 C. R. Harrison, T. S. Henry, Alex. White and a few others were 
 recognized experts in mill management almost from the beginning 
 in Fond du Lac, and were identified with it almost to the end. W'hen 
 anything goes wrong or changes are to be made, the services of such 
 men are a necessity, and it was fortunate for the Fond du Lac mill 
 men that they had such men to draw upon.
 
 24 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 ^Mlile the Henry & McKibbin. C. J. L. Meyer and A. K. Hamil- 
 ton mills may be referred to as among the best Fond du Lac has 
 ever had, it is doubtless true that the one until lately remaining to 
 us was at least the equal of any of them. The last Moore & Gallo- 
 way mill was built by M. D. Moore, C. A. Galloway and G. N. Mihills, 
 under the corporate name of the Moore & Galloway Lumber Com- 
 pany, and besides the sawmill have a large factory where about 
 everything is made that is needed for building purposes, whether 
 for the modest dwelling or the most elaborate trimmings and finish- 
 ing for the business structure. They also maintain three large 
 lumber yards in this city, and furnish the lumber for yards in other 
 places. 
 
 Besides the men above named in connection with these mills, 
 were some financially interested more or less in some of them at 
 different times, among them A. G. Ruggles, John Bannister, S. E. 
 Lefferts, Col. N. Boardman, Orson Breed, B. Nightingale, J. C. Lewis, 
 Geo. W. Weikert and others. 
 
 Shingle machines were invented and patented by Wm. P. Valen- 
 tine, Dr. Wm. H. Walker, Kasson Freeman and L. Beaudreau. The 
 Valentine machine had a wide sale and all were manufactured here 
 by Peacock & White. 
 
 In 1850 A. G. Ruggles became interested in the Col. Davis mill 
 and late in that 3^ear put in machinery for dressing lumber, but there 
 being so much difficulty at that time in getting the knives of planing 
 machines ground properly, the work was for a time abandoned and 
 the mill closed. Later on C. R. Harrison arranged a machine to 
 grind the knives and these and other machines were started to pre- 
 pare lumber for all sorts of building purposes. These were the first 
 planing machines here and were run for several years. John Bonnell 
 started a planing mill on West Johnson street, in 1854. 
 
 The first mills all had sash or mulay saws, and the first circular 
 saw in Fond du Lac was put into the Henry & McKibbin mill by T. 
 S. Henry. The filing of circulars had to be learned by experience, 
 and though the first ones were a quarter of an inch thick, there was 
 much trouble with them. The idea of running a saw as thin as those 
 of late years would have been thought foolish. The old saws with 
 the set in them, took out about three-eighths of an inch of the log at 
 each cut. The sus])icion exists in the minds of some, that here 
 originated the modern expression, "monkey with the buzz saw." 
 
 In 1863, U. D. Mihills started a sawmill and a large factory in 
 which all sorts of lumber was prepared for building purposes, includ- 
 ing sash, doors and blinds. This plant burned and was not rebuilt. 
 In 1874 the Mihills Manufacturing Company was formed with G. N. 
 Mihills at the head, but it also burned after a time and was merged 
 in the Moore & Galloway Lumber Com])any. 
 
 The most successful of all our lumber firms, though ])assing 
 through three fires, the Moore & Galloway Lumber Company, was 
 started in 1866 by M. D. Moore. Mr. C. A. Galloway was the book- 
 keeper, but in 1868 became a partner under the firm name of Moore, 
 Gallowav & Baker. In 1884 the firm was incorporated under the
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 25 
 
 name of Moore & Galloway Lumber Company. M. D. Moore, C. A. 
 Galloway and G. N. Mihills being the owners. They make every sort 
 of material for building purposes. Besides the extensive yard at 
 the mill, the company has two large yards up town. Mr. Moore 
 died in 1902 and his two sons have taken his place in the business. 
 
 The C. J. L. Meyer Factory. 
 
 In 1854, C. J. L. Meyer and his brother, Herman Meyer, owned 
 a business on Main street. Then, as in later years. C. J. L. Meyer 
 sought something better through inventive genius and among other 
 things invented a hollow auger for the use of wagon and carriage 
 makers. With it he went east in 1856 and during his absence his 
 brother Herman negotiated for the purchase of a small planing mill 
 and sash factory on the old Bissell mill race, owned by C. O. & H. L. 
 Hurd. It was built to run by water power, but water became so 
 scarce that the outfit was moved to a barn-like shop on the south 
 side of Western Avenue, opposite the present factory, built for the 
 manufacture of land rollers. Here they installed their machinery 
 and began planing lumber and making sash. Here let it be said, for 
 the information of those not posted in manufactures forty and fifty 
 years ago, that such articles as sash, blinds and doors could not be 
 then bought at stores, but had to be made by the joiner who took 
 the contract to build a home. Sash first came on the market, then 
 doors and last of all blinds. During this time Mr. Meyer lost his 
 brother Herman by death, and he continued the business alone. The 
 power in the factory soon became too w^eak, and Peacock & White 
 built an engine considerably larger. But as time went on, and new- 
 machinery was added, the new engine became too small and the 
 factory building also. The business increased enormously so that in 
 1865 Mr. Meyer bought the property across the street and erected 
 the big brick factory. Business still crowded and new machinery and 
 new power were demanded. He opened a large w^arehouse in 
 Chicago for the sale of the product of the factory and the sales 
 there were enormous, but besides this he had large shipments every 
 day to points on the Mississippi river and the west generally. The 
 financial side of the business was in charge of H. Woodworth, a 
 former well known dry goods man here, while Mr. Meyer looked 
 entirely to the general management. And so things continued until 
 about 1878, when a reaction began, caused by the establishment of 
 so many similar concerns throughout the country. The demand 
 continued to decrease until in 1881 it was determined to make furni- 
 ture and the following year the large brick finishing rooms east of the 
 factory, were built. In the meantime Mr. Woodworth died, Mr. 
 Meyer was growing old and his great Hermansville plant required 
 so much of his attention that the factory here was neglected. He 
 now found it impossible to keep things going and in 1886 failed. 
 The plant now stood idle until 1891. when Maj. E. R. Herren and C. 
 V. McMillan, from Stevens Point, purchased the factory, organized 
 under the name of "The Winnebago Furniture ]\Ianufacturing Com- 
 pany," and have run it with wonderful success ever since.
 
 26 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Mr. Meyer now made a tremendous effort, by aid of his friends, 
 to save as much as possible from the great business at Hermansville. 
 It is tmderstood here that his ill success was due to the fact that 
 some ]\Iichigan sharpers were successful in getting possession of his 
 property. 
 
 In connection with the factory, Mr. Meyer built and equipped 
 a fine machine shop mainly for the repair and building of his own 
 machinery. The buildings erected for these shops still stand west 
 of the court house. These shops were first started on the marsh 
 north of Scott street near his sawmill. He also built the blast fur- 
 nace but did not put it in blast. Mr. Meyer was an enthusiastic and 
 able business man, but often his ideas were wiled. 
 
 The Steenberg Factory. 
 
 This well known business was started by Lewis & Steenberg 
 in 1868. In 1871 O. C. Steenberg bought out Mr. Lewis, and the 
 only change made since that time, was to the title of the O. C. Steen- 
 berg Company, after the death of Mr. Steenberg in 1894. Since then 
 the factory has been under the management of F. G. Steenberg, oldest 
 son of O. C. Steenberg. In 1885 the factory burned and was a total 
 loss, but in just six months a new factory was started across the 
 street from the old one. In 1895 ^^'^^ large brick warehouse was 
 burned, with a loss of $12,000, in sash, doors and blinds. It was re- 
 built at once. Fire has been a serious enemy of this factory, but it 
 has continued in its work and is still running. O. C. Steenberg was 
 principal of the Fond du Lac High school in 1863 and died May 17, 
 1894. 
 
 Stewart & McDonald Factory. 
 
 Alex. Stewart and Alex. McDonald built a factory in 1869 at the 
 corner of Arndt and Brooke streets. They bought the Henry & 
 McKibbin mill at the foot of Arndt street, and cut the lumber there 
 for the factory, besides much hardwood. The factory had been idle 
 about three years when it was burned down in 1887, and was not 
 rebuilt. The Cotton Street M. E. Church was burned at the same 
 time. 
 
 A number of small factories were run at different times and in 
 different parts of the city, but did not last long and their output was 
 mostly on local orders. 
 
 To Teach English to Indians. 
 
 It was some years after the appointment of Gust. Bonesteel as 
 Indian Agent in 1856, that the people got through laughing at his 
 taking Squire Goldstucker north to teach the English language to 
 Indians. The joke was in the fact that- Goldstucker was at that 
 time the crookedest talker of English in the entire community. His 
 best talk was in slang dutch, hence the amusing feature.
 
 FOND DU LAC RAILROADS 
 
 A Brief History of the Railroads at Fond du Lac, Together With 
 Some Personalities Connected Therewith. 
 
 Fond du Lac's first railroad station was a small building set on 
 blocks at the southeast corner of Forest Avenue and Brooke street. 
 It looked more like a barn than a railroad station. The first trains 
 went only to Oakfield, from whence a stage line was put on across 
 to Woodland and a route opened to Milwaukee. But the road soon 
 reached to Chester and remained there until the Milwaukee road 
 reached Minnesota Junction, when our line was extended there and 
 we had an all rail route to Milwaukee. In the mornings at about 8 
 o'clock, Ben Garvin brought the little locomotive Winnebago, the 
 only one then here, with all the pride imaginable, to the first station, 
 pulling one to four flat cars and a compromise passenger car. Jud. 
 Remington, the first conductor, sang out "all aboard," and away they 
 went for the terminus of the line. 
 
 But this small barn-like station house did not remain there long. 
 The station was moved one block north, to Division street, where a 
 very good building for the time, was erected and in one form and 
 another was occupied for the purpose about forty years and until the 
 present station house was built in 1893. If it had been able to see 
 and talk, what tales that old depot could tell. Changes were made 
 a number of times in arrangement and size of the building, but 
 mainly it was the same all those years. The building was moved east 
 from the track and is now used as a freight house. Who of the old 
 timers do not remember the familiar faces of John Kuicks as depot 
 master and Tom Moore as baggageman, about that station at train 
 time. Ben Garvin looked after the round house and Mr. Landerman 
 of the yards. People under thirty-five years of age cannot remember 
 the big smoke stacks of the wood burner engines then in use. 
 
 Conductors. — The first fares the writer saw collected on a car 
 of the Northwestern road, was by A. D. Bonesteel, when the road 
 was built to Chester only, but his service was temporary. The con- 
 ductors on this end of the road were J. B. Clock and Jud. Reming- 
 ton. After the road was completed to Chicago, the trains brought 
 A. A. Hobart, George Webber, Ben Patrick. John Barker, Cy. 
 Cambridge and J. B. Clock as conductors, and a little later, but still 
 pioneers in the work, came Lew Hall, Sam Gilford, Ben Sherer, 
 George French, Lew Emerson and others, all of whom Fond du Lac 
 people became familiar with. All are now dead and died in their 
 beds. There were occasional accidents but none were killed. It was 
 said of John Barker that he was more years on the road and passed
 
 28 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 over more miles of track than any other man ever in the employ of 
 the Northwestern road. He was also the most popular man. 
 
 Engineers. — Among the old time engineers were George Bentley, 
 Al. Hobart, Ben. Garvin, George McNamara, Charles Webber, Steve 
 Hotallng. Albert Selleck. Jake Adams, Will Barnes, H. Wellington 
 and a little later, still veterans, came Jack Tripp, Lncien Smith, 
 Gust. Brasted. Dick Moulton, Sam Davis, Amos Klingsmith. Of 
 these old time engineers, Steve Hotaling, Ben Garvin, Jack Tripp, 
 Gust. Brasted and xA.mos Klingsmith are still living. George Bentley 
 was killed in the war and Sam Davis was killed in a wreck near 
 Appleton. 
 
 George McNamara was on the engine. Perry H. Smith, attached 
 to the excursion train of eleven cars that met with the terrible acci- 
 dent at Johnson's Creek, in September, 1858, and A. A. Hobart was 
 the conductor of that train. Neither of them was seriously hurt. 
 As Fond du Lac was for many years the division headquarters, the 
 people here were familiar with all those old-time employes whose 
 names are here mentioned. 
 
 Ground was broken in Fond du Lac for what is now the North- 
 western road, on Jvily 4, 185 1, was running to Chester in 1855 and 
 to Chicago in 1858. The road to Milwaukee, known at the time it 
 was built in 1872, as the Air Line, was built mainly through the 
 efforts of C. J. L. Meyer and James Coleman. The Sheboygan line, 
 now owned by the Northwestern, was built from Sheboygan to Glen- 
 beulah in 1868, to Fond du Lac in 1871 and to Princeton in 1874. 
 Extended to Grand Rapids and Marshfield in 1900. 
 
 Judge Kinyon completed the narrow gauge road to Iron Ridge 
 in 1874. It was known as the Fond du Lac, Amboy & Peoria Rail- 
 road. It maintained a sickly existence and was finally absorbed by 
 the St. Paul road in 1885. The gauge was at once changed to the 
 standard and new life was infused into it. The Midland track now 
 owned by the St. Paul, were laid through the city by the efforts of 
 Col. N. Boardman, Dana C. Lamb and others, in 1892 and the depots 
 of the St. Paul were moved to the east side in 1897. The North- 
 western has a contract for track rights over it at certain hours of 
 each day, which makes it an important line for business men of the 
 city. 
 
 The Wisconsin Central was extended from Neenah to Fond du 
 Lac in 1881, and to Chicago in 1883, and track rights from Rugby 
 Junction to Milwaukee, gives Fond du Lac first class lines to both 
 cities. In 1896 C. F. Whitcomb became president of the Wisconsin 
 Central and transferred the shops and division headquarters to North 
 Fond du Lac and built the street railway line to that ])oint. The 
 foMowing year the Northwestern located its shops there, thus adding 
 to this city an important suburb. 
 
 The office of Register of Deeds in the old court house was not a 
 pleasant place, and it became dismal enough in the small stone build- 
 ing before it was moved to present quarters.
 
 DEALERS IN DRY GOODS 
 
 Who Have Been the Dealers in Dry Goods From the Earliest Times 
 
 to the Present. History of the Trade in 
 
 Fond du Lac. 
 
 When we say that the first dry goods sold in Fond du Lac were 
 sold in the first building erected here, the Fond du Lac House, near 
 the corner of Johnson and Brooke streets, we might also say that 
 the first hats and caps, boots and shoes, hardware, groceries, etc., 
 were also sold there, as the first store, that of Clock & Weikert, was 
 a general store, as were also all of the first stores here, which means 
 that they kept a little of everything needed in a new settlement. 
 Their advertisements in the newspapers used to read dry goods, 
 groceries, hardware, crockery, boots and shoes, hats and caps, tin- 
 ware, cordage, etc. The sale of some of these articles was continued 
 in the dry goods stores many years after special stores were estab- 
 lished. A store with only dry goods in it was not known in Fond 
 du Lac until Mr. Whittelsey came here from New York and went 
 into business with John Sharpe. Until this time all of them kept a 
 few staple groceries and ladies shoes. Before the special stores 
 came, the customer could get about all he wanted at one store, yet 
 the stocks were not especially large as the variety in any one line 
 was so much less than it is now. The customer was content with 
 what he could get, for he knew nothing about great variety. Of 
 the dress goods now displayed in the dry goods stores for the ladies 
 to select from, were wholly unknown — they were not in existence. 
 The present status of the trade is a matter of growth, especially in 
 the last thirty years. Of our present merchants, only Mr. Whittelsey 
 and ]\I. Wagner have had personal knowledge of the changes. 
 
 It was during and after the war of the rebellion that the people's 
 wants became so great that the efiforts of manufacturers and dealers 
 were strained to meet them. During the war period and for some 
 years after, money flowed freely and fortunes were made rapidly. 
 As Josh Billings once said, "people bored holes with big augers." 
 Enormous strides were made in the direction of extravagance, and 
 we are hardly out of the course yet. In 1905 we may have made 
 some progress in economy of living, but people of the pioneer period 
 would look upon us of today as in the highest degree extravagant. 
 We must admit that there is room for the practice of economy, es-
 
 30 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 pecially in dry goo 
 Fond du Lac from 
 Clock & Weikert. 
 George Keys. 
 Geo. W. Gillet. 
 A. P. & G. N. Lyman. 
 Wm. A. Dewey. 
 Brownson & Laughlin. 
 Carswell & jJee. 
 Hall & Hoskins. 
 John Sharp. 
 John Sewell. 
 E. R. Ferris. 
 Mumford & Tanner. 
 Parker & Prettyman. 
 Drummond & Co. 
 Valentine & Olmsted. 
 
 ds. Following are the 
 the beginning : 
 
 Charles Geisse. 
 
 Moses S. Gibson. 
 
 C. P. Weld. 
 
 Sewell & Brother. 
 
 Smith & Chandler. 
 
 Rumsey Bros. 
 
 Sharpe & Whittelsey. 
 
 Dormer & Green. 
 
 C. J. Pettibone & Co. 
 
 Hoskins & Serwe. 
 
 H. Woodworth. 
 
 Erlich & Co. 
 
 Lange Bros. 
 
 P. Brucker. 
 
 Wagner & Sons. 
 
 dealers in dry goods in 
 
 O'Rourke Bros. 
 
 Laughlin & Carey. 
 
 H. K. Laughlin. 
 
 L. C. Martin. 
 
 Haas & Wagner. 
 
 P. B. Clancy. 
 
 O. H. Ansted. 
 
 J. Goldstorm. 
 
 Whittelsey Dry Goods Co. 
 
 O'Brien Dry Goods Co. 
 
 M. Wagner & Son. 
 
 J. F. Gruenheck. 
 
 Strassel' & Co. 
 
 H. Yabroff. 
 
 H.^ Yabroff. 
 
 Those in the business here now are : 
 Whittelsey Dry Goods Co. M. Wagner & Son. 
 
 O'Brien Dry Goods Co. J. F. Gruenheck. 
 
 Haas & Wagner. Strassel & Co. 
 
 The first store, that of Clock & Weikert, in one of the rooms of 
 the old Fond du Lac House, wotild not be a very desirable place for 
 present day shoppers, but it served its day as a place to procure a 
 few necessities. Fancy goods did not belong to that day. Fifteen 
 years after this store ceased to exist, James B, Clock was a passenger 
 conductor on the Northwestern road and George W. Weikert was 
 postmaster of the city and lived at the southeast corner of Main and 
 Fifth streets. 
 
 The second store here was brought in a little later by George 
 Keys. It was located further up town, and while it also would fail 
 the modern shopper, it served its purpose as a general store. The 
 stock was much larger than that of Clock & Weikert and for a number 
 of years was a popular place to trade. 
 
 The next store here, that of A. P. & G. N. Lyman, with W. A. 
 Dewey in charge, was much more pretentious and gave Fond du Lac 
 quite a business boost. The Lymans had ample capital, and with a 
 large store at Sheboygan, were able to push btisiness. They handled 
 cattle and had a distillery at Sheboygan. About 1852, G. N. Lyman 
 went to Ripon and lived there many years, handling cattle. He also 
 started a distillery there but soon became impressed that it was not 
 a respectable business, and quit it. 
 
 Next came H. K. Laughlin and G. F. Brownson, in 1849, under 
 the well known firm name of Brownson & Laughlin, with the best 
 stock of goods Fond du Lac people had yet seen. They were in 
 business many years and the name of the firm became well known 
 far and near. 
 
 But it was not until 1861, when J. C. Whittelsey came here from 
 New York to join John Sharpe in business under the firm name of 
 Sharpe & Whittelsey, that Fond du Lac had anything like a straight
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 31 
 
 dry goods store. Up to this time all the stores kept more or less of 
 mixed stocks of goods. After Mr. Whittelsey became sole proprietor, 
 everything except dry goods were cast out and it was Fond dti Lac's 
 first straight dry goods store. Mr. Whittelsey is now the veteran 
 of the dry goods trade here. 
 
 M. Wagner ranks next in seniority in the trade. Mr. Wagner 
 came to Fond du Lac in 1856, but has not been all the time in the 
 dry goods trade. During his first twenty-two years here he clerked 
 for different dealers and went into dry goods in his own name in 1878. 
 He and his son Adolph now own the building in which they are 
 doing business at the corner of Main and West Second streets, and 
 have one of the handsomest stores in the city. 
 
 In this year of 1905, J. C. Whittelsey is the veteran of the dry 
 goods trade in Fond du Lac. The large store which bears his name, 
 had its origin here in 1858, in the name of John Sharpe. Mr. Whit- 
 telsey came from New York city in 1861, and the firm of Sharpe & 
 Whittelsey continued until 1875, when ill health induced the with- 
 drawal of Mr. Sharpe, who went to Florida and died there three 
 years later. The dry goods trade was continued by Mr. Whittelsey 
 until 1901, when the present organization was effected under the 
 name of Whittelsey Dry Goods Co. Mr. Whittelsey was in the 
 trade here just forty years when he gave up active management to 
 the company. The ground on which the store is located, was bought 
 in 1869, but the building was not erected until 1873. When Mr. 
 Whittelsey came here the store was in the old Darling's block, but 
 was afterward moved to the building which stood where the store 
 is now. 
 
 Of the general reputation of the Fond du Lac dry goods stores, 
 it is a well recognized fact that Laughlin's, in all the years he was in 
 business here, stood at the head for the class of goods kept in stock. 
 If an article came from Laughlin's, it was conceded to be the best 
 in market. To go to Laughlin's meant to get the best. 
 
 On the other hand, to go to the cheap John stores that have been 
 here, meant to get something cheap in quality as well as price. The 
 general impression in the community seemed to be that good goods 
 were not kept there, and it was probably correct. Dealers no doubt 
 fully realize the fact that a reputation of some sort is sure to come 
 to them. To use Abraham Lincoln's adage, "you may be able to 
 fool all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, 
 but you can't fool all the people all the time." 
 
 The busiest place Fond du Lac ever had in this line was Petti- 
 bone's. The object of C. J. Pettibone was to drive business, to push 
 it to its fullest extent. On the street he went as if shot out of a gun. 
 He was always in a hurry. The class of goods kept was not recog- 
 nized as always the best, but his aim was to sell them, good or bad. 
 To use a modern expression, he was a hustler. 
 
 Our dealers generally have been looked upon through many 
 years as being fair and honorable and as having fine stocks, some
 
 32 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 have drawn patronage from people long distances away. Good 
 goods, large stocks and reasonable prices have been the rule.- 
 
 The early days dry goods firm of Carswell & Dee was well 
 known in the fifties. Mr. Allan Carswell, a tall, well proportioned 
 and noble Scotchman, left here and went into business at Oshkosh, 
 where he died in 1883. Thos W. Dee returned to Canada, where he 
 died a few years ago. Fond du Lac never had more popular men 
 personally, than the members of this firm. John Sewell and his 
 brother Joseph Sewell, died a few years ago on the Pacific coast. T. 
 Drummond died at Denver about ten years ago. His brother, Robert 
 is still with us. Wilson Drummond died in Kansas. Daniel W. 
 Smith, Charles Chandler, J. W. Valentine, Charles and Joseph Olm- 
 sted, A. P. Lyman, G. N. Lyman, W. A. Dewey, E. R. Ferris, G. F. 
 Brownson, H. K. Laughlin, C. J. Pettibone, in fact pretty much all 
 the old time Fond du Lac merchants have crossed the silent river of 
 death. Very few of the old timers remain in any business here. 
 But a few years more and the old names will be all gone. 
 
 Time works great changes and half a century obliterates the 
 past like a pall. These now here in business will be the old men in 
 a few years, like those of fifty years ago are now. The business men 
 of today may flatter themselves that they do not have to meet the 
 cares and privations of their predecessors. "Their yoke is easy and 
 their burden is light." 
 
 Dry Goods in Ripen. 
 
 Bowen & Beynon were the pioneer dealers in dry goods at Ripon. 
 They opened their store when this bright and lively city was but a 
 village of a few people and Capt. Alapes was getting in his best 
 work. Then came Skeels & Hammond, Samuel Sumner and Olmsted 
 & Miner. Later on were Hammond & Pinkney, J. E. Sebring, A. W. 
 Pettibone and H. B. King. All these stores were there before 1876, 
 all were well kept and carried large stocks of goods. Ripon has al- 
 ways had first-class dry goods stores, well managed. 
 
 It was Samuel Sumner, who early in the war believed the price 
 of cotton goods must of necessity advance in price, and put all the 
 money he had and all he could raise into cotton, with the result of 
 reaping a big fortune. ]\Ir. Sebring tried it afterward, but was too 
 late. 
 
 A new feature in the sale of dry goods has come to us in the last 
 few years. While the regular dry goods stores keep the same goods, 
 there are stores which deal only in trimmings and the smaller articles 
 which ladies shop for. In former times we had what was known as 
 variety stores, but their stocks were not like the shopping stores of 
 today. They handled a class of goods known as "yankee notions." 
 We have these stores yet, but they ignore general dry goods and 
 ladies" trimmings, furnishings and fancy goods are their stocks. The 
 fact that the variety of these goods has so vastly increased has no 
 doubt brought into existence . stores for handling them. The mer- 
 chant of the early days of Fond du Lac would no doubt have been
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 33 
 
 Startled to have one-half the variety of the articles of today, placed 
 upon his counters. And what would have been the thoughts of the 
 lady of fifty years ago if her dressmaker had ordered so many yards 
 of trimmings for her dress. During the period of hoops, it required 
 many yards of material, but the trimmings were left out as com- 
 . pared with the dress of today. And in the making, when would the 
 dressmaker complete a job but for the sewing machine. 
 
 The ladies and the dry goods dealers have to be fast friends. He 
 supplies her demands and she is his best customer. With dry goods 
 the average man has little to do except to pay for them. 
 
 First County History. 
 
 The first attempt at a history of Fond du Lac County was by 
 Martin Mitchell, in 1854. It is a small book of ninety-six pages and 
 sold for $1.50. It was printed in the office of the Commonwealth, 
 and treated mainly of the organization and settlement of the various 
 towns. It is interesting as far as it goes, but no attempt is made to 
 handle the vast fund of historical matters pertaining to early days, 
 of which so many then living were personally cognizant. An 
 edition of five hundred was printed, yet today, after the lapse of fifty 
 years, a copy is found with much difficulty. The writer knows of 
 but three, one of which he owns and is grateful for to Mrs. Spencer, 
 of Racine, daughter of J. A. Smith. 
 
 Curious Records and Relics. 
 
 If one has time to search through the old records and files at 
 the court house, he will find some queer relics or records. For in- 
 stance, in the files in the office of the Clerk of the Court was found 
 the complaint drawn in 1856, showing the beginning of a suit by 
 one prominent lawyer against another for a "vigorous kick admin- 
 istered to the posterior portion of his body by the toe of defendant's 
 boot, to the great injury of complainant's body and mind." It is 
 narrated in the complaint that defendant followed complainant from 
 the court house without his knowledge, and when opposite Darling's 
 block, on Main street, administered the kick without his knowledge 
 or consent, and asks for $5,000 damages. AVhat the ofTense was that 
 led to the kicking is not stated, but is presumed to have been some- 
 thing that occurred in a law suit, of a nature common in early times 
 among lawyers. It is not needful to give names here, but sufficient 
 to say that both were prominent lawyers at the time. 
 
 Where Was Your Furniture Made? 
 
 It was since the starting of Fred. Sander's furniture store in 
 Fond du Lac, that if you wanted a bureau, a cupboard, a bedstead, 
 a table, anything in the furniture line, even to common chairs, you 
 went to the shop and ordered it. It all comes from the factory now.
 
 34 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Scripture or Not Scripture. 
 
 Any man who lifts his hand against a woman otherwise than in 
 acts of kindness, it were flattery to call a heathen. Such was the re- 
 mark Justice of the Peace J. J. Driggs once made to a man before 
 him for whipping his wife. "Squire," said the man, "you are a 
 member of the Methodist Church, and you ought to know that is 
 not in the Bible." "I didn't say it was," replied Driggs, "and if it 
 isn't in the Bible it ought to be." "But you have not quoted it right 
 anyhow." "Never mind, it is good enough scripture for five dollars 
 and costs." 
 
 Disliked Scandal Cases. 
 
 In the trial of cases in circuit court in which scandal was likely 
 to be developed, J. M. Gillet was somewhat noted for his dislike to 
 have women present. He thought it was not a proper place for them. 
 And so in the noted Matteson-Curtis scandal case, from Rosendale, 
 as a great many women from the city and some from Rosendale, 
 were present ever}^ day of the long trial, he took occasion to talk 
 about it in his address to the jur3^ In his address to the jury on the 
 other side, C. A. Eldredge started in to defend them and talked 
 graciously for a while, but drifted into a line of argument more severe 
 than anything Gillet had said. Before leaving the court room some 
 women took him to task for it. "Well," said he, "conscience choked 
 me off and the old cuss set right down on me." It was long after 
 this that the women ceased their talk about speeches of Gillet and 
 Eldredsre. 
 
 An Old Time PostofBce Clerk. 
 
 Who of the older citizens does not remember John Woodhull, 
 for many years a clerk in the Fond du Lac postofiQce. Always 
 pleasant, always reliable and always ready with an answer to any 
 foolish question. He could tell the caller when they got their last 
 letter and when they would get another, could tell to a minute when 
 a letter would reach its destination, or if another person of the same 
 name lived in a place to which a letter was addressed, John knew on 
 the instant, every detail of the business. He was a bachelor, but 
 drifted back east in 1887, where he was married and died about six 
 years ago. Few men in Fond du Lac had more friends and none 
 could be more implicitly trusted. 
 
 The County Seat Contest. 
 
 Less than sixty years ago it was uncertain whether Taycheedah 
 or Fond du Lac would be the county seat of this county. The harbor 
 at the south end of the lake and the overflowing marsh to the north- 
 east, won the prize for Fond du Lac.
 
 THAT INDIAN SCARE 
 
 One of the Most Singular and Incomprehensible Events in the 
 History of Fond du Lac County. 
 
 This was one of the most remarkable and incomprehensible 
 events in the entire history of Fond du Lac county. It started from 
 the east side of the county, but where and how it originated has not 
 with certainty been ascertained to this day. It seems to have been 
 one of those foolish events which no one wants to talk about after 
 it is all ended. It was ascertained that five Indian wood cutters, be- 
 tween Chilton and Manitowoc, got into a fight among themselves, 
 which was all the trouble there was and all the Indians known to be 
 in all the region. The scare spread from house to house, teams were 
 hitched to wagons, the families hurriedly piled in and left for this 
 city, the supposed place of safety. Early in the morning the streets 
 in the east part of town were filled with teams and lined with 
 refugees. All told the same blood-curdling stories of fire and murder, 
 and that the savages were but a short distance away, they were com- 
 ing hundreds strong, seeking for blood. Edward Beeson, Edward 
 Pier, Curt Lewis, Dave Curran and other old residents familiar with 
 Indians, ridiculed the scare and tried to reassure the people, but 
 still they came. But no Indians appeared and shortly after dinner 
 a company was organized on horseback to go out east and find out 
 what was happening. In this company the writer remembers, Fred 
 Kalk, Keyes Darling, Sile Gilbert and D. E. Hoskins. They went 
 out twelve miles, but found no Indians or heard of any. Another 
 party of eight or ten. among whom were Edward Pier, Edward 
 Beeson, Ham Clark and others familiar with Indians, went out in a 
 light buss by way of Lake deNeveu, ending their trip at the home 
 of Egbert Foster, two and one-half miles east of the present Eden 
 station, where they found the house surrounded by refugees whom 
 Mr. Foster had induced to stop on their way to the city. The news 
 had come to the city that Mr. Foster's buildings and crops had been 
 burned and the family butchered, and when the party arrived there 
 was loud cheering. Toward evening the refugees gained confidence 
 and began to leave for home. So ended this remarkable scare. 
 
 In her paper on remembrances of early days, Madame deNeveu 
 says: 
 
 That Indian "Scare." 
 
 One day in September, 1862, my six children came rushing 
 home from school, scared nearly to death. One of my sons, Arthur, 
 was hardly able to articulate. They all told the same tale — the In- 
 dians were coming, and Mr. Germond was going to call for all and 
 take us into town. He soon appeared with his family and was so
 
 36 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 scared he did not wait for all my children, but with some of them, 
 dashed off, the rest I sent by other neisi;hbors. My husband and 
 other son, Edward, had gone to the city early that morning and were 
 surprised enough to see the children landed on Main street and hear 
 the awful tales of bloodshed, of the mill burning and of troops of 
 warriors just around the last bend or over the last hill when people 
 had given their farewell looks (as tliev supposed) to their homes. I 
 would not believe the tales I heard, for I questioned as to where the 
 Indians had come from. This was just following the awful Minnesota 
 massacre, so people were ready to be afraid. Well, finally, after re- 
 fusing over and over to leave home, Mr. Haight came and forced me 
 into his wagon, but before I had gone a mile I asserted myself and 
 refused to go further. So. Mr. Haight let me go very reluctantly 
 and home I came. My maid had been at the family washing and 
 when she flew away she threw the clothes right and left, and these 
 I began sorting, not knowing what else to do, keeping a sharp lookout 
 for Indians in case there were some, which I did not believe for one 
 moment, and there were none anywhere about, and before many 
 hours had elapsed many groups of people went home, passing our 
 house — many of them asserting they had only gone down town shop- 
 ping. 
 
 Pencils Forty Years Ago. 
 
 Ten cents each for the Faber No. 2, the best pencil in the market, 
 and three cents each for unvarnished basswood, the cheapest and 
 poorest. But American made pencils came to the front and the 
 Dixon and Star brought the best to five cents and the cheaper ones 
 to two for a cent or five cents a grab. To swedge out a piece of 
 metallic lead to use as a pencil in school, was the experience of many 
 people on our streets today. A serious personal encounter occurred 
 one day in front of George Henning's store, between a school teacher 
 in the town of Taycheedah and the father of one of his scholars, 
 relative to a part of a pencil which the teacher was charged with 
 pocketing without consent of the owner. 
 
 Methods of Preserving Fruits. 
 
 Most ladies of today would laugh at the processes of years ago 
 to keep fruits for future use. Ladies of the long ago knew nothing 
 of modern methods of canning. The Mason jar was unknown and 
 the old pound for pound preserves and drying methods had to be 
 used. The flies had their full share in the work but maybe we were 
 not quite so sensitive then. Canning factories are by no means es- 
 tablishments of pioneer days. 
 
 Some of the finest elm trees in the city used to stand in the court 
 house yard, but the burning of the old court house destroyed a num- 
 ber of them and the filling of the yard wiped out the rest of the old 
 timers.
 
 THE HARD^VARE TRADE 
 
 Vicissitudes of the Hardware Business in Fond du Lac. Who Have 
 Been in the Trade Here From the First. 
 
 The hardware trade Hke most kinds of business, has had many 
 changes since the pioneer days of Fond du Lac. Early in our his- 
 tory 'we had no hardware stores. A few nails of various sizes, a few 
 bars of iron such as country blacksmiths use, some common locks and 
 door latches, some screws, tacks, hinges, scythes and a few other 
 things, were about all the goods needed in that line and they were 
 kept in stock in the general stores, mixed with dry goods, groceries, 
 boots and shoes, etc. If more than this was needed, the order was 
 given to John Denny, the freighter, who brought it from John 
 Nazro, of Milawukee. As time went on, the population increased, 
 the demand was larger and the men appeared with stocks to supply 
 it. When the service of the general merchant ceased to be satis- 
 factory, the hardware dealer came. 
 
 The hardware dealer has been compelled to enlarge his quarters 
 very much and the number of articles in stock have multiplied, and 
 are all the time increasing. Yet there are hundreds of articles missing 
 that were formerly in the stock of every dealer. What the end of 
 all this will be, no one can tell, but it must end somewhere. The 
 stores are crowded with goods and if the increase in new articles is 
 to continue, something must be cast out to make room. The remedy 
 seems to be and has already been applied in the large cities — separate 
 heavy and shelf hardware and make each a class of business by 
 themselves. In early days there was no trouble in this direction. 
 Keepers of general stores managed, in small rooms, to supply hard- 
 ware to meet the general demand. The dealer of today cannot meet 
 all demands on him. 
 
 The early settler used wood pins in place of nails or spikes, for 
 many purposes, and the door latches were also of wood, home made, 
 and the locks, if they had any, were of the same material, some of 
 them ingenious contrivances. The writer saw one on a door in the 
 town of Oakneld, that for ingenuity was a marvel. The key was 
 made of a piece of telegraph wire, and it might bother a lock expert 
 of the present to lock and unlock it, but worked nicely for one who 
 knew how to handle it. The hinges of the doors to these rude 
 houses were also often made of wood, warranted not to sag, and as 
 to sash for windows, well, they often had none, a single pane of glass, 
 if any, serving the purpose of a window. The people of today, who 
 can drop into the hardware store any time, have little idea of the 
 trade in pioneer days. 
 
 For many years the well known hardware store under the firm 
 name of Hughes & Otis, has been in existence and has been one of
 
 38 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 the heaviest dealers in hardware Fond du Lac has ever had. Both 
 members of the firm came from the noted pioneer hardware store of 
 K. J\I. Hutchinson, at Oshkosh. They came here in 1873 'i^fl began 
 business under the firm name of Hughes & Otis. In 1878 they bought 
 the stock of Hall & Hoskins, and in 1883, they bought the large 
 stock of C. H. Benton. After residing here nearly ten years, Mr. 
 Otis went to Chicago, where he engaged in business until the firm 
 here bought the Benton stock, when he returned to Fond du Lac for 
 two or three years ; then returned to Chicago again ; he died there in 
 1898. His father was for many years the collector for the great New 
 York firm of H. B. Claflin & Co., and Mr. Otis followed him for a 
 time, but the west was his field of work and he came here. He was 
 one of the most companionable men Fond du Lac people ever knew. 
 John Hughes comes from the sturdy AVelsh race and few business 
 men here, have more friends. He was elected mayor of the city in 
 1885 and again in 1904 without opposition.. He has held many other 
 positions of honor and responsibility. As a business man he is al- 
 ways reliable, as a citizen honorable. Mr. Hughes bought the in- 
 terest of Mr. Otis in 1890 and the firm was dissolved. 
 
 The next largest stock of hardware in Fond du Lac was no 
 doubt that of C. H. Benton & Co. The company of this firm was S. 
 B. Amory, father-in-law of Mr. Benton. A fine building expressly 
 for the business, was erected, but for some reason did not succeed 
 and the stock was sold to Hughes & Otis. 
 
 The Benton store was started in 1868 imder the firm name of 
 Alley & Benton, by purchase of the stock of Alley & Bettis. In 1870, 
 the firm became C. H. Benton & Co., and in 1876 took the firm name 
 of Benton Hardware Company. The store was first opened in the 
 north store of Amory Block, but in 1876 a fine building was erected 
 expressly for the business, next door north. In 1887 the store was 
 ■closed out to Hughes & Otis. Mr. Benton died in 1890. 
 
 In 1850 A. D. Ward & Co. opened a small hardware stock, and it 
 was probably the first straight stock of hardware in Fond du Lac. 
 
 In 1852 R. R. Deacon opened a hardware store here, which was 
 bought by Mr. Bettis in 1856, and this store continued until bought 
 by Alley & Benton, in 1868. 
 
 In 1854 William Farnsworth opened a heavy stock of hardware, 
 and a year later sold a one-half interest to I. S. Sherwood, the firm 
 being Farnsworth & Sherwood. In 1864, having started the La Belle 
 Wagon Works, he sold his interest in the store to his brother, James 
 H. Farnsworth, and the firm was I. S. Sherwood & Co. In t868 
 Sherwood sold to Capt. W. A. Knapp and the firm became Farns- 
 worth, Knapp & Co.' This firm went into bankruptcy in 1873 and 
 the stock was bid in by Chapin Hall and F. B. Hoskins, the firm being 
 Hall & Hoskins, who^sold to Hughes & Otis in 1878. 
 
 In 1882 W. Wilkie and George P. Dana opened in the north store 
 of the old Darling Block, under the firm name of Wilkie & Dana. 
 Two years later Mr. Dana withdrew and the* firm continued W. 
 Wilkie & Son. Later on it was changed to Wilkie Hardware Co.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 39 
 
 George P. Dana opened a stock in his own name in 1891. Rusch 
 Cc Hirth opened a fine stock in the Odd Fellows' Block in 1898. 
 
 Christian A. Lang opened opposite the ^^'indsor House in 1889. 
 
 J. F. Wegner, formerly wdth .alley & Bettis and C. H. Benton, 
 opened in his own name in 1887. 
 
 Fond du Lac has six hardware stores, all of w^iich keep stoves 
 and tinware. The tin shops do not make tinware, as in old times, 
 their business being confined mostly to jobbing. The stores in old 
 times of K. Gillet, E. Perkins, W. J. Wallace, Stephen Oberreich 
 and A. B. Taylor, have no counterpart now. Tinware is now made 
 in large factories and bought, not made in the shops. 
 
 The huge hardware stock in the store of John Hughes of today, 
 embraces iron and steel and wagon and carriage stock, and is doubt- 
 less the largest in the state outside of Milwaukee, and John Hughes 
 himself, is no doubt, one of the most industrious merchants of his 
 age, in the state. 
 
 Relics of the Past. 
 
 Things which seem commonplace now, in after years become 
 interesting and valuable relics. As interesting a relic as one often 
 finds is in possession of Hon. H. D. Hitt, at Oakfield. He has many 
 such relics, but there is one of more than common interest. It is an 
 arithmetic made in school by his great grandfather. At that time 
 books were scarce and school instruction was imparted orally. In 
 school there would be one arithmetic and that belonged to the 
 teacher. He gave out the work and the scholar took it down on his 
 slate. After it was completed, the example and work was all written 
 out with a quill pen on fools cap paper. The latter comprises the 
 arithmetic before alluded to. The work is all very elaborately en- 
 rolled and embraces much in mathematics that is now never heard of. 
 Some of the processes we are now using may be superceded in a few 
 years by better ones. Save your school books for interesting relics. 
 
 The Fountain City Herald. 
 
 Royal Buck came to Fond du Lac from Madison in 185 1 with 
 the Fountain City Herald, which he published for three years, but 
 it was not a success and was sold to J. A. Smith, and with the West- 
 ern Freeman, already owned by him, became the Commonwealth. 
 At the time of the Pike's Peak gold fever. Buck started with his 
 family for that region in a covered wagon, drawn by a team com- 
 posed of an ox and a cow. That fall they reached Nebraska City, 
 and while living in their wagon there they received supplies for the 
 winter sent by Dr. Darling, Dr. Wright and other members of the 
 Congregational Church of this city. Buck l5ravely entered upon 
 the work of opening a farm, but later secured a position in the 
 United States land ofBce at Nebraska City. In 1861, President 
 Lincoln made him register of that office, and he held the position a 
 number of years, becoming quite well off. Royal Buck struggled 
 against adversity and finall}^ conquered.
 
 40 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 The Old Giltner Place. 
 
 It is very doubtful if there is a house in Fond du Lac that has 
 gone through the vicissitudes of approaching destruction and been 
 occupied by more families than the so called "Giltner House" on 
 East Second street, opposite No. i engine house. In the fifty-eight 
 years of its existence, it has suffered from fire, lightning and wind, 
 but escaped destruction. It was twice enlarged after it was built, 
 was occupied for a time by four families, including Jo. Kings and 
 Steve Buckland. Father Bonseuil, the early Catholic missionary, held 
 services there, the "Giltner girls" had a millinery and dress making 
 shop there se^'eral years, a picture gallery was there, many transient 
 doctors had rooms there. Mr. Kellogg, general agent for the New 
 York Mutual Life Insurance Co., made his headquarters there, and 
 W. H. Ebbets at one time had his law office in the building. Of the 
 four Giltner girls, some or all of them lived there many years. At 
 the time of the great Main street fire in 1852, the wind dropped burn- 
 ing shingles on the roof and it was on fire several times. Three or 
 four times in its history the house was on lire on the inside and twice 
 was struck by lightning. Its identity was changed in 1903. 
 
 Peat Fifty Years Ago. 
 
 The operations of Dr. Beebe in peat reminds the old settler in 
 Fond du Lac, of the agitation of the same subject in the early fifties, 
 l;)y J. W. Whinfield, who had given some attention to it in England. 
 If the claims of Mr. Whinfield for peat as fuel for domestic use and 
 under boilers for steam could be half realized, it would be more 
 valuable than the coal fields. In an article from him printed in the 
 Fond du Lac Journal at the time, he claimed that iron had been 
 smelted in England with peat fuel. He had evidently given the 
 subject much attention, and among other things predicted that peat 
 would be the fuel of the future and that we had enough in the peat 
 beds of our marshes to last hundreds of years. Our wood supply 
 was nearly exhausted at that time and transportation made coal too 
 costly. Peat was the coming fuel and he urged the people to assist 
 in developing this fuel so plentiful at our very doors. 
 
 Rush Lake marsh, near Ripon, is an almost inexhaustible peat 
 bed, and an attempt was made in 1870, to utilize it, but without the 
 proper machinery, buildings or money, was a failure. 
 
 A Laundry Not Thought Of. 
 
 It is now one of the singular facts of history that it is only twenty- 
 five years since a laundry was first thought of for Fond du Lac. 
 Up to 1879 the young men had had to look to a washwoman to 
 launder their shirts and collars, and seldom got them well done. The 
 Chinamen did the best work here in that line until the Ira W. 
 Hughes launclry was opened, and a little later the Eureka.
 
 FIRE DEPARTMENT 
 
 Origin, Development and Present Status of the Fond du Lac 
 
 Fire Department. Some Men Who 
 
 Have Been In It. 
 
 In the early days of Fond du- Lac, the fighting of fires was de- 
 pendent upon the personal efforts of citizens with pails, and as late 
 as 1850 there were but four or five cisterns for fire purposes in the 
 town. As to fires, the village had been very fortunate, but in the 
 winter of 1852, the citizens were awakened to the fact that something 
 must be done to procure fire apparatus. The Davis block, nearly 
 opposite Forest Avenue, burned, and four days later occurred the 
 fire that burned the east side of Main from First to Second streets, 
 and some around the corner of Second. Early in 1853 old No. i 
 engine and hose cart were purchased, and a year later Nos. 2 and 3 
 were bought. Nos. 4 and 5 companies were organized considerable 
 later. In the sixties, when the steamers came, we thought we were 
 fixed for all time, but it remained for the waterworks to come and 
 give us the perfection of fire service. 
 
 In the earliest days of the Fond du Lac fire department, engine 
 old No. I and accompanying hose cart, were housed on the west side 
 of Main street opposite Third and over the ravine. K. A. Darling 
 was the first foreman of the company, and D. W. C. Wright was the 
 first hose captain. The first steamer was also housed there for a time. 
 The boys used to congregate there evenings and have a lively time. 
 North of the engine house was J. L. Ault's shop, where he made 
 lightning rods and made and repaired steel plows. Barnett had a 
 cabinet shop on the ground where Blankenburg was so many years, 
 but the store and shop of Mr. Blankenburg was then on the east side 
 of Main street. 
 
 When Fond du Lac bought its first fire apparatus, old No. i, 
 which was given the name of Washington Volunteer Fire Co. No. i, 
 in the summer of 1854, Azro Taylor was chosen first fire chief, and 
 held the office several years. He was succeeded by Allan Carswell. 
 a dry goods man of the firm of Carswell & Dee. a stubborn Scotchman 
 but a good fire fighter. Next came Alex. \\'hite, and since then 
 numerous men have served in that ofiice, but it is doubtful if any 
 have been more efficient. In 1856 we got two Waterford engines. 
 Fountain City No. 2, Foreman E. S. Bragg, located, on Division 
 street, and Winnebago No. 3, Foreman C. R. Harrison, located at 
 Arndt and Brooke streets, where No. 3 is yet. We then felt compe- 
 tent to fight almost any fire, yet in i860 we bought a steam fire 
 engine, an Amoskeog machine, put it in charge of No. i company and 
 Johnny Hardenburg as engineer to run it. Later on the self-pro-
 
 42 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 peller Alex. ^Mlite was bought and we have that machine yet, but 
 not as a self-propeller — that feature was soon abandoned. 
 
 One night the engine house took fire and among the damages to 
 be invoiced was the burning of two of the wheels of the steamer. 
 George Pike, the engineer of the steamer, was mad beyond endurance, 
 but he got over it after a few days. The engine house was then 
 moved to West Second street, to about where the gas office is now. 
 This building was not strong enough for the rough usage and weight 
 it had to carry, and Chief ]\Iarshal A. B. Taylor, by direction of the 
 council, at last provided quarters to be permanent, by sending No. i 
 to where it is now and has been for more than thirt}^ years. 
 
 In the meantime another steamer was bought and housed with 
 No. 2, No. I still having the first steamer. Moses Nightengale was the 
 engineer of the new machine. But not long after agitation began for 
 the purchase of a self-propeller and a committee was sent to an 
 Illinois city where one was in use, to inquire about it. This com- 
 mittee, with Alex. White at the head, reported favorably and the 
 machine was purchased and Johnny Hardenburg was appointed en- 
 gineer to run it. At its first fire on Portland street, it got stuck in 
 the mud so tight that the self-propelling machinery could not pull it 
 out and horses had to be used. In fact it was soon found that our 
 streets were not sufficiently improved for such a machine and the 
 self-propelling feature was abandoned. Tt was named Alex. White, 
 and its main merit was that it could pump a very large amount of 
 water. In this year of 1905, the city still owns this machine and 
 No. I steamer. After the coming of the Alex. White, No. i was 
 transferred to No. 3 house. Fire Company No. 4, located on Military 
 street, afterwards at the five points, and it got the old No. i machine 
 while No. i house took the Hook and Ladder apparatus. No. 5 Fire 
 Company was also formed and located on Main street, where it is yet. 
 It was composed of husky middletown young men, but lasted only a 
 few years as a distinct volunteer organization. At the county fair in 
 1875, No. 2 and No. 4 competed for a silver trum]>et in making a 
 half mile run and laying 500 feet of hose. No. 4 won and the men of 
 that company thought they were entitled to the care of No. 2 
 steamer, and as they did not get it, they disbanded. But the beginning 
 of the end of the volunteer fire department was at hand. Jealousy 
 had crept in more or less all around and culminated on July 4, 1877. 
 Nos. I and 2 wanted Azro Taylor for Chief Fire Marshal, and Nos. 
 3 and 5 wanted George P. Dana. The latter was elected and the 
 order for the department to turn out for the 4tli July parade, came 
 from him. Rebellion was abroad and when the parade reached 
 Second street. No. i left the ranks and disbanded. In a year from this 
 time all the old companies were disljanded. The council looked upon 
 it indifferently, as horses were now in use to haul the machines and 
 drag ropes were of little use. A paid department was then ]:)Ut into 
 service and has continued ever since most efficiently. 
 
 When the waterworks came in 1885, there was practically an 
 end of pumping by engines and our No. 2 steamer was sold, as well 
 as the hand machines. The Alex. White is kept in repair and ready
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 43 
 
 for emergencies, but No. i would need overhauling if desired for use. 
 For some years the Hook and Ladder house was on East First street, 
 where the residence of Mrs. Payne now stands, but it has not been 
 there since 1882. The No. 2 house is now and has been for some 3-ears 
 a modest but neat dwelling on the north side of Division street, near 
 Main. No. 4 house has also been a dwelling on ^lilitary street for 
 many years. Nos. i, 3 and 5 are in daily use by the department. 
 They have been changed and repaired many times, but with the 
 waterworks system there is less wear and tear. With forty to sixty 
 men making the engine house headquarters for recreation as well as 
 business, running out the machine every few nights for practice, and 
 the general roughness which all this naturally brings, is suggestive 
 of frequent repairs. But who will imagine that the old Volunteer 
 Fire Department did not fulfill an important mission and do an im- 
 portant work. Complaints of inefficiency were sometimes heard, but 
 they may have originated in the talk of croakers, while sensible 
 people remembered the sort of appliances they had to work with and 
 the many difficulties they had to encounter, and especially as to 
 water supply. But there is another feature to be put into the credit 
 side of the ledger in making up the account of the old fire department. 
 The engine houses kept many men from loafing in saloons, barrooms 
 and on street corners. The men were interested in their fire com- 
 panies, and almost nightly could be found at their engine houses in 
 association with their fellows. The department did fulfill a mission 
 other than that of fire fighting. 
 
 From the time the Fond du Lac Volunteer Fire Department was 
 organized in 1853, until 1859, when the steamers came and the boys 
 no longer "run wid der masheen." the firemen's dances were a 
 marked social feature every winter. They had the earnest support 
 of the best class of citizens and were under the control of men of 
 high standing. IMost of these firemen's dances were arranged and 
 were under the control of Fire Company No. i, but No. 2 had them 
 occasionally. No. 3 still less frequent and No. 4 seldom or never. 
 No. I seemed to be composed largely of dancing men. No. 2, with 
 Gen. Bragg as foreman, was composed of business men who cared 
 little for dancing. No. 3 was a lower town organization of leading 
 men, headed by C. R. Harrison, Alex. White and B. F. Sweet, and 
 No. 4 had a sort of sickly existence of a few years at the "five points." 
 For foreman at different times. No. i had Geo. W. Sawyer, A. B. 
 Taylor, J. V. ^IcCall, Ed. J. Hodges and D. W. C. Wrigjit. Among 
 the hose captains were Milt. Ewen, Tom Green, Tom Weeks and 
 Fred Kalk. Truly was old No. i a lively set of fellows. But in 1858 
 the city got its first fire steamer and the downfall of the old fire de- 
 partment began and the grand old firemen's dances ceased. The last 
 one seems to have been in January, 1861, in Amory Hall. 
 
 Adelbert Coffman, present Chief Fire Marshal, has been a fire 
 fighter in this city since boyhood, a period of about thirty-five years. 
 He knows the department and its work, almost from the beginning.
 
 44 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Death of Ira Schoolcraft. 
 
 News comes of the death of Ira Schoolcraft, one of the old time 
 citizens and business men of Fond du Lac, who died May 14, at the 
 residence of his son-in-law, Henry B. Fargo, in Chicago. Mr. Fargo 
 was also a former well known citizen here. Mr. Schoolcraft came 
 to Fond du Lac in 1853 and opened a shoe store and shoe shop. He 
 resided for some years on the south side of Third street, near Marr, 
 and was noted for the fine garden on his home lot. During his resi- 
 dence there an accident occurred which showed some Christianity and 
 brotherly feeling in Fond du Lac. One summer just as his garden 
 was getting nicely started, Mr. Schoolcraft had a malignant frog 
 felon come in the palm of his right hand. Of course he suffered in- 
 tensely and it lasted two or three months. During this time the 
 shoemakers of the town banded together and not only cared for his 
 garden by work evenings and mornings, but also harvested and cared 
 for his crop in the fall. 
 
 The family moved to Chicago in 1863, and Mrs. Schoolcraft 
 died in 190T, after a married life with Mr. Schoolcraft of sixty years. 
 Old time citizens well remember the family. 
 
 Water Was Let Out. 
 
 On a Sunday evening in 1862, when Elder Rogers was pastor 
 of the Baptist Church in Fond du Lac, there was an unusual occur- 
 rence. There were to be some baptisms that evening, and the weather 
 being very cold the chill was taken from the water in an adjoining 
 room and then the water was run into the baptistry under the pulpit. 
 Just before the service was to begin. Deacon Perkins looked into the 
 baptistry to see that all was right, and to his horror he found that it 
 was empty. Some one had pulled the plug and let the water out. 
 It was too late to remedy it and of course there was no baptism, 
 but at the close of the service Elder Rogers gave the perpetrator of 
 the joke as severe a scoring as was ever heard. It was severel years 
 before it was known to a certainty who did it, and it is just as well 
 not to mention names now. Elder Rogers was chaplain of the 
 Fourteenth regiment during the civil war. 
 
 Gen. Hamilton a Veteran. 
 
 Gen. C. S. Hamilton came to Fond du Lac in the spring of 1850 
 and built and occupied the house on the east side of Sophia street 
 next north of the Howie house. Mrs. Hamilton's name was Sophia 
 and the street was named for her. Gen. Hamilton was a graduate 
 of West Point and up to 1861 he was known to everybody in Fond 
 du Lac as Capt. Hamilton. He was in the Mexican war of 1846 and 
 1847 ^s a captain in the regular army, but resigned his commission 
 in 1849 to come west. He was made colonel of the Third Wisconsin 
 Infantry in 1861, and later was promoted to brigadier general and 
 finally to major general. He had an oil mill here which he moved to 
 Milwaukee.
 
 BOOT AND SHOE TRADE 
 
 Early Shoe Stores and Who Owned Them. Peculiarities of the 
 
 Trade to the Present. Busy Class 
 
 of Men. 
 
 The trade in boots and shoes from the early days to the present, 
 has undergone greater and more frequent changes than any other. 
 Changes in styles come with the seasons and methods of handling 
 the trade come and go. In the early days of Fond du Lac all the 
 stores kept boots and shoes, and a store handling only these goods, 
 was almost unknown. The men wore boots almost without excep- 
 tion, and women's shoes were made of cloth or cheap leather. Thirty 
 years ago we had Edwin C. Burt's shoes for women, no doubt the 
 best grade of goods ever sold here and the highest in price. But 
 this was one of the vicissitudes of the trade. Great as was the de- 
 mand at the time, they went out of sight and Burt's goods have not 
 been in the market in many years. And the pernella cloth shoes for 
 ladies and sometimes for men too, disappeared about i860, and have 
 not been seen here since as a regular line of goods. Previous to 
 (that date all the dry goods stores kept them. A shoe store as we 
 know them now, was almost unknown. Foot wear that could not 
 be purchased at the general. store, had to be made at the shop of the 
 shoemaker, and these shops were numerous. The best shop Fond du 
 Lac had was owned by John Hale and H. E. Stilwell, under the 
 name of Hale & Stilwell. The shop was in a wood building that 
 stood on Main street, about where Geo. P. Dana's hardware store is 
 now. The men employed never numbered less than six and most of 
 the time a dozen. Jack Cole and Henry Aiiller were the makers of 
 men's fine French calf boots and both boasted that he made the 
 handsomest and best hue boot in town. Charley Arlin, O. S. Leonard 
 and Ad. Lovett worked on "bats," the nickname of the times, for 
 women's and children's shoes. George Driggs and Fred Tyler held 
 seats for kip work and Felix Rodgers, Pete Shoemaker, Herman 
 Meese and others had the stogas — boots and other coarse work. That 
 Hale & Stilwell shop was a lively place and the boys who worked 
 there made it lively for a new comer. In the old fashioned Shoe 
 shops, when a new man unpacked his "kit," he was expected to "pay 
 his block," which meant that he must treat all the hands. The treat 
 need not necessarily be liquor, but anything he pleased. So rooted 
 was this practice that a new man found it much cheaper to treat than 
 to bear the burden of refusal. Almost all the villages and cross 
 roads had their shoe shops instead of the one man cobbler of today. 
 Mann & Hoyt, afterward F. E. & E. Hoyt, and McBride & Kellogg 
 were the first stores that dealt exclusively in boots and shoes. But
 
 46 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 the changes continued to come and finally we have come to the 
 period when shoes are the only goods made and sold and the boot 
 for men, is banished from sight and sale. The shoemaker's shop for 
 the making of foot wear to measure is also well nigh banished, and 
 those still existing are mainl}- devoted to fitting cripples and de- 
 formed feet, and neighborhood cobbling. The shoemaker has not 
 much of a place in modern industries. The factory and the shoe 
 store have compelled him to seek other emplo3'ment. What the next 
 change will be we cannot even guess, but we may be sure that it will 
 not be a restoration of the shoemaker to his lost estate in the shop. 
 
 The veteran shoe dealer in Fond du Lac is M. Fitzsimons, 
 now Fitzsimons & Sons, for many years well known to all who 
 bu}' goods here. Mr. Fitzsimons began the business here in 1854, 
 in a building that once stood near the corner of Main and East 
 Second streets, on the land now vacant. He and Martin Sasse were 
 partners in the business many 3'ears and when dissolved, Mr. Fitz- 
 simons moved to the west side of Main street, a few doors south of 
 First street, where he remained fourteen years and until 1896, 
 when their present beautiful store was completed on the 
 northwest corner of Main and West First streets, on the 
 site of the old Darling's block, they moved their store to 
 that place. It was fifty-six years on the 12th of July, 1905, 
 since Maurice Fitzsimons entered the shoe business in Fond du 
 Lac. Surely is he a veteran and a successful one. He has experienced 
 the ups and downs of all sorts and especially in the shoe trade. 
 
 In 1867, twelve years later, W. H. Egelhofif opened the shoe 
 business here and has been in it ever since. He also may be ranked 
 as a veteran. His sons are now in charge of the business, but Mr. 
 Egelhof? still gives it much attention. The building occupied by 
 W. H. Egelhoff & Co., is owned by them and has been fitted to suit 
 their trade. The first twelve years of his business here, Mr. Egelhoff 
 made foot wear to order only. He carried on a shoe shop, and often 
 employed six to ten men, but in 1879 ^e started a small store. 
 
 The store of the C. F. Youmans Shoe Company was started in 
 1875 t>y J. J. Odekirk, but in 1878 became the property of C. F. You- 
 mans, and has thus remained ever since. J. G. Youmans, a brother, 
 opened a shoe store here in 1863, but left the business in 1878, after 
 fifteen years. C. F. Youmans is a full and complete Badger. He 
 was born and raised in Wisconsin and was never in any other busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Up to 1874 nearly all men wore boots, but in ten years the de- 
 mand had so nearly ceased that many of the shoe stores ceased to 
 have them in stock. The Stickney boot had a large sale, but Mr. 
 Stickney said that in the two years, 1878 to 1880, the demand de- 
 creased to the extent that they closed the factory. And the shoe 
 shops disappeared about the same time, so that there was only here 
 and there a shop left, and maybe a solitary cobbler on his bench in 
 the rear of the shoe stores. The explanation is all in the one word 
 "factory." The question naturally arises, who will do even the cob- 
 bling in the future? No one is learning the trade.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 47 
 
 C. J. Pettibone & Co. were dealers in boots and shoes from the 
 opening of their store in i860. It was a dry goods store, not a shoe 
 store, but carried a stock of shoes to the time of closing out in 1893. 
 
 L. J. Venne and Peter Scholl opened a shoe store in 1871, under 
 the firm name of Venne & Scholl. Some changes took place until 
 1893, when it was closed out. This store had a large and fine stock 
 and a heavy trade. The sons of Mr. Venne have since had shoe 
 stores. 
 
 C. W. Seaver was a heavy dealer in boots and shoes and had a 
 large trade, but he failed in 1875 and the store ceased. Ill health 
 caused it. 
 
 C. W. Haskell began the business here in 1874 and continued in 
 trade many years. His stock was mainly of shoes for women and 
 children, and he had a fine business which was closed out in 1890. 
 
 Leland & Alden, Barber & Kent and Frank Miller had shoe 
 stores here, but were not long in existence. W. F. Georg was for 
 several years with Mr. Youmans, but bought the Venne stock when 
 it was closed out, and now manages as fine a store as there is in the 
 city. 
 
 The shoe company organized by local capital in 1880, was pros- 
 perous for a time, and made a nice line of goods, but bad manage- 
 ment brought it to grief. It was bought by C. M. Henderson & Co., 
 of Chicago, who moved it to Illinois. The factory was in operation 
 here about eight years. 
 
 But the grandest movement here in the shoe business, was the 
 establishment of the large M. D. Wells factory, in 1902. The large 
 and beautiful building occupied by it was erected with local capital 
 and much of the stock is held by Fond du Lac citizens. 
 
 There are a few shoemakers' shops in the city that make foot 
 wear to order, of which that of M. Herbert, on East Second street, 
 is the principal one. All of the old timers, Peter Servatius, George 
 Wright, W. H. Bischofif, Hale & Stilwell, Leonard & Arlin,. Ad. 
 Lovett, W. B. Tyler, Peter Shoemaker, Ira Schoolcraft, John Rott- 
 man, Pat. Caufield and others, have ceased to exist and their owners 
 are all dead. Peter Scholl came here with his father, Jacob Scholl, in 
 1846, unable to speak the language of the country, and began mak- 
 ing foot wear. Peter Scholl still sticks to his shoe bench and is the 
 oldest shoemaker in Fond du Lac. Mr. Egelhofif has a man in his 
 employ, Mr. Gerhard, who has worked for him thirty-seven 5'ears, 
 and is there yet. Everett & Koerner and William Welch were old 
 time dealers in shoes and the store now conducted by Whittaker & 
 Cromwell, was established several years ago by Charles Meade. 
 
 Where Was Your Tinware Made? 
 Since the war of the rebellion there has been very little home- 
 made tinware seen in Fond du Lac. It now comes from large fac- 
 tories and at nearly one-half former prices. It is needless to say 
 that it is but about one-half the value. Except for dairy use and on 
 special orders, no tinware is now made in Fond du Lac.
 
 48 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Early Days Fishing. 
 
 There was a time when if the P^ond du Lac boys went fishing 
 or hunting they seldom returned empty-handed. Out in the country 
 in any direction they would get prairie chickens and with net at the 
 Bissell mill dam, or at First street bridge, or with hook and line 
 below Scott street bridge, or at Luco, could be had a supply of fish. 
 Prairie chickens are not obtainable and the realization of a nice string 
 of fish belongs to the angler of long ago. Shoulder your fish pole 
 some day and try your luck. It is possible, even probable, that you 
 will come home without having had a nibble.^ Hunting and fishing 
 are far from what they were. Game is scarce compared to former 
 times. The laws protecting fish and game came too late for sports- 
 men. 
 
 Queer But Not a Fool. 
 
 A very peculiar character among the boarders at the Cottage 
 in 1 85 1 was a German named Yost, a parlor chair maker who worked 
 in the cabinet shop of Charles Blankenburg. Yost was cordial with 
 the boys, yet exceedingly diffident and remarkably peculiar in his 
 motions. He was a very odd genius and very fond of the girls. One 
 day Lon Blake, the circus performer, put on a dress and bonnet and 
 took a seat in the parlor waiting for Yost to come to dinner. When 
 he came one of the boys told him there was a lady in there waiting 
 for him. He opened the door but almost instantly wheeled and went 
 off up stairs to his room. When he was asked about the lady he re- 
 plied : "He no girl, you can't fool me." Yost in some unknown way 
 detected the trick, but how he would never tell. The joke was on 
 the boys, not on Yost, and it was a long time before they tried any 
 more on him. 
 
 Bullis Was a Practical Joker. 
 
 When a young man, N. L. Bullis began his business career in 
 Fond du Lac as a clerk in the general store of Parker & Prettyman, 
 He learned to speak French and became a valuable clerk, but after 
 some years opened a store of his own, and still later entered upon 
 the livery business which he continued until failing health compelled 
 him to give it up. His S3'mpathy for any one in distress was un- 
 bounded, yet he was a practical joker of more than ordinary keen- 
 ness. When such a joke was to be planned the aid of Nels Bullis 
 was sought. He was the genius of the town in that line, and if any 
 one was severely sold it was regarded as certain that he was in it. 
 Who of the older settlers does not remember N. L. Bullis? 
 
 When the late Frank B. Floskins was Register of Deeds, he did 
 as much if not more than any other one man to further the work for 
 the new court house. He was then a young man but a worker.
 
 THE EARLIEST SETTLER 
 
 Of those Who Came to This County in 1836, is Entitled to the Honor 
 of Being the First Settler. 
 
 The First Settler. 
 
 Gen. Albert G. Ellis came to Green Bay as the government sur- 
 veyor in 1828. Jo. King came from Canada and met Gen. Ellis at 
 Mackinaw. The latter desired to engage some hardy French voy- 
 ageurs to assist him in his work, and Jo. King was one of them. In 
 1832 they meandered the east shore of Lake Winnebago, and in 1833 
 the west shore. Gen. Ellis died at Stevens Point in 1887, where the 
 writer of this interviewed him a number of times. He asked about 
 Jo. King and seemed to think a great deal of him. He remembered 
 him well and told many stories about him, mostly jokes that had im- 
 pressed him. 
 
 What is now the Ingall's farm, south of the city, was the first 
 Fond du Lac home of Jo. King. His entry certificate of the land 
 bears date of the Green Bay land office in 1836. He improved the 
 farm some and in 1838 built a log house on it. In 1839 he was 
 married to Mrs. ^lay by Justice of the Peace John Bannister. He 
 moved into his house at once, and here it was that Mrs. A. \\'. Chap- 
 man, of West Johnson street, was born February 3, 1840, unquestion- 
 ably the first white girl baby born, in this county. John A. Bannister 
 was born in 1839, and was the first child born in the county. The 
 writer has verified these as facts beyond question. The only way to 
 get at the facts in these matters, is to ascertain and give dates of 
 events. In the summer of 1839, ]\Irs. King visited relatives at Pe- 
 waukee. and was the first white woman to pass over the trail on 
 horseback. Soon after this the Pier twins, the late Col. C. K. Pier 
 and Mrs. Skinner, now in Chicago, were born, and were the first 
 twins in the county. Later on Jo. King traded this farm for one in 
 Eden, which his estate still owns. As he entered this land in 1836 
 and actually worked on it, built a house there and lived in it in 1838, 
 Jo. King may be regarded as the first settler. After leaving the 
 farm, about 1842. he came to the city and lived in what was known 
 as the old Giltner house, opposite Xo. i engine house, on Second 
 street, in 1903 made into a modern house. Only four families lived 
 in it in the early forties. For many years Jo. King, Steve Buckland 
 and John Denny did most of the freighting between Milwaukee, She- 
 boygan and Fond du Lac. When Edward and Colwert Pier first 
 came through from Green Bay, they found Jo. King at Brothertown. 
 
 Mrs. May, whom Jo. King married and who was the mother of 
 Mrs. Chapman, had a by no means pleasing pioneer experience when
 
 50 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 she came to this county. She came in 1838 with the Darling family, 
 in a batteaux from Green Bay, landing near the Fond du Lac House, 
 at Brooke street and the railroad bridge. Mrs. Chapman can go to 
 the spot, it having been pointed out to her by her mother. While 
 Airs. May came by water, Mr. May started overland, to view the 
 country. Several days after he should have been here, a young half 
 l)reed came and reported to Dr. Darling and John Bannister, the 
 finding by him of a dead man sitting against a tree near Stockbridge. 
 They went out with a team, but decay had gone so far, in the hot June 
 weather, that the body could not be moved and was buried there. 
 The. supposition was that he died of exhaustion. Most of the papers 
 taken from his pockets, including his marriage certificate, are now 
 in the possession of Mrs. Chapman and have been shown to the 
 writer. It is stated by some writers of Fond du Lac history, that 
 the Darling family landed at Sheboygan and came here overland. 
 This is surely an error, as the proof is clear that they landed at Green 
 Bay. 
 
 From the facts obtainable there seeems to be no doubt about Jo. 
 King being the first individual settler. It is true that Edward and 
 Colwert Pier were here in 1836, but they at that time only decided 
 upon their land and did not enter it until later in the year. ,The date 
 of the King entry certificate shows that his entry was first. At any 
 rate they were so nearly together as to make it hardly worth while 
 to quarrel over it. As the modern saying has it, "they came early 
 and stayed late." Joseph King died in 1884, at the age of 69 years. 
 
 The great influx of population of Fond du Lac county was from 
 1850 to 1856, many came in 1848 and 1849, but the greater number 
 of pioneer farmers came between 1842 and 1848. A few came from 
 1838 to 1842 and a still less number previous to that date. Those of 
 the earlier period have now all passed away, but their successors are 
 enjoying the labor of their hands. 
 
 It is pleasant to the writer of these facts, to remember that he 
 was able to visit with Gen. A. G. Ellis several times at Stevens Point, 
 in the last years of his life. He was surveyor general of the territory 
 of Wisconsin under the administration of Gen. Jackson, and started 
 the Green Bay Intelligencer, the first newspaper, in 1832. He loved 
 newspaper work and continued to write articles for the Stevens Point 
 Joinery, almost to the, day of his death. His age we have forgotten, 
 but it was not far from 90. He often talked about Dr. Darling, John 
 Bannister, Edward Pier, Jo. King and others of the old timers in 
 Fond du Lac. 
 
 Close and careful investigation reveals the fact that there are 
 many errors in previous histories of Fond du Lac city and county, 
 and perhaps there are good reasons for this, as it is often difficult to get 
 at facts. No one knows this better than those who have undertaken 
 to get them. People do not remember things alike, and unless facts 
 are a matter of record, information is decidedly unreliable. In this 
 work we have tried hard to get matters correct.
 
 THE BANKS AND BANKERS 
 
 Fond du Lac Banks from the Beginning and Who Managed Them. 
 An Interesting Chapter of Business History. 
 
 It is not legitimate banking to furnish capital for men to estab- 
 lish themselves in busines, but when once a fixed fact, the banker has 
 his field of work in assisting the business man temporarily. The 
 assets of a bank in a measure belong to the business men where the 
 bank Js located, and of right cannot be denied them if the rules are 
 ■complied with. Collaterals and short time paper of acceptable 
 character, are a legitimate part of this transaction. The banker 
 assists and the business man receives on the basis of this security. 
 The banker has no right to make the terms unnecessarily hard, but 
 only such as shall make the loan, secure, for we must bear in mind 
 that the banker is but the representative of those who own the money 
 which comprises the bank's capital and assets. He must be honest 
 with the owners of the bank and fair to the customer, all the time 
 adhering to the legitimate rules of, banking, founded on long experi- 
 ence. In this way only can there be success. Since the advent of 
 our national banking law there has been little complaint except that 
 occasionally a banker is found whose exactions are deemed some- 
 what rigid. But is it not better to err, in this than in being too loose? 
 
 The local deposits in the banks indicate the condition of business 
 and the confidence of the people, in the soundness and reliability of 
 the banks. When money is required in large amounts to adjust the 
 balances due by business men at the commercial centers, especially 
 when business is slack, these deposits disappear and if the banks are 
 short of money to discount paper, the people feel it. A bank is a 
 business institution dealing in money. As in all other kinds of busi- 
 ness, there are fixed principles which govern it, and if these are 
 violated there is sure to be trouble, for the bank is the business 
 barometer. It is sensitive to the situation and feels and shows the 
 financial storm that is coming. It is good banking to see and protect 
 the bank against disaster and at the same time inspire confidence in 
 the business community. To say what paper may be safely dis- 
 counted and what paper ought not be, often requires peculiar ability 
 in such matters. Anxiety to do business must not prompt the banker 
 to discount paper of doubtful character, or to make the amount too 
 large on good paper. Either may make trouble. 
 
 The ability with which Fond du Lac banks have been managed 
 from the beginning, is shown by the fact that but once, in our history, 
 has there been mistakes of management that brought serious loss. 
 The Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, under the management of Robert 
 A. Baker and John S. Burrows, was for many years a sound financial
 
 52 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 institution, but later on, in the anxiety to do business, unsound and 
 insecure securities were accepted ,.and the bank made a disastrous 
 failure. C. H. Benton, as assignee, settled affairs as best he could, 
 but there was bad management of the bank's affairs toward the last 
 by Mr. Baker and Mr. Burrows. This has been the only instance of 
 a Fond du Lac bank doing business outside of regular banking 
 methods. The Exchange Bank of Darling & Co. failed, but it was 
 because of bad habits rather than a violation of banking methods. 
 
 Fond du Lac Banking Houses. 
 
 In' the early times of Fond du Lac, that is to say, previous to 
 1850, Dr. Darling seems to have furnished the money for business 
 exchange. His oldest son, Keyes A. Darling, was associated with 
 his father presumably in this as in other business. While Dr. Darling 
 was in Congress, Keyes A. Darling and his son-in-law, John A. East- 
 man, looked alter the details of his large business. 
 
 Exchange Bank of Darling & Co. 
 
 Dr. T. S. Wright, son-in-law and representative of Gen. Warner, 
 came to Fond du Lac in 1849, ^^^ i^"^ 1850, Darling, Wright & Co. 
 started the above named bank, K. A. Darling, President ; T. S. 
 Wright, Vice-President, and C. W. Whinfield, Cashier. Chas. 
 Schaefer, afterward for six years State Treasurer of Minnesota, was 
 for a time Cashier of this bank. The business was continued many 
 years, and early in its history erected the stone banking house at the 
 southeast corner of Main and East First streets, so long occupied in 
 late years by the Wells Bank. 
 
 Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank. 
 
 In 1852 Robert A. Baker and his brother, Henry O. Baker, 
 closed out their grocery business, the latter returning to New York 
 city and Robert A. Baker opened a broker's office. In 1856 the above 
 named bank was organized with S. B. Amory, President, and R. A. 
 Baker, Cashier. It was a bank of issue under the state banking law. 
 After a few years Mr. Amory withdrew from it and Mr. Baker and 
 John S. Burrows, known as Cashier, were the only persons known 
 to be connected with the bank. After the panic of 1873, land specu- 
 lation was entered upon and disastrous losses followed. For many 
 years the Baker bank was a strong and popular institution. The 
 banking house of this "bank was the conspicuous structure that until 
 recently stood on the south half of the property of the Fond du Lac 
 National Bank. John S. Burrows died by suicide at Marquette, Lake 
 Superior, and Mr. Baker died in Chicago. 
 
 McCrea, Bell & Butler Bank. 
 
 This was a Milwaukee firm that owned the Fond du Lac and 
 Sheboygan Plank Road and did an extensive grain and lumber busi- 
 ness here. The firm built the one story stone banking office at the 
 northwest corner of Main and Division streets. They never did much 
 of a banking business here, and the office was used mostly for other
 
 PROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 53 
 
 business, which was wholly closed out about the time of the war. 
 The building- has been used many years for a saloon. 
 
 Bank of the Northwest. 
 
 This bank, now the First National Bank, was organized by Ed- 
 ward Pier, B. F. Moore, A. G. Ruggies and S. E. Lefferts, in Janaury, 
 1855, B. F. Moore, President, A. G. Ruggies, Cashier. It was a bank 
 of issue under the state banking law. Just ten years later it was 
 changed to a national bank under the name of First National Bank of 
 Fond du Lac, Edward Pier, President, B. F. Moore, Vice-President, 
 A. G. Ruggies, Cashier. Directors — Edward Pier, B. F. Moore, A. G. 
 Ruggies, John H. Martin, Orrin Hatch. One year later J. B. Perry 
 became the Cashier, a position in which he laithfully served the bank 
 for thirty-five years, and is now its President. A. G. Ruggies was 
 President from 1875 wntil his death in 1887, when E. A. Carey was 
 chosen and served until 1903. Since that date J. B. Perry has been 
 the President, and Ernest J. Perry Cashier. Besides the names before 
 mentioned vvho have been directors, H. D. Hitt has served more than 
 fifty years without missing a monthly meeting, although he lives at 
 Oakfield, nine miles away. C. A. Heth served many years and until 
 his death. Maj. E. R. Herren has been a member of the board a 
 number of years. Gen. Ruggies was also a director many years. B. 
 Wild was a member of the board and A. G. Ruggies, G. W. Earle 
 and J. C. Fuhrman are directors. 
 
 The first rooms occupied by the Bank of the Northwest were 
 very modest ones on the south side of West First street, , in the rear 
 of the corner store. In 1857 the bank was moved to the corner of 
 Main and Forest streets, where it has been ever since, though the 
 old rooms are now a hotel, corner of Marr and Fourth streets. The 
 present plain but substantial building was erected in 1873 ^^^ ^^^ 
 been the business home of the bank for more than thirty years. In 
 the half century of this bank, whatever of panics or business troubles 
 came, no one for a moment suspicioned the soundness of the First 
 National Bank of Fond du Lac. 
 
 Fond du Lac National Bank. 
 
 This powerful financial institution was organized in 1887, with 
 the following named ofificers; who also constitute the Board of 
 Directors : President, C. A. Galloway ; First Vice-President, Fred- 
 erick Rueping; Second Vice-President, J. A. Merryman; John 
 Hughes, Charles Schreiber, E. P. Sawyer and N. S. Gilson, Directors, 
 and G. A. Knapp, Cashier. A little later Judge Gilson retired and 
 G. A. Knapp became a member of the Board of Directors. 
 The officers have been practically the same to the present. 
 From the start it was shown by the reports that this bank 
 had the confidence of the business public. The bank bought the 
 former Baker bank property and thoroughly remodeled it before 
 opening for business, but after a few years it was found to be too 
 small and the bank bought the Bischofif property next north, the 
 building on it was removed and in 1902 the bank went into its present
 
 54 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 beautiful building-, occupying- both of the lots. The ofifice of this 
 bank and its equipment are not surpassed in the state. 
 
 Wells Banking House. 
 
 This bank, which was the predecessor of the present Commercial 
 National Bank, was opened in 1870 by William H. Wells, at the 
 southeast corner of Main and East First streets, and remained there 
 more than thirty years. Until his death in 1888, Wm. H. Wells 
 managed the business, and after that date his brother. John C. Wells, 
 was in charge, but in 1898 he also died, and M. T. Simmons succeeded 
 to the management. Since he went into the bank in 1875, Mr. Sim- 
 mons has been in active control, a period of more than thirty years. 
 From the beginning it was the constant effort to secure the confidence 
 of the people and was remarkably successful. Care and strict integ- 
 rity marked every step from the beginning. In 1901 Mr. Simmons 
 nationalized the bank, Messrs. Henry Boyle, John T. Boyle, H. R. 
 Potter, Frank B. Hoskins, George Giddings, F. E. Hoyt, M. T. Sim- 
 mons, D. D. Sutherland and A. G. Bechaud taking the stock and be- 
 coming the board of directors. The bank then bought the property 
 at the northeast corner of Main and East First streets, and in 1902-3 
 erected the present fine building for its own use. The officers of the 
 bank are : President, H. R. Potter ; Vice-President, Henry Boyle ; 
 Second Vice-President, A. G. Bechaud; Cashier, M. T. Simmons. 
 The AA'ells Bank was never a bank of issue. 
 
 The Savings Banks. 
 
 The first savings bank in business in Fond du Lac, was organized 
 by Edward Pier and E. H. Galloway. They were able to realize how 
 desirable it would be to have a safe institution in which 
 savings could be deposited, down to as small sums as half a dollar. 
 In 1866 they organized the Fond du Lac Savings Bank and erected 
 the fine building at the southeast corner of Forest Avenue and Macy 
 street. The business of the bank was for a few years, conducted in 
 a brick building west of the present First National Bank. During 
 the time of Curt. Lewis as postmaster, the postoffice occupied the 
 room afterward used by the Savings Bank. The bank started in busi- 
 ness with Edward Pier, President ; E. H. Galloway, Vice-President ; 
 Edward Colman, Treasurer, and C. K. Pier, Director. After the 
 injury of Edward Pier and finally his death, and the death of Mr. 
 Galloway, the latter's son, E. A. Galloway, became an officer, but as 
 he preferred the farm and had no taste for banking, he retired, and 
 Mrs. M. H. Galloway became President, C. K. Pier, Vice-President, 
 and G. A. Knapp, Treasurer. Finally Mrs. Galloway found that she 
 could not give attention to the business, C. K. Pier had gone into 
 lumber manufacture at Merrill and it was determined to close the 
 business, which was done in 1886, after a career of seventeen years. 
 It was a train of circumstances that brought about the closing of this 
 bank, and not a lack of business, and every dollar due was paid.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 55 
 
 The C. L. Encking Bank. 
 
 In 1878, C. L. Encking started a Savings institution which was 
 named the German Savings Bank, of which little is known now. 
 Since Mr. Encking died, no one. seems to know much about it. It is 
 quite sure, however, that it never did much business. At the closing 
 everything was settled and paid and so quietly that little is remem- 
 bered about it. 
 
 Cole Savings Bank. 
 
 In 1878, William E. Cole started the Cole Savings Bank, and has 
 built up one of the successful institutions of Fond du Lac. Naturally 
 careful and conservative and realizing from the beginning that care- 
 lessness with the savings deposited in his bank would be unjustifiable, 
 he has never allowed himself to depart from the policy of strict 
 business integrity which was determined upon from the beginning. 
 His conservatism especially fits Mr. Cole for this business, and a 
 man better qualified would be difficult to find in this state. He has 
 sometimes been charged with being too -conservative, but all fair 
 minded business men, do not hesitate to declare that it is far better 
 for him to be too conservative than too liberal. His business methods 
 very soon gained the confidence of the people, and in the nearly 
 thirty years of the bank's existence it has always retained it. This 
 bank was incorporated in 1890 under the state banking law. as the 
 Cole Savings Bank. In 1899, Mr. Cole bought the part of the Amory 
 block owned by Mr. John Amory, and fitted it in nice shape for the 
 use of the bank. For twenty years he occupied the rooms under the 
 First National Bank, rather than risk any of the assets of the bank 
 for a fine office elsewhere. He began on the bottom round of the 
 business ladder and great care has marked his career. 
 
 German American Savings Bank. 
 
 A bank bearing this name was organized in 1867, by R. Ebert 
 and J. C. Perry, who were afterwards joined by Louis Muenter, but 
 it never did a heavy business. After a few years Mr. Perry withdrew 
 and in 1883 the bank was discontinued because of the ill health of 
 Mr. Ebert. While it bore the name of Savings Bank, it did not do 
 a regular business as a savings bank. The modest building erected 
 by this bank for its use, still stands on Main street near the corner of 
 the malt house lot. 
 
 These are all the banks Fond du Lac has ever had. There have 
 always been men here with money to speculate in non-bankable 
 securities, such as Chattel Mortgages, Judgment Notes, and cut- 
 throat schemes of all sorts, and we have them yet. We have had 
 but one bad failure in our history and our banks, as a rule, have 
 smoothly weathered the storms of panics and financial troubles of 
 every sort.
 
 56 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 CITY OF RIPON. 
 
 Ripon has never had many banks and those located there have 
 been of the solid, substantial and reliable sort. The men managing 
 them have invariably had the full confidence of the people. 
 
 Bank of Ripon. 
 
 This bank was organized under the state banking law in 1856, 
 with H. H. Mead as President, and E. P. Brockway, Cashier, and 
 ceased business in 1864 to give place to the First National Bank. 
 
 First National Bank. 
 
 Organized in 1864, with E. P. Brockway as President, Geo. L. 
 Field. Cashier. In 1890, H. H. Mead became President, and in 1902 
 Mr. Mead retired and Geo. L. Field assumed the office, with F. 
 Spratt as Cashier. In 1882 the fine banking house of this institution 
 was destroyed by fire, but was immediately replaced. 
 
 Bowen & Wheeler Bank. 
 
 Began business in 1864, with J. Bowen as President and Chas. 
 F. Wheeler, Cashier. Ceased business in 1876. 
 
 German National Bank. 
 
 This was one of a series of banks organized by L. D. Moses, a 
 former W^aupaca and Antigo merchant of large means. The German 
 National at Ripon, was organized in 1889, with L. D. Moses as Presi- 
 dent, and I. M. Dakin, Cashier. C. F. Schloerb was afterwards 
 cashier for a time, but in 1902 Mr. Moses retired and Charles Cowan 
 became President, with J. P. Stone, Cashier. A neat banking house 
 was erected on the organization of the bank, and which it still occu- 
 pies. 
 
 These are all the banks Ripon has ever had and no more have 
 been needed. The character of the men in charge of them and the 
 liberal and safe policy pursued, has made them sufficient for all 
 purposes. 
 
 CITY OF WAUPUN. 
 
 Following have been the banking institutions of Waupun from 
 the earliest days to the present time: 
 
 Bank of Waupun. 
 
 Organized in 1851 under the state banking law, by L. B. Hills, 
 who was the manager until it ceased business three years later. 
 
 Corn Exchange Bank. 
 
 Established by William Ilobkirk on the closing of the Waupun 
 Bank, in 1854, and continued by him until 1875, when he absconded 
 with most of the assets. After nearly twenty years of successful 
 business, Mr. Hobkirk sacrificed the bank and himself to fast horses 
 and other practices unsafe for a banker. David Ferguson, of Mil- 
 waukee, was for several years the President of this bank and it was 
 looked ujion as one of the leading and safe banks.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 57 
 
 C. W. Hennig's Exchange Office. 
 
 Charles W. Hennig, a former Fond du Lac boy, had been an 
 employe of Mr. Hobkirk many years, and he now opened an exchange 
 office, but continued it only a few months. 
 
 Citizens' Bank of Waupun. 
 
 This bank, organized by Almon Atwood in 1876, continued in 
 business only one year. 
 
 Exchange Bank of Geo. Jess & Co. 
 
 A new building was erect-ed for this bank and it did a substantial 
 and safe business from its organization in 1876 until 1885, when it 
 was sold to Geo. W. Mitchell, of Milwaukee, Geo. F. Wheeler, of 
 Waupun, both of them former Fond du Lac county men and both 
 former sheriffs of the county, and others of the stockholders, for the 
 purpose of organizing the First National Bank of Waupun. 
 
 First National Bank of Waupun. 
 
 Organized in 1885, with L. D. Hinckley as President, W. Cald- 
 well, Vice-President, and B. W. Davis, Cashier. Geo. F. Wheeler 
 at the time of his death was President of this bank, a position he 
 had held many years. 
 
 State Bank of Waupun. 
 
 Organized in 1903 with J. O. Henson as President, but S. M. 
 Sherman is now at its head. These two banks are solid institutions 
 and have the full confidence of the people. 
 
 These banks are on the side of Waupun's Main street which 
 puts them in Dodge county, but they are so close to Fond du Lac 
 and the people of our county do business with them, hence they are 
 entitled to space here. 
 
 Brandon. — Foster & Son have a broker's office at Brandon, and 
 do a legitimate banking business. 
 
 A Crooked Channel. 
 
 The belief has been acquired by many from some source that in 
 the meandering of the old river channel, it found its way through 
 the site of the new postoffice building. This is a mistake. The old 
 channel swept around near the northeast corner of the Lange block, 
 thence through the Tait wood yard, but did not touch the postoffice 
 site. There was a slough which ran in there, in which the small 
 frogs often peeped in the early spring time. The house of J. H. Clum 
 stood on the site of the new government building and the next east 
 was the Plymouth Congregational Church. Next to this was a 
 vacant space and then came the old Darling block. Macy street was 
 not opened from Forest to Second until in the sixties, and the old 
 channel did not swing as far east as the present corner of First and 
 Macy streets.
 
 58 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Railroad Open to Chester. 
 
 The original Northwestern car shops were started in Fond du 
 Lac in 1854 to build cars for the operation of the road then being- 
 built south and opened a little later to Chester. It was expensive 
 and difficult to bring in cars and so it was proposed to build them 
 here. The shops were enlarged at different times until they cov- 
 ered about a block of land on Brooke street and the bank of the river. 
 It was long a busy place, building passenger coaches as well as 
 freight cars, and there was also a machinery department for the re- 
 pair of locomotives and other rolling stock. In 1862 the plant was 
 entirely dismantled and moved to a suburb of Chicago on the pre- 
 tense that the company had to maintain shops there and it would be 
 vastly cheaper to do all the work there, but the truth seemed to be 
 that the officers of the company had bought a large tract of land in 
 this suburb and there was much money to be made by the sale of 
 lots to employes and others. Fond du Lac lost heavily by the re- 
 moval of the shops and the officials gained in similar proportion. 
 For many years Fond du Lac heavily felt the depression consequent 
 on the removal of the shops. All the men were removed from their 
 positions, from Henry Hull as superintendent, to James Edmund as 
 engine stoker. Pete Jones, the engineer, made a green house bower 
 of the engine room, but it had to go when the removal order came. 
 Ben. Garvin dropped his hammer in the machinery room and the 
 big blowers were quiet. 
 
 Early Day Shingle Machines. 
 
 There was a time when Fond du Lac seemed to be headquarters 
 for shingle machines and many of them were built in the machine 
 shops of Peacock & White. The first kind, and the one of which 
 the greater number were built, was the Valentine. This machine 
 was patented by W. P. Valentine, for many years a resident here. 
 Dr. Walker brought out a machine similar in some respects to the 
 Valentine, and Kasson Freeman came next, but these machines were 
 sold mainly to northern Wisconsin and Michigan lumbermen. The 
 Beaudreau machine was very large and made shingles by the cut- 
 ting process from steamed blocks. These machines were all built 
 here, but they were used largely elsewhere. Occasionally other 
 machines were seen, but these were the standard. 
 
 A Free Will Baptist Church. 
 
 Besides the First Baptist Church, Fond du Lac had a Free Will 
 Baptist Church, oragnized in an early day by Elder Stanley, but as 
 neither had a modern baptistry, they sought the primitive method 
 of resort to water outside. The favorite and almost only place for 
 baptism was a pool below the old Bissell mill dam, near the Western 
 avenue bridge. All traces of tlie localty disappeared many years ago.
 
 THE FOND DU LAC POSTOFFICE 
 
 Postmasters From 1838 to 1905. Early Day Mail Service and 
 Early Day Mail Carriers. 
 
 Following are the names of those who have served as post- 
 masters from the opening of the postoffice in 1838 to 1905: 
 
 1838— Colwert Pier. 18G7— R. M. Lewis. 
 
 1838 — John Bannister. 1869 — James Coleman. 
 
 1839 — Dr. M. C. Darling. 1873 — James Coleman. 
 
 1842— Thomas Green. 1877—1. N. Hauser. 
 
 1845 — John A. Eastman. 1877 — Thomas W. Spence. 
 
 1849— Sam Ryan. 1883— Geo. E. Sutherland. 
 
 1850— E. C. Tompkins. 1885 — Samuel M. Smead. 
 
 1852- George W. Weikert. 1889— James T. Green. 
 
 1857— George W. Weikert. 1894— Samuel M. Smead. 
 
 18G1— John C. Lewis. 1897— Frank M. Givens. 
 
 18G5— E. S. Bragg. 1901— Frank M. Givens. 
 
 18CC— J. M. Gillet. 1905— Frank M. Givens. 
 
 Four times in its history there has been crookedness in the Fond 
 du Lac postoffice, but not of much importance. In 1849, i" 1862, 
 in 1877 and in 1881 there was some trouble. Twice the office has 
 been robbed by burglars and considerable money and stamps taken. 
 In the early times the office was long located in the then Spink build- 
 ing, north of the Lewis House. Mr. Weikert moved the office to near 
 the northwest corner of Main and Division streets, where Wagen- 
 knecht's harness shop is now. Curt. Lewis moved it to the rear of 
 the First National Bank, Jim Coleman took it to Division street and 
 thence to its present location. By the time the new building is oc- 
 cupied, the office will have been thirty-three years where it is now. 
 Mr. L. M. W^vatt has been assistant postmaster continuouslv since 
 1878. 
 
 During the reconstruction troubles under President Andrew 
 Johnson, he being at variance with congress, there was hesitancy 
 about confirming appointments, and so it came about that in 1866 
 and 1867 that the appointments of Gen. Bragg and J. M. Gillet for 
 postmaster at Fond du Lac, were held up and R. ]\1. Lewis went in 
 on a compromise appointment. 
 
 In the fifty-seven years that Wisconsin has been a state. Fond 
 du Lac has had fourteen postmasters, though the terms of four of 
 them were very short. Geo. W. Weikert, James Coleman, S. M. 
 Smead and F. M. Givens held the office two terms or eight years 
 each. Wlien the office is moved into the new government building 
 now being erected, it will have been moved six times in the same 
 period. It is deeply regretted by all citizens, as it will no doubt be 
 at no distant day by government officials also, that the new building 
 is so small. It is said to furnish no more room than the present
 
 60 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 quarters, while it oujT;ht to have been twice the size. It seems to 
 most peo])le that $65,000, the cost of this structuire, ])roperly ap- 
 plied, oiii2,ht to have furnished a building much larger and far more 
 imposing- in api)earance. 
 
 About as foolish a thing as it is possible for a jierson to do, is 
 to go crooked in a postoffice. They invariably get caught at it and 
 have to pay the penalty, which is severe. 
 
 Free postal delivery was established in Fond du Lac in 1888, 
 and rural free delivery in 1900, and have resulted very satisfactory 
 to all concerned. When free delivery was begun in 1888, there were 
 four carriers, but in 1905, the number has been increased to thirteen. 
 From 1900 to 1905 the rural delivery has increased from two to nine 
 routes. 
 
 Mails at Fond du Lac. 
 
 On the 8th day of February, 1838, the first mail arrived in the 
 settlement from Green Bay. It was brought through by Billy La- 
 lone, a French-Indian half-breed, traveling on foot with the mail 
 pouch and his supplies on his back. Billy carried the mail at first 
 every tw^o weeks, but a little later every week. Uncle William 
 Stewart was the next mail carrier. He was a Scotchman and a de- 
 serter from the British army, partly swimming the river at Niagara 
 Falls to get from Canada into the United States. He had to keep 
 well out of Canada to avoid arrest. He afterwards became a farmer 
 in the town of Byron and later in Eden, and was in every way a 
 first-class citizen. He w^as for nearly ten years a member of the 
 county board and every session was chairman of the committee on 
 claims. Then came a semi-weekly service on horseback from She- 
 boygan, and when the Milwaukee road was opened and the stage 
 line established in 1848, Fond du Lac had its first daily mail. From 
 year to year the service has been improved ever since. 
 
 Two Early Day Characters. 
 
 Two of the generally well known characters of early times at 
 Taycheedah was Billy Lalone and Uncle Billy Stewart. The latter 
 in after years became one of the most prominent and useful men on 
 the county board of supervisors. Uncle Billy Stewart was for three 
 or four years a mail carrier on foot between Green Bay and Fond 
 du Lac, but later on opened a farm in Byron and afterwards in 
 Eden, from both of which towns he was sent to the county board 
 many years and was always chairman of the committee on claims. 
 He was a deserter from the British army, escaping across the river 
 into the United States at Niagara Falls. He was a Scotchman. 
 
 Billy Lalone was a French and Indian half-breed and was Fond 
 du Lac's first mail carrier. He often prided himself on quick trips 
 with mail pouch and bag of grub on his back to Green Bay and re- 
 turn. I>car in mind that Taycheedah was in the early times a town 
 of far greater pretensions than it is now and Billy Lalone had some- 
 thing to do in making himself generally useful to the people. To 
 go out to the farm of Col. Conklin on errands for B. V. Moore, or to
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 61 
 
 cross the prairie to Fond du Lac on some errand, was but a little 
 walk for him. He was a favorite with the women as well as the 
 men, for he helped them in looking after small children and playing 
 with the larger ones. Among the boys he played marbles with, was 
 Harry Whinfield, and Harry says he was a good player, too. Half- 
 breeds of French-Indian stock could be lazy coots without difficulty, 
 but there was not a lazy hair in Billy's head. He died only two years 
 ago near Racine, and left many friends there as well as here. Uncle 
 Billy Stewart died a number of years ago. 
 
 Patent Right Sharpers. 
 
 At least twice in the history of Fond du Lac, some of its citizens 
 were badly bitten by patent right sharpers. The first time it was 
 with a patent fanning mill. One day when Dan Rice was exhibiting 
 here a man appeared on the street with a half-size fanning mill with 
 which he did remarkably nice work. He mixed wheat, oats and all 
 sorts of stufif and then ran them through his mill, separating each 
 into different drawers. He worked it nicely and sold a right to half 
 the state, claiming that he wanted to reserve the other half for him- 
 self. The purchasers, including E. B. Martin, a fanning mill manu- 
 facturer, got the material all ready in knock-down shape to put on 
 the market about 250 full-size fanning mills. The first ones put up 
 failed to work and all of the rest, so far as they were constructed, 
 proved utter failures. The small mill did its work well, but it ap- 
 peared that the larger size would not do it. 
 
 The next scheme was that of a fire-proof paint. At the Lewis 
 house the schemer painted dry shingles with his paint and they re- 
 fused to burn when put into the fire. The right to make and sell 
 the paint was bought, such men as Edward Beeson, Dr. T. S. Wright, 
 Keyes Darling, W. H. Hiner and a few others becoming interested 
 5n the proposition. The schemer made some of the paint to show 
 them what it would do and it worked beautifully. The basement of 
 the stone mill was fitted up for a factory and work began, but it was 
 a complete failure. The paint was hardly better than common white- 
 wash. It was ascertained afterward that the formula the sharper 
 gave the purchasers was very different from the one from which he 
 made his paint, that being altogether too expensive to be practical. 
 The man had disappeared and work was abandoned. 
 
 Capt. Mapes and His Text. 
 
 One of the most remarkable men in the development of the west 
 side of Fond du Lac county, was Capt. D. P. Mapes, in his early life 
 a steamboat captain. He went to Ripon, then known as Ceresco, in 
 1846. He became the owner of considerable land there and in 1848 
 began the agitation in earnest for another village. Judge Horner 
 also lived there and asked Capt. Mapes for the privilege of naming 
 the new village, and the request was granted on the conditions that 
 it should not be a long name, a common name or an Indian name.
 
 62 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 The Horner family having come from Ripon, England, and that 
 name comph'ing with the conditions, it was chosen. An effort was 
 made by citizens to name the place Marengo, but Capt. Mapes would 
 have none of it. He was a good talker and though his speech was 
 not always grammatical, it possessed the merit of being effectual, 
 and the new town was named Ripon and prospered. In after years 
 and to the time of his death, if there was any public enterprise on 
 hand, Capt. Mapes was sure to be in the lead as a talker and worker. 
 He published a history of Ripon, a small book well filled with amus- 
 ing and interesting matter. In 1868, when Milwaukee made a vigor- 
 ous effort to secure better commercial relations with eastern Minne- 
 sota, the Milwaukee Merchants' Association sent Capt. Mapes up the 
 Mississippi river as a worker, but while working efffciently, he did 
 not forget Ripon. One evening a gentleman got off the 'bus at the 
 Mapes house at Ripon and made this inquiry of the proprietor: 
 "Who is that old gentleman whom I met at all towns along the 
 Mississippi river who is always preaching and his text is Ripon?" 
 There was no question about its being Capt. Mapes. 
 
 Sails on Lake Winnebago. 
 
 A respectable two-masted sailing vessel once stirred the waters 
 of Lake Winnebago, doing business in regular transportation. It 
 was schooner-rigged and with its sails spread looked very pretty. 
 "Trader" was her name and she was sailed by Capt Steve Hotaling. 
 Her trips were not frequent, but she put in an occasional appearance 
 here with lumber, shingles, farm produce and other commodities. 
 But getting her in and out of the rivers at the different lake ports 
 was slow and she was sold to John Morse, of the well known Osh- 
 kosh machine shops, who took out the masts and put in machinery 
 and she became the well known Fox river steamboat, "Diamond." 
 l]ut the "Trader" did not wholly end sailing vessels, for in 1877 a 
 vessel considerably smaller was put on the lake used to transport 
 farm products to market. She was also a two-masted vessel, schooner- 
 rigged, but she was found not to pay and was sold to Judge Pulling, 
 C. W. Felker, E. W. Viall and John Bauman, all of Oshkosh, by 
 whom she was beautifully fitted up as a pleasure yacht, and was 
 long known as the "Flora." Oshkosh Scandinavians occasionally 
 nad scows to assist in bringing in potatoes and like products from 
 the east shore, but the above were the only real sailing crafts, except 
 pleasure yachts that have in the past stirred the waters of Lake Win- 
 nebago and its tributaries. 
 
 A Paradise for Hoboes. 
 
 Beginning about twenty-five years ago, the old coal sheds of 
 the Northwestern road at the south end of Morris street, was a para- 
 dise for tramps and criminals, and the police picked them up almost 
 nightly. A good thing for all concerned is that it has entirely dis- 
 appeared.
 
 PRINTING AND PRINTERS 
 
 The Job Printers in Fond du Lac From Early Days to the Present 
 
 Time. The Work They Did and How 
 
 They Did It. 
 
 Edward Beeson was the veteran and founder of job printing in 
 Fond du Lac. He was a printer by trade and a printing office was 
 a pleasure resort for him. He was connected with the trade here 
 from the beginning, and ceased only when age required it. During 
 the active part of his life it was about impossible for him to keep 
 out of the business. When he sold an office it was only to engage 
 in another, and he was never out of it long. To conduct a pioneer 
 newspaper was a pleasure to him, and when we think of his genial 
 character we cannot but wonder that in early life he delighted in 
 newspaper controversy. In politics he was an old time democrat 
 mainly on tariff issues, for he was a rock-rooted free trader. In the 
 war there was no copperheadism in him. He first set type at 
 Beaver, Pa., when he was fourteen years old and was a lifelong 
 printer. 
 
 Mr. Beeson sold the Fond du Lac Journal to M. J. Thomas in 
 1853, and for a year was out of business. The following year he 
 opened Beeson's Job Printing office, which very soon became one 
 of the prominent and prosperous business places of the town. The 
 building at the northeast corner of Main and Second streets had 
 been erected after the great fire of 1852. by Ward & Windecker, and 
 the second story, known as Ward & Windecker's Hall, was used for 
 dances, theatres, lectures, etc., and on Sundays for religious meet- 
 ings. But in 1856, Amory Hall was finished and the Ward & Win- 
 decker Hall did not pay, so it was rented to Mr. Beeson for a printing 
 office and continued to be so iised until in 1862, when the Reporter 
 was started and the hall was found too small for both and Beeson's 
 Job office was moved to the west side of Main street, in Warner's 
 block, over the store now occupied by Schleyer & Ordway, where it 
 remained until 1867, when the office became the nucleus of the after- 
 ward's widely known Star Printing Company. 
 
 Limited in capacity, with but a small amount of material and 
 one-half of it very much worn, and with cheap presses, yet Beeson's 
 Job Printing office managed to turn out some of the best work ever 
 seen in Fond du Lac. Specimens of it may now be seen here which 
 compares well with any printing of today, with all our boasted im- 
 provements. The only jobber the office ever had was an old Boston 
 Ruggles, on which the form was upside down when in use, and was 
 the first jobber brought to the state. The Milwaukee Sentinel 
 brought it from Buffalo, N. Y., in 1848, thence it went to Racine or 
 Kenosha, and Mr. Beeson bought it from C. L. Sholes in 1856, and
 
 64 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 it came to Fond cki Lac overland. Besides this jobber, there were 
 two hand presses in the office, on which everything larger than a 
 note sheet was printed. Until A. C. Stow and A. T. Glaze built a 
 paper cutter, all paper used in the office was cut to the size for the 
 job, by hand with a shoe knife. Cards were bought already cut, 
 until a cutter was purchased about the same time. All circles were 
 cut in wood and much wood type was used. When some particular 
 line was needed for a poster, a board was planed to thickness and 
 size and it was cut by hand. This is done in some offices now, P. B. 
 Haber's for instance, but it is done on specially prepared material, 
 while the early times people had hardwood from the cabinet shop, 
 to work with. Rollers w^ere made at home of glue and molasses, now 
 the material may be bought ready to melt and cast, or the rollers 
 will be cast and sent almost as cheap as cost of the material for 
 them, and much better, for they will last much longer. The printer 
 of today has little conception of the cares and tribulations of the 
 early day worker. The latter had to fight his way and do the best 
 possible with the material he had or could make to fill the bill for 
 the job he had in hand. He could not send to Milwaukee or Chicago 
 and get what he would like to use, almost at an hour's notice. Sev- 
 eral days or a week was required for what can now be done in a few 
 hours. 
 
 During the time the Northwestern road was being built from 
 Fond du Lac, T. F. Strong, Sr., was superintendent, T. F. Strong, Jr., 
 was the general passenger agent and D. Y. Selleck, for the last forty 
 years financial manager of the great McCormack business in 
 Chicago, was the general freight agent. Through these gentlemen, 
 and especially T. F. Strong, Jr., who was a veritable genius as to 
 printing, Beeson's Job office received orders for all the printing used, 
 and it was no small afifair for the facilities at hand with which to 
 do it. But that it was well done is shown by the fact that the work 
 was highly complimented by such Chicago offices as Dunlap, Sewell 
 & Spalding and Rand, McNally & Co. Among the heavy jobs done 
 was a full sel^ of through coupon tickets in blue and red color on 
 highly calendared forty-five pound straw colored medium paper. 
 Those tickets varied in length from six to forty inches and carried 
 from two to twenty coupons. On this job A. T. Glaze ran the press 
 during the days and C. H. Benton nights for several weeks. The 
 number of tickets printed of each form was not large, being 200 whole 
 tickets and fifty halves, but they had to go through the press twice. 
 It was the changes in the coupons that required time more than 
 press work. To the credit of all concerned, it may be stated here 
 that such experts as Mr. McNally and Mr. Spalding said these 
 tickets and the accompanying book of forms, was the best job of 
 printing in that time, seen in this country up to that time. But this 
 was not the only large or neat job turned out of that office — there 
 were many of them. Tim Strong wanted everything neat in that 
 line and he got it. And so, as stated in the beginning of this article, 
 Beeson's Job Printing office was one of the noted early day institu- 
 tions of Fonrl du Lac. During the most of its existence, A. T.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 65 
 
 Glaze was the foreman, and those, who worked under him at differ- 
 ent times were Charley Benton, Senator Dan Morrison, of Minnesota, 
 Web. Henry, Hi. Morley, Johnny Cortelyou, Hugh Boener, Fon. 
 Rockwell, Malcolm Graham, Jimmy A\^right and possibly two or 
 three others whose names are forgotten. All are believed to be now 
 dead, except Mr. Glaze and Senator Morrison. 
 
 It is not out of place to state here, that Edward Beeson was a 
 printer and newspaper man of the old school. He felt at home in a 
 newspaper office, but was not much of a job printer. Mr. Glaze 
 served an old fashioned apprenticeship in a printing office in Ohio. 
 Mr. Beeson was his uncle, his mother being a sister of Mrs. Beeson. 
 His delight was to do nice printing and to write for newspapers. 
 The first printing he ever did was with a hand stamp with movable 
 type, bought at a circus when a small boy. It was fifty-five years 
 on the 24th of August last, since he came to Fond du Lac, and he 
 has seen the city grow from infancy to its present proud position. 
 
 When Beeson's Job office ceased, the Star Printing Company 
 came into existence. Homer G. Leonard, James Russell and T. F. 
 Strong, Jr., were announced to the public as the owners, under the 
 name of Leonard, Russell & Strong, but Edward Beeson held an 
 interest in it. The office was in part of the second story of the 
 Amory building on Division street, but later was moved to the post- 
 office block on Macy street. At the latter location it did the print- 
 ing for the Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad and some for the 
 Lake Shore & Western. This, with most of the Protection Insurance 
 Co. and the general orders from the city, made the office a very busy 
 place. After a time the railroad work went to Milwaukee and the 
 insurance company failed, after which the Star Printing Company 
 went into decline. This, with bad financial management, brought 
 on a reorganization of the company, but it did not work well and the 
 office was at last seized on chattel mortgage and landed at Marinette. 
 A lively lot of boys were from time to time connected with the Star 
 Printing Company, but nearly all have been lost to sight. Homer 
 Leonard is in Chicago, James Russell has been at Marquette, Mich., 
 many years, and Brown Caniff is now, 1905, as he has been many 
 years, employed in the Reporter office. 
 
 About this time Thos. H. Bryant had a job office on Main street, 
 over Whittelsey's store, but never made much of a stir. The Com- 
 monwealth also had a job office all this time, but neither Mr. 
 Watrous nor Mr. Kutchin seemed to care much about pushing the 
 business. Their specialty was the newspaper and they gave it ex- 
 cellent service. 
 
 Thomas Bryant sold his job office to John Lockin, who some 
 time after took it to Brandon, and most of it found its way into the 
 office of the Brandon Times. 
 
 In 1875, Spencer Palmer, another of the old time Commonwealth 
 boys, started his job printing office in a very modest way. He can- 
 vassed the county for work, and no village escaped him. Wherever 
 a job of printing was desired, "Spence" was on hand to see about it, 
 and .this has been his policy for more than thirty years. He has
 
 66 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 never aimed at making a big stir, but has pursued a steady business 
 course, increasing his facilities slowly, but all the time at work. 
 
 In 1885, Charles H. Swift and P. B. Haber started the "County 
 Job Printing Office," under the firm name of Swift & Haber. 
 Charley Swift came from the office of the former Star Printing Com- 
 pany and P. B. Haber from the Benjamin book agency. The firm 
 existed but a short time, Swift retiring and Mr. Haber becoming the 
 owner. In 1886 he negotiated the purchase of the Daily and Weekly 
 Commonwealth and organized the Commonwealth Printing Company, 
 which, while entirely separate as a business proposition, has yet been 
 in the same building and rooms of the job printing office of P. B. 
 Haber. With the Commonwealth came the jobbing department of 
 that office, at the time of the purchase practically asleep, and in these 
 first twenty years the business has been remarkably successful. Mr. 
 Haber has made a specialty of show printing and especially of 
 dates, and owns the local bill posting business. 
 
 Next came F. D. Edwards with the Trade Bulletin, a very mod- 
 erate sheet at first, for advertising purposes, but W. E. Smith joined 
 him and jobbing rooms were added. Like many other Fond du Lac 
 enterprises, the business grew slowly but steadily. Now that the 
 Daily Bulletin has been launched and domiciled in the same rooms, 
 it also has a newspaper connection. 
 
 During all of the more than forty years since 1862, the Reporter 
 has been doing job printing, but it was not until L. A. Lange became 
 the owner, that job printing was pushed, and especially after A. H. 
 Tuttle took charge of that side of the Reporter's business did it have 
 the reputation of being one of the best equipped offices here. 
 
 The office of the Nordwestlicher Courier, since W. H. Weber 
 has been proprietor, a period of about twenty years, has done con- 
 siderable job printing, in English as well as German. 
 
 Ripon, Brandon, Waupun, Campbellsport and Oakfield have job- 
 bing departments in connection with their local newspapers, but 
 there is little effort to compete with the larger city offices. 
 
 Contents of the Newspapers. 
 
 When the Saturday Reporter was started in 1862, attention was 
 first given to local matters. Up to that time it had been the aim of 
 the papers to deal with news, state and national, and to handle politics. 
 The Reporter was started for the express purpose of dealing with 
 society, personal and general local news, and it was a success. Pre- 
 vious to this time, if a prominent person came or went, it might be 
 noticed and it might not. Weddings were noted under the general 
 head of "Marriages," but it needed to be a big event to secure local 
 mention, and a write up like those of the present day, was almost un- 
 known. Clubs were far in the future and parties, except for dancing, 
 were few and far between. Let any one look into the old newspaper 
 files in the Public Library and note how different was the style of 
 newspaper writing. The change came with J. J. Beeson and the Sat- 
 urday Reporter. In personals it has now gone so far as to be ridiculed,
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 67 
 
 and justly so, as all who come or go expect a notice. Social functions 
 have so multiplied that the printer's space is monopolized. Fifty 
 years ago all this was unknown. 
 
 New Style of Type Stickers. 
 
 In this year of 1905 we have hardly completed the first year of 
 the Linotype Type setting machine. A year ago we were yet picking 
 up type just as the practice had come down to us from the days of 
 Faust and Scheffer, in the Sixteenth Century. We distributed the 
 loose type into the cases and picked it out again, one by one, very 
 much as the hen picks up corn. The case would "run out of sorts," 
 that is, there would come a shortage of certain letters and figures, but 
 all the annoyances of the type case has passed with the coming of the 
 machine. Such a thing as "sorts" is unknown where it stands. If 
 the old time printer set five to seven thousand ems a day, it was a fair 
 day's work, but the machine drops that nvimber of ems every hour in 
 the day. The old time printer was often burdened with "pi," but 
 nothing of the sort is known to the machine. The ingenious German 
 Mergenthaler perfected this machine but a few years ago, now they 
 are everywhere. Fond du Lac at this date has seven of them. Little 
 did the type setter of even a year ago, dream of what was coming. 
 
 The Point System. 
 
 The old time printers were content to name the sizes of type, as 
 Nonpareil, Brevier and Long Primer, (the size used in this book) and 
 many others, and to speak of them as six point, eight point, or ten 
 point, would be Latin to him. One would have to go into an explana- 
 tion to make him understand that it is a system now universal, to 
 overcome the difficulties he used to have in the use of type from 
 different foundries, is now happily gone forever. Use of the point 
 system is a great improvement but the old time printer knew it not. 
 The faces of the type now differ, but the bodies are the same from all 
 type foundries. 
 
 Use of Plate Matter. 
 
 This is another innovation on old time printing office methods. 
 The old timer had to set all the matter he used in his paper, now he 
 may buy it in plate ready for use and in any department of newspaper 
 literature. There is even a daily news service from either of the many 
 concerns devoted to the making of plate matter. The cost to the 
 printer is much less, and the quality is often much improved. Thirty 
 years ago plate matter was almost unknown to newspaper men. 
 
 Other Innovations Come to Stay. 
 
 If the young printer of today was given the old beveled side and 
 foot sticks, together with wood quoins, shooting-stick and mallet, 
 what sort of work would he make in trying to lock a form, and what 
 would the old time printer have done with the mechanical quoins 
 now in general use. 
 
 How would the present day printer like it to "pull" a few 
 "tokens" on a hand press or "kick off" a few thousand impressions 
 on a jobber?
 
 86 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAf 
 
 How would he enjoy cutting paper with a shoe knife or column 
 rule? How would he like it to make his own rollers or put a business 
 card or ball ticket to press on a big hand press? He would probably 
 not enjoy it much, but these and other like things had to be done 
 here in Fond du Lac in the past and it was not much more than fifty 
 years ago either. Some of them much less than that. 
 
 Tommy Heil, the Mechanic. 
 
 Thomas Heil was a German who resided from early times on 
 Brooke street, in a small house at the north end of the Gurney ware- 
 house. Tommy Heil was a genius as a mechanic. He was for more 
 than twenty-five years the designer and head pattern maker at the 
 machine shops of Peacock & White, afterwards Union Iron Works. 
 In 1874 went into the Allis shops at Milwaukee, as head of the engine 
 drafting rooms, where he remained until his death in 1899. As a 
 mechanic he had no superior. 
 
 At a state meeting of the German Turners, held here just after the 
 war, numerous banners "Gut Heil" (good cheer) appeared along the 
 streets, and the boys like Tim Strong, French Fuller, Tom Coneys 
 and others started out with the declaration that if they were going 
 to gut Heil they were there to see about it — they were not disposed 
 to let Heil be gutted while they were about. It was a good play 
 upon words and of course all laughed heartily. 
 
 Gibson Blacksmith Shop. 
 
 A blacksmith shop, doing all sorts of work in that line, once 
 stood on the corner of First and Marr streets, on the ground on 
 which the residence of J. W. Watson now stands. It was owned and 
 run by Mr. Gibson. He once had an old fashioned log chain brought 
 to his shop for a new hook which had been broken and part of it lost. 
 To make that hook he said was the most difficult piece of black- 
 smithing he ever undertook. 
 
 From Church to Opera House. 
 
 The present Crescent Opera House was the original First Con- 
 gregational Church, built in 1848, under the pastorate of Rev. L. C. 
 Spafiford. It was enlarged at the time Rev. Silas Hawley was pastor 
 and afterwards sold to the Laborer's Benevolent Society. The own- 
 ership, after a couple of changes, went to P. B. Haber, who is still in 
 control. 
 
 Old Time Home of A. H. Clark. 
 
 This house so familiar to all old timers, has entirely disappeared 
 to give place to one of modern appearance. It stood on the same 
 spot at the southeast corner of Marr and Fifth streets, since 1849. 
 Mr. Clark was one of the early pioneers of the county.
 
 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 
 
 The Sale and Use of Pianos and Organs. The Development of 
 Musical Talent in Fond du Lac Since 1850. 
 
 Pianos are heavy to handle, therefore difficult of transportation 
 into a new country over new and bad roads. And there are not many 
 early settlers who are prepared to invest in costly musical instru- 
 ments. The music of knives and forks and the rattle of farming 
 tools have a far deeper significance to them than the piano or organ. 
 In after years they got to an appreciation and ability to purchase the 
 latter, but in the early years they can and do appreciate the violin 
 that enables them to dance and at least temporarily forget about 
 troubles and privations. So it was with the early days of Fond du 
 Lac county people. They had A. H. Clark, Nat. King, Charles Bou- 
 ton, A. W. Chapman, George Ferris and the Windecker boys to fiddle 
 for them, but little was heard of the piano or organ. John F. Burger, 
 the old time piano teacher, who is still with us, and E. H. Hawley, 
 sold the first pianos here, about the year 1850. They were the 
 Boardman & Gray, Emerson, Bradbury and Schomer make. The 
 Boardman & Gray piano had the "Dolce Campana" attachment, 
 which sold many of the instruments, but were so objectionable that 
 after a little while there was hardly a writing table or desk in town 
 that did not have one or more of the pretty discs in use for paper 
 weights. The first melodeons here were those of Prince & Co., and 
 George W. Sawyer was the agent. Mr. Hawley introduced an in- 
 strument called the "Melo-Pean," but it was short lived. Mr. Soule 
 a little later sold various instruments, among them the Grovestein 
 & Co. piano, the cheapest piano ever made. It was as worthless as 
 it was cheap. "What becomes of all the pins?" is an old saying, and 
 we may wonder what becomes of all the old pianos, melodeons, melo- 
 peans, organs, etc. Who in many years has seen or heard one of 
 those old time instruments? They in some way went out of exist- 
 ence long ago. The cabinet organ came in some years later as a 
 successor to the melodeon. The first of the melodeons were portable 
 — that is, could be folded so you could march off with it under your 
 arm. But later caine music stores with everything in that line. The 
 early settler did not need them and the sale was slow. 
 
 In the years that have passed since Mr. Hawley sold thi Board- 
 man & Gray piano and Prince melodeons, and when a couple of 
 years later George Soule sold Grovestein pianos and melo-peans, 
 which began about 1851 or 1852, there have been numerous dealers 
 here in instruments and musical merchandise, but the stay of most 
 of them was short. Since Hawley's time early in the fifties, there 
 have probably been not less than twenty dealers whose stay ranged 
 from six months to three years. It was not until 1885, when B. H.
 
 70 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Anderson came into the trade, that Fond du Lac had a permanent 
 dealer in musical goods. Mr. Anderson has been in the business 
 twenty years. J. W. Trout was the next longest in the business, 
 about twelve years. Mr. Voell is in the business, and two or three 
 others who are late comers. S. J. Sherer, Robert Crosby, Reed & Co., 
 H. W. Hitchcock and W. W. Graham, were here about two to four 
 years. Several were here six months to a year. 
 
 John F. Burger was our first piano teacher as early as 1850. 
 After him came Prof. Kumleau. Prof. Knerringer and Prof. Graves, 
 all of them fine teachers. There were some lady teachers in later 
 years. The conservatories have done much to break up the teaching 
 by outside professors. Methods as well as the teachers have changed. 
 
 The first of Fond du Lac's noted singers was Abby Beeson Car- 
 rington, now with her husband, Mr. Lewis, a resident of San Fran- 
 cisco. She for several years sang in opera and concert. Mrs. H. C. 
 Moore, Mrs. L. A. Bishop, Miss Bessie Marie Mayham, Mrs. Chas. 
 Geisse, Miss Marlea Bishop, Miss Korrer and others. Also Herbert 
 Moore, Dr. D. B. Wyatt, Geo. W. Watson, J. E. Zahn, and others 
 among the men. H. Cumberland Wilson, one of the most accom- 
 plished organists and teachers in the west, came here in 1902. 
 
 Fond du Lac has never been behind the times or its neighbors 
 in musical culture or business. Most of the time it has taken the 
 lead. 
 
 The Dr. Darling Homestead. 
 
 As late as the beginning of the year 1850, the parcel of land from 
 Main street to the river channel and stage barn, and from First to 
 Forest streets, was the homestead of Dr. M. C. Darling. His house 
 stood in the center and was surrounded by fruit trees. During the 
 year 1850 the old Darling's block, on the northwest corner of Main 
 and First streets, was begun and finished in 1851. This was the first 
 break in the land, and a couple of years later the trees began to dis- 
 appear. The new house of Dr. Darling came, the old one was moved 
 away, and still later Macy street was ordered to be opened from First 
 to Forest streets, and the new house was moved to where it now 
 stands, on Macy street. In the meantime came encroachments on 
 the land on the Main street front, and was rapidly filled with business 
 structures. The trees all went as did also the high picket fence on 
 Forest street. One afternoon just before this fence disappeared, the 
 fine bay team of horses owned by George McWilliams, started from 
 in front of the home of Judge Flint, and ran on with great force, into 
 this fence and were ruined. The scene was a wicked one and made 
 the bystanders shudder. The horses were tenderly cared for, but 
 one of them had to be killed. The carriage was empty at the time 
 and no person was injured, but it was no doubt one of the most 
 startling runaways ever seen in Fond du Lac. Macy street from 
 First to the court house and from Forest street north, were opened 
 long before this, although that from First to Second was little used, 
 as the river slashed around in there.
 
 \VAS A TALENTED ARTIST 
 
 Mark R. Harrison and His Dioramas. Some Noted Work of a 
 
 Fond du Lac Artist. 
 
 Few people now residing in Fond du Lac, know that one of the 
 noted artists of modern times resided here many years and died 
 only about ten years ago — 1895. He did much skillful work in his 
 time. He came here from Hamilton, Canada, with a brother in 1848, 
 to engage in navigation on Lake Winnebago and Fox River. They 
 owned the steamboats Manchester and D. B. Whitacre, but both 
 were slow tubs and remained in commission but a few years. They 
 were sold and Mark R. Harrison opened an artits's studio in the north 
 end of the old Darling's block, and remained there several years 
 and until he had erected one of the buildings on his Sixth street 
 property, about the year i860. During these years he painted some 
 fine pictures which he shipped to New York, where some were sold 
 at high prices and others taken to London, where they sold at 
 enormous prices. A few found their way to Paris and to other noted 
 capitals of Europe. Some one wronged Mr. Harrison and he never 
 received proper pay for these works of art. 
 
 About 1858, Thos. H. Stevenson came here and joined Mr. Har- 
 rison in painting pictures for an Art Union. Mr. Stevenson was an 
 inebriate, but a remarkably fine painter, especially of animals in 
 motion. A large number of paintings were perfected and Miss 
 Libbie Farnsworth wrote a poem for the art union, printed neatly 
 in book form, entitled, "Voyage of Pere Marquette and History of 
 Charles de Langlade." The tickets being all sold, the drawing took 
 place with the result that many of the best pictures remained in 
 Fond du Lac. "Heart of the Andes," the prize picture, went out of 
 town. Some of those Harrison & Stevenson Art Union pictures are 
 still in Fond du Lac parlors. The paintings were largely of rural 
 scenes and very pretty. 
 
 Stevenson's habits now became so unreliable that he was given 
 transportation and induced to return to his home in Cleveland, Ohio, 
 but in 1859 he appeared here again and joined Mr. Harrison in the 
 production of the noted Dioramas, one of the finest achievements in 
 art ever witnessed in this country. The scenes were each the size 
 of a theatre scene, the canvas for which was especially prepared by 
 the making of opaque, transparent and semi-transparent places in it, 
 so that by the application of colors on them and the proper placing 
 of lights before and behind the scene, all sorts of effects could be 
 produced. In the picture of Belshazzar's Feast, for instance, five 
 beautiful scenes, all of them different, were produced by the mere 
 placing of the lights. One scene would slowly fade away into dark- 
 ness, and another, wholly different, would immediately begin to ap-
 
 72 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 pear with a change only of lights. Bright, sombre and middle 
 shades were produced readily and perfectly. 
 
 Just how the canvas was prepared and the dioramic effects se- 
 cured, Mr. Harrison would not tell. Even his student, Edward 
 Mascraft, the best friend he ever had, was kept in ignorance as to 
 much of it. Mr. Harrison claimed that he and a student of his at 
 Hamilton, Canada, named Jo. Dicey, worked it all out, but many 
 doubted it. It was true, however, that the grandest of the Dioramas 
 were painted, exhibited and destroyed there. One night while on 
 exhibition at the Royal Amphitheatre, a camphene lamp exploded, 
 starting a fire in which the pictures were destroyed and many lives 
 lost. 
 
 The Fond du Lac Dioramas were painted in Darling's Hall. 
 There were seven scenes, Belshazzar's Feast, Grand Canal of Venice, 
 St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice, Garden of Eden and Destruction of 
 Babylon and others. They were exhibited in Ward & Windecker's 
 hall, with splendid effect, with Rev. I. W. Bowen, a Protestant 
 Methodist preacher, as descriptive lecturer. Subsequently they were 
 taken out for exhibition by Mr. Bowen and a company, and when in 
 an Indiana city they took fire and were destroyed. An effort was 
 made to have Mr. Harrison paint another set, but he never got to it. 
 With the modern electric lights what magnificient dioramic effects 
 might be produced. The pictures here described depended upon 
 camphene, a very explosive article. 
 
 In the last years of his life, Mr. Harrison gave his attention to 
 treating Indian scenes, in which he was remarkably successful. His 
 "Gathering for the War Path," is one of the finest pictures of Indian 
 life ever seen in this country. This was the last work of his life. 
 A person who could not admire his "Looking for the Lost Trail," 
 would be sadly deficient in the admiration of art. Of his many 
 portraits in oil colors, those of Dr. M. C. Darling, Perry H. Smith, 
 Gen. Harrison C. Hobart, and others, may be seen in the State His- 
 torical rooms at Madison. Among the archives in his home on 
 Sixth street, was a remarkable clock which he found a number of 
 years ago in Post's second hand store, and had repaired at a cost of 
 $i6. The clock was made, as shown by a brand on the back board 
 of the works, in England in 1769. 
 
 Mr. Stevenson became so much of an inebriate that he was sent 
 back to Cleveland a second time, and died there. Mr. Harrison died 
 in this city in 1894, and lies in Rienzi, where Mr. Powrie erected a 
 beautiful portrait head stone. He was unmarried. 
 
 In early times Fond du Lac had an Englishman named Spink, 
 who owned the property next north of the present Palmer House 
 and had a paint shop there. He claimed the title of "Sir Richard 
 Spink, artist to the Queen," and could talk fast, long and loud about 
 art, but was more of a carriage painter than artist. He had a few 
 specimens of canvas, but they were poor, very poor. The pupil and 
 successor of Mr. Harrison, Edward Mascraft, is doing some excellent 
 work. His portraiture in oil colors, is especially fine, and he treats 
 animal life as well as his teacher ever did. He is in everv sense a
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 73 
 
 true artist. A few individuals have w^orked oil colors in Fond du 
 Lac besides those engaged in teaching, but they have not been noted 
 or numerous. The photograph has done much to lessen the work 
 in portraiture in oil colors, but still much of it is done by the artists 
 of today. 
 
 The paintings in the art rooms of Mr. Harrison at the time of 
 his death, embraced some magnificent specimens of art, but have 
 been sold and scattered. "The Mount of the Holy Cross" is in the 
 library building at Oshkosh, "Gathering for the War Path,'' his great 
 Indian picture, is in the state library at Madison, "The Lost Trail" and 
 "Cleopatra's Triumph" are owned by private parties. Had electric 
 lighting been in use as it is today, at the time of the Dioramas, 
 they could have been exhibited far more effectively and without 
 danger equivalent almost to dynamite. But they are gone and Fond 
 du Lac people, among whom they were produced, have but a limited 
 remembrance of them. 
 
 We Had a Candle Factory, 
 
 It is now many years since Fond du Lac had a candle factory, 
 and remember that it is now, in this year of our Lord 1905, less than 
 fifty years since we knew anything about kerosene oil for lighting, 
 and before that oil and fluid lamps and candles had to be depended 
 upon. Fond du Lac had a candle factory and Francis Fritz was the 
 candle maker. The factory was down on Main street and made 
 better candles, it was said, than could be bought at the stores. They 
 were warranted "not to run or sputter" and to burn clearer and give 
 a better light than candles bought at the stores. But Mr. Fritz went 
 out of the business because the people had something much better 
 than tallow dips. 
 
 First Circuses to Come Here. 
 
 The first circus to come to Fond du Lac in the early days was 
 that of E. F. & J. Mabie. It was one of the old kind that made eight 
 to fifteen mile drives over country roads, and its stands were often 
 at small villages to avoid too long drives. The home of this show 
 was at Delavan, so it was a Wisconsin institution. E. F. & J. Mabie 
 gave place to Older & Co.. who came a few times, when Dan Rice 
 and Yankee Robinson came. By this time we had railroads in the 
 state and the railroad shows appeared, sometimes two or three in a 
 season. Soon after the war, Forepaugh, Barnum & Bailey and the 
 big shows came until now it must be something big to attract atten- 
 tion at all. And so it is with the small shows of every grade. The 
 W^inchell's, the Gibbs, the long bearded W^oodman, trick performers, 
 song singers, etc., have gone to the rear. There seems to be place now 
 only for big things or something very nice. In old times people 
 took what they could get.
 
 74 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Henry Bush Lost His Chickens. 
 
 Many of the early day people tried hard to raise chickens, more 
 especially for the eggs for food, but it was about an even fight be- 
 tween the housewives, weazels, minks, hawks and owls. It was not 
 only provoking but exasperating to meet the depredations of these 
 "varmints." Henry Bush at one time had a beautiful flock of about 
 forty speckled Plymouth Rocks and fully as many more half grown 
 chicks, and one night they were attacked and next morning Mr. Bush 
 had not one left for seed. This ended Mr. Bush's efforts in that direc- 
 tion for several years. Others also suffered heavily, but the rule 
 seemed to be general among the animals to stop with the killing of a 
 dozen to twenty. Hawks and owls were more considerate, being 
 satisfied with one at a time. Tight hen houses was the applied 
 remedy when the settlers could get lumber. 
 
 The War Shinplasters. 
 At the beginning of the war of the rebellion in 1861, and after 
 enlistments began in April, our gold and silver coin suddenly disap- 
 peared as by a stroke of the magician's wand. The small change as 
 well as larger pieces, were all swept away within a few weeks and 
 dealers were at their wits end how to make change. Due bills were 
 used for a time, but these were very inconvenient and merchants felt 
 compelled to have small cards printed representing 5c, loc, 25c and 
 50c, which they gave out as change although a violation of law. They 
 had to do it and no notice was taken of it by the authorities. After 
 a while these change cards began to appear signed U. R. Sold, Ch. 
 Icken, Amos Kraut and dozens of like names, when the city took the 
 matter up and directed City Clerk A. H. Boardman to procure from 
 Milwaukee some bound books of lithographed shinplasters represent- 
 ing 5c, IOC, 25c and 50c. These were issued by the city on deposits. 
 
 First Cedar Blocks Used. 
 
 There are few cities in \A^isconsin that originally had as many 
 streets difficult of improvement, as Fond du Lac. Our Main street 
 at times has been almost impassible. Until the pavement was put 
 down, Fourth street was a hideous thoroughfare. West First street 
 twenty years ago, could hardly be called a street at all. Military and 
 Union north of Forest Avenue, were places to be dreaded for many 
 years. Harney street, now known as Park Avenue, was at some 
 seasons a tough place for vehicles and the middletown streets were 
 nearly all bad. But Fond du I.ac had some fairly good streets even 
 in a state of nature — they were not all bad. In a state of nature 
 Linden was one of the best streets in the city. Fifth and Sixth 
 streets were always fair, as also were East First and Second. She- 
 boygan and Division were improved early in our history with gravel 
 and stone, Arndt and Scott were fair streets at an early time. Forest 
 and West Division were the streets to the railroads and were im- 
 proved early. The first cedar blocks in the city were put on these 
 two streets.
 
 GENUINE MISSIONARY SPIRIT 
 
 Some of the Saints Who Preached the Gospel Here in the 
 
 Pioneer Days. 
 
 Who can for a moment imagine that the early day preachers 
 through this section of country were not inspired with the genuine 
 missionary spirit. Father Anthony Godfert and Father Ruehl used 
 to go back and forth in canoes, in ox sleds and wagons and often walk 
 many miles through mud and snow to get to appointments. In 1850 
 Father Godfert was pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in this 
 city, while trying to recover from frozen feet, obtained one dark 
 night while lost in Calumet. Feather Ruehl was the first to come here, 
 and he came as soon as there were people to come to. Father Bon- 
 seuil, a French missionary, was the first to do pastoral work, which 
 he did in 1840. He said mass in one of the rooms of what was so 
 many years known as the Giltner house, on East Second street, 
 opposite No. I engine house, in 1902 rebuilt. In this house Father 
 Bonseuil baptized the children, married the young people, heard con- 
 fessions and said mass for the dead. He came from below but once 
 in three months, and as the people waited for him he had much to do 
 when he did come. There are people now living here who were 
 baptized in this house. Father Godfert came later and was the first 
 settled pastor. He was succeeded by Father Dael. Isadore Snow, 
 father of Alfred Snow, our baker, assisted in building the old church 
 on the ground where St. Joseph's Church now stands. 
 
 Rev. Dana Lamb, on his farm in Springvale, Rev. S. D. Darling, 
 in Oakfield, and Rev. Safford, of the city, were earnest preachers in 
 the Congregational Church, but their experiences were far from 
 pleasant sometimes. They did not always have even a clean place, 
 for the school houses were often very dirty. These preachers often 
 did things that would appall the minister at this day. Tramps on 
 foot were most frequent and all the difficulties of early days roads 
 had to be met. About everybody in the county knew Mr. Lamb 
 and Mr. Darling personally, for they had preached in most of the 
 school houses. Mr. Lamb once went to the West Rosendale school 
 house, where he had three women, three children and one Dutchman 
 that couldn't understand English, for his Sunday congregation. He 
 laughed away disappointment by saying the weather had been bad 
 and the people must get in their crops. When these two men died. 
 Fond du Lac county lost two of its saints. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Town bought a farm in Oakfield, in 1843. He was of 
 the Free Will Baptist faith and was filled with remarkable missionary 
 zeal for the work he had in hand, as well on the farm as in the pulpit.
 
 76 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Saturdays he walked from Oakfield to Brothertown, where he 
 preached on Sunday and Monday made the return trip in the same 
 way that he went. The other four days of the week were given to 
 farm work, except an occasional funeral or week day appointment. 
 A twenty-eight mile walk to an appointment for Sunday, and a 
 twenty-eight mile walk home on Monday, and farm work the balance 
 of the week, would probably overtax both strength and zeal of 
 ministers of this day. But they don't have to do it now. Rev. Mr. 
 Town left a son, Mr. P. E. Town, a member of the Old Settlers' 
 Club, who was born and still lives on the old farm in Oakfield, where 
 his father worked and preached. 
 
 The first Methodist preacher here was a missionary to the 
 Brothertowns, in June, 1838. He preached in the dooryard at the 
 house of Reuben Simmons, near where Calvary Cemetery is now. 
 Rev. H. S. Bronson was the first pastor, in 1843. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Card, of the Baptist Church, preached here as early 
 as 1844, but the society was reorganized a year later. 
 
 The coming of these and other early day preachers was not met 
 with pipe organs, trained quartet choirs or cushioned pews. Nor 
 were they in expectation of heavy pay, for the people had no money 
 and but little of anything else. They were genuine missionaries, 
 content to preach in private houses, in dirty school houses, in barns, 
 in the woocls, anywhere that they could get a hearing. 
 
 Nat. Waterbury put a pipe organ in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 
 in 1850, and it was the first one here. Two or three years later ReV. 
 Father Dael put a small one into St. Joseph's Catholic Church, and 
 these were the only pipe organs here for many years. 
 
 Preceded the Lange Block. 
 
 The first structure on the land where the Lange block is now, 
 was a moderate size residence built by A. M. Delaware. The east 
 branch of the river swept around to within four or five feet of it and 
 the bank at that point was very steep. Mrs. Overton and Dr. Ray- 
 mond improved the Delaware house and made it what was so long 
 recognized as the Overton boarding house. It now stands at the 
 corner of Oak and South streets. 
 
 Hotel Brought From Taycheedah. 
 
 The date is not obtainable, but it was not far from i860, that the 
 building known in Fond du Lac as Knight's Hotel, had a skate on 
 the lake. The building was known in Taycheedah as the Weston 
 House, but it was wanted in Fond du Lac, and so one day was put 
 on skids at Taycheedah, and behind eight or ten yokes of oxen, was 
 brought here on the ice and placed near the corner of Scott and 
 Juneau streets, where it took the name of Knight's Hotel, that being 
 the name of the proprietor. The oxen slipped some on the ice, but 
 so did the building, and it came all right. It did not pay as a hotel 
 and after a few years it burned while empty.
 
 A FEW OF THE FIRSTS 
 
 A Few Remembrances of First Things in the History of the City; 
 
 and County. 
 
 The first brewery in this county was a small one built by Mr. 
 De Hass, on the shore of Wolf Lake, in the town of Marshfield. 
 Ex-Sherifif Kunz knows something about it. 
 
 The first newspapers sold from a news stand in Fond du Lac, 
 was in 1852, by Geo. W. Weikert after he became postmaster. 
 
 The first term of court in the old court house was held by T. O. 
 Howe. The first term held in the new one was by N. S. Gilson. 
 
 The first stone sidewalk in Fond du Lac was laid by Joseph 
 Stow in front of the bank of Darling & Co., late the Wells Bank, 
 corner of Main and first streets. 
 
 The first farm machinery sold in Fond du Lac was by Lyman 
 Phillips, at the corner of Main and Forest streets, in a long shed. 
 H. P. Brown was afterwards in the same business at the same place. 
 
 The first type writing machine used in this county was doubt- 
 less the one brought to Ripon in 1864, by William Dawes. It was 
 made by C. L. Sholes, of Milwaukee. It was a crude affair, but Mr. 
 Dawes used it. 
 
 The first type set in Fond du Lac was in 1846, when Henning 
 & Hooker unpacked the material for the Fond du Lac Journal, by 
 Mood Case, an Ohio printer visiting Edward Beeson. 
 
 The first fountain pen worthy of the name, appeared here about 
 1883. Before this the miserable stylograph pen was used some, but 
 is now gone out. 
 
 The first bread baked for the public in a bakery, was by William 
 Chandler about 1848. He had a small bakery and pie shop on Main 
 street. 
 
 The first carriage and wagon blacksmithing done here and 
 making of steel plows, was by R. M. and Asa Pierce, who started 
 their shop on Division street in 1846. They had a fine shop in later 
 years on Macy street. 
 
 The first sale made at Curran's drug store, when it was 
 opened in 1847, was a box of Brandreth's pills and W. A. Dewey was 
 the purchaser. Dewey used to tell Curran that he opened his business 
 here. 
 
 The first six wheel truck passenger car on the Northwestern 
 road, was put out of the old car shops in Fond du Lac in 1854. The 
 writer of this rode in it nearly to Oakfield with Mr. Strong, Mr. Hull, 
 Mr. Manley and Mr. Peabody, to test its running. Previous to this 
 the trucks had but four wheels. Ben Garvin ran the engine. 
 
 The first news stand was started by Geo. W. Weikert, when he 
 was postmaster. The New York Ledger was the principal paper sold.
 
 78 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 The first barber shop here was that of John Reilly, a negro with 
 an Irish name. He came in 1848. The first white man barber was 
 T. M. Bo wen. 
 
 The first carpenter and jobbing shop was that of Esek Dexter, 
 in 1848. Isaac Brown, John Beeson, the Ryders, Hurds and others, 
 worked in the buildings under construction, in barns or out under 
 the trees. 
 
 The first undertaker was Joshua Barnett, in 1847. Before his 
 coming, coffins were made by any woodworker, the hearse was a 
 farm wagon, and the funeral conductor the neighbors of the deceased. 
 
 The first weddings were in charge of John Bannister. The 
 services of a clergyman was seldom available, and Mr. Bannister was 
 the only qualified Justice of the Peace in the vicinity. 
 
 The first piano teacher was John F. Burger, and the first singing 
 school teacher W. W. Robinson. These men sold the first pianos. 
 
 When Edward Pier and Colwert Pier came over the Indian trail 
 from Green Bay in 1836, they found Jo. King as one of the French 
 Voyageurs at Brothertown, and he informed them that he came up 
 the Fox river in a batteaux as early as 1832, and that he was on the 
 east shore of Lake Winnebago that year. It is therefore very certain 
 that Jo. King came to this region pretty early. Gen. Ellis told the 
 writer that he ran two lines as government surveyor, through this 
 region, in 1828. Jo. King was with him part of the time in his 
 surveys. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Colwert Pier were the first residents of Fond du 
 Lac county, and the first year of their residence were here alone. 
 And what will timid ladies of today think of the fact that Mrs. Pier 
 was for some time here alone among Indians and wolves. 
 
 Mrs. Pier's death was the first in this county and hers the first 
 funeral. This death of Mrs. Fanny Pier was greatly lamented by 
 the settlers. 
 
 The marriage of Alonzo Raymond and Miss Harriet Pier was 
 the first marriage in Fond du Lac county. 
 
 The birth of John A. Bannister, son of John Bannister, was the 
 first birth in Fond du Lac county. 
 
 Miss Harriet Pier taught the first school in the county. 
 
 The first livery stable in Fond du Lac was owned by Mr. Finney, 
 father of Ed. Finney, for many years as now, a resident of Oshkosh. 
 He was for a time Steward of the Northern Hospital. The Finney 
 barn existed as early as 1847 '^^'^'^ ^"^^^ located near the present gas 
 works, with a shanty office out on Main street. 
 
 The first bridge over the west branch of the river inside the 
 present city of Fond du Lac, was at Western Avenue, in 1848. 
 Previous to that time crossings were made by fording it above the 
 present Wisconsin Central bridge. 
 
 The first bridge across the east branch was the bridge of the 
 then military road, but now Military street as far as it remains. In 
 1846, when the bridge was built, and until 1851, Military street was 
 straight from the five points to Forest and the bridge crossed the 
 river diagonally at the Robbins' livery property.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 79 
 
 The first resident of that part of the city east of Park Avenue 
 and north of Third street, was Wm. J. Ransom, who lived at the 
 present home of the Smead family. Old residents remember Mr. 
 Ransom for his ability to talk. That part of the city was the Ransom 
 farm in 1850. 
 
 The first bridge over the east branch at Forest Avenue was a log. 
 A tree had fallen across the river south of the old home of Gen. 
 Hamilton, and people crossed on it for about a year. 
 
 The first dancing hall was at the home of Reuben Simmons. 
 When he built his house, Mr. Simmons put in a movable partition, 
 and on occasions of dances, religious meetings, singing schools or 
 other gatherings, the partition was taken out and the result was a 
 hall 22 by 38 feet. 
 
 The first hall in the city for public use was the school house on 
 Fifth street, near Main, which was built for a court room, for meet- 
 ings of all sorts, as well as for a school house. It was built in 1848. 
 
 The first wagon shop in Fond du Lac was owned by William 
 Mumby. 
 
 The first harness shop was that of Lyman Bishop, at the corner 
 of Main and Third. 
 
 The first cabinet shop, Joshua Barnett. 
 
 The first shoe shop, Ernest Carpenter. 
 
 The first carpenter shop, Esek Dexter. 
 
 The first tailor shop, A. H. Clark. 
 
 The first stone mason, Joseph Stow. 
 
 The first insurance agent, W. T. Gibson. 
 
 The first bookbinder, Edward Sickles. 
 
 The first hatter, David Sickles. 
 
 The first milliner, Mrs. John Bonnell. 
 
 The first piano teacher, John F. Burger. 
 
 The first telegrapher, William Ellsworth. 
 
 The first singing school in this vicinity was in 1847, ^^ the house 
 of Reuben Simmons, in the town of Fond du Lac, and the late W. 
 W. Robinson, of Ripon, was the teacher. He came from Sheboygan 
 every two weeks for $5.00 a trip. 
 
 The first 4th July celebration in this county was in 1844, at the 
 home of Reuben Simmons. Settlers came many miles to attend it. 
 The band was Alonzo Simmons' violin. The baskets were emptied 
 on two long tables and the participants marched to their places to the 
 tune of Washington's Grand March on the violin. It all ended with 
 a dance and they had a big time. 
 
 The first regular preaching was by Rev. John Halsted 
 (Methodist), and he came around the circuit every two weeks. He 
 preached in school houses, dwellings, or any convenient place, re- 
 ceiving in payment flour, meal or anything the settlers might have. 
 He received no money for they didn't have any. 
 
 The first reaper used in this county is believed to have been by 
 J. Y, Westervelt, in Empire. It was an 1848 McCormick and was 
 brought from Sheboygan.
 
 80 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 It is believed that the first threshing machine in the county was 
 owned by Col. Bertine Pinkney and H. G. Halsted, of Rosendale, in 
 1848. Previous to this time grain was threshed with flails or the 
 tramping of horses or oxen. It was the primative method and was 
 slow, but it served the purpose. 
 
 Metzgar in the Procession. 
 
 It will be remembered that in the fall election of 1858, John B. 
 Wilber was elected County Treasurer by a majority of one. He was 
 the democratic candidate and there were city and county anywhere 
 from 100 to 1,000 men who said they were republicans and claimed 
 to have cast that vote. J. J. Metzgar, then in the notion trade here, 
 was a violent republican, had a wagon rigged for the 4th of July after- 
 noon precession the next summer, on which was a giant figure of a 
 man labeled "the man who cast the winning vote for John B. Wilber," 
 and a big whiskey barrel on a pole, labeled "the barrel of whiskey 
 that carried the Fifth ward for the democratic ticket." The Fifth 
 ward was generally republican at that time.. Another very small 
 dummy was labeled, "the republican that got a dollar and glass of 
 beer for votinpf the democratic ticket." 
 
 Koehne and the Dutch Gap. 
 
 Few propositions ever before the common council of Fond du 
 Lac, had a more spirited agitation than what is known as the "Dutch 
 Gap." The water shed of the country south of the city, is northward 
 over the farm of the J. H. Martin estate and the old fair grounds. 
 The water swept down through the south part of the city and formed 
 the ravine which crosses Fourth street, near Marr, goes through to 
 Third street opposite the Lyman Bishop property, and sweeps down 
 Third to Main, and across that thoroughfare, under a building north 
 of the Windsor House, and down past the gas works to the river. 
 In early days this was an open ravine and every spring a rushing 
 torrent swept through and under the log bridge at Main street. But 
 some years ago the city adopted the very sensible improvement of 
 stone culverts and it has given little trouble since. But the "Dutch 
 Gap" has helped some to dispose of the surplus water. About 1877, 
 when William Koehne was a member of the common council, he be- 
 gan the agitation of a proposition to cut a wide ditch from the so 
 called Martin road, westward to the river. Mr. Koehne owned 
 property on that road and that part of the city was largely settled by 
 Germans, and the ditch being styled a water gap, it came to be known 
 as the "Dutch Gap." The cause of opposition in the council was 
 mainly the cost. But after a couple of freshets, in which out-houses, 
 sidewalks and fences were floated about, Mr. Koehne's proposition 
 carried and the ditch was cut. It crosses Main street near the old 
 fair grounds. That part of the city has been much less bothered 
 with water since, and the ravine has not been wild, so it is evident 
 that it did some good. It has lost some of its former efficiency by 
 caving and needs attention. We may thank William Koehne for the 
 "Dutch Gap."
 
 FIRST HOUSE IN FOND DU LAC 
 
 A House with a True Pioneer History, and Though of Primitive 
 Construction, was in Use Nearly Thirty Years. 
 
 Previous to 1836, the bridge on the MiHtary trail spanned the 
 Fond du Lac river at what is now Brooke street and the North- 
 western Railroad, and it may now be considered a fixed fact that 
 the main part of the Fond du Lac House was built previous to that 
 date by the soldiers for shelter. But in 1836, the Fond du Lac Com- 
 pany, having bought the land on which the city stands, needed shelter 
 for settlers, and in that and the two following years built the three 
 additions to it, so familiar in after years. It was long an important 
 point in the settlement, as it was the hotel, the store, the postoffice, 
 the general trading point and river crossing. The first family in it 
 was that of Colwert Pier in 1836, and here it was that Mrs. Pier 
 died and which was the first death in the county of a white settler. 
 Wm. Carey, father of our well known citizen, E. A. Carey and Mrs. 
 Laughlin and Mrs. Perry, also died in this house. At one time in the 
 early forties there were four families domiciled in it, besides being 
 a hotel, store, postoffice and general business resort. In after years 
 many well known families had homes in it, among them that of John 
 Kuicks, father of our present well known business man, H. P. Kuicks, 
 and Henry has many boy recollections of the old house. Mrs. A. W.
 
 82 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Chapman passed most of her life near it and was in the place 
 hundreds of times. George McWilliams was a member of the Fond 
 du Lac Company, and as the local manager long had a room there. 
 Along toward the last the old house, after use of nearly thirty years, 
 went into decay and was torn away in 1864. The logs that were in it 
 may yet be seen on the garden farm of Mr. Boulay, east of the city. 
 For many years and to the time of the removal of the house, the 
 property was owned by Robert A. Baker. The location of the house 
 was east of the railroad track and between Johnson street and the 
 river. 
 
 The Fond du Lac Company, that took such a prominent part 
 in the early history of this region, was organized at Green Bay in 
 1835, the stockholders and the number of shares held by each was 
 as follows : 
 
 J. D. Doty, 46 shares. Henry S. Baird, 3. 
 
 Wm. Hathaway, 12. M. G. Merrill, 10. 
 
 John P. Arndt, 40. R. S. Satterlee, 20. 
 
 George McWilliams, 20. Silas Steadman, 10. 
 
 B. B. Cluney, 10. Samuel Ryan, 7. 
 R. B. Marcey, 4. Alex. J. Irwin, 4. 
 F. F. Hamilton, 35. David Jones, 15. 
 David Ward, 3. W. Alexander, 4. 
 Bush, Reese & Co., 6. E. Childs, 14. 
 
 C. C. Libbey, 12. M. Scott, 3. 
 William Brown, 64. 
 
 300 shares of $100 each, a total of $30,000. 
 James Duane Doty, President. 
 J. P. Arndt, Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 David Jones, Geo. McWilliams, F. F. Hamilton, W. H. Bruce, 
 Directors. 
 
 Threshing and Fanning Mills. 
 
 A few of the old fashioned grain cradles are still used in the 
 potato regions of Waushara, Marquette and Portage counties. They 
 are not used to cultivate or dig potatoes, but to cut the small amount 
 of grain raised on the sand for food. Very few potato growers sow 
 enough grain to pay the interest on the money to buy a harvester. 
 In early days grain cradles were used in Fond du Lac county and 
 Uncle M. Farnsworth made hundreds of them every year, but they 
 do not belong to the farmer's outfit now and there are doubtless 
 many farmers now who do not know what they are or what they 
 look like. Well, they don't look like anything else on the earth or 
 waters under the earth, yet they serve the purpose very well in a 
 new country, or where the amount of grain raised is limited. The 
 cradle was a great improvement on the sickle, but there are people 
 still living who have seen grain cut with a sickle. Fanning Mills — 
 the early day people didn't have any. They threshed the grain out 
 with a flail, put it in a large pan and tossing it up, let the wind blow 
 out the chaff.
 
 \VAS NOT MANY YEARS AGO 
 
 Referring to Back Dates Some of the Remarkable Years of the Past 
 are Noted. Many of Them Forgotten. 
 
 For the information of the young and the curious, it may be 
 stated : 
 
 That seventy-five years ago there was not a mile of railroad in 
 this country. 
 
 Sixty years ago the first telegraph line was put up in this country. 
 
 Thirty-five years ago the telephone was wholly unknown. 
 
 Twenty years ago the electric light was unknown to the people. 
 
 Twenty years ago there was not a gasoline engine in existence. 
 
 Thirty-five years ago there were no bicycles, and the first ones 
 had one high wheel and one little one. 
 
 Six years ago there were no automobiles running on our streets. 
 
 Fifty-five years ago the first street cars in the world were started 
 in London by George Francis Train. 
 
 Sixty years ago the first postage stamps were used in this 
 country, and they were for five and ten cents. 
 
 Sixty years ago you could prepay postage or not on your letter, 
 as you pleased. If the letter was to go 300 miles the postage was 
 ten cents. 
 
 Seventy years ago, if your letter was in two pieces, ever so 
 small, you must pay double postage on it 
 
 Sixty years ago postage on letters was 6^, 12^ and 25 cents. 
 The rate doubled if the letter went 300 miles or over. 
 
 Sixty years ago the first envelopes were used for letters. Pre- 
 vious to that time they were folded and sealed with a wafer. 
 
 Thirty-five years ago all letters were wrapped in the mailing 
 postoffice, and 
 
 Fifty years ago letters were accompanied by a way bill from 
 the mailing office. 
 
 Seventy years ago printers did not have rollers to ink their 
 forms. 
 
 Eighty years ago there was not a cylinder printing press in the 
 United States. 
 
 Twenty years ago all type for printing was set by hand and the 
 Linotype machine has been in successful use less than ten years. 
 
 Fifty-eight years ago petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania. 
 
 Fifty-five years ago there was not a gallon of refined kerosene 
 or a kerosene lamp in existence. 
 
 Sixty-five years ago the only methods of domestic lighting was 
 candles and lard oil lamps. 
 
 Thirty-five years ago the first flour was made by the roller 
 process, instead of burr mill stones.
 
 84 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Sixty-five years ago the contest was on between Fond du Lac 
 and Taycheedah for the location of the county seat. 
 
 Fifty years ago the pioneer business men were all here, now 
 they are all gone. 
 
 Fifty-five years ago ground was broken for what is now the 
 Northwestern road. 
 
 Thirty years ago the narrow gauge, now the St. Paul road, was 
 opened to Iron Ridge. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago the Wisconsin Central was built from 
 Neenah to Fond du Lac. 
 
 Twenty years ago the Fond du Lac Waterworks was started. 
 
 Sixty years ago the first reapers were made by the McCormicks, 
 the first in existence. 
 
 Forty years ago the war of the rebellion ended. Gen. Lee sur- 
 rendering to Gen. Grant. 
 
 Fifty-five years ago the old Darling block was the largest and 
 best building in Fond du Lac. 
 
 Forty years ago there wasn't a foot of pavement in Fond du 
 Lac, and 30 years ago there wasn't a sewer. 
 
 Thirty-five years ago the railroad was not built to Ripon, and a 
 stage made three trips a week. 
 
 Fifty-five years ago Ripon had no existence even in the brain of 
 Capt. j\lapes, or of anyone else. 
 
 Forty-eight years ago there was thick woods where the Gurney 
 plant is now. 
 
 Fifty-one years ago the Baptist Church took its position, corner 
 of Forest and Union, where it is yet. 
 
 Forty-two years ago the Presbyterian Church was moved from 
 Rees to its present location on Sheboygan street. 
 
 Twenty-one years ago the present court house was first occu- 
 pied by county officers. 
 
 Fifty-six years ago the old court house was first occupied by 
 county officers. 
 
 Thirty-three years ago the present jail and sheriff's residence 
 were occupied by prisoners and the sheriff's family. 
 
 Forty-six years ago not a pound of coal was sold in Fond du Lac 
 for fuel. The fuel used was wood and was sold on the streets from 
 wagons. 
 
 Forty-eight years ago wagons were often stuck fast in mud holes 
 on Main street. 
 
 Forty-eight years ago Charles R. Harrison, as the foreman, took 
 Fire Company No. 3 to Milwaukee and won the silver trumpet at the 
 State Firemen's Tournament. 
 
 Twenty-nine years ago the first Northern State Fair was held 
 at Oshkosh and was a success. The third attempt was almost a 
 failure and the northern fairs were held no more. 
 
 It was a frequent occurrence for prisoners to escape from the 
 old jail in the basement of the old court house, yet the Sheriffs of 
 later days have lost as many.
 
 HISTORY OF ELECTIONS 
 
 Results of Village, City, County and State Elections from 1847 to 
 
 1904. Successful and Unsuccessful 
 
 Candidates. 
 
 The following compilation of election events, will pay well for 
 the space used. It was not always easy to secure the names of the 
 successful candidates in their order, but far more difficult to find and 
 record the names of their opponents. All this fund of information 
 of especial value for reference is here given and prevented from being 
 forever lost. 
 
 In the lists of names, the first after the date is that of the suc- 
 cessful candidate and the second is that of the unsuccessful candidate 
 for the office. 
 
 In the elections for Governor of the state, there have been at 
 times Prohibition, Greenback, Socialist, Labor Union and perhaps 
 other candidates, but it is deemed sufficient to give here the names 
 of those of the two leading parties. 
 
 Village of Fond du Lac. 
 
 The village of Fond du Lac, separate from the town, came in 
 1847, with the following officers : 
 
 President — Dr. Mason C. Darling. 
 
 Clerk — William A. Dewey. 
 
 Treasurer — Erastus W. Drury. 
 
 Justices of the Peace — J. J. Driggs, A. Raymond. 
 
 Constables— Carmi Wright, F. D. McCarty. 
 
 Trustees — John A. Eastman, W. T. Gibson, T. L. Gillet, Isaac 
 Brown, S. S. N. Fuller, J. J. Driggs. 
 
 The subsequent presidents of the village up to organization of 
 city in 1852, were George AlcWilliams, John Bannister, Isaac Brown 
 and D. R. Curran. 
 
 Early Day Population. 
 
 Population 1847 — 5i9- Ii"* 1850 — 1.940. In 1855 — 4.000. In 
 1857 — 7,000. The increase of population in 1856 was believed to be 
 the greatest in any one year in its history. In 1861 when the war 
 came on and the car shops moved away, the population of the city 
 was at a standstill for some years, if indeed, it did not go backward. 
 
 The votes polled in the entire county for Governor in 1848 were 
 for Dewey, 640; Tweedy, 389; total 1,249. The total vote in the 
 county in 1904 was 11,954.
 
 86 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Following are the 
 from the origin of the 
 
 MAYORS. 
 
 City of Fond du Lac. 
 
 names of the Tvlayors and Clerks of the city 
 city government in 1852: 
 
 CLERKS. 
 
 1852— 
 
 1853— 
 
 1854— 
 
 1855— 
 
 1856— 
 
 1857- 
 
 1858- 
 
 1859— 
 
 1860- 
 
 1861- 
 
 1862- 
 
 1863- 
 
 1864- 
 
 1865- 
 
 1866- 
 
 1867- 
 
 1868- 
 
 1869- 
 
 1870- 
 
 1871- 
 
 1872- 
 
 1873- 
 
 1874- 
 
 1875- 
 
 1876- 
 
 1877- 
 
 1878- 
 
 1879- 
 
 1880- 
 
 1881- 
 
 1882- 
 
 1883- 
 
 1884- 
 
 1885- 
 
 1886 
 
 1887 
 
 1889- 
 1890- 
 1891 
 1892 
 
 1893- 
 1894- 
 1895- 
 1896 
 1897 
 1898 
 1899 
 1900 
 
 M. C. Darling. 
 ■Geo. McWilliams. 
 ■Geo. McWilliams. 
 -M. C. Darling. 
 -D. E. Hoskins 
 -I. S. Sherwood. 
 -John Bannister. 
 -John Potter. 
 -E. H. Galloway. 
 -J M. Taylor. 
 -A. D. Bonesteel. 
 -A. D. Bonesteel. 
 -J. M. Taylor. 
 -J. M. Taylor. 
 -James Sawyer. 
 -W. H. Hiner. 
 -C. J. L. Meyer. 
 -John Nichols. 
 -T. J. Patchen. 
 -E. N. Foster. 
 -E. N. Foster. 
 -Alex. McDonald. 
 -H. H. Dodd. 
 -G. W. Lusk. 
 -G. W. Lusk. 
 — C. A. Galloway. 
 — Orin Hatch. 
 — S. S. Bowers. 
 — S. S. Bowers. 
 — S. S. Bowers. 
 — T. F. Mayham. 
 — T. F. Mayham 
 — T. F. Mayham. 
 — John Hughes. 
 — T. F. Mayham. 
 — C. R. Harrison. 
 — Alex. McDonald. 
 
 B. F. Sweet. 
 
 B. F. Sweet. 
 
 •T. F. Mayham. 
 
 -E. McLaughlin. 
 
 S. S. Bowers. 
 
 -T. F. Mayham. 
 
 -T. F. Mayham. 
 
 -E. E. Atkins. 
 
 -B. F. Sweet. 
 
 -L. A. Ehrhart. 
 
 -T. F. Mayham. 
 
 -F. B. Hoskins. 
 
 -F. B. Hoskins. 
 
 Wm. A. Dewey. 
 G. W. Sawyer. 
 G. W. Sawyer. 
 E. A. Brown. 
 S. D. Stanchfield. 
 S. D. Stanchfield. 
 A. H. Boardman. 
 A. H. Boardman. 
 C. A. Handt. 
 C. A. Handt. 
 A. H. Boardman. 
 A. H. Boardman. 
 Edward Bissell. 
 Geo. P. Knowles. 
 L. Q. Olcott. 
 L. Q. Olcott. 
 L. Q. Olcott. 
 G. F. Brownson. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany,. Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 
 E. Delany, Jr. 
 
 F. A. Bartlett. 
 F. A. Bartlett. 
 F. A. Bartlett. 
 F. A. Bartlett.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 87 
 
 1901— F. B. Hoskins. 
 1902— L. A. Bishop. 
 1903— L. A. Bishop 
 1904— John Hughes. 
 
 F. A. Bartlett. 
 
 F. A. Bartlett. 
 
 F. A. Bartlett. 
 
 F. A. Bartlett. 
 
 Sheriff. 
 
 Below are the names of the elected and defeated candidates for 
 Sheriff, since Wisconsin has been a state : 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1848— F. F. Davis. 
 1850— F. D. McCarty. 
 1852 — Robt. Jenkinson. 
 1854 — Edward Beaver. 
 185C— G. W. Mitchell 
 1858 — Andrus Burnham. 
 18C0— Geo. F. Wheeler. 
 18G2— J. L. D. Eycleshimer. 
 18G4— H. A. Francis. 
 18CG— John Peacock. 
 1868- H. S. Town. 
 1870— M. B. Pierce. 
 1872— Peter Rupp. 
 1874— Nicholas Klotz 
 187G— Hazen R. Hill. 
 1878— Edward Colman 
 1880— John C. Pierron. 
 1882— Neil C. Bell. 
 1884— Fred Konz. 
 188G— W. E. Warren. 
 1888— Thos. Gale. 
 1890— David Whitton. 
 1892— Peter Brucker. 
 1894- Geo. W. Watson. 
 1896- Simon Schafer. 
 1898— Chas. W. Keys. 
 1900— B. Sheridan. 
 1902— T. G. Sullivan. 
 1904— J. C. Harcum. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 S. W. Baldwin. 
 Jonathan Dougherty. 
 Fayette Brown. 
 D. V. L. Huntington. 
 
 C. V. N. Brundage 
 
 F. D. McCarty. 
 A. C. Bobbins 
 H. T. Henten. 
 
 D. R. Curran 
 No opposition. 
 Aaron Walters. 
 
 J. L. D. Eycleshimer. 
 N. L. Bullis. 
 T. C. Lanham. 
 L. F. Green. 
 
 E. T. Effner. 
 W. A. Adamson. 
 
 G. W. Lusk. 
 
 Frank H. Bruett. 
 L. Manderscheid. 
 A. E. Austin. 
 Thos. Gale. 
 G. F. Brown. 
 Bernard Sheridan. 
 Albert Hasler. 
 A. H. Hobbs. 
 J. C. Harcum 
 Matt. Loehr. 
 
 Henry A. Francis died after serving a few months as Sheriff, 
 and his deputy, Isaac Orvis, assumed the duties of the office. It was 
 contended that the vacancy should be filled at the first general elec- 
 tion, and in the fall of 1855, John Peacock was named as a candidate. 
 But Isaac Orvis insisted that he, as the deputy of ]\Ir. Francis, legally 
 held to the end of the term, and so there was no candidate against 
 Mr. Peacock at the polls. It was now contended that the election 
 was for the full term and the courts so decided. The early days 
 Sheriffs lost some prisoners from the basement jail in the old court 
 house, but if they had had the present day slippery fellows to deal 
 with, it is doubtful if they could have hekf any.
 
 88 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Register of Deeds. 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1848— Nelson Wood. 
 1850— Nelson Wood. 
 1852— Rudolph Ebert. 
 1854— William White. 
 1856— N. H. Jorgensen. 
 1858— Solon G. Dodge. 
 18G0— Solon G. Dodge. 
 1SG2— M. W. Simmons. 
 1864— Dana C. Lamb. 
 1860- Dana C. Lamb. 
 1868— C. L. Encking. 
 1870— J. L. D. Eycleshimer. 
 1872— J. L. D. Eycleshimer. 
 1874— C. L. Pierce. 
 1876— C. L. Pierce. 
 1878— F. B. Hoskins. 
 1880- F. B. Hoskins. 
 1882— J. H. McNeel. 
 1884— C. B. Bartlett. 
 1886— C. B. Bartlett. 
 1888- S. G. Leland. 
 1890— Matt. Serwe. 
 1892— Matt. Serwe. 
 1894— P. G. VanBlarcom. 
 1896— John E. Holland. 
 1898— John E. Holland. 
 1900— John W. Eggert. 
 1902 — James T. Dana. 
 1904— E. T. Markle. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 N. T. Waterbury. 
 
 N. T. Waterbury. 
 
 G. deNeveu. 
 
 Rudolph Ebert. 
 
 S. M. Smead. 
 
 S. M. Fish. 
 
 John Boyd. 
 
 A. P. Mapes. 
 
 S. M. Fish. 
 
 D. C. Richards. 
 
 H. T. Henton. 
 
 D. C. Lamb. 
 
 0. C. Bissell. 
 
 J. L. D. Eycleshimer. 
 
 M. J. Meisen. 
 
 M. J. Meisen. 
 
 James T. Green. 
 
 H. J. Gerpheide. 
 
 S. G. Leland 
 
 J. T. Tripp. 
 
 Chris. Serwe. 
 
 S. G. Leland. 
 
 A. L. Briggs. 
 
 J. P. Stone. 
 
 P. G. VanBlarcom. 
 
 J. P. Tundall. 
 
 J. T. Dana. 
 
 J. W. Eggert. 
 
 J. T. Dana. 
 
 The record books were unsafe in the old court house, so in 1854, 
 the cotmty erected a small stone building north of the court house, 
 into which the Register's ofifice was moved and remained there until 
 the new court house was occupied in 1884. It was well that this 
 move was made, for the court house did eventually btirn. 
 
 Clerk of the Courts. 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1848 — Isaac Brown. 
 1850— Fayette S. Brown. 
 1852— J. J. Driggs. 
 1854— J. J. Driggs 
 1856— John C. Bishop. 
 1858 — Edward Beaver. 
 1860— David Babcock. 
 1862— David Babcock. 
 1864— M. W. Simmons. 
 1866— Geo. W. Carter. 
 1868— Geo. W. Carter. 
 1870— M. McKenna. 
 1872— M. McKenna. 
 1874— M. McKenna. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 L. B. Hills. 
 Isaac Brown. 
 C. P. Hammond. 
 J. M. Judd. 
 S. D. Stanchfleld. 
 A. H. Boardman. 
 R. M. Sawyer. 
 Frank L. Ruggles. 
 A. H. Boardman. 
 P. S. Haner. 
 M. McKenna. 
 G. W. Carter. 
 G. H. Francis. 
 A. Maloney.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 89 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1876 — James Russell. 
 1878— S. G. Leland. 
 1880— S. G. Leland. 
 1882— A. E. Richter. 
 1884— J. W. Watson. 
 1886— J. W. Watson. 
 1888— T. K. Gillet. 
 1890— T K. Gillet. 
 1892— J. L. Carberry. 
 1894 — Henry Hayes. 
 1896— A. E. Leonard. 
 1898— A. E. Leonard. 
 1900— D. 0. Williams. 
 1902— D. O. Williams. 
 1904— C, A. Worthing. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 Wm. Blair. 
 James Russell. 
 
 E. Blewett. 
 James Bannon 
 A. E. Richter. 
 Thos. Gale. 
 
 F. D. Luther. 
 Thos. Gale. 
 A. H. Bassett. 
 
 G. L. Garberry. 
 J. J. Stratz 
 Peter Schrooten. 
 S. B. Tredway. 
 N. Lange. 
 
 J. W. Pinch. 
 
 The work of the Clerk of the Court was somewhat increased 
 when the jurisdiction of the county court was extended, about 1878, 
 by making him clerk of the county as well as the circuit court. The 
 office of Clerk of the Courts was also moved from the stone building 
 in 1884. 
 
 County Clerk. 
 
 
 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 
 1848- 
 
 -Eli Hooker. 
 
 P. 
 
 V. 
 
 Sang. 
 
 
 
 1850- 
 
 -G. 
 
 J. 
 
 Allen. 
 
 P. 
 
 Meiklejohn. 
 
 
 
 1852- 
 
 -A. 
 
 W 
 
 . Paine. 
 
 0. 
 
 S. 
 
 Wright. 
 
 
 
 1854- 
 
 -A. 
 
 A. 
 
 Armstrong. 
 
 Ghas. 
 
 Willard. 
 
 
 
 1856- 
 
 -G. 
 
 F. 
 
 Kalk. 
 
 J. 
 
 A. 
 
 Smith. 
 
 
 
 1858- 
 
 -J. 
 
 V. 
 
 McGall. 
 
 G. 
 
 F. 
 
 Kalk. 
 
 
 
 1860- 
 
 -A. 
 
 B. 
 
 Gary. 
 
 John 
 
 Manel. 
 
 
 
 1862- 
 
 -G. 
 
 w. 
 
 , Prescott. 
 
 A. 
 
 D, 
 
 , Bonesteel. 
 
 
 
 1864- 
 
 -G. 
 
 W 
 
 . Prescott. 
 
 Ghas. 
 
 Geisse. 
 
 
 
 1866- 
 
 -C. 
 
 H. 
 
 DeGroat. 
 
 John Wormwood. 
 
 
 
 1868- 
 
 -G. 
 
 H. 
 
 DeGroat. 
 
 E. 
 
 G. 
 
 Sherwin. 
 
 
 
 1870- 
 
 -W. 
 
 H. 
 
 F. Smith. 
 
 H. 
 
 R. 
 
 Johnson. 
 
 
 
 1872- 
 
 -W. 
 
 H 
 
 . F. Smith. 
 
 Gust. 
 
 Burghardt. 
 
 
 
 1874- 
 
 -H. 
 
 I. 
 
 Davidson. 
 
 M. 
 
 B. 
 
 Pride. 
 
 
 
 1876- 
 
 -E. 
 
 Blewett. 
 
 J. 
 
 A. 
 
 Brundage. 
 
 
 
 1878- 
 
 -E. 
 
 Blewett. 
 
 J. 
 
 W. 
 
 Oliver. 
 
 
 
 1880- 
 
 -A. 
 
 G. 
 
 Jeleff. 
 
 Oscar 
 
 Berry. 
 
 
 
 1882- 
 
 -D. 
 
 E. 
 
 Whiting. 
 
 A. 
 
 G. 
 
 Jeleff. 
 
 
 
 1884- 
 
 -Mark 
 
 Grain. 
 
 D. 
 
 E. 
 
 Whiting. 
 
 
 
 1886- 
 
 -Ma 
 
 irk 
 
 Grain. 
 
 J. 
 
 F. 
 
 Susan. 
 
 
 
 1888- 
 
 -Mark 
 
 Grain. 
 
 G. 
 
 L. 
 
 Ladwig. 
 
 
 
 1890- 
 
 -Owen 
 
 Ferguson. 
 
 G. 
 
 W. 
 
 Watson. 
 
 
 
 1892- 
 
 -Owen 
 
 Ferguson. 
 
 V. 
 
 M. 
 
 Weeks. 
 
 
 
 . 1894- 
 
 -Owen 
 
 Ferguson. 
 
 H. 
 
 Stan wood. 
 
 
 
 1896- 
 
 -G. 
 
 B. 
 
 Atkins. 
 
 Owen 
 
 Ferguson. 
 
 
 
 1898- 
 
 -A. 
 
 Schussler. 
 
 G. 
 
 E. 
 
 Atkins. 
 
 
 
 1900- 
 
 -A. 
 
 R. 
 
 Wilkinson. 
 
 A. 
 
 Schussler. 
 
 
 
 1902- 
 
 -A. 
 
 Schussler. 
 
 A. 
 
 R. 
 
 Wilkinson. 
 
 
 
 1904- 
 
 -A. 
 
 R. 
 
 Wilkinson. 
 
 A. 
 
 Schussler. 
 
 
 
 Cle 
 
 ■rk of the Board of Si 
 
 npervisors 
 
 was the title 
 
 of this 
 
 office until 
 
 1874, w 
 
 'hen it was changed 
 
 to County Clerk. The 
 
 only : 
 
 irregularity
 
 90 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 in this office in Fond du Lac county to claim mnch attention, was 
 during the official life of W. H. F. Smith in 1870 and 1872, and of 
 Owen Ferguson from 1890 to 1896. 
 
 The Commissioner System, 
 
 The commissioner system of county government was once tried 
 in this state, but was short lived. It was thought by many that the 
 county board was too much of a legislative system, and in 1866 was 
 changed to commissioners. This county had five and their terms 
 of office were so arranged that two went out each year. But it was 
 unsatisfactory and the people soon began to petition the legislature 
 for a re-enactment of the old law. D. W. Maxon, 'of Washington 
 county, led the revolt, and as a member of the legislature in 1876, 
 succeeded in retiring the commissioners. Petitions by hundreds 
 came from the people of the state. That the county board system 
 is expensive and cumbersome, had no influence, and Mr. Maxon got 
 his bill through by a large majority. During the time the commis- 
 sioner system was in force, the following named gentlemen served 
 on the board in this county : 
 
 A. M. Skeels, Ripon. 
 E. P. West, Ripon. 
 Wm. Hobkirk, Waupun. 
 E. L. Runals, Ripon. 
 J. Wagner, Marshfield. 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1848— K. Gillet. 
 1850— P. V. Sang. 
 1852 — D. R. Curran. 
 1854 — R. Jenkinson 
 185G— A. J. Reid. 
 1858— J. B. Wilber. 
 1860— John Potter. 
 1862— C. C. L. Webster. 
 18G4— J. A. Smith. 
 1866— Thos. Bryant. 
 1868— Thos. Bryant. 
 1870— B. Beeson. 
 1872 — E. Beeson. 
 1874— John W. Hall. 
 1876- J. C. Perry. 
 1878 — L. Manderscheid. 
 1880 — L. Manderscheid. 
 1882— C. F. G. Wernicke. 
 1884 — Louis Muenter. 
 1886 — Louis Muenter. 
 1888 — Louis Muenter. 
 1890 — Louis Muenter. 
 1892 — Louis Muenter. 
 1894— F. J. Rueping. 
 1896 — David Thomas. 
 1898— H. R. Potter. 
 
 E. H. Galloway, Fond du Lac. 
 Aaron Walters, Eden. 
 C. D. Gage, Auburn. 
 Geo. Giddings, Empire. 
 
 County Treasurer. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 S. Sanborn. 
 Nat. Waterbury. 
 C. J. Case. 
 T. S. Brown. 
 J. M. Judd. 
 G. W. Sawyer. 
 J. B. Wilber. 
 John Potter. 
 J. W. Hall. 
 J. A. Smith. 
 A. Cooley. 
 H. C. Graffam. 
 John Potter. 
 0. H. Adams. 
 A. A. Loper. 
 A. H. Bruett. 
 A. H. Bassett. 
 Henry Bolens. 
 G. C. Hill. 
 G. C. Hill. 
 Ellis Whiting. 
 M. J. Althouse. 
 M. W. Simmons. 
 S. Simons. 
 G. W. Jackson. 
 David Thomas.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 91 
 
 ELECTED DEFEATED 
 
 1900— A. C. Dallman. H. R. Potter. 
 
 1902— E. H. Lyons. E. W. Clark. 
 
 1904— E. H. Lyons. G. H. Moore. 
 
 Irregularities have occurred twice in the history of the Treas- 
 urer's office of Fond du Lac county. The first during the term of 
 Andrew J. Reid, in 1856. The books were so badly kept, or not kept 
 at all, that the committee of the county board, E. S. Bragg, Capt. 
 Wm. Plocker and C. D. Gage, reported a specimen of bookkeeping 
 unsurpassed in the Fiji Islands. Fred Kalk and J. V. McCall, as 
 experts, worked on the books and papers, and Reid's bondsmen paid 
 what was said to be due. 
 
 For several years the county board levied a percentage of tax 
 for a court house fund. In 1880, E. L. Runals, a member of the board 
 from Ripon, noticed that the court house fund had disappeared from 
 the report of the clerk and he wanted to know where it was. He 
 got a resolution passed to employ a first-class expert on the books, 
 with the result that it was found that the lost fund had been used 
 for general purposes and not charged to the general fund. It had 
 not been stolen, but another startling fact was developed, that there 
 had not been a correct settlement with the County Treasurer in six- 
 teen years — a wrong system of figuring had been practiced bv the 
 inexperienced county board committees, and the county was the 
 loser by many thousands of dollars. The amount found due from 
 some of the treasurers was small and some quite large, and to their 
 credit be it said, they all paid promptly. The expert found that the 
 only correct settlements made from 1862 to 1878, was bv T- C. Perry 
 as the Treasurer in 1876 and 1878. It was all of wrong figuring in 
 settlements, not dishonesty. 
 
 District Attorney. 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1848— S. S. N. Puller. 
 1850— L S. Tallmadge. 
 1852— W. H. Ebbets. 
 1854— E. S. Bragg. 
 1856— L S. Tallmadge. 
 1858— A. W. Paine. 
 1860 — James Coleman. 
 1862 — James Coleman. 
 1864— George Perkins. 
 1866 — George Perkins. 
 1868 — George Perkins. 
 1870— Geo. P. Knowles. 
 1872— S. L. Brasted. 
 1874— S. L. Brasted. 
 1876— N. S. Gilson. 
 1878— J. J. Fooote. 
 1880— F. F. Duffy. 
 1882— F. F. Duffy. 
 1884— F. F. Duffy. 
 1886— J. H. McCrory. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 W. C. Dodge. 
 J. C. Truesdell. 
 D. E. Wood. 
 Emerson Hodges. 
 J. J. Poote. 
 W. D. Conklin. 
 Jay Mayham. 
 J. Dobbs, Jr. 
 H. P. Rose. 
 A. P. Mapes. 
 H. F. Rose. 
 L H. Hauser. 
 J. J. Foote. 
 J. J. Foote. 
 S. L. Brasted. 
 W. W. D. Turner. 
 W. W. D. Turner. 
 A. E. Bovay. 
 H. J. Parkhill. 
 J. F. Ware.
 
 92 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 1888— J. H. 
 1S90— J. H. 
 1892— J. H. 
 1894— H. E. 
 1896— H. E. 
 1898— M. K. 
 1900— R. L. 
 1902— R. L. 
 1904— B. P. 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 McCrory- 
 McCrory. 
 McCrory. 
 Swett. 
 
 Swett. 
 Reilly. 
 Morse. 
 Morse. 
 
 Worthing. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 J. W. Hiner. 
 G. W. Carter. 
 S. J. Morse. 
 J. H. McCrory. 
 A. B. Schuchardt. 
 T. J. Hoey. 
 M. K. Reilly. 
 J. G. Hardgrove. 
 J. G. Hardgrove. 
 
 County Surveyor. 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1848 — H. W. Newton. 
 1850 — J. S. Dalman. 
 1852 — J. E. Tompkins. 
 1854 — J. E. Tompkins. 
 1856— H. W. Newton. 
 1858 — Jas. Fairbanks. 
 1860- Lathrop Ellis. 
 1862— Lathrop Ellis. 
 1864— Lathrop Ellis. 
 1866— J. DeVry. 
 1868— H. W. Newton. 
 1870 — Jos. Haessly. 
 1872 — Jos. Haessly. 
 1874 — J. W. Bowe. 
 1876 — Jos. Haessly. 
 1878 — Jos. Haessly. 
 1880 — Jos. Haessly. 
 1882— Jos. Haessly. 
 1884 — Jos. Haessly. 
 1886— Jos. Haessly. 
 1888— Jos. Haessly. 
 1890— W. H. Ferber. 
 1892— Jos. Haessly. 
 1894— B. K. Fairbanks, 
 1896 — B. K. Fairbanks. 
 1898 — B. K. Fairbanks. 
 1900 — B. K. Fairbanks. 
 1902 — J. R. Stewart. 
 1904 — F. L. Anders. 
 Joseph Haessley was 
 and elected ten times. 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1848 — John Bannnister. 
 1850— A. Raymond. 
 1852 — Isaac Cooper. 
 1854 — Jas. Hamilton. 
 1856— J. Bassett. 
 1858— Geo. Morse. 
 1860 — A. Armstrong. 
 1862— J. W. Hall. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 Edward Beeson. 
 Lathrop Ellis. 
 E. Delany. 
 P. O'Laughlin. 
 P. O'Laughlin. 
 T. W. Coneys. 
 P. O'Laughlin. 
 J. V. DeVry. 
 J. V. DeVry. 
 P. O'Laughlin. 
 Jos. Haessly. 
 J. V. DeVry. 
 John Ross. 
 E. Radford. 
 E. Radford. 
 Jas. Fairbanks. 
 Jas. Fairbanks. 
 Jas. Fairbanks. 
 Jas. Fairbanks. 
 H. W. Newton. 
 H. W. Newton. 
 H. W. Newton. 
 H. W. Newton. 
 Jos. Haessly. 
 Jos. Haessly. 
 Jos. Haessly. 
 H. Van Derphide. 
 G. W. Michael. 
 No opposition, 
 nominated for this office fourteen times 
 
 Coroner. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 Carmi Wright. 
 Carmi Wright. 
 Lewis Crofoot. 
 Lewis Crofoot. 
 A. S. Meader. 
 Lewis Crofoot. 
 H. Willard. 
 D. C. Lamb.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 93 
 
 1864 — Isaac Tompkins. 
 1866— Z. L. Chapman. 
 1868— Z. L. Chapman. 
 1870— S. B. Taylor. 
 1872 — James O'Reily. 
 1874 — Jtmes O'Reily. 
 1876— P. V. Sang. 
 1878- H. W. Burnell. 
 1880 — F. F. Parsons. 
 1882— F. F. Parsons. 
 1884— F. F. Parsons. 
 1886— E. B. Pride. 
 1888- F. F. Parsons. 
 1890- F. F. Parsons. 
 1892— F. F. Parsons. 
 1894— P. K. Pickard. 
 1896— G. W. Worthing. 
 1898- G. W. Worthing. 
 1900— J. H. Simmons. 
 1902— F. F. Parsons. 
 1904— H. H. Beeman. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 Jas. O'Reily. 
 H. M. Fredericks. 
 Geo. Willett. 
 S. Valentine. 
 H. D. Parsons. 
 J. F. Steele. 
 J. F. Steele. 
 A. Armstrong. 
 H. D. Parsons. 
 H. D. Parsons. 
 H. D. Parsons. 
 J. T. Green. 
 W. E. Jones. 
 G. W. Watson. 
 John Meiklejohn. 
 F. F. Parsons. 
 F. F. Parsons. 
 F. F. Parsons. 
 
 F. F. Parsons. 
 J. H. Simmons. 
 
 G. B. McKnight. 
 
 Superintendent of Schools. 
 
 ELECTED 
 
 1864— E. Root. 
 1866—1. N. Cundall. 
 1868—1. N. Cundall. 
 1870— W. L. O'Conor. 
 1872— W. L. O'Conor. 
 1874— W. L. O'Conor. 
 1876— D. B. Lyon. 
 1878— E. McLoughlin. 
 1880— D. B. Lyon. 
 1882— D. B. Lyon. 
 1884— Thos. E. Lyons. 
 1886— Thos. E. Lyons. 
 1888— A. T. Blewett. 
 1890— A. T. Blewett. 
 1892— W. H. Ferber. 
 1894— Myron E. Keats. 
 1896— Myron E. Keats. 
 1898— Myron E. Keats. 
 1900— A. B. Adamson. 
 1902— A. B. Adamson. 
 1904— A. B. Adamson. 
 
 DEFEATED 
 
 No opposition. 
 J. A. Davenport. 
 D. B. Lyon. 
 I. N. Cundall. 
 
 D. B. Lyon. 
 H. D. Akin. 
 J. J. Kelly. 
 W. L. O'Conor. 
 W. L. O'Conor. 
 W. L. O'Conor. 
 Kirk Spoor. 
 
 W. W. Pattingill. 
 John Moran. 
 John Moran. 
 Wm. Titus. 
 W. H. Ferber. 
 J. B. Conley. 
 G. B. Kelly. 
 G. B. Kelly. 
 Vincent Huck. 
 
 E. P. Grain. 
 
 The county school system went into effect in 1864. Previous 
 to that time each town had its own Superintendent of Schools to 
 examine the teachers and give advice, but most of them were very 
 slack in the performance of their duties. To take the election of 
 County Superintendent out of politics as much as possible, three 
 years ago the law was amended making the election in the spring 
 instead of in the fall.
 
 94 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Fond du Lac Legislators. 
 
 The constitution of Wisconsin provides that the number of 
 Senators shall not exceed thirty-three, and Assemblymen lOO. For 
 some years the number provided for was less than this, but as popu- 
 lation increased the number was increased until the entire number 
 was allowed. As the state develops, especially northward, .we of the 
 older counties suffer a diminution in legislative representation. Be- 
 low is the names of the Senators from this county and their op- 
 ponents in the election from the beginning of the state government: 
 
 ELECTED DEFEATED 
 
 1848 — Warren Chase. J. A. Eastman. 
 
 1850— J. A. Eastman. J. M. Gillet. 
 
 1852— B. Pinkney. J. H. Powel. 
 
 1854— C. A. Eldredge. Geo. D. Curtis. 
 
 1856 — Edward Pier. John Boyd. 
 
 1858 — Edward Pier. A. C. Bobbins. 
 
 1860— E. L. Phillips. D. E. Hoskins. 
 
 1862— G. W. Mitchell. J. M. Gillet. 
 
 1864— G. F. Wheeler. G. W. Mitchell. 
 
 1866— E. S. Bragg. J. Bowen. 
 
 1868 — E. S. Bragg. Orin Hatch. 
 
 1870 — H. S. Town. J. K. Fairbanks. 
 
 1872— W. H. Hiner. J. Dobbs, Jr. 
 
 1874— W. H. Hiner. A. C. Whitng. 
 
 1876 — W. H. Hiner. James Russell. 
 
 1878— A. A. Loper. G. W. Lusk. 
 
 1880— G. E. Sutherland. T. K. Gillet. 
 
 1882 — E. Colman. David Whitton. 
 
 1884 — J. F. Ware. John Hughes. 
 
 1886— Ignatius Klotz. L. W. Thayer. 
 
 1888 — S. B. Stanchfield. James Fenelon. 
 
 1892— S. M. Smead. C. S. Lusk. 
 
 1894— L. W. Thayer. Ignatius Klotz. 
 
 1896— L. W. Thayer. B. F. Sweet. 
 
 1900 — Elmer P. Morse. L. A. Lange. 
 
 1904— C. H. Smith. O. A. Piggott. 
 
 In the legislative apportionment of 1870, three of the eastern 
 towns of Fond du Lac county were detached from the Eighteenth 
 Senate District and added to Sheboygan county to form the Twentieth 
 Senate District, and in 1876, Daniel Cavanaugh, of Osceola, 
 was elected Senator for that district. In the apportionment of 1880, 
 the three towns were restored to the Eighteenth District and no 
 change was made until 1900, when Green Lake county was added 
 to the Eighteenth District and Elmer P. Morse elected Senator. In 
 1904 C. H. Smith was chosen Senator. 
 
 Members of Assembly. 
 
 William A. Adamson, 1880. L. A. Lange, 1893-1895-1897-1899. 
 
 Frank L. Bacon, 1895. James Laferty, 1874. 
 
 Ezekiel Babcock, 1882. J. C. Lewis, 1859-1860. 
 
 John A. Baker, 1871. R. M. Lewis, 1873. 
 
 James Bannon, 1891. Querin Loehr, 1853. 
 
 S. K. Barnes, 1859. Peter Loehr, 1889.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 95 
 
 M. S. Barnett, 1851-1857. 
 
 H. C. Bottum, 1868-1869-1879. 
 
 Frank Bowe, 1891. 
 
 J. Bowen, 1871. 
 
 John Boyd, 1855-1860-1862-1870. 
 
 Thomas Boyd, 1865. 
 
 W. T. Brooks. 1860-1877. 
 
 J. H. Brinkerhoff, 1865. 
 
 Isaac Brown, 1856. 
 
 Lambert Brost, 1876-1877. 
 
 J. Carberry, 1903. 
 
 L. H. Carey, 1867. 
 
 D. Cavanaugh, 1870. 
 Seth A. Chase, 1868. 
 James Coleman, 1866-1867. 
 Elihu Colman, 1872. 
 Jerre Dobbs, Jr., 1870. 
 Charles Doty, 1848. 
 
 W. H. Ebbets, 1855. 
 Wynn Edwards, 1897. 
 Louis Eudemiller, 1882. 
 Truman M. Fay, 1871. 
 James Fenelon, 1901. 
 Geo. H. Ferris, 1887. 
 James Fitzgerald, 1878. 
 Egbert Foster, 1865. 
 Chas. D. Gage, 1858-1867. 
 
 E. H. Galloway, 1863-1864. 
 James E. Gee, 1881. 
 Charles Geisse, 1864. 
 Philip Greening, 1879. 
 John W. Hall, 1861. 
 Irenus K. Hamilton, 1869. 
 C. F. Hammond, 1861-1862. 
 John Hardgrove, 1883. 
 
 B. R. Harrington, 1855. 
 W. W. Hatcher, 1862. 
 Chester Hazen, 1885. 
 H. D. Hitt, 1858. 
 George Hunter, 1875. 
 Wm. T. Innis, 1877. 
 J. Jacobs, 1903. 
 R. Katz, 1901. 
 Charles L. Julius, 1851. 
 Peter Johnson, 1856. 
 R. C. Kelly, 1868. 
 Ignatius Klotz, 1880. 
 Nicholas Klotz, 1868. 
 G. A. Knapp, 1887. 
 Fred Konz, 1881. 
 
 A. A. Loper, 1873. 
 S. C. Matteson, 1859. 
 
 F. D. McCarty, 1858. 
 P. McGalloway, 1895. 
 James McElroy, 1864. 
 
 C. McLean, 1862. 
 John Meiklejohn, 1882. 
 U. D. Mihills, 1870-1871. 
 
 B. F. Moore, 1852. 
 Selim Newton, 1861. 
 M. L. Noble, 1849-1850. 
 S. O'Hara, 1863. 
 
 G. W. Parker, 1855-1856. 
 H. O. Peters, 1859. 
 
 Wm. Plocker, 1875. 
 
 B. Pinkney, 1850. 
 
 E. A. Putnam, 1876. 
 H. A. Ripley, 1899. 
 
 E. L. Runals, 1857. 
 
 F. W. Spence, 1877-1879. 
 J. M. Stock, 1893. 
 
 S. B. Stanchfield, 1885. 
 
 H. Stanton, 18G1. 
 
 Wm. Starr, 1863-1864. 
 
 A. A. Swaim, 1878. 
 
 I. S. Tallmadge, 1853-1854. 
 
 M. Thelan, 1879. 
 
 L. W. Thayer, 1893. 
 
 M. J. Thomas, 1854-1857. 
 
 G. T. Thorn, 1871. 
 
 D. D. Treleven, 1880. 
 W. W. D. Turner, 1883. 
 W. S. Tuttle, 1858. 
 
 D. C. VanOstrend, 1865. 
 
 Jos. Wagner, 1856-1858-1866-1867-1868- 
 
 1871. 
 Aaron Walters, 1875-1872. 
 J. F. Ware, 1880-1881-1883. 
 W. S. Warner, 1869. 
 J. W. Watson, 1889, 1891. 
 T. S. Weeks, 1874. 
 F. M. Wheeler, 1863. 
 
 C. A. Whiting, 1867. 
 W. Whiting, 1859. 
 
 D. Whitton, 1874. 
 J. B. Wilbor, 1857. 
 
 E. Wilcox, 1864. 
 M. Wirtz, 1878. 
 Uriah Wood, 1878. 
 A. J. Yorty, 1872. 
 
 1848 — Nelson Dewey. 
 1851 — Leonard J. Farwell. 
 1853— William A. Barstow 
 
 Governors of Wisconsin. 
 
 John H. Tweedy. 
 
 Don Alonzo Juan Upham. 
 
 E. D. Holton.
 
 96 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 1855- 
 1855- 
 1855- 
 1857- 
 1859- 
 1861- 
 18G1- 
 1863- 
 1865- 
 1867- 
 1869- 
 1871- 
 1873- 
 1875- 
 1877- 
 1879- 
 1881- 
 1883- 
 1885- 
 1888- 
 1890- 
 1892- 
 1894- 
 1896- 
 1898- 
 1900- 
 1902- 
 1904- 
 
 -Wm. A. Barstow. Coles Bashford. 
 
 -Arthur McArthur, Lieut. Governor and Governor during lawsuit.* 
 
 -Coles Bashford, Governor after decision of the courts. 
 
 -Alex. W. Randall. James B. Cross. 
 
 -Alex. W. Randall. Harrison C. Hobart. 
 
 -Louis P. Harvey, Drowned. James Ferguson. 
 
 -Edward Salomon, Lieut. Governor and successor of Gov. Harvey.x 
 
 -James T. Lewis. 
 -Lucius Fairchild. 
 -Lucius Fairchild. 
 -Lucius Fairchild. 
 -Cadwalader C. Washburn. 
 -William R. Taylor. 
 -Harrison Ludington. 
 -William E. Smith. 
 -William E. Smith. 
 -Jeremiah M. Rusk. 
 -Jeremiah M. Rusk. 
 -Jeremiah M. Rusk. 
 -William D. Hoard. 
 -George W. Peck. 
 -George W. Peck. 
 -William H. Upham. 
 -Edward Scofield. 
 -Edward Scofield. 
 -Robert M. LaFollette. 
 -Robert M. LaFollette, 
 -Robert M. LaFollette. 
 
 Members 
 
 Following are the names of 
 with the years they v\^ere elected 
 1848— Mason C. Darling. 
 1850 — James Duane Doty. 
 1852— John B Macy. 
 1854 — Charles Billinghurst. 
 1856— Charles Billinghurst. 
 1858 — Charles H. Larrabee. 
 1860— A. Scott Sloan. 
 1862— Charles A. Eldredge. 
 1864— Charles A. Eldredge. 
 1866— Charles A. Eldredge. 
 1868— Charles A. Eldredge. 
 1870— Charles A. Eldredge. 
 1872— Charles A. Eldredge. 
 1874 — Samuel D. Burchard. 
 1876— Edward S. Bragg. 
 1878— Edward S. Bragg. 
 1880— Edward S. Bragg. 
 
 Henry L. Palmer. 
 Harrison C. Hobart. 
 J. J. Tallmadge. 
 Charles D. Robinson. 
 James R. Doolittle. 
 C. C. Washburn. 
 William R. Taylor. 
 J. A. Mallory. 
 James G. Jenkins. 
 N. D. Fratt. 
 N. D. Fratt. 
 J. M. Woodward. 
 W. B. Morgan. 
 William D. Hoard. 
 J. C. Spooner. 
 Geo. W. Peck. 
 W. C. Silverthorn. 
 Judge Sawyer. 
 J. M. Bomrich. 
 David S. Rose. 
 George W. Peck. 
 
 of Congress. 
 
 our Members of Congress together 
 and names of their opponents: 
 
 Henry S. Baird. 
 
 Harrison C. Hobart. 
 
 James McM. Shatter. 
 
 John B. Macy. 
 
 Harrison C. Hobart. 
 
 Charles Billinghurst. 
 
 Charles H. Larrabee. 
 
 Edward S. Bragg. 
 
 A. Scott Sloan. 
 
 Grin Hatch. 
 
 Leander F. Fresby. 
 
 Jerome A. Watrous. 
 
 Henry Baetz. 
 
 Hiram Barber. 
 
 George W. Carter. 
 
 Hiram Smith. 
 
 Elihu Colman. 
 
 •Gov. Barstow served unmolested during his first term, but the returns canvassed in the elec- 
 tion of 1855, were some of them so manifestly fraudulent that his re-election was contested and re- 
 sulted in the Beating of Gov. Bashford. Pending the contest, Lieut. Gov. McArthur was acting 
 governor. 
 
 X Gov. Harvev was drowned at Pittsburg Landing early in the war. Alter the great battle of 
 Shiloh, he was so anxious about the Wisconsin troops that he went there to look after them person- 
 ally, and fell from a steamboat and was drowned Lieut. Gov. Salomon completed the term.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 97 
 
 1882 — Daniel H. Sumner. 
 1884— Edward S. Bragg. 
 188G— Richard Guenther. 
 1888— Charles Barwig. 
 1890— Charles Barwig. 
 1892— Owen A. Wells. 
 1894— Samuel A. Cook. 
 1896 — James A. Davidson. 
 1898 — James A. Davidson. 
 1900 — James A. Davidson. 
 1902— Charles Weise. 
 1904— Charles Weise. 
 
 John S. Rowell. 
 Samuel S. Barney. 
 Arthur K. Delaney. 
 Edward C. McFetredge. 
 Daniel C. VanBrunt. 
 Emil Baensch. 
 Owen A. Wells. 
 William F. Gruenwald. 
 Frank M. Stewart. 
 James W. Watson. 
 William H. Froelich. 
 Roy P. Morse. 
 
 United States Senators. 
 
 1848— Isaac P. Walker. 
 1848 — Henry Dodge. 
 1849— Isaac P. Walker. 
 1857 — Charles Durkee. 
 1857— James R. Doolittle. 
 1861— Timothy 0. Howe. 
 1863— James R. Doolittle. 
 1867— Timothy O. Howe. 
 1869— Matt. H. Carpenter. 
 1873— Timothy O. Howe. 
 1875 — Angus Cameron. 
 
 1879- Math. H. Carpenter. 
 1881- Philetus Sawyer. 
 1881 — Angus Cameron. 
 188.5— John C. Spooner, 
 1887— Philetus Sawyer. 
 1891— William F. Vilas." 
 1893— John L. Mitchell. 
 1897 — John C. Spooner. 
 1899 — Joseph V. Quarles. 
 1903— John C. Spooner . 
 1905— Robert M. LaFollette. 
 
 Presidential Candidates. 
 
 1789 — George Washington. 
 1792 — George Washington. 
 1796 — John Adams. 
 1800— Thomas Jefferson. 
 1804 — Thomas Jefferson. 
 1808 — James Madison. 
 1812 — James Madison. 
 1816 — James Monroe. 
 1820 — James Monroe. 
 1824 — John Quincy Adams. 
 1828 — Andrew Jackson. 
 1832 — Andrew Jackson. 
 1836— Martin Van Buren. 
 1840— W. H. Harrison. 
 1844— James K. Polk. 
 1848— Zachary Taylor. 
 1852— Franklin Pierce. 
 1856 — James Buchanan. 
 1860 — Abraham Lincoln. 
 1864 — Abraham Lincoln. 
 1868- Ulysses S. Grant. 
 1872— Ulysses S. Grant. 
 1876— Rutherford B. Hayes. 
 1880— James A. Garfield. 
 1884— Grover Cleveland. 
 1888 — Benjamin Harrison. 
 1892— Grover Cleveland. 
 
 John Adams. 
 John Adams. 
 Thomas Jefferson. 
 John Adams. 
 Charles C. Pinckney. 
 Charles C. Pinckney. 
 De Witt Clinton. 
 Rufus King. 
 John Quincy Adams. 
 Andrew Jackson. 
 John Quincy Adams. 
 Henry Clay. 
 W. H. Harrison. 
 Martin Van Buren. 
 Henry Clay. 
 Lewis Cass. 
 Winfield Scott.' 
 John C. Fremont. 
 Stephen A. Douglas. 
 George B. McClellan. 
 Horatio Seymour. 
 Horace Greely. 
 Samuel J. Tilden. 
 W. S. Hancock. 
 James G. Blaine. 
 Grover Cleveland. 
 Benjamin Harrison.
 
 98 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 1896— William McKinley. William J. Bryan. 
 
 1900— William McKinley. William J. Bryan. 
 
 1904 — Theodore Roosevelt. A. F. Parker. 
 
 In the early clays of the country, the number of candidates be- 
 fore the electoral college then were many. In 1789 there were 
 twelve voted for, in 1792 there were five, in 1796 no less than seven- 
 teen, nearly all of whom received very few votes. Again in 1844 
 there were seventeen. The largest number in late years was nine 
 in 1876. 
 
 Many of the campaigns had their noted features, but the most 
 exciting was that of 1876, when congress created an electoral com- 
 mission to settle the electoral tie. It came near plunging the country 
 into another war. 
 
 The peculiarities of the election of i860 are too lengthy for in- 
 sertion here. A history of the time is readily obtainable and may 
 be read with interest. The people are not allowed to know the inside 
 workings of politics. 
 
 Five presidents died while in office, two by disease and three by 
 violence. The first was W. H. Harrison, elected with the greatest 
 enthusiasm, in 1840, but was in office just one month after inaugura- 
 tion March 4, 1841. Vice-President John Tyler became president, 
 and as it was called at the time, "Tylerized." That is, he violated the 
 pledges of the whig party that elected hini. 
 
 The Alexican war made Gen. Zachary Taylor president in 1848, 
 but died after fifteen months, when Vice-President Millard Fillmore 
 became president. He signed the notorious fugitive slave law and 
 did other things which exasperated the whig party that elected him. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford's theatre, Washington, D. C, 
 April 14, 1865, forty days after his second inauguration and died the 
 next day. Vice-President Andrew Johnson became president and kept 
 up a running fight with his party to the end of his term of office. 
 
 President James A. Garfield was shot in the Pennsylvania Rail- 
 road depot at Washington by Gitteau, July 2,-i88i, and died at Long 
 Branch, September 19th, six and one-half months after his inaugura- 
 tion. Vice-President Chester A. Arthur became president. 
 
 President William McKinley was shot by a Polish anarchist 
 named Czgolsz, in one of the exposition buildings at Buffalo, N. Y., 
 September 6, 1901, died September 14, funeral at Canton, Ohio, 
 September 19th. Died six months and ten days after his second 
 inauguration. Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt became president. 
 
 -It is believed by some writers that the deaths of Presidents W. 
 H. Harrison and Gen. Taylor were intentional on the part of some 
 men interested in their absence, and that some sort of poison was 
 used. At any rate there has always been more or less of mystery 
 about them. 
 
 When the late M. Van Dresar was a deputy sheriff in 1858 and 
 kept the jail, he was struck at one evening by an escaping prisoner 
 with a pair of handcuffs, which missed his head but left a half moon 
 in the plastering of the stone wall.
 
 TWO REMARKABLE EVENTS 
 
 Elections of 1876 and 1884 — Electoral Commission and the Rum, 
 Romanism and Rebellion Turning Point. 
 
 The result of the election in i860 brought a disastrous four years' 
 war, but the election of 1876 came very near another disaster, the 
 result of which all feared, but no one could foretell. The magazine 
 was planted, the train laid and the match ready to be struck. Lead- 
 ing men of all parties trembled. The question of the hour was not 
 what should be done, but what could be done. But the people re- 
 joiced then and let them rejoice now, that there was a James G. 
 Blaine to suggest a port of safety and a means of reaching it. There 
 were apparent frauds on both sides and which made the electoral 
 vote a tie. When the electoral votes for president and vice-president 
 were counted, the returns from four states were attacked — Florida, 
 South Carolina, Louisiana and Oregon. There was an apparent tie 
 vote existing between Hayes and Wheeler and Tilden and Hendricks. 
 The dispute could not be settled in the usual way and Congress must 
 be appealed to. A majority of the judges of the supreme court and 
 the House of Representatives were democratic, the Senate and 
 national administration republican. After much discussion the crea- 
 tion of an electoral commission was agreed to. Five members of this 
 commission was to come from the House, five from the Senate and 
 five from the supreme court, the first four from the supreme court 
 to choose the fifth. The commission when completed was as follows : 
 
 Supreme Court^ — Judges Clifford, Miller, Strong, Field and 
 Bradley. 
 
 Senate — Senators Edmunds. Morton, Frelinghuysen, Thurman 
 and Bayard. Sickness of Thurman put Senator Kernan in his place. 
 
 House — jNfessrs. Payne, Hunton, Abbott, Garfield and Hurd. 
 
 Lawyers present for republicans — Messrs. Evarts, Matthews, 
 Shallenburger and Sherman. 
 
 For democrats — Judges Black, O'Conor, Matt. Carpenter, Trum- 
 bull, Blair, Green, Campbell, Humphrey and Gorman. 
 
 The court so constituted, reviewed all the evidence, examined all 
 the papers and listened to arguments by the eminent counsel on both 
 sides and decided 8 to 7, that Hayes and Wheeler were legally elected. 
 Feeling ran high among extreme partisans, but the better sense of 
 the people prevailed, realizing as they did, that peace and prosperity 
 was worth more than four years of the presidency or the 
 personal pride of men or party. Here in Fond du Lac the democrats 
 of the time were bitter talkers but peaceful workers, and there was 
 no trouble. While the talk and feeling was bitter, it is pleasing to 
 remember how soon the matter was forgotten.
 
 100 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Of the members of congress from Wisconsin at this time, but 
 one, Judge Gate, of Stevens Point, voted against the creation of the 
 electoral commission. 
 
 Of the fifteen members of the commission and twelve lawyers 
 who appeared before it, all are now dead, although but twenty-eight 
 years have elapsed since the sitting. The reason for this is that they 
 were men well advanced in life at the time. 
 
 Who of those now living and were at all familiar with national 
 politics in the campaign of 1884, fail to remember the noted allitera- 
 tion of "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion." It had its effect on the 
 election in the defeat of James G. Blaine, and Fond du Lac county 
 was one of those that had a shaking up in consequence of it. In that 
 campaign the candidates were Blaine and Logan against Cleveland 
 and Hendricks. Cleveland had gained his prestige as Governor of 
 New York from the office of Sheriff at Buft'alo. Blaine had made 
 his world-wide reputation as a diplomat and in the halls of congress. 
 The campaign was a lively one and it seemed to be the general belief 
 that Blaine and Logan were sure of election. Near the close of the 
 campaign, and almost at the eve of election, a large republican meet- 
 ing was held in New York city, at which an old minister named 
 Burchard, was one of the principal speakers. Among other bitter 
 things said by him in this speech, was the above alliteration of "Rum, 
 Romanism and Rebellion." declaring these elements to be the founda- 
 tion and strength of the democratic party. No man of the time had 
 a stronger hold upon intelligent Irishmen than James G. Blaine, 
 and this coupling of Romanism, meaning the Roman Catholic Church, 
 with rum and rebellion, by a prominent speaker and at a large meet- 
 ing in the interests of Blaine and the republican party, produced a 
 most profound sensation. Thousands upon thousands of Irishmen, 
 who had intended to vote for Blaine, threw away their tickets and 
 became his active opponents. A strong effort was made to head off the 
 mischief, but it was too late. Burchard himself denied evil intent, 
 but it was ineffectual. The mischief had been done and there was 
 no help for it. In Fond du Lac county, as in New York and other 
 parts of the United States, it was looked upon as the utterance of one 
 foolish old' man, voted for Blaine and have since been loyal to the 
 republican party. As a prominent Fond du Lac democrat expressed 
 it, Blaine had Cleveland beaten to a finish, but at the last minute a 
 foolish old preacher defeated him. The result of the presidential 
 election depended upon New York, and it will be remembered that 
 the official canvass gave the state to Cleveland by only 1,200. It was 
 estimated by prominent politicians that but for the Burchard episode, 
 Blaine would have carried the state by at least 40,000. 
 
 A remarkable feature of this case was developed afterwards, 
 when it was found that a son played this trick upon his foolish old 
 father. This son was a prominent democrat and connected with a 
 band of New York schemers. He it was who prompted his father to 
 the use of the obnoxious language. Every northern state suffered 
 more or less on the Blaine side of the political ledger, but in New 
 York the great mischief was done, as it placed the republicans in the
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 101 
 
 minority column and defeated Blaine and Logan. In Fond du Lac, 
 no candidate for the presidency ever had a more enthusiastic follow- 
 ing than James G. Blaine had in that great campaign of 1884. 
 
 Coming of Salvation Army. 
 
 In 1885, with their voices and a big bass drum for music, the 
 Salvation Arm}' first appeared on the streets of Fond du Lac. The 
 movement was in charge of two Swedish women from jMinneapolis, 
 whose personality as well as work was most attractive, and these 
 with the novelty of the work, drew crowds to the meetings. Their 
 method of work took them out to street corners for a short prayer 
 and exhortation service, and thence to their hall for a preaching and 
 general service. Unfortunately, for the success of the meetings, the 
 Minneapolis women became homesick and others were sent to lead 
 from time to time, some of them quite noted people in the ranks of the 
 army, but the}^ could not succeed and the arm}- struggled along until 
 1894, when its efforts were abandoned here. Hall rent, fuel, lights and 
 other local bills had to be met from the collections and they finally 
 became largely insufficient, and the Salvation Army ceased its work 
 in Fond du Lac. Their charity boxes may be seen in most business 
 places and the collections in this way are understood to be largely 
 in excess of those received here before. These boxes appeal to the 
 generosity of the people in places and at times that small change is at 
 hand, and an empty charity box is not often seen. No one questions 
 the sincerity of the Salvation Army people or have serious doubts 
 of the good work they do among the poor and in the slums of the 
 large cities. They do not make the noise and stir they once did, but 
 who will say their work is not as efficient. 
 
 Frost Every Month in the Year. 
 
 Old timers who cultivate the soil, have not forgotten the year 
 that there was a frost every month. It was i860, but there have 
 been years besides this that came very near the same result. In 
 i860, however, there was a frost every month severe enough for the 
 people to know it. The lightest was the frost in August, but the 
 work of that one could be seen on the leaves of tomatoes and beans. 
 In June and July those who had gardens suffered unless they covered 
 their vegetation. Farmers suffered severely. The writer had a nice 
 garden in June, but not much in September. It was the year of 
 killing frosts every month. 
 
 Known as the Big Fountain. 
 
 The Big Fountain, so long the pride of the people of Sixth and 
 Marr streets. It threw nearly a full four inch stream of as clear water 
 as ever came out of the earth. But after a few years it began to fail 
 and in one year the stream decreased nearly one-half. In 1872 the 
 stream was lowered three feet, and a few years later two feet more, 
 and about 1890 it ceased to flow altogether and was filled. Not a 
 drop of water has come from it since.
 
 102 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 One of the Railroad Engineers. 
 
 One of the earliest of the locomotive engineers on the north end 
 of the Northwestern road, and who stuck to the throttle until age 
 and infirmity compelled him to retire, was L. S. Smith. He began 
 the work when the track was completed to Minnesota Junction, and 
 was on duty nearly thirty-five years. When the Wisconsin Division 
 was the through line to Chicago, for nearly thirty years Mr. Smith 
 made the run every day between Janesville and Green Bay, and used 
 to say he had made the personal acquaintance of every hill and 
 hollow, every stone, tree and stump between those points. In all 
 this time he never had an accident to cause loss of life. It is well 
 remembered by those familiar with the locality, that the grade north 
 of the Sheboygan Junction was very narrow and at one place the 
 weeds and high grass came to within two or three feet of the rails. 
 One beautiful morning in the summer of 1875, coming over from 
 Oshkosh on the fireman's side of the engine, something white was 
 noticed to flash and Smith stopped and backed the train to find a 
 dead woman horribly mangled. The body was placed in the baggage 
 car and brought up town to the depot, where an inquest was. held 
 aad it was found from relatives of the woman that it was suicide. 
 She had hidden in the high grass and when the engine wheels were 
 nearest, threw herself under them. This was the only person Smith's 
 engine ever killed, and it worried him greatly. 
 
 One morning as he approached Minnesota Junction, he found 
 a St. Paul freight train across the track and as his brakes failed to 
 hold he ran into it and made something of a wreck. Two days after, 
 being summoned before the superintendent, he was asked if the 
 result would have been the same if .it had been a passenger train 
 Well, not exactly, said Smith. If it had been a passenger train. I 
 should have shouldered my lantern and left for the woods and you 
 would not have seen me here today. This reply so amused the 
 superintendent that Smith got out of the trouble very easy. 
 
 Lucien S. Smith was a very efficient and faithful employe of the 
 Northwestern road, and Fond du Lac frequenters of the station were 
 lost when he ceased his work and his face was seen there no more. 
 When he retired he bought a farm near Milton Junction, where he 
 died a few years ago. He possessed a considerable degree of literary 
 ability and wrote a number of poems of much merit while standing 
 on his engine at the throttle. 
 
 The Old Home of Mrs. Arnold. 
 
 This old ])lace at the northeast corner of Marr and Fourth 
 streets, so familiar to all old time residents of h^ond du Lac for more 
 than half a century, of late the property of Geo. W. Denniston, a 
 pioneer of the county, has lately dropped from sight on its old time 
 location, by being turned and moved to the north end of the lot. The 
 familiar house will be missed by old residents.
 
 STREET RAILWAY AND LIGHTING 
 
 The Ups and Downs of Street Railroads in Fond du Lac. Early 
 
 Efforts and Present Success. Electric 
 
 Lighting Has Troubles. 
 
 In 1888 an Indiana man, Mr. J. P. Burkholder, appeared in Fond 
 du Lac and proposed to put down a first-class street railway line. He 
 secured a franchise and laid a line with light tee rail, from the landing 
 to the old fair ground on upper Main street, and on Fourth street to 
 near the gates of the Kite park fair grounds. At the terminus of the 
 latter line was the barn or power house, the power consisting of thirty 
 Missouri rat mules. There was a long controversy about the rail used, 
 but the tee rail got there and ruined the block pavement and many 
 wagons and carriages. The quickest succession of the little bob-tail 
 cars during each day was about every half hour. The line was not 
 a success and i\^r. Burkholder disappeared near the end of the first 
 year. An eccentric Hollander here at this time, named Count Louis 
 Nepeiu, bought up the indebtedness to the amount of $18,000, and 
 took possession. At the end of a few months he retired with an old 
 white horse and big sorrel dog to show for his money. W. G. DeCelle 
 next appeared in control of the street car franchise, but his means 
 were not sufficient to equip the road as he had started out to do, nor 
 could he raise money on his bonds. Mr. DeCelle had put electricity 
 into use in place of mules and purchased new cars and was heavily 
 in debt, as he had also acquired two electric lighting plants. It had 
 become a load of debt too heavy for Mr. DeCelle and Elihu Colman 
 signed his paper, but finding it unprofitable, organized a company 
 under the name of Fond du Lac Light and Power Company, which 
 took possession. The line did not pay and the compnay became the 
 Fond du Lac Electric Company, which continued the lighting plant 
 but took up the railway line and sold the rails for old iron. The city 
 was now without street cars and the outlook was not very encourag- 
 ing. But now came H. F. Whitcomb, who believed a street car line 
 properly equipped and backed with sufficient capital, could be made 
 to pay well, and through his influence the present Fond du Lac Street 
 Railway and Light Company was organized. In 1899 the road was 
 built and equipped in splendid shape and the following year extended 
 to North Fond du Lac and to Lakeside Park. The power house was 
 greatly enlarged and an ample supply of the best machinery that 
 money could buy, was installed. And so it is that today we have 
 one of the best street railways in the state. In 1903 the Fond du Lac 
 and Oshkosh line, known as the interurban, was built, and we now 
 have a service every hour over it. llie same year the Eastern Wis- 
 consin Railway and Light Company was organized to construct a 
 line on the east shore of the lake. The late death of Frank B.
 
 104 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Hoskins, its president, may to some extent retard the work, but the 
 time is not distant that its plans will be carried out. 
 
 Such have been the ups and downs of street railroads in Fond du 
 Lac. At the beginning electricity for street car propulsion can 
 hardly be said to have been in use anywhere, and the large cities 
 also had the small Missouri mules. Mr. DeCelle's use of electricity 
 was about as early as any. Since then the machinery for such use 
 has been vastly improved. All citizens will rejoice that there was a 
 man like H. F. Whitcomb, having faith in Fond du Lac and ready 
 to come to the front with money and influence. 
 
 Electric Lighting. 
 
 Aurora, 111., was the first and Fond du Lac, Wis., second in the 
 entire west to adopt electric lighting. It was mainly through the- 
 efforts of Lafayette Bond, then a member of the common council, 
 that the poor man's light, as he termed it, was adopted by the city. 
 Five lighting towers were erected on Main street in front of court 
 house, on First, Division, Forest and Arndt streets, but were not 
 fully completed in September, 1882, when the county fair was held 
 and electric lights first appeared here. The towers were not com- 
 pleted until 1883 and the lamp trimmer had to climb. In 1886 the 
 wind of a thunder storm played havoc v/ith the towers, two being 
 wrecked and all injured seriously, but they were rebuilt at a less 
 height. For a long time the light was quite unsatisfactory. Then 
 came the masts, holding one light each, and then suspended lamps. 
 To make it effective here, was a struggle. For several years one 
 quick motion engine was all the power the plant had to run its 
 dynamos, and so it was not until the present ownership that there 
 was ample power for even lighting purposes. Since the use of 
 electric motors has become so general immense power is needed. 
 Four quick motion engines and four large engines, with twelve 
 dynamos, ranging from two to ten feet diameter to generate the 
 electricity for railway, lighting and general purposes. W. G. DeCelle 
 in 1 891, tried to improve the plant but without much success. Of 
 late years there has been little complaint of the quality of the light, 
 the only trouble seeming to be the cost. 
 
 They Were Noisy Preachers. 
 
 In 1857, there was a Methodist Church on Arndt street, near 
 Brooke, and for a time Rev. Mr. Robbins was the pastor. Not far 
 from the same time Rev. Mr. Hollister was pastor of the up town 
 church, then at the northeast corner of Marr and Third streets. It 
 is well remembered by old settlers, that these men were the noisiest 
 preachers Fond du Lac ever had. It was not uncommon to hear them 
 a couple of blocks, and Mr. Hollister's family prayers could be heard 
 nearly as far. Their physicians tried to stop the use of so much 
 force, but they continued it and both died prematurely. These noisy 
 preachers are not common now, and it is doubtful if the people would 
 tolerate them.
 
 GREAT WORK OF BISHOP GRAFTON 
 
 St. Paul's Cathedral One of the Finest in the Country. Grafton Hall 
 
 Has No Superior. The Great Work Done in 
 
 Sixteen Years. 
 
 In 1872, the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac was taken from 
 the diocese of Wisconsin, now Milwaukee, and at the preliminary 
 council in 1873, Bishop Welles presiding, Rev. Leighton Coleman, 
 of Toledo, Ohio, now Bishop of Delaware, was elected for the first 
 Bishop of Fond du Lac. He came here and looked over the field 
 and believing the work too much for his strength, declined. Subse- 
 quently Rev. Dr. Shipman, of New York, was elected and declined. 
 At the third council. Rev. J. H. Hobart Brown was chosen. After 
 serving twelve years, the lamented Bishop Brown died May 2, 1888, 
 and Rev. C. C. Grafton, of Boston^ became his successor. He was 
 consecrated on St. Mark's Day, April 25, 1889. Comparatively few 
 people have a proper conception of the enormous amount of work 
 done by Bishop Grafton in the sixteen years of his presence as 
 Bishop of this diocese. One has but to step over to the location of 
 the Cathedral and Grafton Hall, to see at once that he has not been 
 idle. When he came to the diocese he found an unfinished cathedral 
 church, burdened with a heavy debt. Besides this, St. Monica school, 
 under the management of the Sisters of St. Monica, was in need of 
 assistance and apparently plenty of work to do in all directions. 
 Bishop Grafton went at the work with determination, and it is only 
 needful now for those having knowledge of the conditions sixteen 
 years ago, to recall them in comparison with those of the present, 
 to appreciate the work he has done. But the work most appreciated 
 by the Bishop himself, can be seen in buildings, as it is in a spiritual 
 sense that he has sought for improvement in the entire diocese and 
 has achieved it. He has expended no less than $150,000 in the im- 
 provement of churches and church property in tjie diocese outside of 
 Fond du Lac. He built a church at North Fond du Lac at a cost of 
 $4,000, together with other expenditures. But let us look at Grafton 
 Hall. The home of the Bishop, on Division street, one of the finest 
 in the city, together with the Mother House of the Sisters of the 
 Holy Nativity, immediately north of it, has already become suffi- 
 ciently noted to attract strangers in the city to view it. The Mother 
 House, built in this year of 1905, will cost $60,000. It is perfect in 
 every detail. The former rectory on Bannister street, was overhauled 
 for dormitories and other purposes of a choir school, at a cost of 
 $12,000, is perfect in every detail. The Cathedral rectory, now occu- 
 pied by Bishop Weller, represents a cost of $5,000. An expenditure 
 of $11,000 for land for Grafton Hall and $4,000 for the Cathedral, 
 the cost of retaining wall along the river, the garth wall, sidewalks, 
 etc., all represent large expenditures of money.
 
 106 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 St. Monica school was started by the Sisters of St. Monica and 
 under direction of Bishop Brown. Mother Caroline Delano was in 
 charge. The school was in a large wood building then on the site 
 of the present Grafton Hall, but a part of it is now the Waukesha 
 Hotel, corner of Forest Avenue and Sophia street. The only Sister 
 of St. Monica remaining here is Sister Anna Hobart, widow of 
 Bishop Brown, in charge of the altars, and custodian of the vestments 
 and silver in the Cathedral. Bishop Grafton came in 1889. The 
 people had much sympathy for St. Monica School and its weakness 
 being wholly of a financial character, talk for reorganization soon 
 began in earnest. At a full meeting of the board of trustees early in 
 
 1893, it was determined to reorganize the school and to name it 
 Grafton Hall. The old building was quite unsatisfactory and a new 
 one was decided upon. In 1895 the new structure was begun and 
 in 1897 the north half of it, together with power house, heating and 
 electric light plants, went into use. But the work did not stop here, 
 and two years later, 1900, the present magnificent structure was 
 fully occupied by the school. The cost of it in round numbers was 
 $50,000, and the equipment and furnishing cost $20,000 more. In 
 
 1894, when St. Monica School was formally transferred to Grafton 
 Hall, Rev. B. T. Rogers was placed in charge and has been there 
 ever since and has made it a school worthy of the beautiful building 
 and surroundings ; and an honor to the diocese and to the state. It 
 has been the desire of the Bishop, of Warden Rogers and the board 
 of trustees, to make this school for young ladies the equal of any like 
 institution in this country, and they have succeeded. Those in con- 
 trol have had to face a great many difficulties, but they seem to have 
 triumphed over all of them, and today the city of Fond du Lac and 
 the diocese are able to boast of one of the best schools with the 
 handsomest buildings and finest equipments in the entire northwest. 
 
 One of the early achievements of Bishop Grafton and showing 
 his foresight, was the Parish House, at the Cathedral. This was built 
 in 1892 at a cost of $15,000, and it has been remarkably useful alike 
 to the Cathedral parish and to the diocese. Its uses are numerous 
 and in many directions. It may now be wondered how it would 
 have been possible to get along without it. 
 
 The structure which will be remembered as the old parish school 
 house, in which church services were held after the burning of the 
 old Cathedral, was remodeled in 1899 at a cost of $10,000, and named 
 St. Andrew's Hall. It is a most useful place, especially for the 
 clergy of the diocese who may be here temporarily. In the old time 
 it was an eye sore — now it is a handsome building and a useful one. 
 The choir school building at Follett and Bannister streets, was re- 
 modeled at a cost of $12,000. 
 
 When Bishop Brown died, the Cathedral was not completed. 
 Some of the furnishings were but temporary. After making visita- 
 tions and posting himself more thoroughly in the affairs of his 
 diocese. Bishop Grafton began to look more closely to work on the 
 Cathedral. First of all the porch was to be built and the tower 
 completed. The chancel was an architectural defect and was
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT , ] 07 
 
 changed, the cloister was built between the robing rooms and St, 
 Andrew's Hall, the garth wall was constructed, new sidewalks put 
 down and a great deal of other work done. As time went on new 
 furnishings appeared, including the finest font and canopy in this 
 country, carvings of St. Paul and the twelve apostles, pulpit in stone, 
 one of the finest polished brass lecturns made, mounted on a Scotch 
 granite column and supported by stone base, a fine rood screen, the 
 furnishings of the two chapels adjoining the main portion of the 
 church, and a great deal more that cannot be here mentioned in detail. 
 The reredos at the altar in St. Augustine chapel is hardly surpassed 
 in this country. Among the memorials are : 
 
 White Marble Altar in the chancel, presented by Mrs. M. H. 
 Galloway in memory of her husband, Edwin H. Galloway. 
 
 Chalice and Paten, made of material in the pastoral staff and old 
 family plate of Bishop Brown, presented by Mrs. Ijrown in memory 
 of her husband. 
 
 Sanctuary Rail in Bedford stone, presented by ]\lrs. H. K. 
 Laughlin in memory of her daughter. 
 
 Choir Screen in Bedford stone, presented by Mrs. W. W. Clark 
 in memory of her parents. 
 
 West granite column in chancel, by Racine College in memory 
 of Rev. Dr. DeKoven. 
 
 East granite column in chancel, by Air. E. A. Carey in memory 
 of his wife, Mrs. Mary A. Carey. 
 
 Font, presented by C. A. Galloway in memory of his wife, Mrs. 
 Mary Galloway. 
 
 Five chancel windows, by Mrs. H. H. Rose, in memory of her 
 father, Mr. A. G. Ruggles. 
 
 Three windows at south end of the nave, presented by Mr. B. 
 Wild, Sr. Window at west entrance in memor}- of Mrs. B. Wild, Sr. 
 
 Porch at main entrance of Cathedral, erected through the eft'orts 
 of Mrs. Mary Waterbury to the memory of Bishop Brown. 
 
 St. Augustine Chapel, equipped by Mrs. Mary Waterbury in 
 memory of the Brown family, including the father and mother of the 
 Bishop. 
 
 Window presented by Mr. Ed. Ewen, to the memory of his 
 father and mother. 
 
 Two windows presented by Mrs. Laughlin, to the memory of her 
 husband, H. K. Laughlin. 
 
 Two windows presented by Mrs. Wiley, to the memory of her 
 parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Henning, and a sister. 
 
 Window presented by Mr. Geo. P. Lee, to the memory of a 
 daughter, Mrs. Jenny Coleman. 
 
 Altar in St. Ambrose Chapel, presented by Rev. Mr. Batterson, 
 to the memory of Bishop Knight, of the diocese of Milwaukee. 
 
 In the mortuary chapel has been placed a beautiful trefoil 
 window to the memory of James Ewen McCall, son of Capt. J. V. 
 McCall, killed in an accident at Milwaukee at the age of seven years.
 
 108 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 In the same chapel is a memorial tablet from historical \Vestminster 
 Abbey. 
 
 Besides these memorials there have been many presentations to 
 Bishop Grafton and gifts by the Bishop to the Cathedral for beauti- 
 fying- the place and making the services more imposing. Among 
 these are the Bishop's Chair, windows in the nave representing 
 scenes in the life of St. Paul, one of the most beautiful Lecturns 
 made ; the Rood Screen ; the grand new organ and motor ; Litany 
 Desk; Pulpit in Bedford stone, from friends in the Church of the 
 Advent, Boston; Brass Lecturn in St. Ambrose Chapel, from the 
 vestry of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, through Mrs. Waterbury ; 
 Bust of Bishop Kemper, from R. Powrie ; Statue of St. Margaret 
 and the Dragon, or Victory of the Cross over the Dragon, one of the 
 grandest pieces of marble statuary in this country, presented by Miss 
 Grant, of London, the artist; Tubular Bells in the tower, from Mr. 
 Clapp, of Providence, R. L ; Paintings in chancels, by Lawrence Kent 
 and Miss Upjohn, on the frieze; white marble lining of chancel. 
 
 St. Paul's Church, Fond du Lac, was designated as the Cathedral 
 church soon after the coming of Bishop Brown, and since then there 
 have been a number of noted events connected with it. On the cold 
 morning of St. Paul's Day, January 25, 1883, the Cathedral was 
 burned, and it was on fire again in 1895, but escaped serious injury. 
 The consecration of Bishop Grafton on St. Mark's Day, March 25, 
 i88q, and the consecration of Bishop Coadjutor Weller, on November 
 8, 1900. The funeral of Bishop Brown took place from the Cathedral 
 on I\Iay 4, 1888. The erection of the large building on Amory street, 
 north of the Bishop's house, and its consecration to the use of the 
 Sisters of the Holy Nativity as the Mother House, on September 8, 
 1905, may be looked upon as a marked event in the history of the 
 Cathedral and of the diocese of Fond du Lac as well. 
 
 There are few citizens wdio can fully realize the significance of 
 the coming to Fond du Lac of Bishop Grafton. In him we have not 
 only an estimable and Godly man, of eminent social qualities, but one 
 of remarkable activity and generosity in promoting the growth of 
 the city. The amount of money he has brought here in various ways 
 can never be known, but it is estimated to exceed $600,000, and a 
 large proportion of it has been expended in the employment of labor. 
 The Cathedral debt of $16,000 is not only wiped out but has an en- 
 dowment that provides for the diocesan assessment. Missions and 
 weak churches throughout the diocese have been aided to an amount 
 that would be surprising to most people if it could be known. This 
 is why it may be truthfully said that the full significance of Bishop 
 Grafton's coming to Fond du Lac, can never be known. 
 
 Bakery Bread in Fond du Lac. 
 
 It was not until some time after Mr. !>. Wild went into business 
 here and began making the round cottage loaves, that bakery bread 
 secured much patronage. People generally made their own bread, 
 but the cottage loaves were so near like home made bread that 
 hundreds of families gave up home baking.
 
 PIONEER FARMERS AND SETTLERS 
 
 Some of the People Who Came to This County Early and Helped 
 to Develop It. List of Names. 
 
 Among the most remarkable men who entered upon this goodly 
 land in the pioneer days were the seekers for homes — the men who 
 did not fear to enter upon the work of developing farms. The fame 
 of the country had gone back east and honest work only was needed 
 to enable them to realize their expectations. The landscape was as 
 attractive as had ever been seen by man and the soil most productive. 
 Beautifid surroundings and abundant harvests for the industrious 
 seemed to be sure. And so they came here, selected their farms and 
 went at the work of developing them, with the result as we see it 
 today. As a rule the owners were industrious, successful and happy, 
 and they were able to turn over to their successors as fine an agricul- 
 tural region as there is in the state. While it is true that this county 
 possessed great natural advantages, it is also true that its attractive- 
 ness is in a very large measure due to the good judgment and hard 
 work of the early owners. It was their good fortune that they en- 
 tered upon a section of country possessed of a good soil and healthy 
 climate, hence healthfulness and general prosperity. 
 
 The kindness and generosity of these people was proverbial. Re- 
 fusal of neighborly courtesies was almost unknown and people over- 
 taken by night or storm, were never denied shelter as long as there 
 was room inside the house. The selfish and exclusive spirit, so often 
 met today, was very seldom found. If a settler killed an animal for 
 food, it was distributed in pieces among the neighbors and kindness 
 was the rule everywhere. If the settler had a heavy job of work in 
 the development of his property and needed the assistance of his 
 neighbors, he was sure to get it, though some of those neighbors 
 came several miles on foot. Mr. John Folts. a well known pioneer 
 of the town of Byron, in 1844 had assistance come ten miles to help 
 roll up the logs of a log house he was building. How many men 
 could be obtained from half the distance now to assist in such work 
 as an act of kindness only and without pay? Similar acts were by no 
 means rare in Fond du Lac county at that time. A poor widow in 
 the town of Forest, Mrs. Sanford, whose husband died and left her 
 with three children, in 1848, had her crop harvested and cared for by 
 her neighbors. That was pioneer Christianity. How seldom it is 
 found in our day. 
 
 During the eight years, from 1828 to 1836, there was a military 
 post at Fort Howard and Gen. Ellis, Capt. Follett and a few citizens 
 were there and Gen. Ellis started the Green Bay Intelligencer, the 
 first Wisconsin newspaper. By 1836 the timber of the Fox and Wolf 
 river country, the peninsula of Door and Kewaunee counties and the
 
 110 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Green Ba}' region, were becoming rapidly known and the magnificent 
 agricultural lands to the south were beginning to be entered and 
 farms opened. The years 1840 to 1848 brought a vast number of 
 people from the east, in pursuit of homes and whose eyes were fixed 
 upon this region. Until 1851 the railroads could not be used, not 
 being completed, and water transportation to Wisconsin was com- 
 pulsory. Every respectable vessel on the lakes, steam or sail, came 
 loaded down during these years, with emigrants and their belongings. 
 Most of these sought a landing at Sheboygan, some at jMilwaukee 
 and Green Bay, a few at Racine and Kenosha, then known as South- 
 port. The stream of humanity landing at Sheboygan and Green Bay 
 spread over the timber lands reaching from the lake and bay shores 
 to the imsurpassed prairie and openings of Rosendale, Ripon and 
 Green Lake, into Marquette county. Those who came first, while 
 they doubtless got their choice of homes, assuredly did not get the 
 best, as later comers, many of them, got as nice and valuable farms 
 as any who preceded them. There was an occasional piece of land 
 that was "a little ofif color," as the ladies sometimes say of dress 
 goods, but such neglected land, oftener than otherwise, fell into the 
 hands of the ingenious and expert farmer and was made to "blossom 
 as the rose" and in after years to be as valuable as those with pros- 
 pects more promising at the start. A section of country with a more 
 productive soil cannot be found and barring occasional vicissitudes 
 of weather, common to all agricultural regions, has and will abun- 
 dantly reward the industrious and intelligent farmer. 
 
 Wheat in Ohio, corn in Iowa, cotton in Mississippi, peanuts in 
 Tennessee and celery in Michigan, are specialties in the regions 
 named, but for dairying, stock growing and average all round 
 agriculture, Wisconsin is among the states at the head of the list, 
 and the time is coming and it is not far distant, when Wisconsin will 
 lead the world in dairying. The full figures pertaining to these in- 
 terests it is not necessary to reproduce here. They will be found in 
 detail in the annual report of the dairy and food commissioner, and 
 will surprise many who examine them for the first time. The full 
 figures with reference to other products of the farm, may be found 
 in the report of Prof. Henry, of the agricultural department of our 
 state university, and should be studied by every intelligent farmer. 
 The state provides these reports at heavy cost, for the benefit of its 
 citizens, and they ought not to neglect them. All now realize the 
 fact that the times demand intelligent, educated farmers rather than 
 plodders. To this end the state provides university education to all 
 who will avail themselves of it. This is what the present seeks, what 
 the future demands. The light was not as bright as this for the 
 pioneer who preceded us and settled this region of country. The 
 prospect was often dark, sometimes very dark, but they were intelli- 
 gent men and how gloriously they worked out their destiny! 
 
 But it was not alone the agricultural region that so attracted 
 emigration to Wisconsin from 1836 onward into the century for ten 
 or twelve years, but our splendid pine and hardwood timber brought 
 the lumberman from even as far east as Maine and as early as 1838
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT HI 
 
 at least two mills were cutting lumber on the bay shore, and one in 
 1840, built by Elisha and John Beeson, brothers of the late Edward 
 Beeson. of this city, while some even more venturesome, about the 
 same dates, had penetrated westward from Green Bay to the Wolf 
 river country, were cutting lumber and floating it down in rafts, some 
 of which taken from the river, was used in Fond du Lac. Such was 
 the lumber, dried in the sun, that Dr. Walker put into his house 
 which he built and occupied, several years, at the southeast corner 
 of Main and Fifth streets, now used for a hotel. The lumber industry 
 developed rapidly and by 1848, the puff of steam could be seen from 
 mills at almost every town. As we approached the middle of the 
 century, lumber was abundant for all purposes and at reasonable 
 prices. In the next ten years the rivers had been vastly improved 
 with booms, to the end that logs came down by millions to be cut 
 into lumber and shingles, lath, pickets, etc., and manufactured into 
 sash, doors and blinds, to the extent that it began to be felt that our 
 forests were being depleted, and sure enough, long before the end of 
 the century, after the railroads had taken the mills to the logs, instead 
 of bringing the logs to the mills, our lumber industries practically 
 ceased. Such was one of the vicissitudes of business here in about 
 half a century. 
 
 But the farmer, he who went to work with a will on his land, dug 
 out a comfortable living and found an anxious market for all he had 
 to sell. They had their contentions, of course, and he might be 
 troubled a little sometimes, to make both ends meet, but in the end 
 he triumphed over all obstacles. Lumber may have been so scarce 
 and high priced when he first came that a board shanty for his family 
 was impossible and he had to be content with a hovel constructed of 
 logs or poles, with a trough roof and puncheon floor, the logs 
 chinked with split sticks and plastered with mud to make it habitable 
 in winter. One of these early houses would be a marvel to the 
 present generation, but they served their purpose. The material in 
 these houses was not always of the best and often hauled long dis- 
 tances. Relative to the shanty of John Folts, in Byron, Martin 
 Mitchell says: 
 
 "In the summer of 1844, Mr. John Folts, with his wife and four 
 children, removed from the state of New York to Byron. He set up 
 crotches, upon which he laid long poles, and covered it over with 
 prairie grass, and having blankets at the sides, for his domicil, lived 
 until he could build a log house, obtaining hands from about ten 
 miles distant to help him roll up the logs." 
 
 In the pioneer days of the county and up to about i860, compara- 
 tively little attention was given to dairying. Some stock was raised 
 but the attention of the farmers was given largely to the small grains, 
 wheat, oats, barley and rye. The exclusiveness of these crops is 
 shown by the fact that Ripon had six large elevators and Fond du 
 Lac had the same number, and as the railroads were built elevators 
 appeared at almost every station, while mills increased in number 
 and capacity and no inconsiderable portion of the annual crop was 
 shipped as flour, the output of the mills being larger than the people
 
 112 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 consumed. What a remarkable change in fifteen years ! The crop 
 season without frost was found to be too short for successful corn 
 raising, but while much is planted, mainly for home consumption, 
 it is not looked upon as a profitable crop. 
 
 During and immediately following the war, farmers began to 
 realize the value of this part of the state for dairying and stock rais- 
 ing, and these have largely taken the place of the other crops. 
 
 Below will be found about 150 names of the oldest pioneer 
 farmer settlers of Fond du Lac county. Their names will be familiar 
 to all old settlers and it will be a pleasure to them to have their 
 memory renewed and hundreds of incidents of the past called to 
 mind. Wliile most of them have now passed away, the old people 
 have pleasure in their memory, recalling incidents in their lives and 
 remembering what they achieved. All of them are well remembered, 
 many of them became noted men in politics, religion, law and general 
 business, while scarcely one failed in his work as a farmer. Speaking 
 of individuals, let it be said with pride, that in the legislative investi- 
 gation of the railroad land grant bribery of 1856, Fond du Lac 
 county had the only two men, Edward Pier in the senate and Isaac 
 Brown in the assembly, who came through it all without taint. 
 
 Here are the 150 pioneer hero farmers of Fond du Lac county. 
 Take off your hat in their honor as you read their names : 
 
 Edward Pier. 
 Colwert Pier. 
 Calvin Pier. 
 Norman Pier. 
 C. N. Kendall. 
 
 A. N. Kendall. 
 John C. Bishop. 
 John H. Martin. 
 Selim Newton. 
 J. J. Brayton. 
 Isaac Crofoot. 
 Francis McCai'ty. 
 Pat. Kelly. 
 Henry Conklin. 
 
 B. Nightengale. 
 Jasper Clark. 
 O. J. Soper. 
 Matt. Butler. 
 Russell Wilkinson. 
 Robert Wilkinson. 
 John Wilkinson. 
 
 S. Botsford. 
 
 C. Tunison. 
 Isaac Orvis. 
 
 W. W. Wheeler. 
 B. J. Gilbert. 
 Henry Bush. 
 A. Raymond. 
 Reuben Simmons. 
 Jay Roblee. 
 Edward Beeson. 
 
 Daniel Sabin. 
 Almon Osborn. 
 
 A. B. Beardsley. 
 Hiram Morris. 
 Dr. Cruthers. 
 Alfred Bliss. 
 Jeff. Brayman 
 Paddy Miles. 
 George Parker. 
 Pat. Lyons. 
 
 P. Borderman. 
 Michael Horey. 
 Peter Calahan. 
 Pat. Maloney. 
 Harry Sears. 
 R. M. Harwood. 
 Sumner Sweet. 
 Daniel Brooks. 
 Emerson Fay. 
 Hiram Walker. 
 Daniel Eggleston. 
 R. Jenkinson. 
 H. C. Eggleston. 
 Joseph Scribner. 
 Warren Whiting. 
 William Hayes. 
 Warren Florida. 
 W. C. Dodge. 
 
 B. H. Bettis. 
 John Beirne. 
 Arthur H. Steen. 
 
 John Beeson. 
 Joseph Stow. 
 Henry Spofford. 
 Alfred Ward. 
 John Case. 
 W. Hall. 
 John Hall. 
 J. R. Fisher. 
 Dan Trelevan. 
 Theodore Trelevan. 
 John Trelevan. 
 James Wright. 
 L. B. Hills. 
 N. M. Donaldson. 
 W. J. Ripley. 
 H. W. Hubbard. 
 Henry Halsted. 
 I. N. Woodruff. 
 H. W. Wolcott. 
 Wm. Blocker. 
 Edwin Reynolds. 
 Peter "V. Sang. 
 H. D. Hitt. 
 A. H. Clark. 
 Robt. Estabrooks. 
 Col. H. Tryon. 
 G. D. Ruggles. 
 H. R. Colman. 
 Chas. Colman. 
 John Fancher. 
 James Hersey.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 113 
 
 S. N. McCrea. 
 
 F. Pelton. 
 Fayette Brown. 
 Dr. Elliott Brown. 
 John Bannister. 
 
 G. de Neveu-. 
 Harry Giltner. 
 John Boyd. 
 
 T. I. Burhyte. 
 Wm. Boehner. 
 John Taylor. 
 Aaron Walters. 
 William Stewart. 
 Charles D. Gage. 
 A. T. Germond. 
 Seth Sylvester, Sr. 
 Seth Sylvester, Jr. 
 James Sylvester. 
 John Parsons. 
 Joseph Kinsman. 
 William Styles 
 David Lyons. 
 John Hobbs. 
 John Balsam. 
 D. P. Mapes. 
 David Dunham. 
 Eben Norton. 
 Henry Barnett. 
 William Pool. 
 Dr. S. G. Pickett. 
 G. W. Sexmith. 
 James McElroy. 
 
 W. R. Tallmadge. 
 M. S. Barnett. 
 Harvey Wheeler. 
 S. N. Hawes. 
 Joseph Wagner. 
 Edward Ensign. 
 G. W. Parker. 
 Dana Lamb. 
 Geo. D. Curtis. 
 Jerome Yates. 
 Wm. Denniston. 
 F. A. Kimball. 
 John Irving. 
 C. F. Hammond. 
 E. P. West. 
 Abram Thomas. 
 Jacob Cartel". 
 Egbert Foster. 
 Abner Baker. 
 Leonard Baker. 
 C. D. Higley. 
 Chas. Bouton. 
 William Light. 
 C. P. Phelps. 
 Asher Armstrong. 
 David Worthing. 
 Wm. Worthing. 
 Thos. Worthing. 
 Henry Willard. 
 Put Mason. 
 Norman Mason. 
 Nathan Hunter. 
 
 A. C. Whiting. 
 Salmon Wedge. 
 J. C. Wedge. 
 Lorenzo Hazen. 
 Chester Hazen. 
 Sanford Hazen. 
 Loren Hazen. 
 John Hazen. 
 Calvin Hazen. 
 Sewel Hazen. 
 T. F. Mayham. 
 
 A. S. Wilkinson. 
 Thomas Price. 
 Almon Atwood. 
 Mary C. Towns. 
 Frank Furman. 
 Mrs. Wilson. 
 Leonard Bissell. 
 Betsey Howard. 
 Sarah Rogers. 
 John Jackson. 
 Geo. Jackson. 
 
 F. W. Wells. 
 P. E. Town. 
 Geo. C. White. 
 Henry Friday. 
 Thomas McCoy. 
 John Leaiy. 
 
 B. F. Strong. 
 J. J. Gray. 
 Gerrit Romain. 
 
 Colwert and Edward Pier were settlers who cotild tell all about 
 the real hardships of pioneer life. From bitter experience they could 
 tell of the unpleasant character of Indians and wolves as neighbors — 
 how difificult it was to prevent the stealing of what they brought in 
 and raised for food. Edward Pier's hardest experience was when the 
 Indians stole and killed his cow on which he mainly depended for the 
 support of his family during the winter. 
 
 The old Fond du Lac Company entered this land at the govern- 
 ment land office at Green Bay, in 1835, and the following spring built 
 the old log house. In June, 1836. Colwert Pier and wife went into 
 it to live and were the only residents in the county. It was in 
 February, 1836, that Edward and Colwert Pier first came here, and 
 they slept on the ground on the banks of the river. Edward and his 
 brother selected their land and Edward went to Green Bay for his 
 family, returning in June, when he immediately began work on his 
 farm south of the city, so well known to us all. In June, 1837, Miss 
 Harriet Pier came from Vermont, and the following September 
 Calvin Pier, with his wife and son, Oliver W., came from the same 
 place, making a female circle of three and three families in the entire 
 county. In March, 1838, John Bannister appeared with his family 
 and the first year he was holding so many offices that one is reminded
 
 114 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 on reading- about it, of Pee Boo in the opera of Mikado. Among his 
 offices was that of justice of the peace, and as such married Mr. 
 Alonzo Raymond and Miss Harriet Pier, the first marriage in this 
 county. In March, 1838, Mrs. Fanny, wife of Colwert Pier, died, 
 which was^the first funeral in the county. John A. Bannister, son of 
 John Bannister, was born in June, 1838, and was the first birth in the 
 county. He died in 1857, just as he was entering manhood. 
 
 When the pioneer settler of fifty years ago reached his land, his 
 first obstacles were lack of shelter and of food. Lumber was scarce 
 with which to erect shanties, and food very high in price. Our 
 pioneers often went to Watertown and Sheboygan Falls with ox 
 teams, to get grinding done, and over roads not much better than 
 Indian trails. The streams had to be depended upon largely for 
 power, as steam engines with accompanying boilers were heavy, 
 cumbersome and difficult of transportation into a new country. 
 Kerosene oil was unknown until well into the fifties and gasoline for 
 power was more than a half century in the future. When his land 
 was broken and his crop raised, it was no small job to gather and get 
 it ready for use with the rude appliances then obtainable. Hay had 
 to be cut with a scythe and small grain with the cradle, the latter an 
 implement which many farmers in this day have never seen, but they 
 were made in large numbers in Fond du Lac by M. Farnsworth, 
 whose shop stood upon the ground now occupied by Mr. Chenej-'s 
 stove store, on East First street. The pioneer threshed his grain by 
 tramping it out with horses or pounding it out with flails, and when 
 ready for the mill, the question was, where is the mill? To raise 
 pigs, sheep or chickens, constant vigilance was required to saVe them 
 from the Indians, wolves, dogs and other animals. And so the 
 pioneer had a struggle for food. To obtain clothes for himself and 
 family often required self-denial of the most rigid order and very 
 close calculation from one year to another. They had little use for 
 the silks, feathers and finery of our day, and tailor made clothing was 
 not dreamed of. 
 
 The following exciting incidents in pioneer life, occurring in the 
 town of Oakfield in 1840, two years after Dr. Darling had settled at 
 Fond du Lac, are copied from Martin Mitchell's History of Fond du 
 Lac County, printed in 1854: 
 
 "The first settlement was attempted in this town in 1840, by Mr. 
 Russel Wilkinson, about one mile south of the present village of 
 Avoca, at a place called the Wilkinson settlement. He purchased 
 land, and removed his family from the county of Rensalaer in New 
 York. The Indians had relinquished their title to the land, but still 
 remained in the neighborhood, and were often committing various 
 depredations upon Mr. Wilkinson, they finally burned his house, 
 in the absence of the inmates; with his furniture and provisions. He 
 concluded to abandon his farm for a season, got a pair of oxen and 
 stoneboat (his wife in very delicate health) and removed his family 
 to the house of Mr. Edward Pier in Fond du Lac. He remained in 
 Fond du Lac until October, 1843, when he returned, accompanied by 
 his brother Robert.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 115 
 
 "They for a short time, were the only citizens of the town, but 
 were soon followed by Mr. Botsford, Mr. Silvernail, Mr. Tanner and 
 Mr. Hazen. The next year Mr. Hubbard, Mr. Ripley, Mr. Sykes 
 and Mr. Westfall became their neighbors. There were no roads; 
 Indian trails were the only thoroughfares, and the few settlers on 
 many occasions, became acquainted with the hardships and privations 
 of pioneer life. Provisions and groceries were only obtained at Green 
 Bay, about seventy miles distant. 
 
 "Families were sometimes destitute of any kind of food, but 
 potatoes, for four weeks in succession, and while the men were gone 
 to Green Bay for provisions, women were frequently left entirely 
 alone for three or four days and nights, surroundeed by wolves and 
 Indians. 
 
 "Mrs. Westfall was once left, not only alone, but destitute of 
 any kind of food, but such berries or roots as the woods afforded, 
 for three days and nights ; and to make her condition more unpleas- 
 ant, her fire became extinct, she had no means of rekindling it, and 
 thus surrounded by wolves, Indians and innumerable mosquitos, she 
 passed the night in total darkness. Mr. Westfall and his wife endured 
 many hardships and suffered many privations ; he was once lost in the 
 woods forty-eight hours without food, in a severe rain storm; he 
 finally reached his home with his clothes torn, his limbs swollen and 
 lacerated, in a state of great exhaustion. He with his wife, endured 
 the pinchings of poverty and misfortune, until January, 1847, when 
 he was found frozen to death near what is now^ the village of Avoca, 
 the first hamlet and postoffice in the town of Oakfield. When the 
 railroad passed through Oakfield the site of the village was moved 
 one mile west and called Oakfield. His widow was afterward married 
 to Mr. Sherman Botsford, with whom she now lives, surrounded with 
 all the comforts of life. 
 
 "Mr. John Wilkinson, who came into this town soon after his 
 brothers Russell and Robert, was killed by the fall of a tree, about 
 eighteen months after his arrival. He left a widow and four children. 
 He had taken up forty acres of land, but had not paid for it. The 
 neighbors, with that noble benevolence which is a peculiar character- 
 istic of pioneers, in the midst of their own poverty and privations, 
 raised the money, paid for the land and gave it to the bereaved 
 family. 
 
 "Mr. Russell Wilkinson died suddenly of fever May 4th, 1847. 
 His w^idow was afterward married to Mr. C. Tunison, with whom she 
 now lives, on the same farm where they first lived in an Indian wig- 
 wam, till Mr. Wilkinson built a log house." 
 
 Hon. H. D. Hitt was also one of the pioneers of the town of 
 Oakfield and knows of the struggles of the settlers by experience. 
 And he knows the lay of the land from Milwaukee to Fond du Lac, 
 having passed over the country more than once on foot. 
 
 The Sylvester family also know^ of country hardships by bitter 
 experience. Meeting with misfortune, three dollars was the total 
 family capital on arrival at Milwaukee. This was pooled for imme- 
 diate use and nine months of hard work enabled them to start for
 
 116 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Pond du Lac, and on their arrival a shanty was erected on the well 
 known Sylvester farm in Byron. They dug potatoes for Pat Kelly 
 for one bushel in ten, and did other work for their neighbors to make 
 both ends meet. 
 
 William Adams, wdio died recently at his home in the town of 
 Eden, was one of the early pioneers of this county, and his face was 
 familiar to most people of this city. He came to Fond du Lac county 
 in 1847 ^nd settled in the town of Forest, but afterwards moved to 
 Empire, then to Eden where his home was for many years. Besides 
 the homestead in Eden, he had long owned a farm in Eldorado. Mr. 
 Adams was in many respects a remarkable man, capable, idustrious, 
 honest, he never failed in his undertakings. In his intercourse with 
 his friends, he tried always to do his whole duty and few indeed will 
 say he did not succeed. He was an honored member of the Old 
 Settlers' Club and his death is greatly lamented. 
 
 At the beginning of this twentieth century, the pioneer of the 
 west has but a slight realization of the obstacles encountered b}' the 
 early settlers of Fond du Lac county. Railroad transportation is now 
 obtainable to within a few miles of almost any point, while we had 
 but miserable trails and not a rod of railroad in the state. All sorts 
 of machinery and tools, including mills, may be had in a few days — 
 they were not in existence when our pioneers struggled. All sorts 
 of building material is now readily obtained, our pioneers were com- 
 pelled to resort to logs and poles to build hovels to cover their heads 
 from the storm. The western pioneer of today, of course meets with 
 privations and annoyances, but the world in general has progressed 
 too far for him to duplicate the experiences in Fond du Lac county, 
 Wisconsin. A half century has brought remarkable changes. Will 
 another half century leave any pioneers — will we have any frontier 
 left for settlement — doubtful. The rapid rate of settlement the past 
 few years, indicates an absorption of the country by settlers, long 
 before the end of another fifty years. 
 
 The First City Directory. 
 
 The first city directory of Fond du Lac, that for the year 1857, 
 was compiled by Bingham & Co., and printed in the office of the Fond 
 du Lac Union. The entire book consists of 104 pages, forty-one of 
 the pages being given to names of residents and sixty-three to sum- 
 maries, notices and advertisements. The book contains about 1,700 
 names, indicating a total population of about 2,400. A. T. Glaze 
 printed the book, assisted by two brothers by the name of Brown, 
 who worked in the Union office. The copy now owned by Mr. Glaze, 
 was found in the attic of the residence of Dr. T. S. Wright, on Forest 
 Avenue, thirty-five years after it was printed. The ink used in print- 
 ing the book holds its color and now, though nearly half a century 
 has elapsed since it was issued, the book is in every respect as solid 
 and perfect as when first given to the people forty-eight years ago. 
 The condition and appearance indicate that it may last another half 
 century if properly housed and cared for.
 
 EARLY DAYS FLOURING MILLS 
 
 How They Were Built and Managed and Difficulties Encountered 
 by Settlers in Getting Grinding Done, 
 
 When the pioneers arrived in Fond du Lac county, among the 
 first things inquired was, "Where can I get grinding done to 
 feed myself and family, and where can I get lumber to cover our- 
 selves from the storm?" The most important thing was food, for we 
 must remember that the situation then was very different from that 
 of the present time. Then the farmer's own wheat and corn as a 
 grist must be taken to the mill and be ground by the miller, now the 
 grain is sold readily and there is no waiting upon the motion of the 
 miller or for the dam to fill with water to give power to his mill. 
 
 Flour, meal and feed for stock may now be had from dealers in 
 extreme frontier towns. Our pioneers had to go to the mill, but 
 where was the mill? Up to 1846 it was no uncommon thing to start 
 out with oxen and wagon for Watertown and Sheboygan Falls with 
 grists. The late Lyman F. Stow, J. C. Wedge, Seth Sylvester, Sr., 
 E. A. Carey and others have been over these roads for this purpose. 
 Cheap power except water, was many years in the future and steam 
 engines and boilers are heavy and difficult of transportation into a 
 new country. 
 
 The first mill within reasonable distance of Fond du Lac, how- 
 ever, was one driven by steam at Ball's Corners, Calumet, built in 
 1843, primarily for the Brothertown people by George W. Feather- 
 stonhaugh. It was located on a small brook, but the water was in- 
 sufficient to drive it, so a small steam engine was obtained for it. It 
 was of limited capacity, but was in use a number of years and when 
 it burned, mills were more numerous and it was not rebuilt. 
 
 The experience of E. A. Carey at this mill may be related here. 
 One morning in 1846, Ed. (as we all called him then) loaded his 
 grist into his wagon and bright and early started for the mill. Get- 
 ting there at noon the mill was silent and cold and no wood to get 
 up steam. He helped to chop the wood and hauled it to the mill and 
 got up steam, but his grist was completed so late he concluded to 
 stay all night. In the morning his oxen were gone and he scoured 
 the country looking for them, but not until in the afternoon did he 
 find them leisurely pasturing on the prairie at Taycheedah. Driving 
 them back to the wagon and the yoke, he loaded his grist and started 
 for home at 10 o'clock at night. But soon another bitter experience 
 came to him. At the foot of JMcClure's hill, this side of what is now 
 Winnebago Park, the tire of one of the wheels of the wagon came 
 off. He got it on in the darkness and managed to keep it on with a 
 big stone in each hand, until he arrived home at 3 o'clock in the 
 morning, without having had anything to eat since the morning be-
 
 118 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 fore. Ed. says he was tired and hungry, for he had his boy appetite 
 along with him. One can well imagine he would be very hungry 
 and verj-' tired, but to use a modern expression, "he got there just 
 the same." 
 
 The Conklin mill in Empire was built in 1845, ^^^ did very good 
 service for the settlers. It was of limited capacity, of course like 
 all early day mills on small streams. 
 
 Next came the Seymour mill, on the west branch of the Fond 
 du Eac river, near where Seymour street now crosses that stream. 
 It was also limited in its capacity for work and during most of its 
 existence was little more than a corn cracker and feed mill. It came 
 into existence in 1848. 
 
 Capt. Soper originated his scheme for a mill on the east branch 
 of the Fond du Lac river, just south of this city in 1849. O^ course 
 the water supply for power was small. It did very good work but 
 was able to run only in the spring and fall when there was plenty of 
 w^ater. It has been out of existence many years. 
 
 The year 1850 brought a number of mills to this vicinity. The 
 Ike Orvis mill at Avoca, near Oakfield. and the Conklin mill at Oak- 
 field are still in use, but being located on a very small stream, are of 
 limited capacity. The Allen mill, located on a small spring brook 
 a short distance south of Winnebago Park, had the tremendous head 
 of about sixty feet, but the water supply was so small that it never 
 did much work. The Geisse mill at Taycheedah, was a steam mill, 
 and the best and most reliable of its time. It was burned in 1854 
 and w^as not rebuilt. In 1857 T. S. Henry built a mill near the corner 
 of Arndt and Brooke streets. It was run by steam, but was burned 
 after a few years. In 1850 John Beeson, a brother of Edward Beeson, 
 started a sawmill and turning factory at Waucousta, and in 1856 
 added a flouring mill to his plant there. Some later a mill was built 
 at Dundee. Eater on steam mills appeared at various places, but 
 those had no part or lot in the pioneer days' experiences. 
 
 The Stone mill of Allen & Aldrich and Allen & Treleven had its 
 origin at a much later period and for a long time was principally em- 
 ployed in grinding corn for Boyle Brothers' yeast factory. The 
 Helmer mills came still later. 
 
 Silver Creek at Ripon, in the early days, was a fine .stream for 
 mills, and at one time there were no less than five flouring mills and 
 one woolen factory on it within a distance of two and a half miles. 
 Most of these long since disappeared and those left have steam for 
 power much of the year. The water in the stream is now but about 
 one-fourth of its former volume. 
 
 Waupun has had a water mill from about 1850, and like so many 
 others was a very good one at first, l)ut the water decreased in quan- 
 tity to the extent that it became necessary to add steam. 
 
 In 1848 "it was proposed to erect a first-class three-story flour- 
 ing mill in this city," and Messrs. Wheeler, Snow, Driggs and one 
 or two others were interested in it. The timber for it was hewed and 
 the frame erected at the corner of Macy and Court streets north of
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 119 
 
 the court house. That frame stood there many years and until 
 tveather beaten^ when the structure was deemed unsafe and the city 
 authorities ordered it removed. Just why the work was not pro- 
 ceeded with could not be ascertained, but it was believed to be due 
 to a lack of the necessary capital. 
 
 Such were the mills of the early times and such the experience 
 of the pioneers. After 1852 there was little trouble in getting grind- 
 ing done and along toward i860 an entirely new era set in, when the 
 Minneapolis and other big millers began the work of distributing 
 their product and it has pretty much wiped out the small mills ; they 
 being used now, if used at all, as mere corn crackers and feed mills. 
 The railroads have reached out to even the small villages and the 
 product of the large mills is thus distributed so readily that prac- 
 tically M^e have no frontier to need mills. The days of privation such 
 as our pioneers experienced, have passed away forever. 
 
 Let the people of today try to realize the situation here in the 
 winter of i847-'48, when wheat, corn, buckwheat and rye were 
 pounded in a big mortar made of wood instead of being ground in a 
 mill. People now find fault with roller made flour if not in the per- 
 fection of milling and obtained at an hour's notice. Fifty years ago 
 our predecessors Avere glad to get anything for bread — grain pounded 
 in a mortar and unbolted was gladly accepted. Ask B. J. Gilbert, 
 Jay Roblee, James and Seth Sylvester and others of that period, 
 who experienced it. It is said of good natured Jo. Hall, that during 
 that winter when everything was frozen and the mills could not run 
 because of scarcity of water, Jo. went to Sheboygan Falls with a grist 
 and the miller told him he could not get it in less than four weeks 
 unless it rained or thawed. Jo. told him he did not dare to go home 
 for his wife would kill him if he returned without the grist, and 
 when supper time came Jo. ofifered to pay the miller a quarter to go 
 into his house and see them eat bread, which would be a real curiosity 
 to him. Jo.'s humor induced the miller to tell him if he would keep 
 out of sight until after dark and would leave for home at two o'clock 
 in the morning, he would run his grist through for him. Jo.'s fund 
 of humor was used to some purpose that time. 
 
 Edward Beeson was at Geisse's mill at Taycheedah, the day his 
 son, J. J. Beeson, founder of the Reporter, was supposed to be stolen 
 by the Indians, but was asleep in a hen's nest behind a board leaning 
 against a tree. 
 
 The old mills have now nearl}^ all passed from existence and 
 reading about them here is all the knowledge some people will have 
 that they ever were here. People now living or in the future to come, 
 will not have experiences such as our ancestors had in this important 
 matter. The conditions are different, the way of doing things is 
 different. Let us therefore read and reflect on what those pioneers 
 did for us ; how they endured privations and suiTered for us and left 
 this grand and beautiful country in shape for us to enjoy. Let us 
 cherish their memory and give them at least an occasional thought.
 
 120 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Forgot His Wife at Oshkosh. 
 
 During- one of the winters of many years ago, a musical conven- 
 tion was held at Oshkosh, and many Fond du Lac people attended. 
 Among the musical notables was Emerson Hawley, who assisted in 
 conducting the convention. When ready to return home, two large 
 sleighs and one cutter carried the party. They came over on the ice, 
 and as they neared the mouth of the river, Mr. Hawley discovered 
 that he had forgotten something — his wife. She was in that city and 
 alone, so the only thing to be done was to go back after her, so the 
 cutter was headed north and the balance of the party came on home. 
 Annoying as the forced return was to Mr. Hawley, the annoyance 
 by his friends for months about forgetting his wife, was much more 
 so. It was a lono- time before he heard the last of it. 
 
 Council Wants Circus Tickets. 
 
 In 1858 the common council of Fond du Lac passed a resolution 
 that in future all circuses must pay a license and furnish tickets for 
 members of the council and city officers. When Yankee Robinson's 
 show came there was a kick and the show put up its tent on Rahte's 
 farm, south of the city and just outside the city limits. An old 
 wagon and a pair of sorry looking horses now appeared on the streets 
 with fife and drum and a large man with tremendous voice, declaring 
 readiness to pay the license but stopped at the tickets. Between 
 each of the announcements came rattling of the fife and drum that 
 would scare an Indian out of town. The scene provoked much 
 laughter and for ridicule it was a great success and no more was 
 ever heard about circus tickets. In after years it delighted Jo. 
 Serwe to tell of the affair. 
 
 An Albino Barber. 
 
 M. Wagner & Son now have a fine dry goods store at the north- 
 west corner of Ivlain and ^^'est Second streets, but there was a time 
 that a small wood building stood on that ground and Horace Durand 
 had a harness shop in it. In the rear for a long time stood the old 
 building known as the Exchange Hotel, now a part of the Lewis 
 House. For a long time one of the occupants of the old Exchange, 
 was a full Albino, pink eyes, florid complexion and light hair, named 
 Mitchell, who carried on a barber shop there. His wife was a negro 
 of considerable ability and drew many a customer to the shop by 
 story telling. Her use of the language was fine, but her husband 
 was remarkable for the use of big words. He constantly kept in use 
 the most remarkable words in the dictionary, without reference to 
 meaning or place. He would work in several big words in succession 
 and to the extent that his talk was unintelligible. The longer the 
 word or the more infretjuent in use, the better for him. His talk was 
 laughable for the intelligent and perplexing for the ignorant. He 
 was most remarkable and his peculiarity besides his wife's story tell- 
 ing, brouirht him customers.
 
 DRUGS AND MEDICINES 
 
 Those Who Sold Medicines in Early Days and Who are Selling 
 
 Them Now — Apothecary — Druggist — Pharmacist. 
 
 Wonderful Developments in the Business. 
 
 The business man now known as a "pharmacist." a few years 
 back was universally known as a "druggist," but aged people now 
 living remember that "apothecary" was the familiar name applied 
 to the business of keeping medicines in a store. And how different 
 the practice! The apothecary of former times was expected to 
 gather and prepare domestic remedies for use. His sphere embraced 
 the refining of crude articles, coming sometimes from foreign 
 countries. He compounded and put up Godfrey's Cordial, Bateman's 
 Drops, Macassar Oil, Golden Tincture and many other like articles, 
 then generally used. He steeped, percolated and filtered his own 
 roots and herbs and made pills. He was a busy man, though he had 
 very few or no prescriptions to prepare, and found little time for 
 "sitting around." He knew nothing of the alkaloids, tablets, sugar 
 coated pills and fine tinctures now prepared in every desirable form 
 at the city pharmacies, supplied with every known appliance for such 
 work, and where these articles are furnished in almost endless variety 
 and in doses sized to suit the physician. The crude remedy and big- 
 dose, so familiar to the apothecary, are now almost unknown. The 
 prescription business now so common, is the growth of comparatively 
 few years, and was almost unknown to the apothecary. In his day 
 the physician bought his medicines and appliances at the store and 
 dispensed them at his ofiice or from his saddlebags. 
 
 The modern methods became known to some extent when the 
 druggist was recognized. The name, as well as the improved medical 
 methods, was a matter of growth. The druggist was supplied with 
 many of the refined articles and the physicians gladly adopted them. 
 New discoveries were constantly being made in the treatment of 
 diseases as well as in the remedies used. In this as in most things, 
 the march of improvement was onward. 
 
 But about the year 1880 the word pharmacist was recognized, and 
 in 1882, when the Wisconsin legislature authorized the first pharma- 
 ceutical board, the word pharmacist came into use. The young 
 practitioner of pharmacy today, has little conception of the work of 
 the apothecary, though the druggist is not an entire stranger. The 
 pharmacist of our day has everything in the highest degree profes- 
 sional and useful. His medicines come from pharmacies and drug 
 mills known everywhere for the perfection of their product, hence 
 prescriptions are put up with the greatest confidence as to efficacy 
 and cleanliness. Errors are practically eliminated by the pharma- 
 ceutical law. There mav be found in these stores a few articles
 
 122 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 known to the trade as "commercial," but they are not used for medical 
 prescriptions. The complaint that is heard most is that of a lack of 
 cleanliness, something that should be practiced above all else by the 
 pharmacist. The prescription case should be kept scrupulously clean, 
 and graduated measures, knives, mortars, slabs and all appliances 
 are carefully washed by the pharmacist every time they are used. 
 Complaints are sometimes heard of in the matter, but it is pleasing 
 to note that it is not often. Remedy this and there will be little to 
 complain of in modern pharmacy. 
 
 Dr. T. B. Brigham, it is said by some, was the first Fond du Lac 
 druggist, but the truth seems to be that he was hardly doctor or 
 druggist. He was a missionary preacher, stopping on his periodical 
 journeyings from Green Bay to Fond du Lac, at Stockbridge, Brother- 
 town and other hamlets, to doctor the natives and preach to them. 
 He had in one corner of Clock & Weikert's store, in the Fond du Lac 
 house in 1846, a few bottles, boxes and bundles containing often 
 used medicines, and this was styled a "drug store." 
 
 Dr. O. S. Wright established the first real drug store in Fond du 
 Lac in 1847, ^^^ continued until 1851, when he sold out. 
 
 D. R. Curran came here the same year, 1847, ^^^d opened his drug 
 store, which he continued many years. The store was located in the 
 building of the New York store of A. P. & G. N. Lyman, in charge 
 of Wm. A. Dewey, on the east side of Main street, between First 
 and Second. The drug store was in the- south end, on the land on 
 which the Fonda restaurant now stands. Burned out with the whole 
 block in 1852, it was re-opened on the west side of the street, where 
 it remained many years. 
 
 Root & Partridge opened the next drug store in Fond du Lac, 
 in the middle room of the old Darling block and it was the first 
 business in that memorable structure, though the stores of Brownson 
 & Laughlin in the south end and T. & B. Mason in the north end, 
 opened close to the same time. J. R. & J. W. Partridge continued 
 the business until 1856, when it was sold. 
 
 Wright, 0. S. 
 Curran, D. R. 
 Partridge, J. R. & J. W. 
 Wright, T. S. 
 Krembs, Morritz. 
 Blinkenburg, F. 
 Brown, M. A. 
 Baumbach & Jacobi. 
 Curran & Kalk. 
 Curran & Son. 
 Ditter, John. 
 Ditter & Mitchell. 
 Huber, J. C. 
 
 Here Since 1846. 
 
 Kent & Durand. 
 Krumme, F. 
 Lowell, J. C. 
 Miner, Jay. 
 Marshall & Dana. 
 Marshall, C. H. 
 Mitchell & Pfeil. 
 Moulton & Griffith. 
 Root & Partridge. 
 Rupp, L. & O. 
 Spence, S. B. 
 Stiles & Givens. 
 Wright & Tucker. 
 
 Stiles, S. B. 
 Wright & Hiner. 
 Kalk & Kent. 
 Kendall & Co. 
 Lange, Ed. 
 Wright & Hamilton. 
 Wallichs & Dilts. 
 Dana, James T. 
 Breed, Geo. N. 
 Geisse, Chas. 
 Geisse & Taugher.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 12:i 
 
 In Business Here Now. 
 The Huber Bros. Reeves & Son. Pfeil & Kramer. 
 
 Remington Drug Co. Frank V. Masilko. B. Buchholz Co. 
 
 W. R. Plank Drug Co. W. W. Breister. Utter Drug Co, 
 
 Schleyer & Ordway. Sallade & Ruh. 
 
 The longest contintiotis business in this line in Fond du Lac, is 
 that of the Hubers established in 1864, and it has been in the same 
 store from the beginning, all the time in charge of Mr. J. C. Huber. 
 His advancing age and poor health has caused him of late to put the 
 business in the hands of his son, E. J. Huber. 
 
 J. R. & J. W. Partridge had what was doubtless the handsomest 
 drug store Fond du Lac has ever had. The fixtures and furniture 
 was a nice imitation of rosewood, the shelf furnishings were remark- 
 ably neat and the entire store was always kept clean and in order. 
 Mr. J. W. Partridge, who was in charge, took great pride in the neat- 
 ness of the store. 
 
 D. R. Curran and his son, Ed. S. Curran. when he came to man- 
 hood, were popular in the community and their store was always a 
 prominent resort, and it was seldom during business hours that their 
 store was empty of callers. Prominent men from out of town were 
 sure to call at Curran's before leaving for home, and it was the place 
 of all others in Fond du Lac to leave requests. Fred Kalk learned 
 the business in this store and he and Mr. Curran were probably 
 known personally to almost everybody in the county. 
 
 S. B. Spence, so well known here as "Sammy," was a graduate 
 of the Philadelphia School of Pharmacy, and. his store was a popular 
 resort for young men. He possessed a remarkably genial disposition, 
 but tuberculosis of the lungs brought him to an early grave. 
 
 Dr. T. S. Wright was for some years the only surgeon here for 
 capital operations and he was a conscientious druggist, refusing to 
 sell anything from his store on Sundays except medicine for the sick 
 or to a physician. 
 
 Eleven drug stores now doing business in Fond du Lac, seems 
 to be an abundant supply, but there was a time that we had fourteen 
 and the population of the city was not as large as it is now. The 
 number of physicians in practice here previous to 1850, was greater 
 in proportion to population than it has ever been since. The number 
 of physicians now here is believed by many to be large in proportion 
 to population, but as near as can be ascertained the proportion has 
 not varied much since 1850. The number of drug stores is now a 
 little below the average. The proportion of drug stores to people 
 in the state, is said to be less now than it was twenty years ago, and 
 the reason for it probably lies in the pharmaceutical law which re- 
 quires the employment of a licentiate in pharmacy, a registered 
 pharmacist or a graduated physician to conduct the business, which 
 many cannot afford. There are many general and village stores that 
 keep a few articles on sale, together with patent medicines, but 
 nothing of the nature of poisons and are not drug stores. We have 
 in the villages of this county, some such stores.
 
 124 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 In the early days when the apothecaries ruled in these things, 
 many very useful articles were sold in large quantities that are 
 seldom or never heard of now. The apothecary bought dye-stuffs 
 by the barrel, such as madder, fustic, logwood, etc., and sold them to 
 the housewives by the pound, but they are seldom heard of now. 
 If home dyeing is done at all, it is with packet dyes. If the crude 
 dj'es are now kept by the pharmacist, it is in very small quantities, 
 not by the barrel as required by the apothecary. 
 
 Another disappearance from the sales of the pharmacist, is the 
 dry colors for paints. In former times dr}^ white lead, chrome yellow 
 and green, rose-pink, lampblack, etc., had a regular demand, but how 
 changed is the situation in the sales of dry colors ! Paints are pre- 
 pared now at paint mills, ready for the brush and put up in kegs and 
 cans. 
 
 It is not much more than a half century since varnish factories 
 put in an appearance and the apothecary made his own copal and 
 Japan varnish for the use of cabinet shops that had an existence. 
 Many of the coach, carriage and piano makers bought the gums and 
 made their own varnish. All this is now changed and all the varnish 
 comes from factories. 
 
 But who that was familiar with the drug store of fifty or even 
 twenty-five years ago, and looks at the contents of the show cases 
 in a pharmacy of today, does not recognize the enormous increase 
 in what is known as "druggists' sundries." These articles have in- 
 creased at least ten fold and new ones constantly appearing. And 
 patent medicines, known as "propietary articles," have increased in 
 about the same proportion. When we notice the fact that the book 
 and stationery stores have all disappeared, and frequent attempts to 
 re-establish such stores met with failure, we realize that it is due to 
 the fact that the drug stores deal extensively in stationery and many 
 of them in books. And so changes are constantly going on, not only 
 in the drug stores, but in many other lines of business. 
 
 The pioneers of this county went to the cabinet shop for furniture, 
 to the harness shop for harness, to the shoe shop for boots and shoes, 
 to the plow shop for plows, to the wagon shop for wagons, to the 
 fanning mill shop for fanning mills and so on, for such shops were 
 here then, but all this is changed now. These articles are now made 
 at factories, the mechanic with his shop has no show and has been 
 compelled to abandon the field. The mechanic cannot compete with 
 the factory. 
 
 City of Ripen. 
 
 Following are the names of the pharmacists who have occupied 
 the field at Ripon. David Greenway being the first: 
 
 David Greenway. Sherwood & Kessler. Wright & Brayton. 
 
 Isaac Cooper. Sherwood & Marshal. Brayton & Co. 
 
 De Frees & Esl<ew. Frank Uhrlein. O. U. Akin. 
 
 Wm. Gale. J. R. Hunter. E. J. Burnside. 
 
 Burdett Phelps. F. R. Hanchett. Ottmer Schallern. 
 
 F. D. Booth. Jones & Brayton. Cook & Hubbard.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 125 
 
 Now in the Business. 
 
 E. J. Burnside. Ottmer Schallein. Cook & Hubbard. 
 
 The above is beheved to be a complete list, though there may 
 have been one or two overlooked. There is a less number of drug- 
 gists there now than there were for many years, and it is noticeable 
 that all the old occupants of the field have disappeared. Mr. Burn- 
 side and Dr. Schallern have been in the business there some years 
 but do not belong to the old school. The druggist in the longest 
 continuous business there was DeFrees & Eskew, but their firm dis- 
 appeared some years ago. ^Ir. Eskew never resided in Ripon and Mr. 
 DeFrees is dead. And so the older ones continue to disappear and 
 new ones take their places. 
 
 City of Waupun. 
 
 The following is a complete list of those who have been in the 
 drug business at Waupun from the beginning: 
 
 W. C. Griffis. E. B. Patton. D. J. Tinner. 
 
 Robert Hobkirk. J. V. Preston. R. W. Wells. 
 
 F. S. Keech. H. McCourchis 
 
 In Business There Now. 
 E. B. Patton. D. J. Turner. H. McCourchis 
 
 Brandon — W. A. Turner. 
 
 Campbellsport — Wm. Reinhart, Paas & Hendricks. 
 
 Eairwater — Oliver M. Layton. 
 
 North Fond du Lac — J. E, Koepenick. 
 
 Oakfield — Burns Bros. 
 
 Rosendale — McKnight & Co. 
 
 R. M. Wells, now dead, was the pioneer druggist at Waupun, 
 and it is proper here to say, that in his lifetime, he was one of the 
 most popular business men in that place. It was a noteworthy fact 
 there, that Mr. Wells never refused medicine to any one because of 
 inability to pay for it, and it would be furnished at any time, night 
 or day. His widow still resides in Waupun. 
 
 But one of the above druggists belonged to Fond du Lac county 
 — all the rest were in Dodge county. 
 
 Most of the villages in the county are without drug stores, for 
 the reason that the pharmacy law requires that they be cared for by 
 a graduated physician, a registered pharmacist or a licentiate in 
 pharmacy, and the expense is too heavy. General stores often keep 
 a few of the common domestic articles, but nothing in the nature of 
 poisons can be lawfully sold without the above supervision. This 
 has been the law since 1882. 
 
 Two horse thieves who escaped from the county jail in 1857, 
 when Geo. W^ Mitchell was sheriff, were followed so close that they 
 hid in the flues of a brick kiln near the present Bowen factory, when 
 they were yet so hot that it was wondered how they ever stood it.
 
 126 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Stone Yard Experiment. 
 
 Many years ago a stone yard was started in Fond du Lac and 
 much of the stone to be seen in our buildings was dressed there. 
 Most of the stone used was from quarries in the ledge below Tay- 
 cheedah. The 3^ard was not in existence very long, but it was 
 demonstrated while it w^as here, that Fond du Lac has near at hand 
 any quantity of splendid building stone, and all that is needed to 
 make it available is capital. The ledge is twenty miles long and the 
 stone is absolutely inexhaustible. The stone yard was located on 
 the bank of the river and north of Division street to the grounds of 
 the present malt house. The Bullis livery barn was put there since, 
 but the place was far too small for the business. The place seemed 
 more like a lot where stone was being made ready for a building than 
 a yard for the preparation of a general stock. The stone was fine, 
 but in the absence of proper machinery to dress it, the hand work 
 gave it a rough look. In short, the work was not as neat and finished 
 in appearance. Among the builders at that time and since, the im- 
 pression was general that stone from the ledge, properly cut and 
 finished, could be readily sold. To do this work as it ought to be 
 done, machinery must be used, but to put it up and dress the stone 
 in the city or at the quarries, is an important question. All these 
 things belong to practical men to consider. Fond du Lac has at 
 hand some of the best building stone in the state, and the only ques- 
 tion is how to utilize it. That the one attempt made was a failure, 
 ought not to hinder others and more practical men with capital. 
 Transportation of stone is an important item by rail or team, and 
 this was doubtless the reason for cutting the stone here by Henry 
 Bannister in old times. With all this fine material at our doors, why 
 should Fond du Lac not have a stone yard of modern appliances. 
 
 Amory Hall and the Peak Family. 
 
 When Amory block, opposite the Palmer House, was completed 
 in 1856, the people of Fond du Lac were proud of the structure, the 
 largest and best in the city, and were especially proud of Amory Hall. 
 The dome was very neat and the brackets of the side walls were 
 beautiful. They are yet, except that they are dingy from neglect and 
 non-use of the hall. It has been suggested many times that it would 
 not be a difficult or expensive undertaking to make that building into 
 a beautiful modern opera house, but it more than filled the bill of 
 wants in that line, for the people of Fond du Lac, at the time. The 
 Peak Family of bell ringers are well remembered by all old timers, 
 as they have been here many times, but they opened Amory Hall. 
 They gave the first performance in it and the crowd present was very 
 large — every nook and corner was crowded. They introduced the 
 songs "Pretty Little Polly Perkins" and "Johnny Schmoker," so 
 much sung here for many years.
 
 INDIANS AND INDIAN PAYMENTS 
 
 Some Interesting Information Relative to the Indians and the Ways 
 of Government Officials in Paying Annuities. 
 
 Up to 1852 the Menomonee Indians roamed over this section 
 of country at will. Between Milwaukee, Theresa and Shawano, their 
 visits were frequent. They were not as troublesome as were the 
 Winnebagos, but all were glad when they were gone. The Menom- 
 onees were the last of the Indians here, and since they were moved 
 to their reservation at Keshena. in 1852, an Indian in blanket has 
 been a curiosity in Fond du Lac. Solomon Juneau was the guiding 
 star of the Menomonees. They depended upon him for counsel and 
 he settled their disputes. His home was in Milwaukee and they fre- 
 quently traveled long distances to get his advice. He sometimes 
 came to Fond du Lac and Oshkosh to set things right, and at such 
 times these places had more Indians than they desired. At the time 
 of the trial before the county judge at Oshkosh, relative to the own- 
 ership of a child claimed by the Partridges to have been stolen from 
 them by the Indians while at work in a sugar camp, nearly the whole 
 of the tribe was there and the feeling was bitter. Solomon Juneau 
 was there and old Chief Oshkosh was there, holding the Indians in 
 check and trouble was avoided. 
 
 The two years immediately preceding the removal of the Menom- 
 onees to Keshena, the camp for the payment of annuities by the 
 United States government, was on the south shore of Lake Poygan 
 and we are telling the story of the payments for the information of 
 people who now know little about Indians from actual observation. 
 The government Indian agent always had one or two companies of 
 soldiers present to insure order. The tribe is divided into bands, 
 each band having a leader. When ready to pay them, the Indian 
 agent and clerk counts out the money on a table in equal piles for 
 each man, woman and child of the band. This table is placed be- 
 tween two doors on opposite sides of the cabin, then as the names 
 are called, each marches through alone and without stopping, hold- 
 ing up the corner of his blanket, into which the agent drops his share 
 of the money. After all have been paid, and it includes all, children 
 as well as older ones, the band is marched away to a vacant spot, 
 where all are seated on the ground in a circle. The share of the band 
 payable in supplies such as salt pork and beef, flour, salt, etc.. is 
 rolled to the center of the circle each Indian having bags receives his 
 share under direction of the leader of the band. As the writer of 
 this watched this part of the work, he w'as impressed that some re- 
 ceived more than their share — possibly favorites — but there was no 
 trouble visible. Implements for gardening and working patches of 
 corn were not given to the individuals but bestowed upon the whole
 
 128 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 of the band. Each band of the whole tribe went through this pro- 
 cess. The payment was a rather slow process for the reason that 
 the roll was verified and signed by each band separately as such 
 before another was paid. The evident object of the agent was to have 
 the work satisfactory as it progressed and not leave it to the end. 
 
 At the door of the cabin where the Indians came out with their 
 money in the corner of their blankets, is where the agents of the 
 traders got in their work on dishonest Indians who did not want to 
 pay their debts. If one showed a disposition not to pay, the agents 
 would seize him and take from him enough to pay the debt. To 
 take more than this was not allowed by law. Once in a while an 
 Indian would jump from the door and run and there would be an 
 exciting chase, but the agents generally managed to capture him. 
 
 The camps generally lasted about ten days, and as the steam- 
 boats ran there every day and there were temporary hotels, a great 
 many people went to see what w^as going on. But gambling was 
 the great attraction. Every sort of game was played with cards, 
 and there was keno, dice, wheels and all sorts of devices. The 
 gambling tables were crowded every night and all night. The hotel 
 men often had to drive the gamblers out to set the tables for break- 
 fast. Few of the Indians seemed to gamble, so that feature of the 
 Indian payments must have been brought there by others. There 
 were several shows there including a theatre. The Indians had pet 
 bears and other petted wild animals, some of them very interesting. 
 In the evening the tom-tom playing and dancing and Indian flute 
 playing attracted crowds of people at the camp. But all this long 
 since passed away and interest in the red man belongs only to 
 history. A wild Indian in paint and blanket is a curiosity in Fond 
 du Lac now, but at the time of which we write, they w6re to be 
 seen loafing around almost every day, sometimes singly, but oftener 
 in companies of three to twenty. A favorite place for their wigwams 
 was among the small trees and brush then existing plentifully east* 
 of Main street and between Merrill street and the lake shore. The 
 wigwams were generally found in groups of two to five. The Indian 
 boys were sometimes seen on the streets with bows and arrows to 
 shoot at pennies set up by the curious on split sticks stuck in the 
 ground, but candor -compels the assertion that their marksmanship 
 w^as poor. They would often shoot at a penny many times before 
 bringing it down, though the distance was not great. The proverbial 
 skill of the noble red man with his bow and arrow was seldom seen 
 here. 
 
 It was fortunate for early settlers in Fond du Lac county, that 
 the Winnebago Indians were moved to the Wisconsin river region 
 before they came, but some stragglers would return, and sometimes 
 in stifficient numbers to make trouble. It was undoubtedly these 
 fellows who did the mischief in Oakfield at the Wilkinson settlement, 
 for no one who knew the Menomonees believe they were guilty of 
 such an atrocity. After some years these Winnebagos began to be 
 troublesome to the people at Stevens Point, Grand Rapids and other 
 places along the Wisconsin river, and the general government again
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 129 
 
 removed them, this time west of the Mississippi river. But Col. 
 Moore, of LaCrosse, who had them in charge, could not make them 
 stay there and most of them straggled back to the region of Black 
 River Falls, and have since behaved themselves very well. In pur- 
 suing his work on Indian legends. Col. R. G. Thewaltz, of the Wis- 
 consin State Historical Society, spent some weeks among them, and 
 regards them as having made at least some progress in general civili- 
 zation since they were here. 
 
 Wandering bands of Pottonwalomies and Chippewas were 
 occasionally in Fond du Lac in early days, but were generally simply 
 passing on their way and their stay was short. 
 
 The Brothertowns were civilized when they were brought from 
 the east to settle on their lands on the east shore of Lake \Vinnebago, 
 and soon after arriving here were made citizens by an act of congress. 
 But as has been shown by other experiments, Indian blood cannot 
 stand civilization and the Brothertowns have become almost extinct. 
 
 An "Indian party" and a "citizens' party" divided the Stockbridge 
 tribe when it was brought here from the east to settle upon land on 
 the east side of Lake Winnebago, immediately north of the Brother- 
 towns. John W. Quinney. leader of the Indian party, and Mr. Adams, 
 leader of the citizens' part}', spent much time at Washington, 
 harrassing congress and the government officials for relief from the 
 annoyances of the situation. After some years the Indian adherents 
 were moved north to Shawano county, and the citizen adherents 
 remained here. But it was a mere matter of time with them and few 
 are now left to tell the tale of the once great Stockbridge nation. 
 John W. Quinney plead at Washington for the lives of his people 
 whom he said would perish amid scenes of farm life, but they also 
 died ofif in the woods and wilds of Shawano county. 
 
 These are the Indians that Fond du Lac county people were 
 familiar with in early days, and whether good or bad Indians, no 
 one cares to see them here aeain. 
 
 First Harness Made Here. 
 
 The first harness made in Fond du Lac county was by Lyman 
 Bishop. He drove stage to Milwaukee to buy the material and 
 brought it back with him. He worked in an attic room at Peebles, 
 below Taycheedah. and sold them so readily that he continued there 
 about a year. At this time one could not go to Milwaukee or Chicago 
 and buy ready made harness, this practice not coming in until war 
 time when the demand was great and harness makers hard to find. 
 The demand by the blockade runners was so heavy that immense 
 shops were started at the east and harness makers not in the arm}^, 
 went there. There was one shop at Newark, N. J., that worked 450 
 men on harness for the south, ordered by blockade runners, and this 
 shop was but one of many. The price of harness leather was very 
 high. ]\ir. Bishop mo\-ed his appliances to Fond du Lac in 1850, 
 after building his shop at Main and Third streets, and continued it 
 until his death.
 
 130 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Early Theatre Methods. 
 
 Theatre methods were quite different in early times when 
 theatres played in Darling's and Ward & Windecker's hall. A one 
 night or even a one week stand would have been looked upon as 
 ridiculous. Langrische & Atwater, G. J. Adams and others came to 
 stay as long as they could make it pay, which was generally two 
 weeks to a month. The plays presented were seldom new ones, the 
 people being satisfied with Shakespeare. Scott, Kalzefal and other 
 old timers, and a farce must always end the night's performance. Mid- 
 night was the hour for people to get home from the theatre. And 
 the Yankee character was quite dift'erent from the "Josh Whitcomb" 
 of today. The Yankee drawl and the Yankee trick belonged to the 
 specialist like "Yankee Miller," "Yankee Robinson," etc., the balance 
 of the company having little to do. The Yankee character of that 
 day is not here now. And the minstrel show was different. At that 
 time the minstrel show was mainly minstrelsy. Singing and dancing, 
 banjo playing and repartee by the end men, made up the performance. 
 Dick Sliter, Tom Emerson, Tom Baker and others of the old timers, 
 would have scorned the foolish attempts at fun in the negro per- 
 formance of today. 
 
 A Holland Dutch Windmill. 
 
 Fond du Lac at one time had a windmill, not of the modern 
 species, but one of the old Holland Dutch sort, with long arms and 
 sails such as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza fought for the honor 
 of Don's Dukina del Tobaso. The Fond du Lac specimen was never 
 fought much even by the grain it was expected to grind. It may 
 have run some but very few ever saw it going. It was located at the 
 southwest corner of Western Avenue and Oak streets, and near the 
 Western Avenue bridge. It was built and equipped by John Cava- 
 nagh, but not being efficient it was soon taken down and the premises 
 used by him as a general cooper shop. Mr. Cavanagh is still with us 
 and makes cisterns at his shop on upper Main street. He once had 
 a shop on West Second street, where he bought pork for two or three 
 cents a pound, some of which was packed, some tried into lard, spare 
 ribs sold for one-half cent a pound and the rough grease made into 
 soap. 
 
 Injury of Edward Pier. 
 
 It has probably been forgotten by the older people and not 
 known to the younger, that Edward Pier met with a painful accident 
 three years before his death, and it was believed by the family that 
 it hastened his death. Riding in a two seat buggy on Western 
 Avenue, near the five points, the rear seat of the buggy seems not to 
 have been fastened, tipped over backward and threw Mr. Pier into 
 the street, seriously injuring his spine and shoulders. He was laid 
 up with the injury a long time, but finally got around though not as 
 active as before.
 
 PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS 
 
 Doctors Who Came to the County in Early Days and Those Here 
 
 Now, with Personal Characteristics of Some 
 
 of Them. 
 
 People generally expect much of the physician. Who has not 
 heard the remark that if the doctor understood his business he could 
 cure all ailments of his suffering patients. These people, many of 
 them quite intelligent, seem not to remember that the human system 
 is an exceedingly complicated machine ; one far more intricate than 
 anything human hands can build or the mind contrive, and subject to 
 complications beyond the most active imagination. The physician 
 himself is often unable to understand results largely because he is 
 left in the dark relative to the private or inner life of his patient. He 
 cannot penetrate the private character and discover the many little 
 things hidden there, any one of which may give activity to numerous 
 lesions, wholly different in different individuals. In other words, 
 no two persons are exactly alike, nor do the same troubles run 
 exactly the same course in any two patients, or who need the same 
 remedies in the treatment of their maladies. One class of patients 
 may be of strong bilious temperament, another class the opposite in 
 lymphatic and still another in the sanguine or nervous. Some are 
 nervous and flighty, others are peaceful and quiet, with peculiarities 
 of disposition and inherited troubles almost numberless. 
 
 These are a few of the conditions which no one, not even the 
 physician can always understand or successfully combat. Many 
 things which the doctor ought to know are hidden from him bv the 
 patient and he must get at the truth as best he can, if he gets it at all. 
 And besides these many complications is the fact that the patient 
 is not always loyal to the doctor. Too often orders are not obeyed, 
 resulting in probable injury to the patient and disgust and disappoint- 
 ment to his physician. 
 
 Medicine is not an exact science and never can be, and the 
 physician can only make use of the best means at his disposal, based 
 upon his best judgment. Friends of the different schools of practice 
 claim a great deal for them, yet those who indorse them must all meet 
 the same physical and professional tangles. The doctor's treatment 
 niay result quite satisfactorily and it may result disastrously, with 
 little knowledge on his part of why it is so, in either event. He can 
 only use the best means his school or his best judgment gives him 
 and abide results. 
 
 Experience a Wonderful School. 
 
 Experience is a wonderful school and in the last half century the 
 physicians and surgeons have learned some interesting and important
 
 132 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 lessons. They have becoir.e familiar with diseases and pathological 
 conditions and learned methods of treatment that were practically 
 unknown fifty years ago. Bright's disease of the kidneys, diphtheria, 
 appendicitis, tuberculosis except as recognized in consumption of 
 the lungs, and operation for tumors, now so frequently resorted to, 
 were almost unknown and if the old physicians and surgeons of fifty 
 years ago could return to their practice now they would be almost 
 powerless to combat the new conditions they would meet. 
 Wonderful progress has been made in surgery, and the remedies used 
 in the treatment of diseases are now in the forms of alkaloids, tablets 
 and refined tinctures, minimizing the dose to the extent that it is no 
 longer necessary to use a tablespoon or teacup in the administration 
 of a remedy. Bleeding, blisters, cupping, vomits and some other old 
 heathen methods are almost wholly eliminated from the doctor's 
 modes of cure. Homeopathic, hydropathic and electric systems have 
 made great progress, while osteopathy and christian science have been 
 known and practiced, but a very few years. The text books used in 
 the medical colleges fifty years ago are now curiosities and the 
 modern doctor, glancing through them, wonders at the crude methods 
 of cure. 
 
 What of the Next Half Century. 
 
 The advancement made especially in materia medica and diag- 
 nosis, which the practicing physician notes almost every day, causes 
 him to wonder what the situation will be at the end of another half 
 century. With the four years' course of training now required by all 
 reputable medical schools, the remarkable chemical knowledge dis- 
 played in the preparation of remedies, the great care and discrimina- 
 tion in the use of them, and the acuteness of perception in diagnosis, 
 ought at least to shorten the suffering and delay the ravages of death 
 in a marked degree as compared with the present. Fifty years more 
 added to the past, ought to bring wonderful results and be a lasting 
 benefit to the race. 
 
 Physicians of Fifty Years Ago. 
 
 Of the physicians here fifty years ago, all are dead. In fact the 
 list seems not to have been made up of long lived rhen. Dr. Darling, 
 Dr. Adams, Dr. Walker and possibly Dr. T. S. Wright, may have 
 reached 70 years, but not much beyond the three score and ten of the 
 Scriptures. Following is the list of Fond du Lac doctors from the 
 earliest arrival to the present time. Only those who have compiled 
 such lists can realize the difficulties to be encountered. There may 
 be a few names omitted, but the list is as complete as it is possible 
 to get it at this time : 
 
 Resident Physicians in 1850. 
 
 Dr. Adams. Dr. Howard. Dr. H. L. Wilklns. 
 
 Dr. Babcock. Dr. Pantillon. Dr. T. S. Wright. 
 
 Dr. Darling. Dr. Tallmadge. Dr. O. S. Wright. 
 
 Dr. Galloway. Di-. Walker.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 133 
 
 Dr. J. O. Ackerman. 
 Dr. E. C. Allard. 
 Dr. E. E. Atkins. 
 Dr. P. M. Baker. 
 Dr. E. B. Beeson. 
 Dr. C. A. Beebe. 
 Dr. F. H. Bell. 
 Dr. L. A. Bishop. 
 Dr. G. C. Bowe. 
 Dr. G. T. Boyd. 
 Dr. S. S. Bowers. 
 Dr. G. N. Brazeau. 
 Dr. E. J. Breitzman. 
 Dr. Elliott Brown. 
 Dr. Cantillon. 
 Dr. Amazi Gary. 
 Di'. Carolin. 
 Dr. J. P. Connell. 
 Dr. F. E. Donaldson. 
 Dr. H. B. Dale. 
 Dr. K. L. DeSombre. 
 Dr. A. F. Deveraux. 
 Dr. Dixon. 
 Dr. E. F. Dodge. 
 Dr. L. Eudemiller. 
 
 From 1848 to the Present Time. 
 
 Dr. F. L. Foster. 
 Dr. B. E. Gifford. 
 Dr. A. C. Gibson. 
 Dr. S. E. Gavin. 
 Dr. E. L. Griffin. 
 Dr. E. Gray. 
 Dr. L. P. Hinn. 
 Dr. Hancker. 
 Dr. B. Holmes. 
 Dr. W. B. Hendricks. 
 Dr. W. H. Jenny. 
 Dr. Morritz Krembs. 
 Dr. S. A. Krumme. 
 Dr. Lilly. 
 
 Dr. H. B. Lindley. 
 Dr. A. Linsenmeyer. 
 Dr. P. E. Langdon. 
 Dr. G. B. McKnight. 
 Dr. G. T. McDoiigall. 
 Dr. J. H McNeef* 
 Dr. T. F. Mayham. 
 Dr. S. L. Marston. 
 Dr. J. G. Miller. 
 Dr. G. V. Mears. 
 Dr. Wm. Minahan. 
 
 Dr. J. 
 Dr. E. 
 Dr. E. 
 Dr. F. 
 Dr. C. 
 Dr. L. 
 Dr. G. 
 Dr. G. 
 Dr. G. 
 Dr. E. 
 Dr. F. 
 
 0. Ackerman. 
 C. Allard. 
 E. Atkins. 
 M. Baker. 
 A. Beebe. 
 A. Bishop. 
 C. Bowe. 
 T. Boyd. 
 N. Brazeau. 
 J. Breitzman, 
 L. Foster. 
 
 Now in Practice Here, 
 
 Dr. .J. P. Connell. 
 Dr. S. E. Gavin. 
 Dr. L. P. Hinn. 
 Dr. B. Holmes. 
 Dr. S. A. Krumme. 
 Dr. G. B. McKnight. 
 Dr. Kehl. 
 
 Dr. G. T. McDougall. 
 Dr. J. H. McNeel. 
 Dr. T. F. Mayham. 
 Dr. G. V. Mears. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 F. H. Moll. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 Nye. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 C. C. Olmsted. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 Ogden. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 T. J. Patchen. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 U. R. Patchen. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 R. A. Palmer. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 S. G. Pickett. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 A. J. Pullen. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 D. A. Raymond, 
 
 Dr. 
 
 Flora A. Read. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 F. J. Richter. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 M. T. Richie. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 R. W. Root. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 G. T. Scheib. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 T. J. Scheube. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 A. Smead. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 S. S. Stack. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 Henry Twohig. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 Wm. Wiley. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 F. S. Wiley. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 W. B. Wilson. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 F. A. Wright. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 D. B. Wyatt. 
 
 Dr. 
 
 John D. Wyatt. 
 
 Dr. Wm. Minahan. 
 Dr. R. A. Palmer. 
 Dr. Flora A. Read. 
 Dr. Pillsbury. 
 Dr. L. J. Rhoades. 
 Dr. G. F. Scheib. 
 Dr. Henry Twohig. 
 Dr. F. S. Wiley. 
 Dr. F. A. Wright. 
 Dr. D. B. Wyatt. 
 
 Dr. Mason C. Darling. 
 
 Dr. Mason C. Darling is conceded by all who knew him personally 
 and by reputation, to have been a man above the average. Politically 
 he served the people in every grade of usefulness from ditch digger 
 to the halls of congress. Professionally his work showed he had few 
 superiors in medicine and surgery, and' as a manager of public enter- 
 prises he was a genius. Fond du Lac owes so much to Dr. Darling 
 for the proud position it holds in the state that its people would be 
 in one sense justified in canonizing his memory. We speak of that 
 which we know from a long personal acquaintance, when we say he 
 was a good man, an honest, honorable man. His ability to adapt 
 himself to circumstances is shown by an incident in his surgical ex- 
 perience.
 
 134 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 While on his way from Sheboygan in 1838, while coming here, 
 he found a man badly frozen, and gangrene having set in it became 
 necessary to amputate a hand or foot, it is not now remembered 
 which, and no amputating instruments or even a proper knife being 
 obtainable, he directed a blacksmith how to make a suitable knife and 
 sharpened it on a grindstone, whetstone and razor strop. A tendon 
 hook was made of a table fork, common saw was used for a surgical 
 saw, and after the amputation was complete the wound was closed 
 with a common needle and thread and the patient made a rapid re- 
 covery. The knife used is now in possession of Dr. John Darling, 
 of St. Paul, grandson of Dr. Darling. 
 
 He was a native of Amherst, Mass., and came west in 1838 in 
 pursuit of health, being an invalid on a mattress when he started. 
 He gained rapidly, stayed here and became a well man. Besides being 
 a graduate in medicine and surgery. Dr. Darling had more than the 
 ordinary capacity of men in politics and the general affairs of life. 
 He was our first member of congress under the state government, 
 and at different times was sought for by his fellow citizens for official 
 positions of almost every grade. He left here in 1864, it is said 
 against his will, to reside in Chicago, but had he lived he w^ould have 
 returned. He died in December, 1866, and his remains were brought 
 back for interment in Rienzi. 
 
 Dr. W. H. Walker. 
 
 Dr. W. H. Walker was the next in the line of physicians to 
 locate in Fond du Lac. In March of 1847, ^^- Walker graduated from 
 the Cleveland Medical College, Cleveland, Ohio, and immediately 
 started for Wisconsin, landing at Sheboygan, thence to Fond du Lac. 
 The first nights in their new home Mrs. Walker bunked in the old 
 Fond du Lac House and the doctor sought sleeping quarters in sheds 
 on hay. These were poor prospects for a newly graduated and wedded 
 doctor, but bravery and hard work gave success.* The building at the 
 southeast corner of Main and Fifth streets, now a hotel, was erected 
 by Dr. Walker, the lumber for it being taken from a raft in the river 
 and dried by turning the boards over in the sun from day to day. At 
 this date, March, 1905, Mrs. Walker is still a resident of the city, at the 
 corner of West Second and Union streets. Dr. Walker died some 
 years ago. 
 
 Doctor, Druggist and Missionary. 
 
 Dr. T. P. Bingham was said by some to be the first doctor and 
 the first druggist as well as being among the early missionary preach- 
 ers in Fond du Lac. He opened an office at Green Bay in 1842, and 
 found his way to Fond du Lac in 1846. He made periodical journeys 
 from Green Bay to Fond du Lac, stopping on the way at Stockbridge, 
 Brothertown, Ball's corners, Pequot Village and Taycheedah, where 
 the Indians and white folks were doctored soul and body. Dr. Bing- 
 ham had a corner in Clock & Weikert's store in one of the rooms of 
 the old Fond du Lac House, in which he kept a few bottles, boxes 
 
 *It may be interesting to many to know that Dr. Walker officiated at tlie boruing of our 
 present Dr. Burns of Oakfield.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT, 135 
 
 and packages, containing turpentine, camphor, castor oil, opodildoc, 
 soda, salts, pills, etc., styled the drug store. What became of Dr. 
 Bingham's drug store will be told when we come to speak of that 
 part of business. The fact seems to be that the doctor preferred 
 preaching to doctoring, the cure of souls to the cure of bodies and 
 therefore never became noted in the profession. That he was a regu- 
 larly graduated physician seems to be doubted. 
 
 A Noted Doctor. 
 
 Dr. D. A. Raymond was doubtless the most noted physician 
 located in Fond du Lac since the half century period. He came from 
 northern New York and was pretty well known in that state. His 
 genial temperament and mirth provoking disposition, together with 
 fine ability as a physician and surgeon, made him very popular and 
 his office was seldom empty of people during business hours. When 
 Dr. Raymond retired a few years ago, he was literally worn out by 
 professional work. He died at the home of a daughter in Portland, 
 Oregon, a few years ago, and his remains were brought here and laid 
 to rest in Rienzi. 
 
 A Popular Physician. 
 
 Dr. E. L. Griffin was another of the energetic and popular 
 physicians of Fond du Lac. Few faces were more familiar in the 
 street than his. He was noted for promptness in responding to calls, 
 for his earnestness in the care of his patients and for his efforts in 
 promoting any good and moral work. Dr. Griffin seemingly never 
 skipped an opportunity to do good. When Dr. Wiley went to Ripon 
 during the war, Dr. Griffin was his successor here in Fond du Lac. 
 
 Physican, Druggist, Banker. 
 
 Dr. T. S. Wright came to Fond du Lac in 1848, not only as a 
 physician and surgeon, but as a druggist, banker and agent for his 
 father-in-law. Gen. Warner, whose investments in property here at 
 that time were large. Most of the long row of brick buildings on 
 the west side of Main street, between First and Second streets, were 
 among the buildings erected by Gen. Warner and Dr. Wright. The 
 surgeon mainly relied upon for some years after his arrival here was 
 Dr. T. S. Wright. He had a drug store for some years before his 
 return to the east about 1882 and died a few years later. The bank 
 of Darling, Wright & Co., was the principal bank here from 1849 
 until the opening of the Bank of the Northwest, now the First Na- 
 tional Bank, in 1855. 
 
 Dr. O. S. ^^^right was also a physician and druggist, but was not 
 a relative of Dr. T. S. Wright. He was popular in the community, 
 but remained here only a few years. The store was on nearly the 
 same ground that the Huber Bros.' store of today is located, so there 
 has been a drug store there almost from the beginning. 
 
 Dr. Patchen a Remarkable Physician. 
 
 Dr. T. J. Patchen was in some respects the most remarkable 
 physician Fond du Lac has ever had. Coming here in 1855, he found
 
 136 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 the homeopathic field ahiiost wholly uncultivated. He lectured, 
 taught, talked and drilled the people in the principles of his school of 
 medicine. He was a teacher and wanted the people to know things, 
 not guess at them, and so built up and for many years sustained a 
 remarkably large practice. His manner was so cherry that he was 
 always welcomed to the sick room. He was a thorough temperance 
 man and never failed to take hold vigorously of any movement that 
 promised to help the cause. He died in Florida but his remains were 
 brought home and lie in Rienzi. 
 
 Other Noted Doctors. 
 
 Dr. Wm. Wiley, Dr. S. S. Bowers, Dr. E. F. Dodge and Dr. E. 
 Gray, were all noted doctors of their time. They were highly educated 
 in the profession and were frequently called in consultations in 
 dangerous cases. Dr. Wiley was in Ripon ,a few years but returned 
 to Fond du Lac and died here. Drs. Bowers and Dodge also died 
 here. Dr. Gray died in Colorado. 
 
 Dr. Babcock was an early arrival here, coming from Ohio, coming 
 so soon after Dr. Darling as to be held as the first, but this was an 
 error. He seems to have been a bright, active man, one to whom 
 Dr. Darling took a special liking and was a sort of protege. When 
 Dr. Darling found it difficult to attend a case, which he sometimes 
 did because of his manifold duties. Dr. Babcock was sent with con- 
 fidence. He was a pioneer doctor, second only to Dr. DarHng, but 
 by no means a quack. He remained here but two or three years and 
 then disappeared and left no remembrance that has come down to 
 our time. The cause of his going is unknown, as he was well liked 
 by the settlers. 
 
 Dr. John Pantillon was the first homeopathic physician here, 
 and of course had difficult work to make the people of this frontier 
 town believe in the efficacy of the little pills then generally used by 
 practitioners of his school. He was a man of considerable force of 
 character and worked hard to introduce his system. He left here 
 after a few years and soon after died. 
 
 Ripon Physicians. 
 
 From the beginning Ripon has had its full share of noted and 
 successful doctors, but not one has reached the half century of prac- 
 tice. Following is the list of those located there from 1853 to 1903: 
 
 Dr. H. L. Barnes. Dr. Phelps. Dr. Taylor. 
 
 Dr. E. C. Barnes. Dr. J. Rogers.* Dr. J. S. Foat. 
 
 Dr. Butler. Dr. Reynolds.* Dr. W. A. Gorden. — 
 
 Dr. Carnahan.* Dr. B. Seliallern. Dr. Storrs Hall.* 
 
 Dr. A. Everhard.* Dr. 0. Schallern. Dr. S. S. Hall. 
 
 Dr. F. A. Everhard. Dr. R. Schallern.* Dr. A. W. Hewitt.* 
 
 Dr. Hendricks.— Dr. G. R. Shaw.* Dr. Wm. Wiley.* 
 
 Dr. A. Mitchell. Dr. F. L. Shepard.— 
 
 *Dead. —Moved away.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 137 
 
 Of the twenty-two located there during the half century, nine 
 have died and but few moved away, which indicates that it is a 
 satisfactory place to stay when one gets there. 
 
 Ripon did not have a graduated physician practicing there until 
 1853. So the half century of medicine in that city carries it to 1903, 
 but during the years since 1853 Ripon has had some remarkably able 
 and popular doctors. 
 
 Dr. J. Rodgers was the first graduated physician and surgeon 
 to locate there, which was in 1853. He continued in active and suc- 
 cessful practice until his death a few years ago. 
 
 Dr. Aaron Everhard was one of the most successful physicians 
 and popular citizens yet located at Ripon, having been nine times 
 elected mayor of the city between the years 1871 and 1885. He was 
 postmaster under Cleveland's administration and his advice was often 
 sought in public affairs. He located at St. Marie, near Princeton, in 
 1850, and in Ripon in 1856 and continued there until his death in 1892. 
 
 Dr. Henry L. Barnes has from the beginning of his professional 
 career been one of the bright, active and successful ph3'sicians and 
 surgeons at Ripon. He came to Wisconsin in 1846, settled at Ripon, 
 was graduated from the Cleveland Medical College in 1858. He 
 served with distinction in the war as surgeon in the Twenty-first 
 Wisconsin. He began practice in Ripon in 1858 and was the fourth 
 physician to locate there. He is also an active and valued citizen in 
 public affairs. 
 
 Dr. W. A. Gordon was one of the war surgeons and located at 
 Ripon in 1866, but on account of poor health went to California after 
 a few 5^ears, leaving a large circle of friends. 
 
 Dr. A. W. Hewitt settled in Ripon in 1855 ^^^^ was the third 
 physician to locate there. Some years later he went to Minnesota, 
 where he died a few years ago. 
 
 Dr. Rainer Schallern, father of Drs. Bruno and Ottmar Schallern, 
 two of Ripon's popular physicians, was a Belgian, noted in his native 
 country as well as this, for his great scientific attainments. In nau- 
 tical science he had few equals. 
 
 Dr. Storrs Hall from 185 1 was a resident of Rosendale, but 
 retired from practice at the age of 90 and became a member of the 
 household of his son. Dr. Sidney Storrs Hall, in Ripon. He was a 
 graduate of the medical department of Yale. For more than fifty 
 years Dr. Hall was prominent not only in the practice of his profes- 
 sion, but also in public affairs of the county and especially of Ripon 
 College. He died a few months ago. 
 
 Rosendale Physicians. 
 
 Dr. A. H. Bowe was the pioneer doctor at Rosendale, locating 
 there in 1847. He was born in 1813 and graduated in medicine at 
 Baltimore, Md. He continued in active practice until his death a 
 few years ago. 
 
 Dr. Storrs Hall was another pioneer. Graduated from the 
 medical department of Yale, located at Rosendale in 1854. S. S. Hall,
 
 138 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 how practicing at Ripon, first located at Rosendale. The full list of 
 Rosendale doctors from the beginning- has been as follows : 
 
 Dr. A. H. Bowe.* Dr. Storrs Hall.* Dr. G. B. McKnight. — 
 
 Dr. De Voe. Dr. S. S. Hall.— Dr. J. W. Powell. 
 
 Dr. Dunning. — Dr. J. C. LePevre. — Dr. Palmer. — 
 
 Dr. Hughes. — 
 Dr. Jones. — 
 
 Eldorado Mills. 
 
 Dr. Randall.— 
 Dr. Morse. — 
 
 Dr. Peterson.- 
 
 Oakfield — Resident Physicians. 
 
 Dr. J. W. Burns. Dr. Sherman Edwards. Dr. Chas. H. Moore. 
 
 Dr. W. S. Alexander. 
 
 Oakfield — Former Resident Doctors. 
 
 Dr. C. E. Armstrong. 
 Dr. Henry S. Beeson. 
 Dr. S. S. Bishop. 
 Dr. Brice Dille. 
 Dr. W. C. Duncan. 
 Dr. G. B. Durand. 
 
 Dr. W. H. Fisher. 
 Dr. Gibson. 
 Dr. Hunter. 
 Dr. Wm. Moore. 
 Dr. Wm. W. Moore. 
 Dr. E. J. Orvis. 
 
 Brandon. 
 
 Dr. S. G. Pickett. 
 Dr. Geo. Pickett. 
 Dr. J. F. Pritchard. 
 Dr. C. W. Voorus. 
 Dr. Weaver. 
 
 Dr. J. D. Root. Dr. Thayer. Dr. Cody. 
 
 Dr. C. D. Shuart. Dr. Gee. Dr. Safford. 
 
 Dr. Dyer. Dr. Turner. Dr. F. E. Shaykatt. 
 
 Dr. Root has been in Brandon nearly twenty years, Dr. 
 Shaykatt nearly as long. ' 
 
 Waupun City. 
 The physicians who have resided in that part of Waupun in 
 Fond du Lac county from the beginning are : 
 
 Dr. P. D. Moore. Dr. Eypers.* Dr. Fisher and wife. — 
 
 Dr. Randall. — Dr. Osmun.* 
 
 Dr. Took.* Dr. Osborne. 
 
 Dr. M. W. Larrabee, Dr. M. P. Smith and Dr. W. S. Blunt are 
 the physicians now residing there, in Fond du Lac county. 
 
 Dr. D. W. Moore. 
 
 Dr. Bowman.* 
 
 Dr. Hersha.* 
 
 Dr. J. W. Brown.* 
 
 Dr. Swayne.* 
 
 Dr. Butterfield.* 
 Dr. Moore is the 
 physicians of Waupun. 
 strong. 
 
 Dr. Eudemiller.* 
 Dr. P. A. Hoffman. 
 Dr. M. A. T. Hoffman. 
 
 In Dodge County. 
 
 Dr. Wadsworth.* 
 
 Dr. Harvey.* 
 
 Dr. Messer. — 
 
 Dr. Reed.— 
 
 Dr. W. P. Smith. 
 
 Dr. G. B. Durand. 
 
 Dr. G. T. von Henzel. 
 
 Dr. D. H. Ballmeyer. 
 
 Dr. F. T. Clark. 
 
 Dr. J. F. Brown. 
 
 only surviving member of the pioneer 
 He is not in practice now, but is rugged and 
 
 Campbellsport. 
 
 Dr. S. L. Marston. — 
 Dr. Orvis. — 
 Dr. Russell. 
 
 Dr. Weld. 
 
 Dr. Zimmerman. 
 
 *Dead. — Moved away.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 139 
 
 Dr. S. L. Marston was the first physician to locate at Campbells- 
 port. He went there in the early fifties, afterwards moving to 
 Waucousta, thence to Fond du Lac and finally to Hartford, where 
 he now resides. 
 
 Dr. Eudemiller died several years ago. He was a student from 
 the office of Drs. Gray & Wyatt. 
 
 Lamartine. 
 
 Dr. Elliott Brown was the first doctor in Lamartine, coming 
 there in 1848. He moved to the city in 1877 and died in 1883. 
 
 North Fond du Lac. 
 
 Dr. A. J. Pullen. Dr. P. J. Calvy. Dr. J. E. Heraty.— 
 
 St. Cloud— Dr. E. P. Crosy, Dr. C. W. Leonard, Dr. J. Wald- 
 schmidt. 
 
 Calumet Harbor— Dr. E. J. Bumker, Dr. Vander Horst. 
 
 Empire — Dr. Hanners,* Dr. Lyons. 
 
 Eden — Dr. P. J. Oliver, Dr. Vandervoort.* 
 
 Dotyville — Dr. Judson Morse. 
 
 Dundee — Dr. John O'Neill. 
 
 Mt. Calvary — Dr. John A. Bassen. 
 
 Johnsburg — Dr. John J. Shoofs. 
 
 Lamartine — Dr. Emile Roy, Dr. Elliott Brown.* 
 
 Fairwater — Dr. Oliver M. Layton. 
 
 Taycheedah— Dr. Tallmadge,* Dr. Wm. Wiley,* Dr. E. J. Breitz- 
 man. 
 
 New Cassel — Dr. R. Zimmerman. 
 
 Ladoga — Dr. S. R. Randall (not in practice.) 
 
 Van Dyne — Dr. A. B. Hambeck.* 
 
 Elmore — Dr. Wm. Hausman. 
 
 Marytown — Dr. L. H. Baldwin.* 
 
 South Byron — Dr. W. H. Wilson (retired). 
 
 Medical Organizations in Fond du Lac County. 
 
 RY DR. J. W. BURNS, OAKFIELD. 
 
 The first Medical Society in this county was organized about the 
 year 1844 or 1845, while Wisconsin was yet a territory. The exact 
 date cannot be ascertained. It embraced the territory now covered by 
 the counties of Fond du Lac, Sheboygan and Calumet. It was or- 
 ganized in Fond du Lac, then only a settlement. Its members are 
 all dead. Dr. Brainard, of Sheboygan county, was president, and 
 Dr. Blodgett, of Calumet county, was secretary. This society was 
 short lived. Embracing but few members scattered over a wide and 
 unsettled territory, removals and deaths soon disintegrated it. 
 
 The next medical organization in the county was effected in the 
 year 1853. Just fifteen years before this date, in 1838, the first medical 
 gentleman settled in the county, the late Dr. Mason C. Darling. 
 The medical organization of 1853 was called the "Medical Association 
 
 •Dead. — Moved away.
 
 140 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 of the County of Fond du Lac." Its by-laws and constitution are 
 the only records of its existence which are now extant so far as is 
 known. From these we learn that the object of the society was to 
 "elevate the standard of the profession by the diffusion of medical 
 knowledge, and to promote unanimity of feeling and concert of 
 action among the members thereof." The by-laws provided for two 
 meetings a year. This association after the lapse of a year or two, is 
 found to disappear from history. 1 he cause of its going out and the 
 manner of its extinction is mostly conjectural. 
 
 The third medical society in the county was organized at 
 Waupun in 1866 and was known as the "Northwestern Medical 
 Society," and embraced the eastern part of Green Lake county, the 
 western part of Fond du Lac county, and it also had a few members 
 from Dodge county. Its membership reached a maximum of fifteen 
 or twenty. It held its meetings twice a year. Dr. Storrs Hall, of 
 Rosendale, was elected president and regular meetings were held at 
 Ripon, Berlin and Waupun. This society flourished for a little over 
 a year when it also became extinct. The cause of its demise appears 
 to have been the failure of its members to attend its meetings. 
 
 The fourth medical society in the county, known as the "Fond 
 du Lac County Medical Society," was organized in 1868 and flour- 
 ished for a number of years. Its membership was large and included 
 nearly every regular practitioner in the county, and for many years 
 it was considered one of the best county medical societies in the 
 state. Owing to lack of interest and small attendance, it too, like 
 its predecessors, became extinct. 
 
 The fifth and present county medical society, which is an affllia- 
 tion with the Wisconsin and American Medical Associations, was 
 organized about two years ago, and includes in its membership a 
 large majority of the legal practitioners of medicine in the county. 
 Its meetings are held bi-monthly in the city of Fond du Lac, unless 
 otherwise agreed upon at a regular meeting. The officers for the 
 present year are : 
 
 Flora A. Read, secretary and treasurer. 
 
 Several times in the past, the last time the last of March, 1905, 
 the local physicians have organized to promote their interests in 
 various ways, but the organizations were of brief duration, some of 
 them the first meeting beinsf the last. 
 
 The First National Hotel. 
 
 The wood building in which the First National Bank first did 
 business at the corner of Main street and Forest avenue, is still in 
 existence. When the bank decided to erect its present building, the 
 old one was sold to M. Van Dresar, who moved it to the southwest 
 corner of Marr and Fourth streets and it became the main part of the 
 First National Hotel. Since then the name has been changed several 
 times, being now the Tobin House. It is an old house, one of the 
 oldest in the city. John Sewell had a store in it at its original location 
 in 1850.
 
 DENTISTS AND DENTISTRY 
 
 Dentists Who Have Practiced Here from the Beginning. Wonder- 
 ful Progress Since the Days of Turnkeys 
 and Gold Plate. 
 
 Dentistry as practiced now differs materially from that in the 
 days of the pioneers. In their time sets of teeth were wholly upon 
 gold plate and the teeth were soldered on it. The old turnkeys were 
 mostly used for drawing teeth and many of the appliances now so 
 handy in the dental office were wholly unknown. Impressions were 
 taken of the mouth and the gold plate for the base was swedged upon 
 it, a good fit, such as we now get, being rarely obtained. W hen artisans 
 discovered how to work hard rubber, it was soon adopted as a base 
 for teeth and it is still in use. The vulcanizer melts the rubber into 
 the mold and a misfit is rare. Some years later porcelain was intro- 
 duced as a base for teeth but was not a success and is now rarely seen. 
 It was too heavy and noisy for such use and too easily broken. In 
 the march of discovery some other material may be found for this 
 use, but it is likely to be long before rubber is displaced. The use of 
 anaesthetics in dentistry has been a matter of growth. First 
 chloroform seemed to be the only article, but the danger attending 
 its use frightened the people and it was abandoned. Then came 
 ether, much of the same nature but far less dangerous, and then gas 
 was introduced. These continued in use until cocaine appeared as a 
 local anaesthetic, twenty-five years ago, and the muriate of cocaine 
 has been in use ever since. Today it is about the only agent used for 
 this purpose in dentistry. 
 
 In the olden time people had to bear their burden of pain as best 
 they could ; today they may have teeth drawn and not know it. 
 The discoveries in dental science have been constant. New methods 
 and new applications of the science have come rapidly. 
 
 Dr. L. Kellogg was the first regular dentist in Fond du Lac. He 
 came here in 1848 and returned to Boston some time in the fifties. 
 While here he erected the house on Main street opposite Fifth, now 
 owned and occupied by Mrs. DeSombre, and established his office 
 in the front room up stairs. 
 
 Dr. A. L. Hoyt was the next dentist in Fond du Lac, and follow- 
 ing him came Dr. J. R. Cole. Both these men remained here many 
 years. 
 
 Could the dentists of the olden times return here now, they 
 would be surprised as to processes as well as material now in use. 
 Thy would hardly know the uses of some of the instruments and 
 appliances. They would doubtless gaze in astonishment at the bridge 
 work, inlaid work and caps now in use. If informed that modern 
 dentists had taken out teeth, filled the cavities and put them back to
 
 142 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Stay, they would regard it as a prevarication of the deepest dye. 
 Should Dr. Kellogg return to Fond du Lac now and take an order 
 for work such as he had sometimes taken in former times, he would 
 be handicapped in attempting to do it in a modern dental office by 
 not knowing how to use the instruments and appliances he would 
 find there, so great is the change. 
 
 The number of dentists in practice has largely increased in the 
 last twenty-five years, due mainly to the fact it is now so easy to 
 acquire a proper mental and mechanical equipment. The number of 
 dental colleges has largely increased and departments added to all 
 the universities. There is also a much greater demand for dental 
 work. In former times most people went to the dentists only when 
 the pain was no longer bearable, but now the teeth are closely 
 watched and cared for to the end that they may be retained as long 
 as possible. An increase in the number of dentists was needed and 
 the demand has been met. 
 
 Dentists who have been located in Fond du Lac since 1850: 
 
 C. W. Barnes. 
 Henry Bennett. 
 J. L. Blish. 
 C. A. Cheney. 
 W. A. Chamberlain. 
 L. P. Coleman. 
 C. E. Dickinson. 
 W. F. Doyle. 
 Jesse Garvin. 
 Alliene Gillet. 
 H. E. Graves. 
 
 T. A. Hardgrove. 
 G. A. Hildreth. 
 W. W. Johnson. 
 J. W. Madden. 
 Geo. M. Moon\ 
 Andrew Patchen. 
 Will Patchen. 
 James J. Perry. 
 J. H. Ridgeway. 
 H. T. Sackett. 
 R. J. Serwe. 
 
 R. W. Sessions. 
 Arthur K. Steen. 
 W. T. Taylor. 
 W. E. Tennant. 
 C. C. Trowbridge. 
 M. E. Underwood. 
 J. B. Wade. 
 S. E. Wade. 
 W. C. Wise. 
 
 In Practice Here Now. 
 
 G. A. Hildreth. 
 J. W. Madden. 
 Geo. M. Moore. 
 J. H. Ridgeway. 
 H. T. Sackett. 
 R. J. Serwe. 
 
 Arthur K. Steen. 
 W. T. Taylor. 
 W. E. Tennant. 
 C. C. Trowbridge. 
 W. E. Underwood. 
 W. C. Wise. 
 
 J. L. Blish. 
 C. A. Cheney. 
 W. A. Chamberlain. 
 L. P. Coleman. 
 Alliene Gillet. 
 T. A. Hardgrove. 
 Dr. H. C. Meusel. 
 Dr. H. T. Sackett is now the senior practitioner in dentistry in 
 Fond du Lac and has what is no doubt the largest, neatest and best 
 equipped dental offices in this part of the state. 
 
 Dr. G. A. Hildreth is next in order of seniority among Fond du 
 Lac dentists. He also has fine rooms and a large practice. 
 
 Next in seniority are Drs. Wise. Blish, Trowbridge, Gillett and 
 Cheney, but they have not been here many years. 
 
 City of Ripen. 
 The earliest dentists in Ripon, all of them since 1852, were Drs. 
 J. H. Callendar, C. B. Staples and Ed. Dodge. Following is the full 
 
 list: 
 
 F. F. Barnes. Luther & Lynch. G. B. Shepherd. 
 
 H.* H. Bush. T. G. Luther. C. B. Staples. 
 
 J. H. Callender. Storrs A. Hall. Well & Marshall. 
 
 L. M. Cleveland. Patton & Clapp. P. A. Well. 
 
 Ed. Doage. W. B. Safford.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 143 
 
 Now in Practice There. 
 
 F. F. Barnes. L. M. Cleveland. W. B. Safford. 
 
 H. H. Bush. Stons A. Hall. P. A. Well. 
 
 Dr. T. G. Luther was in practice in Ripon many years and in 
 length of time might be called a veteran. He was a fixture there. 
 
 City of Waupun, 
 
 Following is the full list of dentists 'who located in Waupun 
 since the advent there of Dr. J. B. Wade, afterwards in Fond du Lac: 
 C. Gage. J. Palmer. H. A. Stiles. 
 
 A. H. Johnston. J. Loomans. Dr. Thorp. 
 
 E. Jones. Dr. Perry. J. B. Wade. 
 
 M. Lewis. L. C. Stewart T. M. Welch 
 
 In Practice There Now. 
 
 A. H. Johnston. J. Loomans. T. M. Welch. 
 
 J. Palmer. L. C. Stewart. 
 
 Brandon — H. F. Grantveldt. 
 
 Campbellsport — J. C. Huecker, P. E. Helmer. 
 
 North Fond du Lac — N. W. Emory. 
 
 Oakfield— M. B. SpafTord. 
 
 People in the villages of the county frequently have the services 
 of city dentists as they sometimes visit them to take and fill orders 
 for dental work. 
 
 In the early days of Fond du Lac, before the coming of Dr. 
 Kellogg, it is said that Dr. Darling, Dr. Walker, Dr. Babcock and 
 others raised aching teeth by using the old fashioned turnkeys, by 
 the application of which the tooth or the head must come. The only 
 dentistry they did was to ease pain by lifting out the aching teeth. 
 The work done now is somewhat different. 
 
 Francisco on a Slab. 
 
 One morning while making his trip north on Lake Winnebago 
 with the steamer Menasha, Peter Hotaling overtook a man on a raft, 
 and taking him on board found the man to be the Spanish barber 
 named Miguel Francisco de Paula, whom everybody at Fond du Lac 
 knew as Francisco, and his raft was a pine slab. When asked where 
 he was going and what he meant by venturing out on a slab, he said 
 he was bound for Oshkosh and that the whiskey suggested the means 
 of getting there. His pint flask was nearly empty of whiskey and 
 Francisco was full. Most of his life had been spent on shipboard, 
 so the water had few terrors for him, and the difference between a 
 slab and a boat as a method of travel, was of small consequence. 
 The truth no doubt was that the whiskey had made him a greater 
 fool than he was generally. Francisco was none too smart at any 
 time.
 
 144 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 First Job Press Here. 
 
 The Boston Rnggles Job Press, used in Beeson's Job Printing 
 office in Fond du Lac in early times, had a curious history and a 
 provoking end. It was brought from Buffalo, N. Y., by the Mil- 
 waukee Sentinel and was the first job press brought to Wisconsin. 
 It was a reversible form affair and a sorry thing compared to present 
 day presses. A 9 by 12 form could be locked on it, but the press was 
 not strong enough to print anything larger than a note sheet, yet in 
 its day was a useful press. Mr. Beeson sold it to Freeman Sackett, 
 who took it to Weyauwega. Sackett traded it to Judge Ogden, of 
 Waupaca. Judge Ogden was afterward a partner in a foundry and 
 machine shop at that place, and one day in 1880, A. T. Glaze was 
 wandering through the premises and discovered that press standing 
 under a shed among old iron to be melted down, which was its fate 
 finally. It could probably have been bought at that time for $5, and 
 why it did not come into Mr. Glaze's mind to buy it and place it in 
 the rooms of the State Historical Society, surpasses his comprehen- 
 sion. To use a modern expression, he has felt scores of times like 
 "kicking himself;" that he did not think of it. When it did enter his 
 mind it was too late. As the old press stood there it was intact, and 
 Mr. Glaze felt as if he could put on a form and start it up as of old. 
 Surely was it a reminder of past printing office days. 
 
 Making Sheet Iron Stoves. 
 
 The first stoves used in Fond du Lac were brought here over- 
 land, ready for use and it was not until we had through railroad 
 transportation to Milwaukee in 1857, that the castings were brought 
 and sheet iron stoves were put up here. In the fall of this year, 
 Stephen Oberreich, working for Kirkland Gillet, known then to 
 everybody as "Deacon" Gillet, put up some of the old Acorn stoves, 
 the best stove of its class ever made here or elsewhere. The writer 
 bought one of them and used it with great satisfaction for nearly 
 twenty years. An improved Acorn came into market some years 
 later, but they were an improvement in the wrong direction — they 
 were inferior to the old. But the old Acorn was the first stove with 
 cast top and bottom and sheet iron between, that were put up here. 
 They were for wood, as we did not have coal here then except at a 
 very high price. 
 
 The Wide Awakes of i860. 
 This political organization in the campaign of i860, was the 
 brightest and most efficient in the political history of this country. 
 It sprung into existence as if by magic. It developed without effort. 
 It did not need to be pushed — it pushed itself. The Wide Awakes for 
 Lincoln and Hamlin were wide awake. Almost every cross roads 
 village had its turnout and the boys were in it for business as well as 
 fun. The republican votes could be ascertained in a locality by 
 counting the Wide Awakes enrolled.
 
 THE BENCH AND BAR 
 
 The Lawyers and Judges of Early Days and Those Here Now. 
 
 The Peculiarities of Some of Them. 
 
 Personal Notes. 
 
 It is doubtful if any other class of men in a community, in pro- 
 portion to numbers, have as much influence in shaping public affairs, 
 in bringing about business results or even in settling social conflicts 
 as the lawyers. They are usually depended upon as public speakers 
 on general topics and they are always on the move when politics 
 rage ; they come to the rostrum to discuss national, state, county and 
 municipal affairs, and to their credit be it said, sometimes religion. 
 The power of the legal profession is not alone in the court room or 
 law ofiice. This has become more noticeable of late years, since 
 lawyers are employed in shaping private as well as public affairs 
 and bringing about results between individuals and communities. If 
 one wishes something done that he does not wish to do himself, he 
 seeks the lawyers to do it for him, with the result that there are many 
 attorneys whose business is largely of this nature and who seldom 
 appear in the court room, but wdio do a large and profitable business. 
 That some leading lawyers decline such business is by no means an 
 indication that it is not legitimate ; and that a lawyer's name does 
 not appear frequently on the court calendar is not an indication that 
 he is not a successful attorney in the court room. 
 
 Four Veteran Survivors. 
 
 The writer has carefully looked up matters pertaining to the bar 
 of Fond du Lac county during the half century from 1850 to 1900. 
 The lawyers residing here during this period were all personally 
 known to me, and I find that but four of those here in 1850 remain 
 alive. They are Edward S. Bragg, now United States consul general 
 at Hong Kong, China. Jerre Dobbs, of Ripon, James Coleman, of 
 Washington, and E. L. Browne, of AA^aupaca. All the rest have 
 passed to the other shore. 
 
 Alex. W. Stow, the first chief justice of our state supreme court, 
 lived near Taycheedah. and Lieut. Gov. S. W. Beall lived in that 
 village, but both had their offices in the city. The first lawyer who 
 located in Fond du Lac was doubtless John A. Eastman, son-in-law 
 of Dr. M. C. Darling, but S. S. N. Fuller, from the best information 
 obtainable, was a close second. John S. Horner was the first lawyer 
 at Ripon and Eli Hooker the first of Waupun.
 
 146 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY. OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Bragg, Edward S. 
 Bissell, E. H. 
 Beall, Samuel W. 
 Brown, Edward L. 
 Brown, Edwin A. 
 Chapel, Jerod. 
 Coleman, James. 
 Davis, Alex. B. 
 Dodge, William C. 
 Drury, Erastus W. 
 
 Reed, Amos. 
 Stow, Judge A. W. 
 Stanchfield, S. D. 
 Swett, John J. 
 Tallmadge, I. S. 
 Tompkins, Judge C. M. 
 Truesdell, John C. 
 Tyler, O. B. 
 Waite, Judge F. H. 
 Wood, Judge David E. 
 
 The Lawyers of 1850. 
 
 Following are the names of the lawyers who lived in Fond du 
 
 Lac in 1850: 
 
 Eastman, John A. 
 Eaton. Myron C. 
 Ebbetts. William H. 
 Eldredge, Charles A. 
 Flint, Judge Robert. 
 Fuller, S. S. N. 
 Gillet, J. M. 
 Graham, Carson. 
 Hodges, E. 
 Paine, Albert W. 
 
 A Strong and Able Bar. 
 
 The bar of the county at this period was one of more than ordi- 
 nary ability for a frontier town of less than 25,000 inhabitants. Judge 
 T. O. Howe, circuit judge here in 1850, highly complimented the bar 
 of Fond du Lac by declaring it one of the best in the state, not ex- 
 cepting Milwaukee. Of the early bar members E. S. Bragg, Charles'' 
 A. Eldredge, J. M. Gillet, William H. Ebbets, E. L. Browne, William 
 C. Dodge and John C. Truesdell gained national reputation. And it 
 is a notable fact that in the early fifties were tried here some of the 
 most important and exciting cases ever tried in Fond du Lac county. 
 There are few attorneys on the list now who were not fully up to 
 the average in ability. Since 1850 we have had some noted lawyers 
 and judges, btit none to surpass the men of fifty years ago. 
 
 The lawyers at Ripon in 1853 were: 
 Bovay, Alvin E. Hamilton, A. B. 
 
 Dobbs, Jerre. Horner, John S. 
 
 The Ripon lawyers of 1900 were : 
 Carter, Geo, W. Foote, J. J. 
 
 Dobbs, Jerre. Pedrick, S. M. 
 
 Dunlap, A. E, Reed, Louis E. 
 
 These lawyers were at Waupun in 1850: 
 Butterfield, Wm. H. Hills, L. B. Hooker, Eli. 
 
 . The lawyers in that part of Waupun in Fond du Lac county at 
 the present time are : 
 Beach, E. M. 
 Hooker, C. E. 
 
 David Whitton is the Brandon lawyer and Rufus P. Eaton was 
 a lawyer at Pipe village in 1850. 
 
 Comers Since 1850. 
 
 During the half century from 1850 to 1900, the lawyers who 
 located at Fond du Lac were : 
 
 Bass, James W. x Babcock, David.* Blewett, E. 
 
 Baxter, C. M. x Brasted, S. L,* Blewett, D. F. 
 
 Bissell, Edward. Boland, W. T. x Chadbourne, F. W. 
 
 Those marked * are dead and those marked x left Pond du Lac, most of tbiem many years ago. 
 Those without reference mark, with seven at Ripon, five at Waupun and one at Brandon, fifty in 
 all, constituted the bar of Fond du Lac County in 1900. 
 
 Runals, E. L. 
 
 Rountree, J. S. 
 
 Murray, James. 
 Oliver, R. L. 
 
 liilotson, Roy D.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 147 
 
 Conklin, W. D.* 
 Colman, Elihu.* 
 Daly, C. E. x 
 DeLaney, E. T. x 
 Doyle, T. L. 
 Drury, Horton H. x 
 Duffy, F. F. 
 Eastman, H. B^ x 
 Ecke, O. H. 
 Eldredge, W. A. x 
 Eldredge, Arch B. x 
 Everdell, L. B. x 
 Francis, Geo. H. x 
 Gerpheide, H. J.* 
 Giffln, Judge N. C. 
 Gilson, Judge N. S. 
 Gillet, M. M. X 
 Glaze, A. T. 
 Gooding, J. M. 
 Griswold, W. E. 
 Hammond, Sam. H.* 
 Hayford, J. H. x 
 Hauser, I. H. x 
 Hiner, J. W. x 
 Hoey, T. J. * 
 
 Hurley, W. H. x 
 Kelly, A. A.* 
 Knowles, Geo. P. x 
 Libby, Hiram H. x 
 Mayham, Judge Jay* 
 Martin, P. H. 
 Matthews, J R.* 
 Matteson, C. S. x 
 Morse, R. L. 
 McLean, Judge C. x 
 McCrory, John H. 
 McKenna Maurice. 
 McKenna, D. W. x 
 Perkins, Judge Geo. 
 Phelps, E. W. 
 Pier, Colwert K.* 
 Pier, Kate Hamilton. 
 Pier Kate, x 
 Priest, D. W. C. 
 Reilly, M. K. 
 Reilly, J. P. 
 Richter, Judge A. E. 
 Rose, Henry F. 
 Rose, H. H. x 
 Sallade, N. W. 
 
 Sawyer, Roswell M.* 
 Schuchardt, A. B. 
 Shepard, Chas. E. x 
 Seely, Z. W.* 
 Smith, Chas. D. 
 Spence, Thos. W. x 
 Stow, Judge M. K.* 
 Sutherland, D. D. 
 Sutherland, Judge G. E.* 
 Swett, H. E. 
 Taylor, Judge David.* 
 Thompson, John I. 
 Thorn, Gerret T.* 
 Thorp, Fred 0.* 
 Turner, W. W. D. x 
 Ware, J. F. x 
 Watson, J. W. 
 Waters, John E. x 
 Wells, Owen A. 
 Williams, L. A. 
 Williams, 0. T. x 
 Wilson, A. A. x 
 Worthing, E P. 
 
 Did Not Increase With Population. 
 
 The singular fact will be noted that in 1850, with a population 
 of less than 2,500, Fond du Lac had thirty resident lawyers, thirty- 
 nine in the comity, and in 1900, with a population of more than 
 15,000 in the city and 50,000 in the county, there were but thirty- 
 seven residing here and fifty in the county. During the half century 
 there were iii lawyers who located here, of whom forty-three have 
 died and thirty-one have moved away, making a gain of but seven 
 in the city and eleven in the county in fifty years. With these re- 
 markable figures before us we may ask what has become of all the 
 young lawyers turned out of the law schools and law offices in that 
 time. The answer must be : "Gone west, sir, gone west." 
 
 • Many Noted Men. 
 
 In the list of Fond du Lac lawyers are many noted names, Alex. 
 W. Stow, first chief justice and judge of the Fourth circuit, was an 
 eccentric man and many stories are yet told of his peculiarities. He 
 was an able lawyer and a careful judge. He died in 1854 in Mil- 
 waukee. 
 
 After being on the circuit bench several years, David Taylor 
 became an associate justice of the supreme court, taking that position 
 in 1878 and serving until he died in 1891. When he came to this 
 city he associated himself with J- M. Gillet and afterward with 
 Georg-e E. Sutherland. 
 
 Those marked * are dead and those marked x left Fond du Lac, most of them many years ago- 
 Those without reference mark, with seTen at Ripon, five at Waupun and one at Brandon, fifty in 
 all, constituted the bar of Fond du Lac County in 1900.
 
 148 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 George E. Sutherland was at the time of his death, judge of the 
 superior court of Milwaukee and was held in the highest esteem by 
 the lawyers and business men of that city. 
 
 Campbell McLean and Norman S. Gilson were Fond du Lac 
 lawyers upon the bench of the circuit court and their ability is shown 
 by the fact that each held the position many years. 
 
 Came Since igoo. 
 
 The following lawyers have become members of the Fond du Lac 
 bar since 1900: 
 
 Downs, T. C. Husting, B. J. Reed, Louis B. 
 
 Fairbanks, R. C. Husting, B. A. Reed, Roy. 
 
 Fellenz, Henry M. Kinney, G. F. Spitzer, Frank. 
 
 Hardgrove, J. G. McKesson, J. C. 
 
 The following have ceased to be members of the Fond du Lac 
 Baxter, C. M. Matthews, J. E. Spitzer, Frank. 
 
 Kinney, G. F. Reed, Louis B. 
 
 The Pioneer Court. 
 
 Henry S. Baird was the pioneer lawyer of Wisconsin, coming 
 to Green Bay in 1823, when he was appointed attorney general of this 
 part of Michigan Territory. James Duane Doty was the judge, and 
 the court being migratory, they for four years made trips between 
 Green Bay and Prairie du Chien in a bark canoe to hold court. The 
 lawyers were Henry S. Baird, Morgan L. Martin, James H. Lock- 
 wood and Thomas P. Burnett. A law library about this time con- 
 sisted of one book of 140 pages, in which it was stated that it con- 
 tained " a compilation of the titles, a digest or copy of all the laws 
 of the territory which could be ascertained to be in force." 
 
 First Supreme Court. 
 
 In 1836, when the territory of Wisconsin was organized, a 
 supreme court was created with Charles Dunn as chief justice and 
 David Irwin and William C. Frazier as associate justices and they 
 held their first term at Belmont in December, 1836. In July, 1838, 
 Judge Frazier died and Andrew G. Miller became judge, holding the 
 place until the state government was formed when he was made 
 United States district judge. 
 
 In 1827 congress passed a peculiar law for this territory and for 
 the government of the court presided over by Judge Doty. This 
 court was not to entertain suits against persons for conjuration, witch- 
 craft, sorcery or enchantment. Negroes, Indians or mulattoes could 
 be punished for ofifenses corporally, not extending to life or limb. 
 
 It may not be known to many of our citizens that Fond du Lac 
 was one of the applicants for the location of the state capital at the 
 time Madison was chosen in 1836, and escaped by a no means large 
 margin. 
 
 Military Records. 
 
 The patriotism and military ability of the members of the bar of 
 Fond du Lac is shown by their record in the war of the rebellion.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 149 
 
 Edward S. Bragg entered the army as captain of Company E, 
 Sixth Wisconsin, and became brigadier general in command of the 
 famous Iron Brigade. 
 
 D. E. Wood was colonel of the Fourteenth Wisconsin and a good 
 officer. After the battle of Shiloh, where he was in command of his 
 regiment, he came home ill and died. 
 
 George W. Carter was a lieutenant in the Fourth Wisconsin, 
 and was seriously wounded at Port Hudson, the effects of which he 
 will carry to his grave. He subsequently entered the service again 
 as a captain in the Relief Corps under General Halbert E. Paine and 
 served to the end of the war. 
 
 Colwert K. Pier was lieutenant colonel of the Thirty-eighth 
 Wisconsin. He was seriously wounded at Petersburg, Va. 
 
 Norman S. Gilson was lieutenant colonel of the Fifty-second 
 regiment of United States volunteers. 
 
 Colonel Roswell M. Sawyer was a lieutenant in the First Wis- 
 consin, but was soon transferred to the staff of General Sherman, 
 where he served until the close of the war. dying a few years later, 
 
 A. E. Bovay was major of the Nineteenth Wisconsin and became 
 quite noted as provost marshal of Norfolk, Va. 
 
 Edwin A. Brown was captain of Company E, Sixth Wisconsin, 
 and was killed at the battle of Antietam. His death was much la- 
 mented at home and in the army. The local Grand Army Post is 
 named after him. He was a son of Isaac Brown, a son-in-law of 
 Edward Pier, and the father of Mrs. Hattie Sackett. 
 
 George E. Sutherland was captain of Company B, Thirteenth 
 United States volunteers. 
 
 Sumner L. Brasted was a lieutenant in the Thirty-second Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Elihu Colman was a member of the First Wisconsin cavalry. 
 
 Circuit Court Judges. 
 
 Alex. W. Stow was the first judge of the Fourth judicial circuit, 
 being elected in 1848 over Erastus VV. Drury. When the circuit 
 judges of the state drew lots for terms, Judge Stow drew the short 
 term of two years. 
 
 Timothy O. Howe, of Green Bay, was elected in 1850 over 
 Erastus W. Drury. He resigned in 1855, when he was elected United 
 States senator and Governor Barstow appointed William R. Gorse- 
 line, of Sheboygan county, to the vacancy. 
 
 William R. Gorseline was elected in 1856 without opposition, 
 but resigned in 1858 to go to Colorado. 
 
 David Taylor was appointed to the vacancy on the bench in 1858 
 by Governor Randall, was elected in 1859 ^o^ the unexpired term and 
 again in 1862 for the full term without opposition. 
 
 Campbell McLean was nominated by a democratic convention 
 in 1868 and defeated Judge Taylor. The latter went on the supreme 
 bench in 1878 and died in i8()i. Judge McLean was re-elected in 
 1874 without opposition.
 
 150 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Norman S. Gilson received the democratic nomination in i88o 
 and was elected over Campbell McLean, also in 1886, and in 1892 was 
 re-elected without opposition. In 1898 Judge Gilson declined a fourth 
 term, having served eighteen years with distinguished success. 
 
 Michael Kirwan, of Manitowoc, was elected in 1898 over A. C. 
 Prescott, of Sheboygan, and was re-elected in 1904 without opposi- 
 tion. 
 
 Succession of County Judges. 
 
 Dr. Mason C. Darling was probate judge in the territorial days. 
 
 John Bannister was elected county judge for one year in 1848 
 over John A. Eastman. 
 
 C. M. Tompkins was elected in 1849 ^^^ ^^""^ ^^^^^ term of four 
 years over M. C. Eaton and Alex. B. Davis. 
 
 David E. Wood was elected in 1853 over S. D. Stanchfield. 
 
 Robert Flint was elected in 1857 and again in 1861 over A. W. 
 Paine. 
 
 M. K. Stow was elected in 1865 over Robert Flint. 
 
 Jay Mayham was elected in 1869 over William D. Conklin, but 
 resigned six months before the close of his term on account of ill 
 health. 
 
 N. C. Giffin, who had been elected to the office to succeed Judge 
 Mayham, was appointed to All the vacancy by Governor Washburn, 
 and was elected again in 1873 over H. F. Rose. 
 
 George Perkins was elected in 1877 and again in 1881 over N. C. 
 Giffin and in 1885 over W. D. Conklin. 
 
 A. E. Richter was elected in 1889 over F. F. Duffy and re-elected 
 in 1893 and 1897 without opposition. In 1901 he was elected for a 
 fourth term over O. H. Ecke, and at the end of the present term will 
 have served sixteen years. 
 
 In the years that have passed the bar of Fond du Lac county has 
 been composed of learned, energetic and courteous men, and let us 
 hope that the lawyers of the future will be like them. 
 
 Marshall and His Liniment. 
 It was in i860 that J. W. Marshall began the manufacture of 
 Marshall's Liniment and two or three other articles. He was putting 
 up bottled soda water at the time, but being a good and loud talker, 
 he quit that business to introduce the liniment. He died soon after 
 and his son, C. H. Marshall continued the business until his death 
 a few years ago. 
 
 About Some Old Houses. * 
 
 As the old resident stands on the L. F. Stow premises, south- 
 west corner of Marr and Sixth streets, and looks at the other three 
 corners, he may wonder if we really have passed into the twentieth 
 century. The Dexter, the McCarty and Jo. Olmsted homes look to 
 him as if he had not drifted far from i860. They have been fairly 
 well cared for and are not in dilapidation but they appear very much 
 as they did at that period of forty-five years ago.
 
 GAS ^VORKS AND GAS MEN 
 
 The Beginning of Our Gas Works and Who Has Been Identified 
 
 With the Business. 
 
 The Fond du Lac Gas Works had their start in 1859, the fran- 
 chise being- procured that year from the city by John P. Hayes. The 
 works were located where they are now, but under strong protest 
 from the people who believed the smell from them would be offensive. 
 Mr. Hayes did not push the work vigorously, and in a couple of years 
 sold out to A. D. Bonesteel and James G. Miller, and the firm of 
 Bonesteel & ]\Iiller went at the work vigorously, but while the plant 
 was not large it was probably large enough for the place. 
 
 After an ownership of four years, both proprietors desiring to go 
 to other fields, sold the works in 1865 to Jesse Beekeley, who con- 
 tinued in possession eleven years, during which time the works were 
 extended but little. It was during this time that Thomas Murphy 
 became connected with the works and was superintendent about 
 twenty-five years, though handicapped much of this time by refusals 
 to put money enough into them to make them efficient and what he 
 thought they ought to be. In 1876 a syndicate composed of Joseph 
 Andrews and his father-in-law, and three brothers of Mr. Andrews, 
 acquired a title to the wo!rks, and held them more than twenty years. 
 At first things moved smoothly and many improvements were made, 
 but after a time difficulties and dissatisfaction crept in and by the 
 time a sale was effected to the present owners, headed by President 
 Whitcomb, of the Wisconsin Central railroad, the works were almost 
 worn out. 
 
 The death of Joseph Andrews brought new difficulties and in the 
 adjustment of affairs, and of course things were more than ever 
 neglected. The present owners found it necessary to make improve- 
 ments at once. New retorts, engine, pvimps, purifying apparatus and 
 a fine new gas holder double the capacity of the old one, were put in. 
 The buildings were also much improved and a new floor put into the 
 retort room. For more than thirty years there had been a manifest 
 hesitation to put money into the works for improvement, or even for 
 repairs imless absolute necessity compelled it. But a more liberal 
 policy is manifested now and the Fond du Lac Gas Works are in 
 more presentable shape than they have been in many years, and will 
 be still further improved and extended. 
 
 The first gas holder of the Fond du Las Gas Works is still in 
 existence and it will surprise many people to know that it is in its 
 old pit under the floor of the gas building on West Second street. It 
 is disconnected by removal of piping, but when the building was 
 erected the old gas holder was left in- its place and is there yet. It 
 was in a pit by the side of this gas holder, that James Miller had the
 
 152 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 explosion in which he so nearly lost his life. Miller was an English- 
 man and claimed to be a regularly educated gas engineer, but if so 
 he must have been very careless, for he had a number of accidents 
 of various kinds while in charge of the works here. In at least one 
 of them it is a wonder that he was not killed. 
 
 The Fond du L.ac Gas Works until now have not had a fair 
 chance. They were cheaply put in at the start and when in need of 
 repairs and improvements, the money to pay the cost was not forth- 
 coming. The owners were too poor or too stingy to do the work 
 needed, and the result has been that the works were not satisfactory 
 to the people. The present owners are believed to have ample capital 
 and that the gas works will be greatly improved and made what they 
 ought to be. 
 
 When the gas works were started, gas was used for lighting 
 purposes only, now the use has extended to heating and cooking, and 
 who can tell to what other purposes it may be applied in the not 
 distant future? The scientific genius may soon find other uses for 
 it. At dififerent times efforts have been made to cheapen the product 
 at the works by the use of rosin, petroleum and even wood. At one 
 time hundreds of cords of tamarack wood was used annually to 
 adulterate or cheapen the product to the manufacturer but were 
 abandoned. Gas can be made from such articles, but after all is but 
 an adulteration and is satisfying to neither manufacturer nor con- 
 sumer. Straight coal gas properly made, is the only product that is 
 satisfactory to all concerned. That which is now made at the Fond 
 du Lac Gas Works is understood to be of this character and the coal 
 used is of a high grade. There is some complaint about the gas 
 furnished consumers, but such complaints will come at times though 
 the best material is used. 
 
 In this connection it is appropriate to speak of the lights in use 
 when the gas works came into existence. Fifty years ago the people 
 were using lights of which the present generation has no knowledge. 
 The people now do know a little about candles, but what do they 
 know about lard oil lamps, fluid lamps and camphene lamps? Prac- 
 tically nothing. Camphene was made of alcohol, turpentine and gum 
 camphor, and fluid the same without the turpentine. Both were very 
 explosive but generally used. The first kerosene oil brought to Fond 
 du Lac was by J. R. and J. W. Partridge, the druggists, about 1855. 
 They brought lamps to burn it which were very dilferent from those 
 of today. It was liked very much but after the first invoice of oil 
 was sold, no more could be obtained for several months. Crude 
 petroleum would not work in the lamps and Mr. Partridge could not 
 get refined oil and the old lamps had to be brought into use again. 
 Finally some refined oil was obtained along in the spring of 1856, 
 and since then the refiners kept up with the demand. 
 
 The lamps given to us to burn the first kerosene, were as crude 
 
 . as was the oil, and would be amusing to the modern consumers, but 
 
 after all were so much of air improvement in methods of lighting 
 
 then in use, that they were gladly accepted. And the oil — well, it was
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 153 
 
 often straw colored, but was used because it was the best to be had. 
 It was in this as in many other things of early times, it was accepted 
 as all right because there was nothing better to be had. 
 
 First Yacht on These Waters. 
 
 The first yacht on Fond du Lac waters was named after the great 
 hunter in Bible times, "Nimrod." It was of the Lake Michigan class 
 of fishing and hunting boats, was about thirty feet long and five or six 
 feet wide, sloop rigged. It was owned by M. J. Thomas, son-in-law 
 of John B. Macy. It was first put into the water at the landing, but 
 afterwards taken to Lake deNeveu, where Mr. Thomas built a neat 
 boat house, but both were wrecked in a storm. One night a wind 
 storm of great violence moved the house and partly turned it over, 
 resulting in a general wreck. 
 
 Weather on January i, 1854. 
 
 On the 1st day of January, 1854, Willard Edson, father of Solon 
 W. Edson, of the five points shops, was working at the bench in the 
 shop of William Mumby, on West Second street, and Solon was 
 there and knows it to be a fact that the day was as bright and warm 
 as a day in June. It was just ten years later, on January ist, 1864, 
 that we had the memorable cold New Year. It was just half way 
 between these years, on May 15, 1859, that we had snow six inches 
 deep. Five years after the cold New Year, in 1869, we had the hot 
 summer. One day in July the mercury went to 104 in the shade, in 
 Ripon, and business was suspended. 95 to 100 was not unusual. 
 
 The Edson shop at the five points is the veteran wood working 
 shop, if indeed it is not the oldest continuously working shop of any 
 sort in the entire city. The Amory gun shop was started in 1848, 
 but the name has been changed three times — S. B. & J. Amory 
 to T. S. Weeks, he to Weeks & Hurlbut, and they to Hurlbut & 
 Harris. The Edson shop was moved to its present location in 1854, 
 and has been in charge of Willard Edson and his son, Solon W. 
 Edson, ever since. A son of the latter, Eugene Edson, was with his 
 father a short time, but died in 1895. This shop has not been out of 
 the hands of the Edson family from its beginning in 1854, therefore 
 has been in continuous existence at this date of 1905, more than half 
 a century. 
 
 Western Avenue Bridge. 
 
 The first bridge across the west branch of the river at Western 
 Avenue, was built of logs and logs it has been much of the time since. 
 A resident who has crossed and re-crossed that bridge frequently 
 during the past forty years, says he thinks it is about time that the 
 city had a decent bridge there and few people will dispute his state- 
 ment. It has been tinkered and repaired many times, but never has 
 it resulted in a bridge that at all compared with others in the city. 
 Once or twice it broke down, but fortunatelv no one was hurt.
 
 154 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 A Cat Ready to Fight. 
 
 C. L. Ailing was one of the early grocerymen of Fond du Lac. 
 It was in Case & Alling's store that the fire started in 1852, that 
 burned the east side of Main street, between First and Second. The 
 year that he began business here is not known, but old residents 
 know he was here some time before this fire and that he continued 
 in it almost to the date of his death in 1890. After he had built the 
 store now occupied by Robbins grocery store, some amusing events 
 took place in which a cat played a conspicuous part. Mr. Alling's 
 son-in-law, Wesley G. Curtis, clerked in the store and a large and 
 powerful cat held a place there to look after the rats and mice, but 
 he assumed the responsibility of looking after dogs also. This large 
 and powerful store cat seemed to dislike dogs, at least would not 
 allow them to rest in peace in the store. Jay Hall knew of this and 
 one day borrowed a neighbor's large dog to shake the cat. On his 
 way to town Jay had doubtless stopped at the Four Mile House, as 
 he was well filled with booze. He slowly marched into Alling's store, 
 the dog at his heels. Tommy was squatted on the counter, near the 
 cheese box, apparently half asleep. Suddenly there was a scrabbling 
 and commotion, the dog headed for the door, the cat on his neck and 
 shoulders clawing, biting and squalling as only a cat can claw, bite 
 and squall. Curtis threw the door open and the dog made a leap of 
 eight or ten feet into the street, while small tufts of dog hair were 
 wafted along the floor by the gentle breeze. Jay was not pleased 
 that his borrowed dog was so quickly and easily cleaned out. To 
 smooth his lacerated feelings and fasten the joke on some one besides 
 himself, he told Hi Lindsley that Ailing had a store cat that he be- 
 lieved coukl whip his brindle bull dog, and told him how to work it 
 to get a fight. A few days later Hi went leisurely into the store with 
 his brindle purp at his heels. Tommy was not on the counter, but 
 he got there quick enough when he saw the dog, and in less than 
 half a minute a lively and noisy fight was in active progress, with a 
 result worse than in Jay Hall's case, for this time the dog broke one 
 of the glasses in the doors, in his anxiety to get out. In a fight on the 
 ground or floor, either of these dogs could have vanquished the cat, 
 but he set up his fights in his own way and was always the victor. 
 "Bowser," (that was Tommy's name), was a grand cat for what he 
 was there for. Curtis used to say the stay of a rat or mouse in that 
 store was very short. The stay of dogs seems to have been short 
 also, hence Tommy in his lifetime was well cared for. What became 
 of him finally, no one knew. He simply disappeared and was no 
 more seen. It was a long time before Hi Lindsley ceased to hear 
 about his fighting bull dog being whipped by a cat. 
 
 Up to about i860, the County Treasurer's tax list in the spring, 
 filled one to two pages of the Journal, and the Clerk's list in the fall, 
 about half as much. One has to look close now to find them in 
 the paper at all. People pay their taxes and the newspapers get less 
 revenue.
 
 DRY HOP YEAST BUSINESS 
 
 Henry Boyle and John T. Boyle Have Remarkable Success in the 
 Manufacture of Yeast in Fond du Lac. 
 
 In the comparatively short business period of twenty years, 
 Henry Boyle and John T. Boyle had the most successful career ever 
 known in a manufacturing enterprise in this city. And their success 
 was not reached through good luck, but was the result of hard 
 work and constant mental effort. Night and day their business was 
 looked to carefully and promptly. 
 
 Henry Boyle and John T. Boyle were born at Waterloo, N. Y., 
 and at that place, in the employ of the Western Yeast Company, 
 manufacturers of the National and Twin Brothers Yeast at that 
 place, gained their first knowledge of the yeast business. In 1872 
 the brothers talked over the matter of locating at some other place 
 and founding a business of their own. With this in view they went 
 first to Pittsburg, but found rents and other expenditures so high as 
 to be prohibitory, and came west to Milwaukee. While looking the 
 ground over, they resolved to make a short visit to an uncle, Mr. 
 Crosby, who resided a short distance west of Ripon, and it was during 
 this short visit near Ripon, that their destiny was fixed. A man from 
 Fond du Lac was there and when he learned of their search for a 
 location suggested Fond du Lac. They came and arriving in the 
 evening stayed all night at one of the small, lowertown hotels. In 
 the morning the two young micn wandered up town, looking and 
 speculating as they went. At the corner of Main and Johnson streets 
 they found the old Squire's building with broken windows and in a 
 general condition of dilapidation. But they were not long in decid- 
 ing what they would do, and rented the Squire's shop for $8 a month. 
 As soon as the building could be got ready they went into the manu- 
 facture of dry hop yeast, under the name of Yeast Foam, the name 
 it has borne ever since. A little later they started a grocery store at 
 the same place, and in two or three years had built up a trade not 
 surpassed, if indeed equaled, by any store in the city except perhaps 
 the Zinke Brothers. 
 
 But now came a marked period in the business experience of 
 Boyle Brothers and of the manufacture of yeast in Fond du Lac. 
 Up to 1877 all yeast was put up in ten cent packages. There were a 
 dozen cakes in a package and few families could use them all before 
 becoming unfit for use. There was too much yeast and too high a 
 price, hence the sale was slow. Boyle Brothers now resolved to cut 
 quantity and price in the middle and for the first time in the history 
 of yeast making, there was a five cent package in the market. Reid, 
 Murdock & Fisher, then the heaviest wholesale grocery house in 
 Chicago, soon had large orders and the demand from country dealers
 
 156 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 compelled other wholesale houses to buy it, and the result was that 
 in 1886 the large factory on Main street was built, and which was 
 largely increased from year to year, in size and capacity, until 1898, 
 when it had become the largest factory of its kind in the United 
 States or the world. Henry Boyle and John T. Boyle, associated 
 with their uncle, Peter T. Crosby, in their spheres in the factory, 
 made a business association unsurpassed for the work in hand. At 
 first the name was American Dry Hop Yeast Co., but in 1877 the 
 business name became the Northwestern Yeast Co., the title it still 
 bears. The product is known as Yeast Foam. 
 
 In 1893 ^ consolidation took place, which brought together in 
 one plant, two of the heaviest yeast concerns in this country, and 
 since the consolidation the product has tripled. They have 150 men 
 on the road and employ 400 in the factory. Since the consolidation, 
 Mr. Henry Boyle has continued Vice-President and Director of the 
 company and gives it much of his attention. In 1893 ^1^^ factory here 
 was using twelve tons of cornmeal per day in the manufacture of 
 yeast cakes, but nearly five times that amount is now used. 
 
 Such has been the" marked success of the Boyle Brothers in the 
 manufacture and sale of Dry Hop Yeast, since their coming to Fond 
 du Lac in 1873. Since the consolidation in 1893 they have shown 
 an abiding faith in Fond du Lac and its business by investing large 
 sums of money in almost every enterprise coming to public notice. 
 In charitable work they have taken the lead. Henry Boyle built 
 and equipped the Catholic Old Folks* Home at a cost of $30,000 and 
 endowed it at a cost of $45,000 more. John T. Boyle bought the 
 land, built and fully equipped the Sanitarium under the ledge east 
 of the city. The surroundings of this place, especially the grand 
 spring, makes it an ideal location which Mr. Boyle was willing to 
 invest about $40,000. The Public Library, the Commercial Bank 
 building, the new Opera House and other enterprises represent the 
 liberality and public spirit of the Boyle Brothers. 
 
 The remarkable success of Boyle Brothers induced others to 
 engage in the yeast business here, but all of them ceased after a 
 time. The most successful of these was the Diamond Yeast Co., 
 under the management of T. H. Hastings. This was sold to the 
 consolidated company, in 1894. The Wafer Yeast Company, of 
 which Col. C. H. DeGroat was the leader, ceased business in 1895. 
 Yeast Flakes was the name given to a product made on upper Main 
 street by C. W. Pinkham, but was never a formidable competitor in 
 the market. It lingered along until 1895, when it dropped out of the 
 market. There were three or four other attempts at yeast making 
 in Fond du Lac, but they were so weak and existed for so short a 
 time that the names of the makers and their product cannot now be 
 recalled. What is known as compressed yeast was never made here, 
 as it comes from the settling pans and tubs in the manufacture of 
 high wines. As no high wines are distilled here no compressed yeast 
 is made. The Boyle Brothers and their product, Yeast Foam, are the 
 names and distinctive features of yeast making in Fond du Lac. 
 They originated the business and made a marked success of it.
 
 CLOTHING. JEWELRY, GROCERIES, ETC. 
 
 Various Kinds of Business Begun in Early Days, Brought Down 
 
 to the Present Dates and Names Also 
 
 Remembered. 
 
 The Clothing Trade. 
 
 This line of business was ahnost wholly in the general stores 
 until 1850. We had some tailors, John B. Wilbor, Kasson Freeman, 
 A. H. Clark, Albert Becker, John Hecht, John Weber and a little 
 later S. A. Dudley and others. As early as 1849 ^^^ old Jewish gentle- 
 man named S. Maddevitch, opened a stock of clothing here and 
 others followed him for short periods of time. It was in 1857 that 
 Seligman & Bro. opened the first large clothing store in Fond du Lac. 
 They had a large stock and did a very large business for some years. 
 M. Rehm was an early day clothier. He died in New York city a 
 few years ago. H. Altpass Avas a dealer in hats, caps and gents' 
 furnishing goods. Gielow & Son were also early day dealers. The 
 coming of the war changed business methods and the clothing trade 
 changed with others until things developed as we have them now. 
 
 Watches and Jewelry.- 
 
 Philo Smith was Fond du Lac's first watch repairer and jeweler. 
 He was here in 1847. Then we had in 1849, Philip Odenbrett. In 
 1854 G. Scherzinger came, and in 1856 A. Kuenne and H. G. De 
 Sombre. Charles Trowbridge & Bro. came a little later and were 
 here many years. A. H. Furstnow has been the successor of Mr. 
 Kuenne, with whom he served an apprenticeship at the business. 
 Mr. Scherzinger and Mr. DeSombre have stayed with us. From the 
 old times down to the present, we have had many others for greater 
 or less periods of time. 
 
 The Grocery Stores. 
 
 In 1850, Jason Wilkins started a store in which only groceries 
 and garden products was kept, and it was the first grocery in Fond 
 du Lac. Before this all the general stores kept groceries. The earli- 
 est grocers following Jason Wilkins, were J. W. Carpenter, T. & B. 
 Mason, A. Pogiie, C. L. Ailing, R. A. & K.'O. Baker, Case & Ailing, 
 Valentine & Olmsted, Smith .& Chandler, and a little later E. H. 
 Jones, Davis & Co., W. W. Clark, N. L. Bullis, J. E. Peabody, J. W. 
 Conley, Robert Wyat and many others. No line of business increased 
 so rapidly after 1870, as the grocery, until now they are to be found 
 in every part of the city and their number is legion. The methods of 
 doing business by the grocers has very much changed since the early 
 days. Should an old timer be able to return now to do business with 
 his grocer, he would be very much surprised to find the delivery
 
 fc> 
 
 158 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 wagon at the door, with a boy to deliver his purchase if not of greater 
 value than a nickle. and many other innovations. The old time 
 grocery store was a very different place from one of today. Articles 
 put up in glass, tin and paper were almost unknown and bakery 
 goods, except crackers, were not kept. Bread was sold at the 
 bakeries and vegetables were sold from the gardener's wagon. 
 
 Milliners and Dressmakers. 
 
 In the early times ladies were content if they could obtain the 
 material of which to build a bonnet or construct a dress. They could 
 arrange it for themselves, or find some neighbor to do it if they could 
 get the material. Their ideas of style were not as elaborate as in 
 later years, yet they got along very well. It is only since the war 
 that there were several styles of hats and bonnets at the same time, 
 as one or two styles would fill the bill in earlier years, and it is since 
 the coming of many kinds and the active sale of sewing machines, 
 that ladies" dresses required as much planning and as elaborate work 
 as the construction of a modern printing press. Fifty years ago the 
 Singer, the Wheeler & Wilson and Grover & Baker sewing machines 
 had but just got into use to a very limited extent. Most families 
 were confined largely to hard work and the modern dress was some 
 years in the future. Mrs. Wilber, Mrs. Bonnell, the Giltner girls and 
 others of the early milliners, dil not have the troubles of their sisters 
 of the present, in keeping up with the styles. 
 
 Florists and Gardeners. 
 
 In early days the people were concerned about things more sub- 
 stantial than flowers and house plants. Something eatable, some- 
 thing wearable, something usable, was needed most. The French 
 Gardens and Zickerick's were here early and easily furnished all the 
 flowers desired for funerals and social functions. The use of flowers 
 and plants for funerals was not so common then as now, and parties 
 where flowers were appropriate or desired, were few and far be- 
 tween. Something far more substantial than posies was looked for 
 on such occasions. In war times the use of flowers became more 
 general and Mr. Haentze came and soon became leader in the business, 
 which has continued to this time. Most of the flowers now used 
 here are grown at home, but on special occasions heavy drafts are 
 made upon Chicago and Milwaukee florists. Others at times have 
 grown flowers here in a small way, but Lallier, or the French Gardens, 
 and Haentze have been the principal ones for many years. W. C. 
 Green was the early vegetable peddler, Lallier also came early and at 
 all times there have been private gardeners to distribute vegetables. 
 
 Tobacco and Cigar Trade. 
 
 To the younger people, meaning those who had not reached the 
 stage of business activity at the time of the war, it is well to say 
 here that it was not until 1862 that the government tax was levied 
 upon liquor and tobacco. To that time the sale of these was free in 
 every form. But the tax came and came heavy. Every manufacturer
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 159 
 
 must use stamps on his packages and every dealer must have a 
 license. Such is the law now, though the rate is some lower. In old 
 times the stamps and license were never seen.. Fifty years ago fine- 
 cut chewing tobacco was sold in three cent packages, and smoking 
 by the pound from barrels. Older citizens will remember the tobacco 
 store of Fromm & \\''olf, the first of its kind in Fond du Lac. During 
 its entire existence from 1849 ^o 1887, a period of thirty-eight years, 
 the store occupied the place where Sun Woh's Chinese laundry is 
 now. Mr. Fromm died in 1869 and Joseph Wolf in 1885, when L. A. 
 Ehrhart bought the stock but discontinued the store after two 
 years. There have been numerous such stores since, but From & 
 Wolf was the only one for many vears. 
 
 Draying and Parcel Delivery. 
 
 Teaming in the earliest days of Fond du Lac was done by Ed. 
 Carey, Ben Gilbert and his father and one or two others, with their 
 oxen. A little later Steve Buckland, John Denny, Jo. King and J. W. 
 Oliver had horse teams ready to do this work when not on the road 
 freighting to and from Milwaukee and Sheboygan. A wagon maker 
 named Griswold, early in the fifties, put the first dray on the streets. 
 Then came John Monahan, J. A¥. Hodges, Tom Toomy, Oliver 
 Tompkins, John Dana, John Hale, Bob Atkinson, William Druth, 
 Henry Schlicher and several others. In 1870 all the old style dray- 
 men disappeared and the work was done with wagoias. In the 
 eighties A. Tait organized the first heavy freight line to the rail- 
 roads, in late years so successfully managed by Petrie and O'Connor. 
 Tait sold the business to go into coal and wood. In 1890 came a 
 revelation in the street business by the appearance of Orson Mcll- 
 vaine and his innocent appearing parcel delivery wagon. To this 
 time the price had been 25 cents for all work, no matter how light. 
 But now came a 10 cent price and ere long all the old draymen left 
 the street and were seen no more. Some of them had become old 
 men in the work, but the price for services was a knock out. The 
 heavy freight lines remain because there is a necessity for them, but 
 the old liners were all off the street within a year after the coming 
 of the parcel delivery. Mr. Mcllvaine, the originator of the parcel 
 delivery, had a paralytic stroke in 1896, but recovered and went on 
 the street again, but in the spring of 1905 had become so infirm that 
 he went to the Soldiers' Home, at Milwaukee, where he died in 
 August last. Such has been the evolution of the street teaming service 
 in Fond du Lac from the beginning. W^hat the future of it may be 
 no one can tell. 
 
 T. S. Henry began the free delivery of goods from stores, from 
 his flour and feed store. E. C. Tompkins, under firm name of Davis 
 & Co., was the first grocery to take up free delivery. 
 
 It was by giving the heavy bonds for County Treasurers elect 
 and saving them this annoyance, that Robert A. Baker secured the 
 control of county money so many years.
 
 160 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Passenger Transportation. 
 
 The railroads, the number of them, running in every direction, 
 has so stimulated travel that people of early times can only think 
 and wonder. Fifty years ago with a population of about 6,000, the 
 ordinary passenger business of Fond du Lac was easily managed by 
 a small steamboat on Lake Winnebago, one stage coach a day to 
 Sheboygan and a mud wagon stage to Milwaukee. The steamboat 
 was never crowded, the Sheboygan stage might have six passengers 
 but often one or two, while the normal condition of the Milwaukee 
 stage was emptiness. A total of twenty passengers a day would 
 be the average. There were occasions and seasons when the travel 
 was much greater, but this was not far from the average up to the 
 time that the railroads came. People of the present time may ask, 
 what did the people do? The answer is they stayed at home or 
 traveled with horses and ox teams. How enormous has been the 
 increase by the coming of the railroads. In this year of 1905 we have 
 twenty-three passenger trains going north and twenty-three going 
 south, a total of forty-six passenger trains every day over our rail- 
 roads. These trains have two to eight passenger cars each and the 
 cars have seats for thirty-two to seventy-two passengers. A gentle- 
 man of this city connected with the railroads, estimates that 800 
 people are carried into and out of Fond du Lac every day in the 
 local traffic alone. The trains carry many thousands. Fifty years 
 ago two stages managed the entire passenger business between 
 Green Bay, Fond du Lac and Milwaukee. How many would be re- 
 quired now? In 1850 the stages between Milwaukee and Fond du 
 Lac, consumed twelve to twenty-four hours. Fifty years later the 
 time required between the two cities was reduced to less than two 
 hours. The fare has been reduced about one-third. To Milwaukee 
 it was $3.50, now it is $1.90. The time used to be uncertain, now it 
 is almost to the tick of the watch. 
 
 A Cow That Walked In. 
 
 Up to nearly i860, all domestic animals were allowed to run at 
 large, including pigs, and it was a cow owned by J. C. Clunn that 
 started the agitation that resulted in the passage of an ordinance re- 
 quiring them to be kept off the streets. This cow owned by Mr. 
 Clunn was a genius at opening gates, large or small, hooked or 
 latched. She would patiently work at a gate with her horns until 
 she opened it, no matter how fastened. She was seldom or never 
 known to abandon a job when once undertaken, no matter how many 
 hours it required. She had seen the fine pasture and garden truck 
 inside the enclosure and she was determined to get to it. Driving her 
 away was not effectual, for she promptly returned when the coast 
 was clear, and went at it again as calmly as before. During the days 
 she pastured along the streets and at night in the yards and gardens, 
 and as the owner would do nothing, relief came only by the passage 
 of the ordinance, ever since in force.
 
 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 A Fond du Lac Institution Established in 1876, Now Occupies Its 
 
 Own Beautiful Building and is the 
 
 Pride of the City. 
 
 The presentation of $30,000 to the Fond du Lac Public Library 
 by Andrew Carnegie in 1902, the raising of $6,000 from citizens by 
 the Woman's Club for the purchase of the Eldredge property at the 
 corner of Sheboygan and Portland streets as a site for the building, 
 the laying of the corner stone in June, 1903. in which the Woman's 
 Club took conspicuous part, the completion of the building and 
 moving the library into it in November, 1904, the dedication in 
 January, 1905, and an address by Reuben G. Thwaites, are all inter- 
 esting and important events in the history of Fond du Lac. During 
 the time that the building was being erected, the library board con- 
 sisted of F. B. Hoskins, President; John Heath, Vice-President; J. 
 W. Watson, Secretary; C. A. Galloway, Treasurer, and E. R. Herren, 
 O. H. Ecke, L. A. Williams, AVilliam Wilson, Miss Elizabeth Waters 
 and Mrs. L. A. Bishop. The committee that had the work in charge
 
 162 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 during the construction of the building, consisted of Maj. E. R. 
 Herren, John Heath and C. A. Galloway. Mr. Hoskins is dead and 
 five of the above named members having resigned, the library board 
 at this date, October 15, 1905, is as follows: E. R. Herren, President; 
 O. H. Ecke, Vice-President ; William Wilson, Secretary ; J. C. Whit- 
 telsey, Dr. G. T. jMcDougall, Harvey Durand, Maurice Fitz- 
 simons, Jr., Miss Elizabeth Waters, Mrs. Waldo Sweet. Since 
 organization in its present form as a Public Library in 1876, there 
 have been but two librarians, the first Miss Augusta Ball and since 
 1882, Miss Emma Rose. The present operating force or employes 
 are, Miss Emma Rose, Librarian, Miss Mamie Lamb, Miss Jean 
 Dodd and Miss Mamie E. Bechaud, Assistants, John Preiss, Janitor. 
 A. T. Glaze has quarters in the public document room, in behalf of 
 the old settlers. Besides the $36,000 above mentioned as contributed 
 for building and site, the city added $13,000, making the total cost 
 $49,000. 
 
 Exclusive of magazines and books with paper covers, the library 
 now has 22,000 volumes on its shelves, and the number is constantly 
 increasing. Every department of literature is represented and new 
 books of interest are secured as fast as published. Currant magazines 
 and many leading papers are to be found on the tables of the large 
 reading room. Few libraries are as well supplied with books for 
 reference. In the second story of the building is a very nice assembly 
 room, well furnished, for meetings, and on the Portland street front 
 is an interesting museum in which is displayed the many curios col- 
 lected by Mrs. Bass and others. In this year of 1905, the Public 
 Library has become a place of great interest as well to outsiders as 
 to citizens. It is open every day, except Sunday, from 9 a. m. to 
 9 p. m, and during the winter months is open Sunday afternoons from 
 3 to 5 :30. 
 
 Since its organization, the library has had rooms in four places, 
 but it is now anchored where it is hoped it will stay. In 1875 the 
 Young Men's Association and the Neocasmian Society having seem- 
 ingly tired of responsibility if not of existence, transferred their 
 libraries to the city for a free public library. The Neocasmians gave 
 up their lease of what is now known as P. C. A. Hall, and the library 
 continued there a short time, when the rooms over Plank's drug 
 store were fitted up for the library and it continued there seven years. 
 Early in 1884, the library was moved to the rooms lately occupied 
 on Main street. The building, now owned by Wm. McDermott, was 
 erected in 1883 by Mr. John McDonald and Gen. Black, of Chicago, 
 with the understanding that the entire second floor should be fitted 
 up for library purposes. Here it remained just twenty years, when 
 it was moved into the present building owned by the city^and one of 
 the best of its class in the state. 
 
 The death of Mr. Frank B. Hoskins, September 18, 1905, is a 
 great loss to the Public Library. He was long president of the 
 library board and took an active interest in all its affairs. His in- 
 fluence was great and his judgment reliable.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 163 
 
 The first attempt at a reading room in Fond du Lac was by 
 Edward Beeson, Van B. Smead. Wesley Curtis, A. T. Glaze and 
 Misses Fidelia Boardman and Delphina Cortelyou, and was in the 
 upper room of the old John Marshall building, about where Cheg- 
 win's furniture store is now, on East Second street. Mr, IMarshall 
 gave the use of the room and newspapers, magazines and other 
 reading matter were carried there from the Journal ofHce. Books 
 were lent by citizens. There was no librarian, but the door Avas open 
 at all times for people to come and go as they pleased. Reading 
 matter was by no means as plentiful then as now. and for a long 
 time this cosy reading room was frequented by readers. The rooms 
 were used two summers, but the people failing to contribute for 
 fuel and lights, it was closed in winter and finally dropped or rather 
 died from lack of interest in it by the people whose duty it was to 
 help it. 
 
 A Few Remarkable Years. 
 
 The }ears 1851, 1867, 1885 and the present year 1905, were re- 
 markable for rain and wet. In 1851 it was so wet that only oats was 
 got into the ground successfully, and that fall oats was sold in Fond 
 du Lac for eight and ten cents a bushel. There was an over supply. 
 1867 was very wet and in the fall stacking was so delayed that 
 shocks of wheat were green with sprouts. The corn was drowned 
 out and barley and oats rviined. In 1885 corn was planted two or 
 three times but yet failed. Small grain also failed. The present year 
 of 1905 we all know about. Floods and storms have ruled. There 
 has been but very few weeks without storms. During these fifty 
 years there have been other wet seasons, but these are on record. 
 
 The deep snows were in 1864 and 1882. In 1864, Ripon was at 
 one time thirteen days without a mail. Fond du Lac had a like ex- 
 perience but not so long. In 1882 the snow was often banked twelve 
 to fifteen feet high and railroad trains were stopped for days at a 
 time. 
 
 In 1852, 1864 and 1897 we had the intense cold. The cold of 
 1852 had its worst demonstration at the time of the big fire between 
 First and Second streets. There was not a thermometer in the town 
 that could measure its intensity. The cold New Years was January 
 I, 1864. Garden shrubberv and grapes were frozen to the ground in 
 
 The "vyinter of long sleighing was 1869. Beautiful sleighing 
 lasted from the middle of November to the middle of March. In 
 1883 there was no sleighing at all. Mr. Alfred Robbins, then in 
 livery business, said he did not hitch a horse to a cutter during the 
 , entire winter. It is remarkable that this came the next winter after 
 the deep snows. 
 
 We have had a number of years of drouths, some of them serious. 
 The worst was probably that of 1877, when almost everything dried 
 out.
 
 164 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Billy Ford, the Stage Man. 
 
 William F"ord, known to everybody in town and immediate 
 vicinity as Billy Ford, when the stage company was here, was the 
 "barn man" and looked after everything connected with the barn. 
 He had a number of workers, but Billy was responsible for every- 
 thing. He was a very small man but could carry all the responsi- 
 bility the company and M. D. Henry, the agent, could pile on him. 
 He bought and traded horses, bought all supplies, gave out tickets 
 to the men for meals, looked after repairs, etc., but would never 
 handle a cent of money of the company. He sent all bills to Mr, 
 Henry to be paid. He used to say he could stand almost anything 
 except to handle other folk's money. And he seldom had a cent of 
 his own, for he always sent it away as soon as received, so the boys 
 could not borrow it. Yet the boys all stood by Billy every time and 
 all the time. 
 
 First Jobs Printed. 
 
 The first job of printing Edward Beeson did in Fond du Lac was 
 of tax certificates in 1848. The first job A. T. Glaze did was a pros- 
 pectus for the Wisconsin Pinery started at Stevens Point in 1851, 
 by Gen. Ellis. The first pamphlet job printed in Fond du Lac was 
 the proceedings of the Wisconsin Conference of the M. E. Church in 
 1852. A. T. Glaze and Walworth Chapel did the work, binding as 
 well as the printing. The first colored job was for the Globe Hotel 
 in 1853. It was a fancy card eleven by fourteen inches in size. 
 
 Old Marr Street Cottage. 
 
 At this date, June ist, 1905, the old cottage at the southeast 
 corner of Marr and Third streets is disappearing to give place to a 
 new residence. It was built by E. W. Drury in 1849 ^^^ occupied 
 by him until he moved to the west side, on Western Avenue about 
 1865. It has stood there fifty-six years, and like all old things, has 
 had to pass away and give place to something new. Through its 
 fifty-six years it has been known as "The Cottage." It had been on 
 fire twice but was not injured beyond repair, though each time be- 
 came smaller in size. 
 
 Astor Hall as a Saloon. 
 
 The place kept in the earl}- time in Fond du Lac by Charley 
 Johnson and known as Astor Hall, was the first of the saloons of 
 modern style. It was a billiard saloon with a bar, and a back room 
 for cards. The name Astor Hall had no significance except to locate 
 the place. Johnson was a negro and himself had little to do in run- 
 ning the saloon. It was managed by a little German whom all 
 residents knew as "Gottleib." This German afterward had a saloon 
 of his own, but was unsuccessful and finally left town to reside in 
 Calumet, where he ended his life later with a revolver.
 
 PIONEERS IN 1874 AND 1904 
 
 What Has Been Done and What It Is Aimed To Do by the Work 
 of the Club. All May Take Part In It. 
 
 On March 19, 1904, a meeting was held in the Supervisor's room 
 at the court house for the purpose of organizing an Old Settlers' 
 Club. Dr. J. W. Burns, of Oakfleld, was elected chairman, and A. T. 
 Glaze, secretary. F. B. Hoskins, with the president and secretary, 
 were made a committee on constitution and by-laws. After this com- 
 mittee had reported, the following officers were elected : 
 
 President — H. D. Hitt, of Oaktield. 
 
 Vice-Presidents — F. B. Hoskins, S. M. Ingalls. 
 
 Recording Secretary — A. T. Glaze. 
 
 Corresponding Secretary — Dr. J. W. Burns. 
 
 Treasurer — W. A. Meiklejohn. 
 
 Executive Committee — Dr. T. F. Mayham, O. F. Lewis, G. N. 
 Mihills and the President and Recording Secretary, ex-officio. 
 
 The next meeting was held April 16, in the court room at 
 the court house. The constitution of the club was reported and 
 adopted. There were many pleasing talks from members of the club 
 and it was resolved to hold a midsummer picnic meeting in June, the 
 date to be fixed by the executive committee, but subsequently the 
 committee adjourned the meeting to September 2. The weather was 
 unfavorable but the meeting was well attended and very interesting. 
 It was held in the fine arts building at the fair grounds. Besides 
 some talks by old settlers, there was an address by H. E. Swett, a 
 paper by Miss Alice Stearns, recitations by Miss Marlea Bishop and 
 Mrs. A. E. Lindsley, and music by Mrs. Bishop, Miss Bishop and 
 Messrs. Pope and Magnussen. The occasion was very interesting. 
 
 The first annual meeting was held in the council rooms March 
 18, 1905, all of the officers present. All of the old officers of the club 
 were re-elected unanimously. 
 
 Again it was determined to hold the midsummer picnic meeting 
 in Jvtne and again the executive committee, on account of storms, 
 floods and bad roads, adjourned it, this time to August 30, 1905. 
 This meeting was held at the Kite park fair grounds and was a grand 
 success in every way. A fine address was given by Col. J. A. 
 Watrous. a beautiful paper by Mrs. Wilcox, of Oakfield, recitations 
 by Miss Susie Hall, Miss Barbara Sweet and Mrs. A. E. Lindsley. 
 ]\Iemorial notices were read of William Adams, prepared by Franklin 
 Swett, of R. K. Satterfield bv William Stearns, J. J. Lurvey and M. 
 W. Merrill by Dr. J. W. Burns, and of C. R. Harrison, B. F. Moore, 
 L. F. Stow, C. H. DeGroat and Mrs. Lyman Bishop by A. T. Glaze. 
 
 The managers of the Kite track put on a couple of races in the 
 afternoon for the amusement of those present. This, with visiting, 
 filled out the afternoon to the great enjoyment of all concerned.
 
 166 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 An Old Settler's Club of this county was formed as long ago 
 as 1874, and it is deeply regretted that it was not kept at work from 
 that day to this. The work is most important, not to the old settlers 
 only, but especially to those who follow them. The cost is 
 trifling. It is .to be deeply regretted that the club work of the 
 members of 1874, could not have been effectively continued 
 to the present and that the need of the present organization would 
 not have been felt. At that time were living many of the old settlers 
 who had personal knowledge of people, places and events that are 
 now lost. Their memories reached back to the earliest periods of 
 settlement which it is not now possible for us to reach. Suppose 
 that we had the personal presence of Edward Pier, John H. Martin, 
 Reuben Simmons, Edward Beeson, Henry Bush, Joseph Kinsman, 
 Robert Estabrooks, Isaac Orvis, Peter V. Sang and others. They 
 were all and more here in 1874, but are all gone now. The few that 
 are left will soon be gone — there are left not exceeding fiftv, 
 all told. 
 
 Although we cannot now" get at facts within the personal knowl- 
 edge of these older settlers, we can and must perpetuate their 
 memory. We must not allow all trace of these brave people to fade 
 out. We as their successors, are reaping the benefits of their labors 
 and privations and it were the vilest of ingratitude to allow them to 
 sink in to forgetfulness when it is within our power to prevent it. 
 To perpetuate their memory and show our gratitude is exactly the 
 object of the Old Settlers' Club of 1904. 
 
 Will you help in the work? 
 
 Wheel and Seeder Company. 
 
 AMio of the old residents does not well remember the manufac- 
 turing plant at the west end of Forest street bridge and known as the 
 Wheel and Seeder Company. After the sawmill had disappeared, 
 the location was too valuable to remain idle, so Milo Bushnell, D. 
 Y. Sabin and others erected a building for the purpose and began 
 the manufacture of the Fountain City seeder. Two or three years 
 later, in 1861, they began the manufacture of a wagon wheel, which it 
 was believed would supersede the Sarven and all other patent 
 wheels in the market. But like many other patents, it proved a failure 
 and the manufacture soon ceased. It was made long enough to give 
 the plant part of its name of Wheel and Seeder Company, which it 
 has borne ever since. In 1874, C. H. Weston bought the plant and it 
 was thought would be a heavy concern. James H. Farnsworth was 
 made secretary and manager of the company, but Mr. Weston was 
 unable to command the necessary capital to run it successfully, and 
 it maintained a sort of risky life until 1891, when it was sold to a 
 LaCrosse company and soon after moved away. A new company 
 was formed with James H. Smith at the head and known as the Fond 
 du Lac Implement Company, which has since continued,
 
 E. A. BRO^VN POST No. 130, G. A. R. 
 
 History of Edwin A. Brown Post No. 130, Grand Army of the 
 
 Republic and of the Woman's ReHef Corps 
 
 From Their Organization. 
 
 We are told by reliable historians of the war of the rebellion, 
 that the organization known to us as the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 had its earliest conception in the United States Senate, in the brain 
 of Gen. John A. Logan. He was able to inspire others with an idea 
 of its value in caring for the interests and shaping the social destiny 
 of the old soldiers. They were a class of men who held the grateful 
 homage of the people and had claims against a saved nation. A four 
 years" and a half war, one of the most terrible in all history, left a 
 vast body of men whose claims must be recognized, social as well as 
 financial. What could do this better than a society formed upon 
 the plan of the Grand Army of the Republic. And so it came into 
 existence in 1869, and as predicted, has been a power in the land.' 
 There is some dispute as to where the first Post was organized, but 
 it is quite generally conceded now that it was at Springfield, 111., 
 with Gen. Logan present. 
 
 Years ago there was some dispute about the organization of the 
 first Post in Wisconsin, but it was settled that the first was organized 
 by Grifif Thomas, at Berlin, Green Lake County, but it was allowed 
 to lapse and when started again had to take No. 4, which it still holds. 
 While the Berlin Post was sleeping, E. B. Woolcott Post, at Mil- 
 waukee, was organized as No. i. There have been 279 Posts in the 
 state, but 33 have become extinct, leaving 246 now in existence. 
 
 One day in November, 1883, the late Ira P. Meisner appeared 
 in the law office of Geo. E. Sutherland with a request that he draw 
 up a petition to be signed by such soldiers as were willing to join in 
 the organization of a Post of the G. A. R. The request was complied 
 with and Mr. Meisner started out on his mission of getting signers. 
 The first name on the petition was that of Geo. E. Sutherland. On 
 the 19th of January. 1884, there were just fifty signers and the Post 
 was organized. Following are the names of the charter members : 
 
 E. S. Bragg. 
 
 Elihu Colman. 
 
 W. M. Moore. 
 
 S. L. Brasted. 
 
 Frank Derusha. 
 
 James McMahon. 
 
 I. L. Hunt. 
 
 A. Demorras 
 
 J. M. Marsh. 
 
 K. M. Adams. 
 
 David Dougherty. 
 
 George Perkins. 
 
 J. B. Tripp. 
 
 .John Dougherty. 
 
 J. G. B. Palmer. 
 
 Wm. Zickerick 
 
 John Doud. 
 
 G. S. Rock. 
 
 S. E. Wade. 
 
 A. Fleischman. 
 
 David Pitcher. 
 
 Robert Powrie 
 
 Prank Gonia. 
 
 G. F. Stannard. 
 
 Frank N. Fox. 
 
 G. W. Hines. 
 
 A. A. Shepherd. 
 
 G. S. Stanton. 
 
 D. H. Henderson. 
 
 C. N. Skinner.
 
 168 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 N. Boardman. S. S. Johnson. Geo. E. Sutherland. 
 
 Casper Buechner. H. Jones. S. W. Townsend. 
 
 H. M. Bullock. M. B. Killam. L. C. Trowbridge. 
 
 Max Brugger. John Luhm. Jacob Tautges. 
 
 D. S. Cole. Michael Mangan. Ferd. Meyer. 
 
 J. M. Crippen. Ira P. Meisner. 
 
 H. Chilcote. J. M. Meyers. 
 
 The charter is signed by Phil. Cheek, Department Commander, 
 and J. H. Whitley as Assistant Adjutant General, and the Post is 
 given the name of Edwin A. Brown Post No. 130, G. A. R. The 
 meetings were held for a few years in the postoffice block, corner of 
 Forest avenue and Macy street, but moved to more suitable rooms 
 at the corner of Main and West Second streets. In 1899 ^^^ second 
 story of the fine block, corner of Main and Fourth streets, was 
 secured and fitted up at a cost of about $700 and giving the Post 
 most comfortable (juarters and among the best for the purpose in the 
 whole state. There is a fine hall, banquet rooms, kitchen, parlor, 
 card room and storage room, all handsomely furnished. Here the 
 veterans of the war and intimate friends meet every day and spend 
 their leisure time visiting and playing cards. The Woman's Relief 
 Corps takes charge of the banquets and socials, with frequent enter- 
 tainments. A janitor looks after the rooms and it is always a neat 
 and comfortable place for all uses intended. 
 
 The first Commander of this Post was Gen. E. S. Bragg, and he 
 has been succeeded by Col. C. K. Pier, Robert Powrie, Isaac L. Hunt, 
 S. E. Wade, Michaef Mangan, Silas H. Cole, W. A. Reader, William 
 DeSteese, E. D. Allen, Rev. H. W. Thompson, Hiram P. Thompson, 
 J. F. Wegner and Dr. J. O. Ackerman. This Post has now on its 
 rolls a total of 127 members in good standing Since its organization 
 in 1884, the Post has had a total of 409 members. Many of them 
 have gone away, but the belief of those well posted in its affairs is, 
 that fully over half of them have died. Of the charter members here 
 in 1884, ^^^^ fifteen are members now, twenty-seven have died and 
 eight ha\'e gone away. What the changes will be in these figures 
 in another ten years it is impossible to determine further than to say 
 that there will be a far greater proportion of deaths. In this year of 
 1905 it is forty-four years since the war of the rebellion began and 
 forty-eight years since it ended. Of those who took part in it, very 
 few are less than 65 years of age, most of them have passed the three 
 score and ten limit. 
 
 There was another and very similar organization brought here 
 in 1892, known as the Union Veteran Legion, but it had a brief ex- 
 istence. It was believed by many to be more of a political than social 
 side, and like all organizations of that nature could not last long. 
 Its membership was never large. 
 
 Woman's Relief Corps. 
 
 Only those who for special reasons have become familiar with 
 it, have anything like a proper conception of the work done by this 
 organization. Its charitable work alone gives it high standing in the
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 169 
 
 community. It is at work all the time in some part of the field 
 covered by the G. A. R. While it gives aid to the Grand Army, its 
 main effort is in charity and old soldiers and their families are the 
 special objects of it. No matter how much labor is involved, the 
 members are at all times ready to meet it. On April 28. 1886, Edwin 
 A. Brown Corps No. 35, Woman's Relief Corps, was organized with 
 the following charter members : 
 
 Ruth R. Harvey. Lillie J. Killam. Emeline L. Perkins. 
 
 Ella L. Adams. Hattie B. Sackett. Ellen Mangan. 
 
 Susie M. Dodge. Alice M. Burrows. Elizabeth Powrie. 
 
 Emma C. Wade. Ellen F. Adamson. Sedate S. McEwen. 
 
 Mary R. Fox. Lottie H. Everett. 
 
 Josephine DeGroat. Theodosia A. Brasted. 
 
 The Corps was instituted by Mrs. Ellen Rogers, Department 
 President, and Mrs. Sophia Nelson, Department Secretary. Mrs. 
 Ruth R. Harvey was the first President and at two different times 
 held the office four years. Mrs. Josephine DeGroat came second and 
 held the position seven years at two different periods. Then came 
 Mrs. Helen P. Phelps, Mrs. Martha Hurlbut and Mrs. Amanda C. 
 Wheeler with terms of two years each, and Mrs. Hannah Coffman 
 will have served two years as President, on completion of the present 
 year. The Corps has one important officer that the general public 
 knows almost nothing about. This office is known to the members 
 of the Corps as "Patriotic Instructor," and it is her special work to 
 see that the United States Flag is placed in every schoolroom and 
 to talk to the children about the flag, abotit our wars and the part 
 taken in them by the old soldiers. In short her mission is to awaken 
 a patriotic spirit in the minds of the young. Mrs. Helen Clock now 
 holds that position and has done much work in the schools. It is 
 the desire of the Corps to so familiarize the young with the flag that 
 it shall be venerated more in the future than it has been in the past. 
 
 The Corps seems to be composed of women not only willing but 
 anxious to work in every corner of the field of patriotic endeavor, 
 and on the tenth anniversary of the Corps' a detailed report was made 
 showing the charity work done up to that time, and it was a most 
 creditable showing, but the relief work has materially increased since 
 that report was made. This is but one item, however, in the work 
 of this band of noble women. They have raised the money, bought 
 and paid for the furnishings of their parlor, including a $500 piano 
 for use at entertainments, have put into the clipboards all the 
 crockery and silver needed for their tables, furnished the kitchen 
 with every appliance needed, besides much miscellaneous work and 
 bearing the responsibility and expense in decorations every year. 
 All this they have raised the money and paid for by their own efforts. 
 
 This is what the W. R. C. has done and is doing almost without 
 the knowledge of the people generally. The organization is 
 auxiliary to the G. A. R. and nobly does it work to carry out its 
 objects. The members of the G. A. R. and W. R. C. are now rapidly 
 passing away. W^ill their children come to the front and keep their 
 memorv g-reen? Onlv the future can tell.
 
 170 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 The Railroad Was Extended. 
 
 When the proposition was made to extend the Sheboygan & 
 Fond dn Lac Railroad from Fond du Lac to Princeton in i869-'70, 
 it produced considerable commotion, especially at Ripon, because 
 $30,000 in city bonds was asked for and it was foreseen that Ripon 
 would also have its share to pay of endorsed county orders demanded 
 of the county, to double that amount. A number of prominent 
 citizens of that city, among them G. N. Lyman, E. L. Northrup, J. 
 C. Lightburn, Wm. Workman, D. F. Shepard, K. Lindsley, Wm. 
 Starr and others opposed the proposition on the ground that it would 
 ruin the western business of the city and their contention was cor- 
 rect as shown by subsequent experience. The proposition carried 
 and in six months all could see the effect. Five elevators, all of them 
 busy, were locked and windows boarded up six months after the 
 road was extended. The effect produced was, that nearly all the 
 produce that Ripon had before, from as far west as Germania, in 
 Green Lake and Marquette counties, was now shipped at Princeton, 
 St. Marie and Dartford, and Ripon saw none of it. All the buyers 
 were out of the market but one or two. The vast amount of grain, 
 wool, pork and other produce were no longer marketed at Ripon, 
 and buyers of goods went to Fond du Lac or Oshkosh, where there 
 were larger stocks to select from and possibly cheaper prices. It is 
 certain that Ripon felt the effect for some years, until matters were 
 adjusted by a sort of cause and effect. Before the extension an old 
 gentleman named Card, a shoemaker, had his shop on the brow of 
 the hill and all teams from the west must pass it. On his shoe bench 
 he had little boxes into which he would drop a shoe peg for each 
 load "of grain, wool, pork, etc., from which Mr. Glaze each week 
 gathered a local item for the Commonwealth. After the extension 
 there was no further use for Mr. Card's boxes. No produce worth 
 while, came up that hill from the west — it was all inside of cars on 
 the railroad. No doubt the time was coming that this would have 
 been the result anyhow, but it was tough on Ripon to have it come 
 at that time. The "I told you so" gentlemen were correct for the 
 time, but not for all time. 
 
 Princeton. Dartford and Fond du Lac of course profited at the 
 time and for all time. The road could not be stopped at Ripon, as 
 so many desired. It must go on west and the inevitable was just 
 where it did go. It was not in the order of things to do anything 
 else. One of the things for Ripon to be proud of is the settlement 
 of all the bonded debts. Not only the $30,000 of the Sheboygan road, 
 the $15,000 of the Oshkosh line, known at the time it was built as the 
 Oshkosh & Mississippi, and the readjusted bonds of the St. Paul 
 road. ]\Ir. Geo. L. Field was early appointed financial agent of the 
 city, and by good management wiped them out almost at the begin- 
 ning and the annoyance ceased. Few cities in the state had their 
 bonded debts so thoroughly and so smoothly wiped out as Ripon, 
 The only feature more desirable would have been never to have had 
 them at all.
 
 A FEW MURDERS 
 
 A Few of the Noted Murders in the Past. Not Many Deeds of 
 Violence Here, But Maybe Our Share. 
 
 The murders here and in this vicinity in the earlier years were 
 mostly perpetrated by Indians, but all through the years there were 
 occasional crimes which John A. Eastman called "civilized murders." 
 About 1868 a body was found on the then Lyman Phillips farm, 
 now the sanitarium, east of the city, and a little later, one on the 
 present Ingalls farm, but the perpetrator was never found. In 1870, 
 a riverman named Nathan Young, was on his way north to assist in 
 running logs on Wolf River. One morning his body was found in 
 the Ingram woods near Linden street. The crime was traced to a 
 colored man then here, named Fred Williams. He was tried in cir- 
 cuit court before Judge McLean, was found guilty and sentenced 
 to life imprisonment. J. W. Bass was the District Attorney and 
 Williams was defended by Col. C. K. Pier. The case went to the 
 supreme court, resulting in a discharge, on the ground that the 
 court in the information did not declare the offense to be against the 
 peace and dignity of the state of Wisconsin, as directed in the con- 
 stitution. Few doubted the guilt of Williams, and many charged the 
 two previously mentioned mvirders to him. The body of a man with 
 ■one wooden leg, was found in the west branch near the present St. 
 Pavd railroad bridge, but he may have been drowned. ^'Villiams 
 froze his feet, it was thought, in pursuit of another crime, gangrene 
 set in and he died from it. 
 
 But the murder to arouse the most feeling of any in this com- 
 munity, was the Prinslow murder in 1897. Mr. Prinslow was a 
 policeman and was shot by a fleeing tramp, while he was on the 
 railroad track west of the Buell Anderson machinery warehouse, on 
 West Second street. On the afternoon of the murder, George Seitz, 
 then proprietor of the Forest avenue livery barn, had indiscreetly 
 exhibited a roll of money which three tramps resolved to get posses- 
 sion of. In the evening they assaulted Seitz near his office at the 
 west end of Forest avenue bridge. Before the tramps could do 
 effective work, he made so much noise and jumped the railing to 
 the bank of the river so he could not be reached, and they ran south 
 on the track without the money or any part of it. Officer Prinslow, 
 on his way to the police station to go on duty, saw the running 
 tramps and called a halt, but one of them fired a heavy revolver and 
 the officer fell and died before morning. The most active efiforts 
 failed to capture the tramps, but a man named Lonergan was taken 
 at Jefferson Junction and District Attorney Reilly succeeded in con- 
 victing him of the crime. He was sent to prison by Judge Kirwan, 
 but in a subsequent revival of the case by the supreme court, it was
 
 172 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 held that the evidence was insufficient and the prisoner was dis- 
 charged. This was doubtless the most exciting murder in the 
 history of Fond du Lac, and it is to be deplored that no one was 
 punished for it. And it was all caused by a very foolish exhibition 
 of a roll of money. 
 
 An event took place here in the early times which gave rise to 
 much talk among old settlers. Two men came here with considerable 
 money which they wished to invest in pine land. One of them went 
 to Eau Claire, the other went north from here accompanied by a well 
 known citizen. The skeleton and clothes of the one from here were 
 found between Waupaca and Stevens Point, being recognized by a 
 paper written for him by Judge Flint, before leaving here. The man 
 who went with him was able to show that he left him at Weyauwega 
 and went to New London, but of course there was much talk. The 
 murderer, no matter who, got but little money, as he left most of it 
 here in charge of Judge Flint. It was afterwards learned that the 
 man who went to Eau Claire, lost his life in the woods of Chippewa 
 county, at the hands of some one unknown. 
 
 In the past we have had several more murders, but not of much 
 notoriety. In cuttings and slashings with knives and razors, we have 
 had our full share and which bring the average to as high a mark as 
 that of our neighbors. And of domestic troubles ending in poison 
 and other quiet means, we have had our share. In the country, that 
 is in the towns, there has been a singular freedom from violence. 
 
 The most noted shooting the city has had and that which produced 
 the most feeling, was that in which Robert Baker shot Gen. C. S. 
 Hamilton, in 1864. It was on the occasion of the election of officers 
 of the Young Men's Association, at their rooms on the east side of 
 Main street, between Second and Third, and occurred in the stair- 
 way. The men had not been friends for a long time, and tantalizing 
 remarks were exchanged as they met. Baker said that Hamilton 
 made a motion of reaching for his revolver and he did not propose 
 to let him get the drop on him, and pulled his gun quickly and fired. 
 Gen. Hamilton was laid up several months, so it is presumed Baker 
 meant more than a scare. This is one of the Fond du Lac events that 
 it was always difficult to get truth. Legal proceedings were begun 
 but finally dropped. 
 
 In the presidential election of 1872, it was not generally known 
 and there has been no occasion for it to be known since, that United 
 States Senator Matt. H. Carpenter and the late Geo. F. Wheeler 
 were bitter personal enemies. On the occasion of a big republican 
 meeting in Fond du Lac, Carpenter was one of the speakers and the 
 constant efforts of Dana C. Lamb, H. S. Town, Geo. D. Curtis and 
 others were required to keep the men from meeting face to face. It 
 was known that both were armed and trouble was feared. To the 
 credit of both be it said, that in after years they became reconciled. 
 But there was trouble in the air on the day above alluded to. The 
 late B. H. Bettis had much to do in bringing this about.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 173 
 
 Success in Politics. 
 
 In times past Fond du Lac county has had many men noted for 
 success in politics. Among them were : 
 
 M. C. Darling. A. M. Skeels. James Coleman. 
 
 John Bannister. H. S. Town. G. E. Sutherland. 
 
 Warren Chase. T. W. Spence. J. C. Lewis. 
 
 William Starr. Joseph Wagner. B. Pinkney. 
 
 Peter V. Sang. F. D. McCarty. G. W. Carter. 
 
 Geo. F. Wheeler. Edward S. Bragg. N. W. Thayer. 
 
 A. C. Whiting. S. M. Smead. E. H. Galloway. 
 
 B. H. Bettis. H. C. Batterson. F. B. Hoskins. 
 Dana C. Lamb. David Whitton. Chas. Bartlett. 
 Samuel W. Beal. Elihu Colman. E. Colman. 
 
 C. D. Gage. Owen A. Wells. C. K. Pier. 
 Jerre Dobbs. Chas. A. Eldredge. 
 
 These men all had much to do with state, congressional and 
 county politics. The only state officer this county has had was Geo. 
 F. Wheeler as State Prison Commissioner. 
 
 Dr. M. C. Darling was not a politician, but his position in the 
 community caused him to hold many offices and to go to the legis- 
 lature and to congress. 
 
 John Bannister was a good writer and very active, hence was 
 often pushed into office by the early settlers, often holding many 
 offices at the same time. It is said of him that he never refused an 
 office. 
 
 Charles A. Eldredge held the distinction of serving six terms, or 
 twelve years, in congress, and Gen. Bragg four terms, or eight years. 
 Both had been members of the state senate and district attorney of 
 the county. Gen. Bragg was Minister to Mexico and is now Constil 
 General at Hong Kong, China. 
 
 S. M. Smead seldom went before the people himself, but he was 
 distinguished for being the most sagacious politician and manager 
 the county ever had. In a convention he generally managed to 
 carry his point, and if defeat was likely he could smell it afar ofif. 
 He was truly a political genius. 
 
 Hiram S. Town, Dana C. Lamb, James Coleman, Owen A. 
 Wells, Jerre Dobbs and Jo. Wagner were recognized political bosses. 
 That is, they took caucuses and conventions under their wings and 
 flew away with them. 
 
 Foncl du Lac has always had many strong and worthy men who 
 could not be induced to take part in politics. Among them were such 
 men as C. R. Harrison, B. F. Moore, H. K. Laughlin, J. C. Whittelsey, 
 C. J. Pettibone and others. 
 
 There was another class of men who, though prominent in the 
 community, seldom or never were seen at caucuses or conventions, 
 and were not office seekers. Such men as these were Edward Beeson, 
 J. A. Smith, Royal Buck, George Swift, Charles Blankenburg, Esek 
 Dexter, Kirkland Gillet, J. H. Spencer, Benj. Wild, Mark R. Har- 
 rison, James Ewen and others.
 
 174 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Trouble About Type. 
 
 In early times Eli Hooker had a small job printing office at 
 Waupun, and as showing how important a few type are when diffi- 
 cult to obtain, it may be stated here that A, T. Glaze drove over to 
 Waupun one night from Fond du Lac, to obtain a few figure ones, 
 fives and ciphers of the size known to printers as brevier, with which 
 to complete the setting of a tax list. We could now get those figures 
 in two hours from Milwaukee and in five hours from Chicago, but 
 time cut no figure then, as they were not on sale there then and 
 could not be obtained at all. But worst of all, the Hooker figures 
 were from another type foundry and not being cast in the same mold, 
 did not, what printers call "justify," and had to be lined with card 
 board and paper. Present day type setters might not know how to 
 meet such an emergency, but the old timers were ready for almost any- 
 thing. They could and did manage to meet emergencies of all sorts 
 successfully. They just had to do it. 
 
 Not Anxious for Office. 
 
 The three men most difficult in the history of Fond du Lac to 
 get to accept office were B. F. Moore, C. R. Harrison and H. K. 
 Laughlin. Mr. Moore accepted the office of Member of Assembly in 
 1852, to beat Jo. Wagner, but could not be induced to run for any 
 office after that. Mr. Harrison, after much solicitation, consented to 
 allow his name to be used for Mayor in 1887 and was elected, but 
 went back on office holding after that, and came near resigning as 
 mayor before the end of his term. In the council and fire depart- 
 ment he served once or twice in early times only because of local 
 interests. Mr. Laughlin could not be induced at any period or for 
 any reason to be a candidate for office. James B. Perry is another 
 man who never allowed his name to be used in connection with office. 
 Many people believe that every citizen should do his full share of the 
 work in governing city, county and state, but there are more than 
 enough anxious to assume the duties which are distasteful to others. 
 
 Edward Beeson as an Editor. 
 
 During all the years that he was the editor and writer for the 
 Fond du Lac Journal, Edward Beeson was a democrat, but this does 
 not mean that he was a copperhead or a defender of slavery. He 
 did not object to a tarifif for revenue, but a protective tariff he believed 
 to be wrong in principle and bad in results. His democracy did not 
 carry him into extremes and those nearest to him believed that he 
 voted for Abraham Lincoln in i860 and again in 1864, because he be- 
 lieved him to be a man possessed of common sense. Although a tariff 
 defender, Lincoln was regarded as a safer man for the country in the 
 then pending emergency. Mr, Beeson was a great admirer of 
 Stephen A. Douglas, but he was not a safe man although in some 
 respects a brilliant one.
 
 THE LITERARY FIELD 
 
 The Noted Early Days' Writers and Their Field of Mental Effort. 
 Some Fine Productions. 
 
 In the early days of this county there was a far greater demand 
 for something to eat and wear than for poetry or fine writing of any 
 sort, yet there were a few people here with the mental capacity equiv- 
 alent to real genius. With his weekly newspaper of very limited 
 circulation in a new country, there was little to develop editorial 
 genius, but the old files in the public library show some clever work. 
 In the files of a court of record may be thought a queer place to look 
 for literary ability, but it may be often found with pleadings on file 
 before the adoption of the code practice in Wisconsin in 1856. Pre- 
 vious to that year Wisconsin had the old common law practice, 
 which means a proceedure and system of laws to which the memory 
 of living men runneth not to the contrary. While the common law 
 pleadings were often remarkably verbose and tiresome, they often 
 possessed a high degree of literary merit. Some of the pleadings by 
 Charles A. Eldredge, David E. Wood, Carson Graham, J. M. Gillet, 
 W. C. Dodge, Erastus W. Drury and others, may be spoken of as of 
 this character. 
 
 Joseph Stow was the first person known to have indulged in 
 verse in Fond du Lac. He had a wonderful faculty for rhyming and 
 could grind out verse after verse on almost any subject. It could 
 hardly be called poetry — it was doggerel, though occasionally he pro- 
 duced pieces of some merit. If he became deeply interested in any 
 local matter, doggerel poetry was pretty sure to follow. 
 
 Miss Libbie Farnsworth, under the non de plume of Nellie 
 Wildwood, was first to produce verse here possessed of genuine 
 poetical merit. She wrote many short poems of merit, her 
 "Nil Desperandum" (never despair), being far above the average. 
 Her "Voyage of Pere Marquette and History of Charles de Langlade," 
 written for distribution to the patrons of Harrison & Stevenson's 
 Art Union, and printed and bound in a neat book of one hundred 
 pages, at Beeson's Job office, a copy of which the writer has, was her 
 most pretentious work. She possessed poetical talent in a high de- 
 gree and would have made her mark in the literary field had she 
 continued in it. She married Mr. John Mears, of Oshkosh, and is 
 now his widow, with two talented daughters in the field of sculpture 
 and art. She was a daughter of M. Farnsworth and resided in Fond 
 du Lac many years. 
 
 Miss Allie Arnold, (Mrs. Cranford), was one of the brightest 
 minds of Fond du Lac, and her writings are possessed of more than 
 ordinary merit — they are many of them brilliant. Unfortunately she 
 was never strong physically and died at an early age, leaving a vast 
 number of admirers and personal friends. She was the daughter of
 
 176 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Mrs. L. M. Arnold, who lived many years at the corner of Marr and 
 Fourth streets and is remembered by old citizens. 
 
 Mrs. Van Dresar, wife of the late M. Van Dresar, did consider- 
 able literary work in Fond du Lac, in the years preceding the war. 
 She used several assumed names and all of her work that she cared 
 to print, found its way into the magazines and newspapers. She 
 never printed a book. That her work was meritorious is shown by 
 the fact that so much of it found its way into the magazines. 
 
 Mr. Maurice McKenna, Fond du Lac's well known able and 
 genial lawyer, a number of years ago produced one of the most read- 
 able books ever seen here, but the crowding of his large law practice, 
 prevents any continuation of the work. Mr. M'cKenna possesses 
 true poetical talent and it is regretted that business prevents the 
 use of it. 
 
 Rev. H. McNeal, a Universalist minister here in war times, wrote 
 many patriotic poems of much merit. Some were printed and many 
 read from his pulpit. One of them took the time of an entire Svinday 
 evening service. He died a few years ago at jMarkesan. 
 
 Van B. Smead, killed in the great Northwestern railroad ac- 
 cident in 1858, and brother of the late Postmaster S. M. Smead, had 
 one of the strong minds of Fond du Lac, in literary work. As editor 
 of the Democratic Press, he did much editorial writing, but he found 
 time to gratify his inclinations for other work. He wrote one poem 
 of just one thousand lines, after the style of Byron's "Child Harold," 
 but the title of it is forgotten. Besides many poems he wrote a 
 number of stories which he printed in his paper. Had he lived, he 
 would doubtless have become one of the noted literary men of his 
 time. 
 
 Albert W. Paine was a Fond du Lac lawyer in the fifties, and 
 while here did much writing for the press, principally in essays and 
 stories, though some poetry was also produced. He went to Wash- 
 ington, D. C, from here, and resided there many years. 
 
 Spencer Palmer, our well known job printer, some years ago 
 indulged in his fancy for rhyming and ground out some local hits 
 which were not always as pleasing to those hit as to himself. But 
 in late years "Spence" has not had time to indulge his fancy in that 
 direction. 
 
 There are many others who have at times taken to obituary 
 poetry and to the production of local hits in rhyme, to dining room 
 stanzas, card party notings, etc., but the above are those possessed of 
 literary talent. 
 
 If editorial work on a newspaper may be considered to possess 
 literary character, we have had many worthy to rank high. Most of 
 the editors were mere sticks, editing their papers mostly with shears 
 and paste pot. Some have been educated men and possessed of 
 natural ability and tact, but put down too much drink to succeed or 
 were too lazy for anything. Among the newspaper editors in the 
 past vears worthy of the name, have been Edward Beeson. J. A. 
 Smith. C. J. Allen, James Russell, Van B. Smead, H. M. Kutchin, 
 J. A. Watrous, J. L. Thwing, L. A. Lange. A. T. Glaze, G. W. Peck.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 177 
 
 About twenty years ago an Englishman possessed of much in- 
 genuity and tact in writing frontier and Indian stories, came to 
 Fond du Lac and remained a few years. He seems to have come to 
 this country to familiarize himself with such scenes and wrote pro- 
 fusely, some poetry as well as stories. His name is not now ob- 
 tainable. Most of his writings went to England, but some were 
 printed at the east. How it was that he came here was unknown, 
 but it was well known that he was in indigent circumstances and he 
 and his family were assisted by the ladies of the city and especially 
 of the Episcopal Church. In his line of work he was really a genius, 
 and pursued it for the money that was in it. 
 
 Peculiar Political Contest. 
 
 Previous to the formation of the republican party in 1865, John 
 J. Metzgar, an early day Fond du Lac dealer in notions and fancy 
 goods, was what was then known as a free soiler, that is, was opposed 
 to any more slave territory, and making free some that was already 
 devoted to slavery. In 1856 he became one of the most violent re- 
 publicans the town contained. In his judgment nothing politically 
 good could possibly come from the democratic party. His extreme 
 opinions often brought him into political quarrels and he would talk 
 long and loud. One day he quarreled with ex-Sheriff F. D. McCarty 
 and in the fight that followed, John tore Frank's clothes badly, re- 
 sulting of course in a law suit before Squire Driggs, whose judgment 
 was that Frank apologize and John pay for mending the clothes. 
 Frank said he had the worst of it, for it was dreadful humiliating to 
 apologize to John Metzgar. 
 
 Freedom from Storms. 
 
 Meteorologists tell us that the freedom of Fond du Lac from 
 heavy winds and devastating storms is due to the limestone ledge 
 east of the city which causes the clouds to rise high in the atmosphere 
 and so pass over us. In the past we have had heavy rains and winds 
 to break branches off trees, but a tornado to lift roofs, throw over 
 chimneys and destroy trees, has occurred but once in our history. 
 This was in 1858, when the Northwestern railroad was being com- 
 pleted to Appleton. The heaviest part of this storm passed over the 
 town of Friendship and Lake Winnebago, north of what . is now 
 North Fond du Lac. The railroad track was so covered with blown 
 down trees that a crew of men was sent down there to chop the way 
 through for trains. In the city, sawmill property and barns were much 
 damaged. Large store boxes were picked up by the wind and sent 
 sailing — one of them crashed into the store window of K. Freeman, 
 at that time three or four doors north of the present Commercial 
 National Bank. This is believed to have been the nearest to a 
 genuine tornado that Fond du Lac has ever -had, yet it did not do 
 a great amount of damage. Anything approaching a cyclone has 
 never been known in Fond du Lac historv.
 
 178 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Greenbackers and Grangers. 
 
 These two noted movements were before the people at abont the 
 same time, 1868 to 1878. The Patrons of Husbandry, known as the 
 Grangers, began some earlier, but was at its height in the early 
 seventies. In 1873, William R. Taylor was elected governor of the 
 state by the power of the grangers. A. P. Allis ran for governor as 
 a greenbacker in 1876, but while there was much talk on the subject, 
 no one could be elected on that issue. After 1878 both of these 
 political fads began to fade from the public mind and nearly dis- 
 appeared. There are a few localities yet where the granger work is 
 kept up, but they are seldom found. Many of the bright financiers 
 of the country, Peter Cooper, Sam Carey, J. H. Weaver, A. P. Allis, 
 became advocates of the greenback doctrines, but after all the move- 
 ment was short lived. Like the free silver theories of Wm. J. Bryan 
 in 1896 and 1900, there is much to talk about but not much bottom. 
 W. J. Bryan would flood the country with silver regardless of its 
 real value, but the greenbackers wanted paper. In their judgment, 
 if the government was behind the issue and declared a piece of silver 
 or a piece of paper to be a dollar, that was all that was necessary to 
 send that dollar afloat. Bryan had something of an advantage over 
 Cooper, as the silver was worth something, but the paper was prac- 
 ticallv valueless. 
 
 Water for a Horn Blower. 
 
 The sax horn was a band instrument with the bell standing up- 
 ward and was used in early times where the cornet is now. When 
 Mumford & Tanner occupied the store corner of Main and Second 
 streets, Mr. Tanner was learning to play a sax horn, and evenings 
 after the store was closed, he would seat himself in the side door, on 
 Second street and exercise his wind until midnight, much to the an- 
 noyance of the boys of Beeson's Job Printing office and the 
 Democratic Press oflice, up stairs. The boys protested but Tanner 
 continued to blow, so one dark night when the boys were all away, 
 Fon. Rockwell emptied a pail of water on him from a window and 
 ran out and hid. In some way Tanner found out who did it and 
 layed for Rockwell in the dark, but unfortunately encountered Dr. 
 Jesse Beeson, a brother of Edward Beeson, a tall and powerful man 
 and something of an athlete, who could handle Tanner without 
 trouble, and the result was bad for Tanner. The joke as well as 
 the water was on him and nothing more was heard about it and the 
 horn blowing was also ended. But what annoyed Tanner most was 
 that the boys about town found out about it. 
 
 In most of the states the office known with us as County Clerk, 
 is known as County Auditor, and in many states our Register of 
 Deeds is County Recorder and our District Attorney is "Prosecuting 
 Attorney and in some states, Public Prosecutor.
 
 A VERY EXCITING DAY 
 
 Were Not Experts in Telegraphing, But Were Required To Take 
 the News From a Disastrous Wreck. 
 
 At the time the Northwestern road was completed to Chicago 
 and the opening brought the terrible accident to the excursion train 
 at Johnson's Creek, then known as Belleville, Jerome Mason was' the 
 express agent and telegraph operator at Fond du Lac. ^Ir. Mason 
 desired to be one of the excursion party and arranged with Charles 
 H. Benton to take charge of the office in his absence. Mr. Benton 
 and A. T. Glaze had arranged a telegraph in Beeson's Printing office 
 on which they sometimes practiced for recreation, and on that terrible 
 September day, 1858, were so far as known, the only telegraph 
 operators in the city. Paper was used on a recorder and under 
 ordinary circumstances either could take a message, but under. the 
 excitement of that afternoon they became confused and sweat like 
 butchers under the strain. It was about i 130 p. m., that ]\Jr. Benton 
 came running into the printing office with the news of the accident 
 and to get Mr. Glaze to go to the office and help him. So many had 
 friends and relatives on the wrecked train, that the news spread with 
 great rapidity and in half an hour the street in front of the office was 
 crowded with people. All the news we could get had to be put on 
 the line at Watertown, and had to be brought a distance of about four 
 miles from the midst of the excitement, at the scene of the wreck, 
 and the operator at Watertown, being a blind and very rapid writer 
 of the telegraph code, the errors were not all at the Fond du Lac 
 end of the line. Everything was new and the telegraph had not yet 
 been installed at Johnson's Creek. It was but natural, perhaps, under 
 the excitement, that the boys should be blamed for inefficiency, but 
 they got all the news there was and presumably correct. The office 
 was where G. A. Finger's store is now, and being crowded to si^ffoca- 
 tion from the start had to be cleared and the news sent out or posted 
 on the windows. It was after four o'clock when the crowd in the 
 street began to thin out, but hundreds remained there until six. 
 Just before dusk in the evening, the relief train arrived, bringing such 
 of the Fond du Lac, wounded as could be brought, and the crowd 
 of people was transferred to the railroad station, then at the corner 
 of Division and Brooke streets. Benton and Glaze got through the 
 day alive, but inexperienced as they were, it was a hard one. Jerome 
 Mason did not return alive. He was thrown on a hot stove in the 
 express car and was burned to death. 
 
 For the information of those who do not know about the accident, 
 it may be well here to state that it was occasioned by the engine, 
 drawing a train of eleven coaches and two baggage cars, running 
 over an ox, about four miles south of Watertown, near the station
 
 180 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 now known as Johnson's Creek, then called Belleville. The south 
 end of the Northwestern road had for some years been working 
 north and the north end going south, until a junction was made in 
 September, 1858, and through trains were put on to Chicago. In the 
 meantime the road had been also extended northward from Fond du 
 Lac to Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha and Appleton. The ill fated train 
 was an excursion to celebrate the opening of the road, and was 
 crowded with excursionists from these places. Fond du Lac had a 
 large number on board, a few of whom were killed and many injured. 
 Among the Fond du Lac killed were T. L. Gillet, M. J. Thomas, 
 Jerome Mason and Ed. Sickles. Van B. Smead died six weeks later 
 at Watertown. Judge Flint and his daughter, Miss Lillie Flint, and 
 Mrs. R. M. Lewis were among the wounded. A most singular fact is, 
 that about a year later, the mate to the ox that produced this disaster, 
 was killed at nearly the same place by the same locomotive. 
 
 Founder of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Only those who were associated with J. A. Smith and knew him 
 personally, could appreciate the integrity, candor and general worth 
 of the man. He was never sought by his friends for brilliant social 
 qualities, but because of his reliability and honesty. He never knew 
 what equivocation meant in business or even in politics. He meant 
 just what he said, in speech or in the columns of his newspaper. 
 The sterling honesty of his Quaker ancestry was with him every day 
 and to the day of his death. His father, a fine old Quaker gentleman, 
 was a blacksmith by trade and at a very early day established a fac- 
 tory at Sheboygan Falls for the manufacture of steel traps, for which 
 the quest for furs caused a large demand. All sizes of traps were 
 made from the large bear and wolf traps to those for rats. His three 
 sons, Hiram, Joseph and Paxton, worked in the factory with the 
 father, but the time came that Joseph aspired to mental activity and 
 he started a small abolitionist newspaper which after a time was 
 moved to a larger field at Fond du Lac. In 1854 he bought the 
 Fountain City Herald, which for three years had maintained a 
 sickly existence under Royal Buck, and the Commonwealth was the 
 result. A book bindery was added and the office was prosperous. 
 In 1872 he sold out and went to Clinton, Iowa, where he had a news- 
 paper, but drifted into the hotel business, which resulted unsatisfac- 
 torily and he sold out. A cheese factory was his next venture, but 
 later went into the office of ex-Gov. Hoard at Fort Atkinson, as an 
 editorial writer, where he died in 1892. His remains were brought 
 to Fond du Lac and laid away in Rienzi. Mr. Smith was twice 
 married, the first time before coming to Fond du Lac, and the last 
 time to Miss Merrille, whom so many Fond du Lac people pleasantly 
 remember as the founder of the Merrille Institute for young ladies. 
 Mr. Smith's only child was Miss Kate, now Mrs. Spencer, wife of a 
 Racine druggist.
 
 BIRTH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 
 
 This Great Event Took Place in This County and is Entitled to a 
 Place Here. Some of the Men Identified with It. 
 
 The first organized attempt to form what is now the Republican 
 party, was made in Ripon. The gathering was held in the 0I4 
 Congregational Church, on College Hill. x\t this gathering held on 
 the last day of February, 1854, and of which William Dunham was 
 moderator and W. N. Martin, secretary, a preamble and resolutions 
 were presented and unanimously sanctioned, condemning the 
 Nebraska slavery bill. 
 
 March 20 following, in response to a call issued in a Ripon paper 
 and signed by fifty-four citizens, comprising AVhigs, Democrats and 
 Free Soilers. a second gathering was held and by formal ballot the 
 former committee was dissolved and another appointed consisting of 
 A. E. Bovay, A. Loper, A. Thomas, J. Bowen and J. A\^oodruiT. 
 
 Fathers of the Party. 
 
 Without a questionable doubt these three Whigs, one Democrat 
 and a Free Soiler were fathers of the Republican party. Other cities 
 have laid claim to this honor, but when tested, their pretensions have 
 invariably been found to contain too liberal qualities of emptiness. 
 Ripon's claim, on the other hand, has ample proof. 
 
 The new political party was fathered by A. E. Bovay, who 
 selected the name Republican party. His mind originally conceived 
 the ideas which he afterwards promulgated and issued to the world. 
 
 In his Rise and Fall of the Slave Power, Henry Wilson says: 
 "One of the earliest, if not the very earliest, of the movements that 
 contemplated definite action and the formation of a new party, was 
 made in Ripon, Fond du Lac county. Wis., in the early months of 
 1854. In consequence of a very thorough canvass, conference and 
 general comparison of views, inaugurated by A. E. Bovay, a promi- 
 nent member of Ripon, to remonstrate against the Nebraska 
 Swindle. Come all. 
 
 (Signed) MANY CITIZENS." 
 
 In the following week's issue apears the preamble and resolutions 
 adopted at the meeting held on the night mentioned. At that gather- 
 ing, which was largely attended by persons of both sexes living in 
 the village and surrounding country, it was virtually agreed that in 
 the event that the Nebraskan bill was adopted, old parties would be 
 cast aside and an entirely new organization should be given birth. 
 
 At the second meeting, March 20. which was held in the little 
 school house, since converted into a dwelling, Mr. Bovay spoke to 
 the efifect that the new party should, and in all probability would, 
 be assigned the name Republican, but he advised against so naming 
 it iust then. He did, however, write to the New York Tribune's
 
 182 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 editor, assigning reasons for adopting the name Republican, and 
 solicited his aid in establishing such a name by liberal advocation 
 in the columns of that paper. 
 
 Unquestionably to Mr. Bovay is due the credit of forming and de- 
 veloping the idea of the new political party. As early as the latter 
 part of January, 1854, he called upon Jehdiah Bowen, seeking an 
 interview relative to an article published in the local paper, which 
 contained some strictures upon the course of Senator Douglas. In 
 the movement which followed Air. Bowen was his chief helper. The 
 latter was a merchant of high standing and superior learning. He 
 was one of the first to lend himself to the new organization, but it 
 is understood that his sympathies only extended to the slavery prin- 
 ciple. He died in that city nearly three years ago. 
 
 Mr. A. E. Bovay, who deserves the name "father" insofar as 
 that word applies to political organization, was in many ways a most 
 remarkable man. All of the prime movers in the new organization 
 have passed away. 
 
 Sole Survivor at Ripen. 
 
 A. A. Loper, a son of A. Loper, one of the committee men ap- 
 pointed at the meeting forty-two years ago March 20 next, is the 
 only surviving resident of Ripon, who attended that meeting. He was 
 then a young man and he attended out of curiosity. Said he, in refer- 
 ring to the gathering : 
 
 "The predominant idea existing at that time in the minds of the 
 prime movers was to prevent the farther extension of slavery. The 
 matter was then quite favorably discussed, but no really genuine 
 organization was formed ; it was simply vigorously recommended. 
 As I recall it, the evening was a severe one, a furious snowstorm 
 raging at the time and the thermometer registering something below 
 zero. 
 
 "So far as my knowledge goes, in Ripon was made the first move 
 toward giving the Republican party life, and I believe this truth has 
 been acknowledged by historians, who have looked into the facts. I 
 have seen it stated that a town in Michigan has set claim to having 
 taken the initial step, but this, so far as my knowledge goes, was 
 incapable of proof." 
 
 Michigan's Claim to the Honor. 
 
 Michigan's claim was held for years, but as Mr. Loper says, was 
 not prol)able. Now, it is understood, that it would seem more natural 
 that the movement originated in the east and that the New York 
 Tribune set the idea a rolling in its columns. Admitted. 
 
 That paper, however, might have been, and without a shadow of 
 doubt was, urged to lend its influence to the movement after fairly 
 well-defined action had been taken in Ripon. There are quite a 
 number of old settlers there who were living there at that time, who 
 then thought the proposed plan of action too inconsequential to lend 
 themselves to it. They, however, express themselves as holding the 
 knowledge thai Ripon's claim is ])ositively correct.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 183 
 
 Until it can be proven that the Republican party was organized 
 longer ago than 1854. Ripon claims the honor of being its birthplace. 
 
 As a National Party, 
 
 While the weight of the testimony is in favor of Ripon as the 
 birthplace of the Republican party, it was not until Wisconsin had 
 sent a delegation to congress made up of a majority of the new party, 
 and the state itself had sent Charles Durkee as a Republican to repre- 
 sent her in the United States senate, that the Republican party gained 
 national recognition. On February 26, 1856, two years after the 
 Ripon meeting, a national convention was called to meet at Pittsburg, 
 Pa. The issuance of this call was the immediate result of a conference 
 between Salmon P. Chase and David N. White, the latter being at the 
 time the editor of the Pittsburg Gazette. The call was as follows : 
 
 "To the Republicans of the United States : In accordance with 
 what appears to be the general desire of the Republican party, and at 
 the suggestion of a large portion of the Republican press, the under- 
 signed, chairmen of the state Republican committees of Maine, Ver- 
 mont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Mich- 
 igan and Wisconsin, hereby invite the Republicans of the union to 
 meet in informal convention at Pittsburg on February 22, 1856, for the 
 purpose of perfecting the national organization and providing for 
 national delegate convention of the Republican party, at some subse- 
 quent day, to nominate candidates for the presidency and vice-pres- 
 idency to be supported at the election in November, 1856." 
 
 This was signed by A. P. Stone, of Ohio; J. G. Z. Goodrich, 
 Massachusetts ; David Wilmot, Pennsylvania : Lawrence Brainard, 
 Vermont ; Wm. A. White, Wisconsin. 
 
 A Preliminary Meeting of Leaders. 
 
 A meeting of the Republican editors of the country was held in 
 Pittsburg, February 20, for the purpose of consultation. 
 
 At the convention twenty-four states and the District of Columbia 
 were represented. Lawrence Brainard, of Vermont, called the con- 
 vention to order and John x\. King, of New York, was chosen tem- 
 porary chairman. The Rev. Owen Lovejoy, afterward killed by a 
 mob at Quincy, 111., on account of his anti-slavery principles, opened 
 the proceedings with prayer, in which he modestly implored the Ruler 
 of the Universe to "remove the present administration from power, 
 that its unholy designs on the liberties of the free might be 
 thwarted." Joshua R. Giddings and Horace Greeley had a tilt over 
 the plan of procedure, the latter opposing the calling of a nominating 
 convention and advocating that the matter be referred to a strong 
 committee to act as their judgment should dictate, and the former 
 ridiculing all attempts at delay. 
 
 Men Who Became Prominent. 
 
 Zach Chandler, of Michigan. John A. Foote, of Ohio, the Rev. 
 Joshua Brewer, of Connecticut. Mr. Hawthorne, of Iowa. George W. 
 Julian, of Indiana, David Ripley, the saw-log and anti-rum man from
 
 184 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Jersey, took part in the proceedings, the last keeping the convention 
 in a roar of laughter. A long discussion followed on the manner of 
 nominating presidential candidates, and a national convention was 
 finally agreed upon, to meet in Philadelphia, June 17, 1856. E. D. 
 Morgan, of New York, was made chairman of the national executive 
 committee. i\.n address to the people was adopted which closed with 
 the prophetic words, "If the government, by any authority it may 
 assume, shall shed but one drop of blood in Kansas, that shall mark 
 the beginning of the end of human slavery." This declaration caused 
 so much applause that it had to be repeated, the convention rose to 
 its feet, gave three times three cheers for the address, and the new 
 party adjourned. 
 
 The first national convention was held June 17, 1856, and John 
 C. Freemont was nominated for president and William L. Dayton for 
 vice-president, and they would have been elected had not Pennsyl- 
 vania stood aloof from the other northern states and given her vote 
 to her own son, James Buchanan, which secured his election. The 
 next nominee of the party, Abraham Lincoln, was elected. 
 
 Watrous and Kutchin as Writers. 
 
 J. A. Smith founded the Fond du Lac Commonwealth in 1854, 
 and A. T. Glaze made up the forms and helped to print the first 
 edition on a hand press. Since then, ]\Iartin Mitchell, Tom Bryant, 
 Ed. McGlachlin, Jimmv Lightbody, Mvron Orvis, j. A. Watrous, 
 Tom Reid, Sam Fifield', W.^ W. D. Turner, H. M. Kutchin, O. C. 
 Steenberg, P. B. Haber, Col. Smith and two or three others have 
 been part owners for a greater or less length of time. Of the men 
 who have done editorial work on the Commonwealth, it must be 
 conceded that H. M. Kutchin was the most prolific, able and polished 
 writer who ever wielded pen or pencil for its columns. For variety 
 of editorial work, J. A. Watrous has not been surpassed on its 
 columns. His brain could grasp greater variety and his fingers jot 
 it down on paper, than any of its editors. Turning over the files of 
 the Commonwealth back in the seventies when Watrous and 
 Kutchin were both there, and one can readily find as smooth and 
 polished articles as ever appeared in a Wisconsin newspaper and as 
 great variety. Others have managed to do the work, but they were 
 not geniuses, as these were. Mr. Kutchin began his newspaper work 
 on the columns of the Fort Atkinson Union, which he sold to ex-Gov. 
 Hoard, and Col. Watrous began on the Black River Falls Banner, 
 but both aspired to larger things and got there, before many years. 
 
 When Rev. W. L. Mather was the pastor of the old Plymouth 
 Church, which once stood on West First street, on the grounds of 
 the new postoffice, it was not customary to print notices of special 
 services in the newsj)apers, as is done now, and so Mr. Mather, when 
 he had something special, would go up and down the streets and 
 notify personally. It would be thought undignified now to do this, 
 but it wasn't then. He was a most industrious advertiser too, and 
 his steps were by no means slow.
 
 NAVIGATION ON THE LAKE 
 
 When, Where and By Whom Early Days' Steamboats Were Built 
 and Run and What Became of Them. 
 
 Previous to 1848, navigation on Lake Winnebago was by barge, 
 flat boat and canoe, but in this year came the first steamboat on the 
 lake. In 1847, ^- D. Patchen, the great steamboat owner on the 
 lakes, gave to Peter Hotaling at Buffalo, an engine and boiler taken 
 from an Erie canal boat. This he brought to Green Bay and trans- 
 ported overland to Brothertown, where he built in the winter and 
 spring, the steamboat which he named Manchester. It proved so slow 
 and unsatisfactory that it was abandoned, the engine sold and the 
 hull made into a barge. At about the same time the late Capt. Ole 
 Olson, long postmaster at Oshkosh in late years, put a horse power 
 on a barge and used it as a tug to transport rafts of logs and lumber 
 on Wolf river and the lake. These two boats came out so near to- 
 gether that it is itncertain which was first to stir the water of the 
 lake with wheels. In 1849 ^ steamboat called the D. B. Whitacre, 
 was built at Menasha. This was the boat partly owned by the late 
 Mark R. Harrison, and in the running of which he became disgusted 
 with western lake navigation, and qviit it forever. After running one 
 season, this boat was pulled out of the water at Fond du Lac and 
 overhauled by Truman Shepard, originator of the Union Iron Works, 
 and David Harris, when she was named Oshkosh. Still the boat was 
 unsatisfactory and disappeared a year or two later. The next steam- 
 boat was the Peytona, built at Menasha by Capt. Estes, and was 
 powerful and speedy. She could make the run from Fond du Lac 
 to Menasha and return, from 7 a. m. to 6 p. m., if the weather favored. 
 This was regarded as speedy and the Peytona was a favorite. She 
 ran four years, from 1850 to 1854, wdien she was snagged and sunk 
 in Lake Poygan and was abandoned. Her fine machinery went into 
 the Tigress, one of the Nefif boats on Wolf river. In 1851, Capt. 
 Hotaling built the steamer Menasha, the largest and finest boat on 
 the lake. She ran three years and was sold to Sam NefT, when she 
 became the Wolf river boat Northwestern. Now came the steamer 
 Badger State, Capt. W. A. Knapp, the best boat up to this time. She 
 was not large, but was handsome as she sat on the water like a duck. 
 After the railroad was running and there was no further use for boats 
 on the lake, the Badger State went to the Fox river line and ran a 
 number of years between Oshkosh and Berlin. After this Sam and 
 Ed. Nefif had several boats but they seldom came to Fond du Lac. 
 Twice there have been efforts of our merchants to establish lines to 
 the east shore landings, but the}* were failures. Our early boats were 
 very slow and in later years they were not needed. All through the
 
 186 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 years Oshkosh has had steamboats but Fond du Lac has had none, 
 because there is no use for them. The above is the history of steam- 
 boating on Lake Winnebago so far as Fond du Lac is concerned. 
 
 In 1855, the Fox and ^Visconsin Improvement Co. had so far 
 progressed that two steamboats, the Appleton Belle and Aquilla, was 
 brought to Fond du Lac from Lake Huron for the avowed purpose 
 of running them between Green Bay and our lake ports, but the 
 scheme did not work and in a year or two the boats were taken 
 through to the Mississippi. Some of our soldiers in the early days 
 of the war saw the Appleton Belle at New Madrid. Those boats 
 could hardly be taken through to the Mississippi now. 
 
 Sails on Lake Winnebago. 
 
 A respectable two-masted sailing vessel once stirred the waters 
 of Lake Winnebago, doing business in regular transportation. It 
 was schooner-rigged and with its sails spread looked very pretty. 
 "Trader" was her name and she was sailed by Capt Steve Hotaling. 
 Her trips were not frequent, but she put in an occasional appearance 
 here with lumber, shingles, farm produce and other commodities. 
 But getting her in and out of the rivers at the different lake ports 
 was slow and she was sold to John Morse, of the well known Osh- 
 kosh machine shops, who took out the masts and put in machinery 
 and she became the well known Fox river steamboat, "Diamond." 
 But the "Trader" did not wholly end sailing vessels, for in 1877 a 
 vessel considerably smaller was put on the lake, used to transport 
 farm products to market. She was also a two-masted vessel, schooner- 
 rigged, but she was found not to pay and was sold to Judge Pulling, 
 C. W. Felker, E. W. Viall and John Bauman, all of Oshkosh, by 
 whom she was beautifully fitted up as a pleasure yacht, and was 
 long known as the "Flora." Oshkosh Scandinavians occasionally 
 had scows to assist in bringing in potatoes and like products from 
 the east shore, but the above were the only real sailing crafts, except 
 pleasure yachts that have in the past stirred the waters of Lake Win- 
 nebago and its tributaries. 
 
 Transportation on Wheels. 
 
 Previous to 1848 the only means of transportation to and from 
 Fond du Lac city and county, now teeming with railroads, was by 
 horses and ox teams, largely the latter. Lake Winnebago had not yet 
 been stirred by the wheels of a steamboat. Davis & Moore's stages, 
 known as the Wisconsin Stage Co., had hardly more than begun to 
 wallow through the mud of timber and prairie. Leaving Milwaukee 
 at 4 a. m. with the only mail for this region, arrived here at any time 
 between 6 p. m. and 3. a. m. next morning. Distance sixty-one miles, 
 time fourteen to twenty-three hours. Sheboygan stages came through 
 when they could. Distance forty miles, time not counted. Stages 
 north on both sides of the lake, via Pipe Village, Brothertown, Stock- 
 bridge and Wrightstown to Green Bay and via Oshkosh, Neenah and 
 Menasha to Wrightstown. Distance sixty-eight miles, time whatever
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 187 
 
 it happened to be. twelve to twenty-four hours. Appleton did not then 
 exist, except as the hamlet of Grand Chute. Most of the emigrants 
 of that time came with their own teams via Watertown and Green 
 Bay. 
 
 Crook in Main Street. 
 Very few of old time residents of Fond du Lac have failed of 
 being asked at some time about the crook in Main street. Standing 
 at Scott street or Twelfth, the crook is seen most effectively, and 
 observing strangers are pretty sure to ask about it. Maybe they will 
 get a correct answer, but more than likely nothing satisfactory, as few 
 citizens including old settlers, know much about it. The crook is 
 there, but how it came to be there, few know. Here is the correct 
 explanation : The village plat of the Fond du Lac Company was 
 made first and became a part of the records with reference to section 
 and quarter section lines. When Dr. Darling platted his land he did 
 it to suit himself and without reference to the close following of the 
 Fond du Lac Company's plat. Instead of making the west line of 
 Main street coincide with the other plat, he followed the old Milwau- 
 kee road and the south end was thrown too far to the west for a 
 straight street. It was simply a matter of convenience and I don't 
 care, on the part of Dr. Darling. 
 
 Annual M. E. Conference. 
 
 The Wisconsin Annual Conference of the M. E. Church, was 
 held in the old church torn away two years ago to give place to the 
 fine brick building now at the corner of Marr and Third streets. 
 Bishop Ames presided and when the -conference closed the job of 
 printing the proceedings was given to the Journal ofifice. With the 
 small amount of type and its well worn condition, Mr. Glaze hesitated 
 about it. but he and Walworth Chapel went at it and did all the 
 work, including binding, and comparing it with the same proceedings 
 now, it appears as well as any of them. It shows what can be done 
 if one goes at a thing and tries. Surely the best efforts were put on 
 that job with that old material. 
 
 Teachers in the High School. 
 Most of the time that O. C. Steenberg was principal of the Fond 
 du Lac High school, the rooms occupied by the school were up stairs 
 over the stores now occupied by Geo. P. Dana and the Wilkie hard- 
 ware stores. Prof. Johnson was the first principal of the Fond du 
 Lac High school and it was located in the building at the corner of 
 Main and Johnson streets. Prof. Peabody, for many years since he 
 was here, principal of a Chicago High school, succeeded Prof. John- 
 son here, and Prof. Steenberg was third, then Prof Hutchins, Prof. 
 Mitchell, Dr. McLaughlin, Prof. Williams and Miss Waters. Miss 
 Everdell has been connected with the school the greater number of 
 years, having been there nearly forty years as teacher.
 
 188 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 A Country Grindstone That Was Used. 
 
 G. W. Denniston, who now resides at the corner of Marr and 
 Fourth streets, is one of the early pioneers of this county. He went 
 into the town of Empire in 1846, and was a mechanic as well as 
 farmer. He and his family saw much of the Indians and his grind- 
 stone under a tree was a favorite resort for them to sharpen their 
 knives. Their association with them was far from pleasant. 
 
 He Had a Peculiar Habit. 
 
 W. C. Kellogg, of the early day dealers in boots and shoes, 
 McBride & Kellogg, had the queer habit of swinging a foot rule. 
 AVhen not asleep or eating, that rule was generally in his hand and 
 on the swing. He had learned every motion of which it was capable. 
 He was a brother-in-law of Commodore Paulding, of the U. S. Navy, 
 and on shipboard with him as his clerk, had visited most of the 
 countries of the world, and being a good talker, Kellogg's presence 
 was generally pleasing. During a trip east to visit his relatives in 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., something occurred to upset his mind and he com- 
 mitted suicide. The firm then sold out, and closed the business here. 
 
 A Low Down Whiskey Shop. 
 
 Probably the worst whiskey dive ever in Fond du Lac. was that 
 of Harry Jones on the west side of Main street, four doors south of 
 Second. He was an old soak and people used to wonder where and 
 how he got his handsome young wife. His bar was slovenly and 
 the room always dirty. It was a tough place every day in the week 
 and nights too. 
 
 Fay Brown, of Lamartine. 
 Fayette Brown was one of the early pioneers of Lamartine. He 
 was a brother of E. L. Brown, for so many years and still a resident 
 of Waupaca in 1905. Fay Brown was a politician of great activity, 
 and few elections passed without his name on a ballot. He and Peter 
 V. Sang used to have lively tussels. especially for town offices. Both 
 were generally on the political war path, and generally stirred up a 
 lively time. Pete Sang used to say that Fay Brown always wanted 
 office and "wanted it the d dest worst kind." 
 
 Some Queer Descriptions. 
 
 When H. W. Newton made the new survey and replatted Ripon 
 in 1870, he found some queer descriptions in land and lots deeded by 
 Judge Horner. For instance, one point was a notch in a log in a mill 
 dam, which might have been obliterated in one minute with an axe. 
 Another point was a pile of stones, which might have been moved 
 in five minutes with a wheelbarrow. Another was the end of a ditch, 
 and so on were others quite ridiculous.
 
 MEMORIES OF THE PAST 
 
 Interesting and Amusing, of What Took Place in the Early Times 
 
 of This County and are Worthy of Being 
 
 Recalled Now. 
 
 Great Fire of 1852, 
 
 The great fire in December, 1852, that burned out the whole east 
 side of Main street frontage, from First to Second streets, except the 
 Keyes-Darling bank corner, was a serious afifair. The concerns 
 burned out were : Case & Alling's grocery, where the fire originated ; 
 M. Sasse's shoe shop, E. Perkins' tin and stove store, A. P. & G. N. 
 Lyman's general store, D. R. Curran's drug store, Nate Lepper's paint 
 shops, Carswell & Dee's dry goods store and the residences of W. A. 
 Dewey and D. R. Curran, around the corner on Second street. It 
 was Sunday evening and so cold that John Case came up to the store, 
 filled the big stove full of grubs, rolled the barrels of vegetables up 
 near the stove to prevent freezing, locked the door and went away. 
 A few days before, the Davis block, located just north of where the 
 Lauenstein store is now, was burned, and the city being wholly with- 
 out fire apparatus, except a few leather buckets, it was necessary to 
 watch the smouldering ruins to prevent it breaking out anew. Five 
 or six young men. with headquarters in the Journal office, on the 
 ground where Mason's crockery store is now, were on watch and at 
 about one o'clock discovered a light reflected on the street and found 
 the Case & Ailing store was ablaze. The grubs, the stove and the 
 vegetable barrels did the business. The weather was dreadful cold 
 and all that could be done was to carry goods out of the stores and to 
 a safe distance ; much of it to be stolen. So cold was it that an empty 
 pail from the stores, after going on top of a building a couple of times 
 with water, would come thundering down into the street half full of 
 ice. Men dipping water from the reservoir at the corner of Main 
 and Second streets, would burn the backs out of their coats and freeze 
 their cheeks, noses and ears, without knowing it. The cylinder of the 
 pumps of fire engines and the hose w^ould have frozen if the city had 
 had fire apparatus and tried to use it. Next day fully one-half the 
 men in town had peeling cheek bones and noses, from the frost. It 
 was a night of dreadful experiences, as to the fire, the only thing that 
 could be done, as George Weikert said, was to "let her burn." There 
 was considerable wind and blazing shingles and boards were carried 
 to roofs, and long distances away people had to work on their roofs 
 to save their homes. What has for years been known as the "Giltner 
 House" on Second street, opposite No. i engine house, repaired and 
 altered last year, was on fire six times from those flying shingles, but 
 was saved, Ed. Farnsworth staying on the roof until he froze his
 
 190 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 hands. Soon after this fire a move was made toward procuring fire 
 apparatus, and old No. i was bought in Milwaukee. 
 
 They Were Strong Men. 
 
 Edward Beeson, C. R. Harrison and T. S. Henry were as strong 
 men in their personality as Fond du Lac has ever held as citizens. 
 Always truthful and generous, they could be depended upon at all 
 times. Edward Beeson was a printer by trade, an editor from prac- 
 tice, politician from force of circumstances, and in every respect a 
 first-class citizen, because he wanted to be. In his more than forty 
 vears as a newspaper man in Fond du Lac, he was never once tricky, 
 even in politics. Unlike the politicians of today, if he promised to do 
 a thing it could be depended upon. No matter what the service was, 
 in politics or business, his promise was reliable. Mr. Beeson was 
 uncle to the writer, who was an employe in his of^ce many years, 
 therefore knew him thoroughly. Mrs. Beeson was practically the only 
 mother he ever knew. Mr. Beeson enjoyed a joke, but the prac- 
 tical joke he abhorred. He bore the reputation among pioneer settlers 
 as being one of the most generous and self-sacrificing men in the 
 country. 
 
 Charles R. Harrison has always been known in Fond du Lac as 
 a man very much of the same characteristics. He had no enemies, 
 the entire community was his friends. As a sawmill expert he had 
 few equals, and when he went into the railway mail service, he was 
 soon known to all the leading men in the service. The old distribu- 
 tion case in the mail cars and postoffices were a fright to Charley 
 Harrison, and being a good mechanic he soon devised the Harrison 
 Postal Bag Rack, the manufacture of which long since became one of 
 the leading industries of Fond du Lac, and are used on railway cars 
 and in postoffices not only in this country and Canada, but many have 
 been shipped to Europe and Australia. 
 
 T. S. Henry was in personal characteristics very much like 
 Messrs. Beeson and Harrison. He was a peculiar man in some things, 
 one in particular, that what he set out to do he did for all there was in 
 it. He also was an expert mechanic and few men ever did more to 
 build up and help along the early day industries of Fond du Lac. 
 When Tom Henry took hold of a piece of work it had to go. He was 
 a strong and valual)le man to the city. 
 
 They Were Disappointed. 
 
 When the Third and Fourteenth regiments, Wisconsin infantry, 
 went into camp in Fond du Lac for drill and to learn camp life, war 
 w^as a new thing, and the men imagined they could have rations pre- 
 pared much as they were accustomed to have their food at home and 
 have better arrangements in camp. They changed their ideas after a 
 while, especially after they got down south. Both these regiments 
 were under command of colonels from this city, the Third under Col. 
 
 C. S. Hamilton (later Gen. Hamilton), and the Fourteenth under Col. 
 
 D. E. Wood. The camp extended north and south from Forest 
 avenue to the marsh and east and west from Hickory street to the
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 191 
 
 city limits. Col. Hamilton was a graduate of West Point and drilled 
 the Third, and Major John Hancock drilled the Fourteenth. It was 
 beautiful summer weather when the Third w^as here, but the Four- 
 teenth came in the fall, and sometimes the field was covered with snow 
 and slush, but there was scarcely a day that Major Hancock did not 
 assemble the regiment and put the boys through at least a portion 
 of the manual. At this time there were long open spaces on Forest 
 Avenue, and the drill ground north. was almost without a building. 
 Probably these two regiments were the best drilled of any of the 
 Wisconsin troops at the time of leaving the state for the seat of war, 
 as they had good drill masters, and once, often tw^ice, a day were 
 assembled and the men put through the manual. The people of Fond 
 du Lac took great pleasure in witnessing the work, and every fine day 
 appeared at camp in large numbers. 
 
 Rev. Air. Robertson, at that time pastor of the Presbyterian 
 Church, took much pleasure in preaching to the men, and while he 
 often preached to the whole regiment at camp, he seemed anxious 
 that the men should have church privileges, and influenced the colonel 
 to have them marched down town. But as there was neither church 
 nor hall large enough to seat all of them, one-half the regiment was 
 brought at a time. There were many very amusing incidents at these 
 camps, some of which may be mentioned hereafter. 
 
 The Beet Sugar Factory. 
 
 That there was once a beet sugar factory in Fond du Lac is 
 probably known to few people now. But there was such a factory 
 here, of which A. D. Bonesteel was principal owner, and it was located 
 in the basement of what was the stone mill, now a cold storage ware- 
 house, on Forest Avenue. One day Mr. Bonesteel was offered induce- 
 ments which took the factory to California, where it is said to still 
 remain, but is much enlarged and improved. It was here in 1859, and 
 remained a couple of years, making very nice sugar. But there was 
 found to be one drawback here. Our black soil is not well adapted 
 to raising sugar beets, and it required too much water and too much 
 time to wash them in the preliminary process for sugar making. At 
 Grand Island, Neb., and through the northwestern part of that state, 
 especially along the Platte river, are many large sugar factories. The 
 land is somewhat sandy and is said to be the best in the United States 
 for sugar beets. 
 
 Too Cold to Work. 
 
 In the morning of the cold New Year's day of 1864, A. T. Glaze 
 went from Sixth street to the Commonwealth office, in the north end 
 of the old Darling block, to complete the printing of the enrollment 
 lists for the last draft of the war. He was compelled to stop on the 
 way to warm himself, and when he arrived at the Commonwealth 
 office, he and Mr. Bryant, his assistant, crowded wood into the large 
 office stove all the forenoon, but could not get it warm enough to 
 work, and were compelled to give it up, although the type cases were 
 moved up close to the stove. In the morning the mercury froze in 
 thermometers.
 
 192 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 A Very Popular Family. 
 
 It was in 1847 ^^^^^ John B. Alacy came here from Buffalo, New 
 York, and settled on what is now known as the Giddings farm, at 
 Lake de Neveu. John Dana, who is yet living in this city at an 
 advanced age, came with him and lived in the family until after Mr. 
 Mac3'"s death. The Macy home was long a society center, and many 
 large parties were given there. In the summer of 1856 the grand 
 steamer Niagara was burned off Port Washington, and Mr. Macy 
 was drowned. He was a very large man, and while trying to board 
 a boat already overloaded, he swamped it and most of those on it lost 
 their lives. M. J. Thomas, son-in-law of Mr. Macy, lost his « life at 
 what is now known as Johnson's Creek, on the old line of the North- 
 western road in 1858, at the time of the excursion on completion of 
 the road through to Chicago. Mr. Thomas was thrown from the 
 baggage car into a ditch at the side of the track. He built the first 
 boat house at Lake de Neveu and put the first boat for pleasure on 
 its waters. 
 
 Here we may appropriately give particulars of a peculiar incident 
 connected with the death of Mr. Macy. On the afternoon that he was 
 drowned, his daughter, Mrs. Thomas, suddenly became frantic, said 
 that her father was dead and she could see his face. She was so 
 distressed that she had the carriage brought out and she came to the 
 city and sought out friends for information. The telegraph line to 
 Sheboygan, the only one we had then, was not working and informa- 
 tion of the disaster was not received until next morning. How did 
 Mrs. Thomas get her first impression? Many would like to know 
 about it. 
 
 The First Wood Yard. 
 
 The first wood yard in Fond du Lac was owned by Hiram Linds- 
 ley, familiarly known as "Hi" Lindsley. Coal was not used here at 
 that time in our history — the fifties. The wood supply came mostly 
 from the country by teams and from the sawmills. Almost every day 
 Main street was lined by wagons loaded with wood. But "Hi" sold 
 considerable wood, especially when the roads were bad. One day 
 he sold some to H. Olds, of the United States Cottage, now 
 Windsor House. It was early in the fall of the year, when evenings 
 were sometimes a little cool and a moderate fire in the office stove 
 was desirable. "Late" Ellsworth was the hotel clerk and looked 
 after things very well, so in the afternoon filled the wood box ; at 
 supper time started a fire. When the boarders came from the dining 
 room and began to gather near the stove it was discovered that the 
 wood box, floor and wall were alive with large black ants. Of course 
 the boys got out of there. "Jack" Cole ran out doors with about a 
 hundred of the insects on him, which he got from being seated with 
 one arm on the wood box. The next thing was to rid the office of 
 them, and in the search for where they came from, a half rotted 
 stick of wood was found in the box that was alive with them. The 
 fire had warmed them sufficient to send the black fellows out in search 
 of fresh air. The stick of wood went into the stove and a couple of
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 193 
 
 brooms vigorously wielded, killed off the loose ones after a while. 
 While this was in progress, "Hi" Lindsley came in and learning the 
 situation, remarked to Olds that ants' nests in the wood were extra 
 and he didn't charge him a cent for this one. Olds was not inclined to 
 joke, but "Hi" ventured to remark as he left, "If you want any more 
 live stock, come and see me." 
 
 Are All Gone Now. 
 
 When we think of how plentiful the prairie chickens were here 
 in early times, and how they were slaughtered without interference 
 of law, we are reminded of the slaughter of the buffalo on our western 
 plains without interference, until they are almost extinct. In both 
 these cases it is like the old adage of locking the barn door after the 
 horse is stolen. That magnificent game bird, the prairie chicken, 
 was slaughtered and the state legislature gave it no attention until 
 the mischief was done, and prohibitory legislation could do no good. 
 After there were no more prairie chickens to kill, laws were passed pro- 
 tecting them. There was a time that a good hunter could find them 
 within half a mile or mile of the city, and very seldom returned from 
 a hunt empty handed. Many a time the writer has seen coveys of them 
 inside the city limits. 
 
 Clown and Trunk Maker. 
 
 Alonzo Blake was a performer and a couple of seasons also clown 
 in Older's circus. He was a trunk and harness maker by trade and 
 came to Fond du Lac to work for Lyman Bishop, when the circus 
 was laid up for winter. Next door north of the harness shop, at that 
 time was Bowen's barber shop. Mr. Bowen being a cripple, kept a 
 dog team which he drove back and forth, between his home and the 
 shop. Those dogs were noisy and cross, and being kept all day at the 
 rear of the shop, were a great annoyance to Blake, who played ali 
 sorts of tricks on them. This made Bowen mad, but Blake didn't 
 care for that. One day "Lon" melted a lot of shoemaker's wax in the 
 sun and with a long paddle through a window, plastered it on the sides 
 of the dogs. This the animals gnawed until they had removed most 
 of the hair with the wax. Mr. Bowen was very mad, of course, and 
 sought to sue "Lon" for damages, but Squire Williams thought he 
 had better treat it as a joke, for he couldn't get anything from Blake 
 if he secured a judgment. Soon after that the dogs disappeared. 
 
 Elected by One Vote. 
 
 The canvassing board that went through the returns of the 
 county election in 1858, consisted of Carlos A. Rider and J. J. Driggs, 
 justices of the peace, and N. H. Jorgenson, register of deeds, and 
 Fred Kalk, county clerk, and James V. McCall, clerk. Wlien the 
 returns had all been read, Fred Kalk got his figures added first and 
 began dancing around the room in his excited way, declaring that 
 John B. Wilbor was elected county treasurer by one majority, the 
 figures being J. B. Wilbor, 2689 ; George W. Sawyer, 2688. Soon 
 after McCall's figures gave the same result. The vote being so close,
 
 194 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 the canvassing board determined to go over it all again, but the result 
 was the same. Mr. Sawyer was urged by some of his republican 
 friends to contest the election on the ground of irregularities in one 
 or two eastern towns, but he said one majority was as good as a 
 thousand, and refused. So John B. Wilbor held the office of county 
 treasurer by virtue of a decided majority of one, Sawyer receiving 
 2688 votes and Wilbor 2689. 
 
 A Big Pair of Boots. 
 
 One day in 1851, while passing the shoe shop of Peter Servatius, 
 on Main street, near the Journal office, the writer was called in to see 
 a pair of boots that were being built for a man living in the town of 
 Friendship. Astonishment ruled the day on looking at them. To 
 say that they were large does not meet the case — they were enormous. 
 A measurement was made of the length and width, but a stateiiient of 
 the result is not made for fear that some one would say it was a 
 
 d d lie. He furnished his own lasts as no shoe shop had them big 
 
 enough. The work was in the hands of a good natured German, 
 named Miese, who suggested that the only remedy for those feet was 
 to get a doctor to "gut 'em." Preposterous as it was, Miese built 
 those boots on his knees, though Uncle David Knitel suggested that he 
 fasten them on a bench, trim the edges with a hatchet and drive the 
 pegs with a sledge haimmer. When they were done, Mr. Servatius 
 said they would make a couple of good fiddleboxes by cutting the 
 tops ofif. 
 
 A Reaper and Mower Trial. 
 
 If farmers of today could see such a reaper and mower trial as 
 that at Ripon in 1869, they would doubtless be much amused. At 
 that trial was the J. P. Manny, J. H. Manny, Cayuga Chief, Johnson 
 Sweepstakes, Esterly, Wood and other reapers, all of them hand 
 rakes — that is, the grain was raked ofif by hand and left behind for the 
 binders. The Marsh harvester, in 1870, was the first of the binders, 
 though the grain was bound by men who rode on the machine. A 
 couple of years later the McCormicks brought out the self-binder 
 which we still have, though very much improved. The agents for 
 those early day machines were a noisy set of fellows and their com- 
 peting trials were exciting. All this has passed away now. 
 
 Could Not Be Changed. 
 
 It was about 1856 that a few Fond du Lac men got it into their 
 heads that the steamboat landing could be changed from Scott street 
 to Forest Avenue, where the Gurney Refrigerator plant is now located 
 and Capt. Estes of the Leytona, was influenced to run his boat up the 
 river to that point, but that one trip was the only one made. The 
 flag stafT was broken, some boards torn ofT one wheelhouse and the 
 boat otherwise damaged. Some thought Capt Estes ran into a tree 
 and did the damage on purpose. At any rate no further efforts were 
 made to transfer the landing from lower town. It was one of those 
 early day schemes that were constantly coming into men's minds.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 195 
 
 Was a Great Wrestler. 
 
 The great wrestler, Homer Lane, was long a resident of Fond du 
 Lac. He was possessed of a remarkable peculiarity in that he 
 seemed to have no bones to give stiffness by which a purchase might 
 be obtained by an opponent, and his joints seemed to turn all ways 
 alike. The writer took hold of him a few times but he might as well 
 have taken hold of a suspended blanket, expecting to throw it. He 
 became noted east and west as a wrestler and had bouts with the most 
 noted men of the country in that line. My recollection is that he was 
 beaten but once and that was after an illness from which he had not 
 fully recovered. 
 
 Was Not a Favorite. 
 
 A man named AVarner, a carpenter and joiner, at one time in the 
 early days, boarded at the Cottage. He was a very loud talker and 
 a great boaster, and the boys getting down on him, set themselves 
 to playing tricks on him, which became so annoying that he had to 
 leave. One time they dusted a little cayenne pepper on his clothes, 
 which set him to sneezing as if he would sneeze his head off. Another 
 time one of the boys managed to slip some shoemaker's Avax on his 
 chair as he was sitting down, and when he got up he took the chair 
 along with him. The boys said they had got rid of a nuisance. 
 
 Were Not Fast Boats. 
 
 Suppose you were a new comer to such a town as Fond du Lac 
 was in 1849, ^^^^ going to the steamboat landing should find there 
 two such steamboats as the Oshkosh and Manchester. Then suppose 
 you undertook a trip as a passenger on either of them, to find that it 
 took two hours to make the run to Taycheedah, seven to get to Osh- 
 kosh and twelve to fourteen hours to reach Neenah and Menasha. 
 Wouldn't your opinion of Lake Winnebago navigation be rather poor? 
 That was the situation, yet some people would imagine that a light- 
 house was needed at the mouth of the river. 
 
 Were in Favor of Seward. 
 
 Great was the disgust of Fond du Lac republicans one beautiful 
 day in June, i860, when news came from the historical "wigwam" in 
 Chicago, that Abraham Lincoln was the nominee for president of the 
 United States. The republicans of Fond du Lac were for William 
 H. Seward, first, last and all the time. About all they knew of 
 Lincoln was the notoriety gained in his debates with Stephen A. 
 Douglas, while Seward's work in the United States senate stamped 
 him as the man for the times. But they soon recovered from the 
 disappointment. 
 
 Once a Lively Place. 
 
 There was a time that Taycheedah was quite an important point. 
 There was a pier there, where all boats stopped, and much freight was 
 shipped north, coming from Sheboygan and saving the hauling to 
 Fond du Lac. The Smiths had quite an extensive store, B. F. Moore
 
 196 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 had his Indian supply depot there, Charles Qeisse had a mill, Mr. 
 Perry kept a hotel, and there were many shops. Such citizens as 
 Lieut. Gov. Beall, J. W. Whinfield, Henry Conklin and others resided 
 there. 
 
 Was Soon Abandoned. 
 The fire steamer, Alex. White, when first brought here, was a 
 self-propeller, and the first run it made to a fire was on Portland 
 street, when it went into a mud hole opposite the residence of F. 
 Sander, so tight that it required four horses to pull it out. As a self- 
 propeller it was not a success, and its greatest merit seems to have 
 been that it could throw a vast amount of water in a given time. It 
 has not been used as a self-propeller in many years. 
 
 Was a Popular Man. 
 
 During his married life and up to the time that he went to the 
 war in the Sixth Wisconsin, Capt. Edwin A. Brown was one of the 
 most popular men of his age in Fond du Lac. He was sought for by 
 his fellow citizens for all sorts of positions, and in public movements, 
 if Ed. Brown was not there something seemed to be left out. Just 
 why this was so, no one could tell but that it was so, was well under- 
 stood by everybody. Poor Ed. fell at Antietam. 
 
 Was Sometimes Abrupt. 
 
 Col. James Ewen was sometimes quite abrupt. One morning 
 a guest at the hotel told a highly improbable story which it did not 
 
 take Col. Ewen long to style a "d d lie." The guest was indignant 
 
 but the affair was soon settled by a proposition that he tell the story 
 again in presence of a jury of six men, who should pass upon it. 
 Nothing more was said. Col. Ewen was peculiar, but as honest a man 
 as ever lived. 
 
 The First Gunsmith Shop. 
 
 In 1853, S. B. and J. Amory had a gun shop on Main street, where 
 the Amory block now stands, and Tom Weeks worked for them. 
 They made hunting rifles and did all sorts of repairing. The shop was 
 down stairs and Mr. Amory lived up stairs. The building now stands 
 second south of the public library, but has been much changed in 
 looks since it was on Main street, fifty-five years ago. 
 
 Much Cheaper Then Than Now. 
 
 In the fifties board with room was readily obtained for $2.00 a 
 week and most of the boarders at the Lewis house paid but $2.50 a 
 week. When Ketchum appeared as proprietor of the Globe Hotel, 
 now the Windsor, he vastly improved the board and raised the price 
 to $2.50, the boys thought it very high ; compare these rates with 
 today. 
 
 Has Been Changed. 
 
 The present end of Military street at Union and West Second, 
 was not the original terminus. It continued through the block to 
 Forest street and crossed the river with a bridge. The bridge was 
 taken out at an early date and the street vacated from its present 
 terminus — a very sensible work.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 197 
 
 Was a Useful Building. 
 
 There was a time that the old Marr street schoolhouse was used 
 for many purposes. Schools, lectures, debating clubs, and the 
 Methodist, Free Will Baptist and Universalist Churches all met there, 
 and occasionally teachers' institutes and club meetings were held 
 there. It was a very useful place for some years. 
 
 Presbyterian Church Steeple. 
 
 When the Presbyterian Church was built in 1859, at corner of 
 ]\Iain and Rees streets, it had a well proportioned and very pretty 
 steeple. The spire was a cone high and graceful. After the building 
 had been moved to Sheboygan street, it was found that the timbers 
 were weak when it was built, or had been racked in the moving, and 
 the graceful spire was unsafe, especially in high winds, and the only 
 thing to do was to cut it down. The steeple was then put in the 
 condition we now see it. It is by no means lacking in neatness now, 
 but originally it was very pretty. 
 
 The Brewery at the Spring. 
 
 People who have passed through Taycheedah and up the ledge 
 on the Sheboygan road, have not failed to notice the ruins of a stone 
 building near the road. The structure was erected for a brewery by 
 Hauser & Dix, of Fond du Lac, with intent to use the water from 
 a beautiful spring across the road, and was named the "Spring 
 Brewery." The buildings now used by the Harrison Postal Bag 
 Rack Co., at Sheboygan and Portland streets, were erected by the 
 same firm as a place to store and handle the beer. But this business 
 venture proved a failure, as the spring water at Taycheedah could 
 not compete with the fountain water in Fond du Lac in making and 
 sellingf beer. 
 
 Sam Ryan was Here. 
 
 Sam Ryan, identified with the press of Wisconsin since 1845, 
 and continuously with the Appleton Crescent since 1853, was a resi- 
 dent of Fond du Lac in 1848 and was postmaster here at the time 
 of the robbery for which Ambrose Barnard was convicted in the 
 United States District Court at Milwaukee in 1850, before Judge 
 Miller, and sentenced to ten years in prison, but was pardoned after 
 two years. He was not the only guilty party but was the only one 
 prosecuted. Sam Ryan returned to Green Bay and a little later settled 
 in Appleton. He was an old school whig and the Crescent being 
 democratic, the name of Rolla A. Law fof a long time appeared as the 
 editor. James Ryan, a brother of Sam, has been business manager 
 of the Crescent, through all these years which number more than half 
 a century. We speak here of Sam Ryan particularly, as he was a 
 Fond du Lac pioneer.
 
 198 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Our War Shinplasters. 
 
 At the beginning of the war of the rebellion, in 1861, and after 
 enlistments began in April, our gold and silver coin suddenly disap- 
 peared as by a stroke of the magician's wand. The small change as 
 well as larger pieces, was all swept away within a few weeks and 
 dealers were at their wits' end, how to make change. Due bills were 
 used for a time, but these were very inconvenient and merchants felt 
 compelled to have small cards printed, representing 5c, loc, 25c and 
 50c, which they gave out as change, although in violation of 
 law. They had to do it and no notice was taken of it by the authori- 
 ties. After a while those cards began to appear signed W. R. Gold, 
 Ch. Token, Amos Kraut and dozens of like names, when the city took 
 the matter up and directed city clerk, A. H. Boardman, to procure 
 from Milwaukee some bound books of lithographed shinplasters, 
 representing 5c, loc, 25c and 50c. These were issued by the city on 
 deposits of even dollars. But in 1863 the United States government 
 began the issue of the fractional currency of the same denominations 
 and the situation was relieved. In the redemption of the city's shin- 
 plaster currency, a large percentage was never presented and the city 
 gained while the people lost by the scheme. Some was kept as 
 souvenirs, but of that unredeemed, most of it was destroyed or lost. 
 Of the cards afloat, no one could give a reasonable guess of the 
 amount and of those issued by dealers, as near as could be ascer- 
 tained, not one-half were ever redeemed. One dealer admitted that 
 he was ahead over $2,000. The cards were printed on poor board, 
 the sizing peeled off, taking the names with it, so that the cards soon 
 became so nearly worn out that no one could tell who they belonged 
 to. It was a peculiar experience, but Fond du Lac was not alone in it. 
 
 The premium on gold and silver had so completely retired the 
 silver change that along toward the close of the war, ladies bought the 
 pieces at the bank and wore them for earrings, breastpins and sleeve 
 buttons, as curiosities, at the time the change disappeared, much of 
 that in circulation was of Mexican coinage, but none of it was ever 
 seen again. By the time silver came to the front again, our silver 
 mines had been developed, silver was plentiful and this Mexican 
 coinage might possibly have been worth thirty cents on the dollar. 
 Wisconsin people did not want it at any price. The United States 
 treasury reports show that upwards of seventeen millions of the 
 fractional currency remains unredeemed, but it is thought that nearly 
 one-half of this is in the hands of the people as keepsakes, the balance 
 was lost and destroved. 
 
 No Residences Located There. 
 
 The nearest approach to a residence ever located on West 
 Second street, from Main street to the bridge, was the old City Hotel 
 that was once near the corner where Wagner's store is now. That 
 street or part of a street, has always been the abode of shops and is 
 yet. Lepper & Morse's big wagon shops were on it. West of the 
 bridge the nature of the occupations has been very different.
 
 WHAT WAS SAID AND DONE 
 
 What Pioneer Settlers of Fond du Lac County Did and What They 
 
 Thought and Talked About at Home and 
 
 Elsewhere. 
 
 Old Time Joke. 
 
 Darius Hooker was a moulder in the foundry of Peacock & 
 White in the early fifties. He was generally known as "Dri" Hooker 
 and among his peculiarities was a seeming constant desire to play 
 tricks or jokes on his associates, and sometimes he got one from them. 
 A moulder in the foundry, who got the nick name "Chub" fastened 
 on him, was taken sick and his malady developed into a very severe 
 case of inflammation of the bowels. He was a small man, quite 
 popular with his associates, and when they were informed that 
 "Chub" was in a very dangerous condition, the boys were active in 
 caring for him. The doctor told them that the application of leeches 
 was the only thing that could save him, and so some leeches were 
 ordered at once from Chicago. The night that the leeches came and 
 were applied, three of the men, one of whom was "Dri," were staying 
 with "Chub." During the night "Dri" became very sleepy and the 
 two others thought it a good chance for a joke ; so took one of the 
 leeches out of the jar and applied it to the back of "Dri's" neck. 
 About the time the leech got well down to business, "Dri" awakened 
 enough to realize that there was something on his neck, and began 
 some active clawing. The boys looked to see what was the matter, 
 and when they declared it was only a big bed bug, "Dri" declared it 
 
 was a "d d lie." But the boys got the vinegar on pretence of 
 
 easing the sting, but really to make the leech "let go," which it did 
 and was thrown out of doors without "Dri" seeing it. Sick as he 
 was, "Chub" could not help laughing to see the success of the joke 
 and afterwards declared he believed it was the turning point in his 
 recovery. In later years Hooker became a prominent citizen of Mil- 
 waukee and was three or four times elected to the state legislature. 
 
 A Fond du Lac Cannon. 
 
 Alex White manufactured a cannon at the machine shops of 
 Peacock & White, in Fond du Lac, in the early da3's of the war, after 
 the model of the Atwater rifle, which was said to have a penetrating 
 power of twelve inches of solid pine at the distance of ten rods. The 
 special feature of the Atwater rifle was, that one-third of the distance 
 from the breech to the muzzle, there were six grooves and six lands, 
 to give rotary motion to the projectile, and the remaining two-thirds 
 had but three lands, to avoid friction. The cannon was a breech- 
 loader and it required much experimenting to overcome windage in
 
 200 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 the plan of the breech-pin. This was finally overcome and one cold 
 day, after a snow fall, the cannon was taken to the lake shore, at 
 what is now Lakeside Park, and fired, I think twice, when the breech- 
 pin stuck and could not be removed to fire again. This trouble could 
 not be overcome and Dr. Wolcott, of Milwaukee, who was the finan- 
 cial man of the affair, finally abandoned it. After the firing on the 
 lake shore, a tramp of about two and one-half miles, revealed where 
 the ball struck the snow and bounded. The gun carried well in 
 distance, but the projectile went considerable to the left of a straight 
 line. I was present at the test, and these are the results as I remem- 
 ber them. I think the carinon was about five and one-half feet long, 
 and had a two and one-half inch bore. It was said here that the cannon 
 was afterwards experimented with at the arsenal in Pittsburg, but 
 nothing more was known of it in Fond du Lac ; nor has the Atwater 
 rifle been heard of in late years. 
 
 They Got Drunk There. 
 
 John Reilly, a darkey with an Irish name, had the first barber 
 shop in Fond du Lac, in 1848. His shop was a small frame building, 
 with a wood house in the rear, and stood on the ground where the 
 Reeves building now stands, on Main street. Next, south, was a one 
 and a half story building on the ground now occupied by the Mason 
 crockery store, in which was the office of the Fond du Lac Journal. 
 Between the two was an alley, leading to Luther Swineford's black- 
 smith shop. Reilly's wife was an Indian and the wood house in the 
 rear of the shop was a favorite place for pow-wows of the Indians. 
 To get fire-water for these pow-wows, the law being very severe 
 against selling liquor to Indians, Reilly or his wife would sneak out 
 and get it for them. In about an hour after getting the liquor, all 
 but two or three of the Indians who remained sober to look after the 
 others, there would be as noisy a drunk as one often hears. The 
 noise was very annoying to us, who worked in the Journal office, but 
 we had to stand it until five or six o'clock, when the Indians would 
 leave for their wigwams. One day Forbes Homiston, as constable, 
 was influenced by us to go into the woodhouse and see if he could 
 stop the outrageous noise. In less than one minute after going in, 
 he came out on a dead run, and went out of the alley as fast as his 
 short legs would carry him. He said afterwards, that there were too 
 many bright butcher knives in there to suit him. Others might play 
 with those fellows if they wanted to — he wouldn't. 
 
 A Pigeon Hunter. 
 
 Some years ago, in the months of April and May, wild pigeons 
 in flocks of thousands and in rapid succession passed over the heads 
 of Fond du Lac people. Hardly a flock is now seen from one year's 
 end to another. If we ask what has become of all these pigeons, who 
 can answer? "Black Davis" was the Fond du Lac pigeon hunter. 
 He used a net and caught them by hundreds, sometimes perhaps 
 thousands. To thus catch pigeons, the net, about eight by sixteen 
 feet in size, is set with a spring at one side of a raked-off patch of
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 201 
 
 ground, with some feed scattered over it. The hunter is at one end 
 of the ground, hid in a booth of green boughs, with two "flyers," 
 and a string, reaching to the "stool pigeon,"" on the other end. When 
 a large flock is coming, the "flyers," with a string to their legs, are 
 thrown up, and pulling the string of the stool, it goes up and down 
 and the "stool pigeon"' moves. This calls down the flock, and when 
 they are on the ground the net is sprung and before the wild birds 
 can rise they are forced back to the ground and captured. The hunter 
 now kills them at his leisure by pinching their heads. The process 
 is a cruel one, as the "flyers" and "stool pigeon" are made blind by 
 having their eyes sewed shut with a needle and thread. Few men 
 care to see it more than once or twice, but to "Black Davis"' it was 
 a delight. 
 
 He Got Stung. 
 
 W. M. Lee, of Rosendale, about forty years ago, patented a 
 movable frame bee hive, with which he made a considerable stir 
 among bee keepers for a time, but the agitation ceased when the patent 
 expired. A. T. Glaze was at this time one of the Commonwealth 
 force, under J. A. Smith, where Mr. Lee had his printing done. Al- 
 ways anxious to show off his bee hive, he insisted that Mr. Glaze 
 should go with him to J. C. Spencer's, next east of the laundry on East 
 First street, and see how nicely he could change a swarm of bees 
 from an old hive to one of his new ones. Mr. Glaze demurred on the 
 ground that bees always stung him if they got a chance. But he went 
 and was placed by ]\Ir. Lee. at the corner of the house, where he 
 would be safe. Mr. Lee was only well begun with the change, when 
 a bee struck Mr. Glaze on the forehead, and he whirled and began a 
 fair exhibition as a sprinter, when another bee became entangled in 
 his hair at the back of his neck, and his speed was increased and kept 
 up until he reached Curran's drug store and had ammonia applied. 
 It is sufficient to say that Mr. Glaze did not return to see Mr. Lee 
 complete the change of bee hives. 
 
 Trouble Among Clerks. 
 
 After C. J. Pettibone and W. C. Pettibone had established the 
 Pettibone store in Fond du Lac, near the beginning of the war, there 
 was a lively bunch of clerks there. Among them was one of the 
 political tribe, known as "Copperhead;" in other words a violent 
 secessionist. One morning he was talking unpleasantly, when one of 
 the other clerks told him he was "a traitor to his country." This 
 brought on trouble with fists, but W. C. Pettibone coming in, put a 
 stop to it. Not long after, C. J. Pettibone appeared and learning of 
 the affair, told W. C. that as the young man was getting what he 
 deserved, he ought to have let them alone. This again aroused the 
 ire of the Copperhead and he threatened to give C. J. a trouncing. 
 This, of course, the clerks resented. C. J. replied that if the young 
 man was anxious for trouble, he would give him a chance. This 
 raised a laugh and the young man left the store and the city about 
 the same time. Mr. Pettibone said afterwards that his talk was what 
 the boys call a "bluff."
 
 202 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 He Presided Well. 
 
 John A. Eastman, known to old residents as "J'^ck" Eastman, 
 son-in-law of Dr. Darling, was in one respect at least, a genius. He 
 had the faculty of maintaining a grave countenance under the most 
 trying circumstances. This and his ready wit, made him one of the 
 best presiding officers in the state for meetings of the gay humorous 
 society, known as "The Thousand and One." The meetings were 
 usually held at the opening of terms of circuit court, when lawyers 
 and prominent men could be present. The court room was the place 
 and the length of the session depended upon the capacity of the officers 
 for fun and the willingness of the candidate to bear the burden of 
 fun without a light. Through it all, Eastman would maintain the 
 gravity of a judge. Not a smile was detected on his countenance 
 when he told "Little" Eaton that it had been discovered lately that 
 soft soap was the best thing to grease boots, melted sugar and tur- 
 pentine for a hair dressing and fish oil as a perfume for ladies' use. 
 This ended the scene, for "Little" Eaton bolted. 
 
 Bony Always There. 
 
 In the days of the old Fond du Lac fire department, when Nos. i, 
 2 and 3 contended for supremacy, W. T. Gibson owned a large New 
 Foundland dog named Bonaparte, but became known to all citizens 
 as "Bony." He was a very faithful and prompt fireman, being always 
 on hand when the fire bells rang or when the machines were out for 
 practice. He was a general favorite, and when he was hungry and 
 appeared at kitchen doors, he always got something if the people were 
 at home, or knew he was there. He did mischief just once at the 
 residence of John Hale, on Fourth street, when he took the remnants 
 of a beef roast, left near the door, and marched oiif with it. But 
 "Bony" had a remarkable habit of looking for gloves, mittens, hand- 
 kerchiefs, rubbers or anything lost on the streets and carrying them 
 to one of the engine houses ,and so paid for all he got. And woe to 
 any dog that showed a disposition to molest a child. He was injured 
 while on fire duty and died from the effects. "Bony" was truly a re- 
 markable dog. 
 
 Was a Crude Affair. 
 
 Many people are not aware of the fact that there is a bridge 
 across Main street at the head of Third, but there is. Until 185 1 it 
 was a crude log affair, and the ravine to the eastward was open and a 
 mire of mud. It is now a covered stone ditch, which no one sees. 
 The postoffice was robbed in 1849, when Sam Ryan, now of Appleton, 
 was postmaster, and the money hidden among the logs of this old 
 bridge. The young man who committed the robbery was sent to 
 prison, but pardoned after a year or two. After his return here the 
 mud of the old ravine, under the bridge, was stirred a number of times 
 when all was quiet, in quest of a portion of the money, which he 
 believed was still there somewhere. He told the writer that 
 he believed that the money went down in the mud and water when 
 the logs of the old bridge were torn out, but it was believed generally
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 203 
 
 that his partner in the crime, who escaped conviction, found and took 
 the money while the young man was away in prison. 
 Was a Great Whittler. 
 
 George Henning, father of John O. Henning. one of the founders 
 of the Fond du Lac Journal in 1846, Benj. S. Henning, the noted civil 
 engineer, and Mrs. Wm. Wiley, for a great many years had his boot, 
 shoe and fur store at the southeast corner of Main and Second 
 streets, now graced by a bill board. George Henning had his pecu- 
 liarities. He was a great talker, a great joker and a great whittler. 
 It was his custom to find some good whittling timber and lay up a 
 stock of it in his store for the use of himself and friends. It was not 
 an uncommon thing on a bright, nice day, in passing his store, to be 
 able to kick the whittling shavings ahead of you. Everybody knew 
 and everybody liked "Uncle George Henning." He died in this city 
 in March, 1864. 
 
 The Davis Tribe. 
 
 In early times Fond du Lac had a number of people by the name 
 of Davis, whose peculiar first names came to them by peculiar adapta- 
 tion from the people, and as none of them resented the names, but 
 seemed to respond when so addressed, they became generally recog- 
 nized. There was Pigsfoot Davis, Soapy Davis, Stoneboat Davis, 
 Whiskey Davis, Black Davis, Grocery Davis, Sawmill Davis and 
 Steamboat Davis. Because of business habits or looks the names were 
 recognized. Pigsfoot Davis sold pigsfeet; Soapy Davis made and 
 sold soap about town ; Steamboat Davis w^orked on a steamboat for 
 B. F. Moore ; Whiskey Davis was noted for drinking his own whiskey 
 freely and never treated anyone or allowed anyone to treat him ; 
 Black Davis was pretty dark in complexion : Stoneboat Davis used 
 that implement as a vehicle ; Grocery Davis had a grocery, and Saw- 
 mill Davis a sawmill. Only eight Davis' with peculiar names. 
 
 Some Heavy Moving. 
 
 Many people who are now residents of Fond du Lac, do not know 
 that when the Midland railroad track, now the St. Paul, came down 
 through the city, it became necessary to do some quite unpleasant 
 moving of buildings. When Fond du Lac was an important point of 
 the Wisconsin Stage Company, the stage barn stood on the bank of 
 the river where Tait's coal yard now is, and Robbin's livery barn was 
 on the ground where the St. Paul passenger depot now is, and the 
 Crippen residence stood on the ground of the present cheese ware- 
 house, south of the Zinke store. All of those structures had to be 
 moved across the river. It was not an easy job, but it was done and 
 the barns placed as w^e see them now, and Post has made the Crippen 
 house into dwellings on Sophia street. 
 
 A Mutual Barber Shop. 
 
 In the fifties Horace Durand had a harness shop in Fond du Lac 
 which became quite a resort and place for much fun, for nearly twenty 
 young men of the town, who needed barbering done, but would not
 
 204 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 go to either of the two low down barber shops then here. They 
 barbered each other, but paid for it just the same as at the shops 
 and the money thus obtained was used at intervals for a good time. 
 Most of the boys became pretty good barbers, but K. Gillet, who 
 recently died at Rosendale, was the best man with the razor, and 
 "Hank" Swdft the hair cutter. The shop was opened Sunday morn- 
 ings at 6:30. If a man wanted a shave during the week he had to do 
 it himself or pay double price for lights and fuel. 
 
 Won the Silver Trumpet. 
 
 C. R. Harrison was foreman of Winnebago Fire Company No. 3, 
 in 1857, and took his machine and men down to Milwaukee to the 
 state fair and firemen's tournament, to win the big silver trumpet, and 
 they did it handsomely. Of course the boys were jubilant and in- 
 clined to be noisy, but Mr. Harrison cautioned them that on their 
 return home, of all things, not to give Fond du Lac people an impres- 
 sion that they were drunk. Result, a more gentlemanly or dignified 
 lot of men were never seen than they were, when they unloaded their 
 machine. 
 
 There Was Lively Times. * 
 
 Playing over the flagstaff of Amory block on heighth and down 
 Sheboygan street on distance, old No. i fire company could beat 
 No. 3, although the latter won the silver trumpet at the state fair in 
 1857. No. 2, under Gen. Bragg as foreman, put in no claims. No. i 
 was a little larger than No. 3, and worked six more men. 
 
 A Crooked Stream. 
 
 A person not familiar with the scenes of crookedness in the east 
 branch of Fond du Lac river, between Western Avenue and Forest 
 Avenue, before the straightening process was applied, can hardly 
 imagine how outlandish it was. After making all sorts of twists and 
 turns south of Second street, it took a sweep to the eastward, passing 
 under the rear end of what is now Haas' wagon shop, swept by the 
 corner of the Lange block and reached its present location through 
 Tait's wood yard. At Forest Avenue it took a turn westward, to the 
 Howie boarding house, and then to the east again. The straightening 
 was done in the latter part of the sixties and w^as a fine piece of work. 
 It was not necessary to molest the west branch at any point. 
 
 Need of a Lighthouse. 
 
 There was a time that it was thought navigation on Lake Winne- 
 bago was sufficient to justify the erection and maintenance by the 
 United States government, of lighthouses at the mouth of the Fond 
 du Lac river and at Blackbird Island, near the entrance to the Neenah 
 and Menasha channels. The gravity of the situation is shown by the 
 fact that a bill for this purpose was introduced and gravely discussed 
 in congress, but did not pass, of course. In the light of transportation 
 at the present time, we cannot restrain at least a smile. There never 
 was a time that more than one or two boats a year sought these chan-
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 205 
 
 nels in the night, and now we have scarcely more than this number, 
 night or day. It was one of the early flights of fancy. 
 
 The Signs Were Out. 
 
 When the big Main street sewer was put in, the contractor got 
 far behind his contract time. A rainy season came on, the ditch 
 caved in at many places and the street was next to impassable. Busi- 
 ness men on the street were mad, but this did not restrain many of 
 them from being funny and cards were stuck on the bank, throughout 
 the length of the ditch. Some of them were quite laughable then and 
 would be now if one could remember and print them. They made 
 the contractor mad, but that is what they were intended to do. 
 
 Largest Lodge in State. 
 
 At the time the Good Templars were a power in the temperance 
 work in Wisconsin, Fond du Lac had a lodge of more than two 
 hundred and fifty members and was the largest in the state. One 
 lodge night, two well known men were to be initiated, and one of 
 them suggested that they go over to Harry Ely's and take a last 
 drink. They went, and when the time came for them to go to the 
 ,lodge room, both were full of booze. They were not cast aside as 
 unfit, but at the next meeting were initiated and made good working 
 members. 
 
 An Old Time Theatre. 
 
 Do you remember the hall in the old Darling block? If you do 
 not, try to imagine a hall of moderate dimensions, without stage or 
 scenery, yet used for the presentation of Shakespeare, and other heavy 
 plays. Langrische & Atwater, and G. J. Adams used to come here 
 with their companies and stay two or three weeks. Theatres, concerts, 
 lectures, churches, all used Darling's hall and for some years were 
 satisfied. 
 
 The First 'Bus Line. 
 
 E. A. Carey, in 1846, hauled the logs from their farm to the Clark 
 mill, where the lumber was cut for the house on Main street, opposite 
 the court house, long used by Mrs. Carey as a boarding house 
 This house was afterward moved south and is now the home of Mr. 
 Furstnow. Ed.'s oxen did a large amount of similar hard work about 
 this time. 
 
 It may be a matter of interest to many to know that E. A. Carey 
 started the first 'bus line in Fond du Lac. It was in 1854 and his 
 route was between the old Badger Hotel, corner of ]\Iain street and 
 Western avenue and the steamboat landing. He had three 'buses 
 and made the trip every hour. It was a good business and Mr. Carey 
 says he made money at it. 
 
 Could Not Defeat Him. 
 
 As long as J. J. Driggs wanted the office of justice of the peace 
 during his life time in Fond du Lac, he could get it. Organized 
 elTorts were made many times to defeat him, but he always came out 
 ahead. He seemed to hold a lasting claim on the office which was 
 surprising.
 
 206 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Came in Flying, 
 
 On a beautiful Ala}" morning, in i860, at 6:30, George Bentley, 
 then an engineer of a passenger train rvmning on the Northwestern 
 between Janesville and Fond du Lac, wa,s bringing his train into 
 Fond du Lac late, and was running so fast that when the old fash- 
 ioned brakes were applied, they gave off sparks like unto streaks 
 of fire. Few trains have ever crossed Alilitary street and Western 
 avenue at a higher rate of speed. Near the Western avenue crossing 
 the train encountered some horses owned by Mr. Goss and killed 
 some of them. A long law suit followed, but the railroad company 
 finally paid a heavy judgment. On the trial the facts as to speed of 
 the train were testified to by several who saw the train come in. The 
 engine was blowing off steam at the time and running with all the 
 power in it. 
 
 George Bentley was always popular on the railroad and when 
 the company of railroad boys was formed for the Twenty-first regi- 
 ment, he was chosen captain. The Twenty-first went into camp at 
 Oshkosh, but did not have a fair show in drill. They did not get 
 their guns after being ordered south, until they reached Cincinnati, 
 and two days later were put into the fight at Perryville, Ky., where 
 Capt. Bentley fell dead almost at the first fire. It was rank injustice 
 to the men of the Twenty-first, who had seen very little drill and had 
 no knowledge practically of the use of their guns in war. 
 
 Occupied for Church Purposes. 
 
 Lots occupied for church purposes from early times and still 
 occupied by church buildings are not numerous. St. Joseph's Catholic 
 Church is still on land owned by the congregation since 1847. The 
 church of the Evangelical Association, at Marr and Third, is on land 
 occupied in 1849 by the Methodists. The Baptist Church went to 
 Forest and Union streets in 1852. The location of St. Patrick's 
 Catholic and St. Louis' Catholic, date from the latter part of the 
 fifties. The Crescent Opera House stands on ground occupied by 
 the Congregational Church in 1848 and until well along in the sixties. 
 The Baptist is the oldest church building in the city but it will soon 
 be the newest. 
 
 Six Stage Lines in 1849. 
 
 Advertisements of the Wisconsin Stage Company in the Fond 
 du Lac Journal in 1849, indicate that the company at that time had 
 six lines leading from here. They were as follows : 
 
 Fond du Lac to Portage via Waupun and Fox Lake. 
 
 Fond du Lac to Oconomowoc. 
 
 Fond du Lac to Milwaukee. 
 
 Fond du Lac to Sheboygan. 
 
 Fond du Lac to Green Bay. 
 
 Fond du Lac to Ceresco and St. Marie. 
 
 The latter, if advertised now, would be Ripon and Princeton.
 
 HAPPENINGS HERE AND THERE 
 
 Matters Which Were Talked About in the Pioneer Days. Some of 
 
 Then Interesting, Some Valuable from a Business 
 
 Point of View. 
 
 Early Days' Ice Business. 
 
 It was not until 1858 that Fond du Lac people had ice delivered 
 at their houses from a Avagon, and the first man to do this work here 
 was A. W. Chapman, who lives on West Johnson street. He deliv- 
 ered ice the first two years from an open, one horse wagon, and during 
 the first year there was not an ice box or refrigerator in Fond du Lac. 
 The first ice boxes he saw were made of two store boxes, one a little 
 smaller than the other, put inside and the space filled with sawdust. 
 The second year L S. Sherwood, the hardware dealer, got a few 
 refrigerators from the east and a German cabinet maker made a few 
 here. The second year Mr. Chapman had a competitor, who bought 
 him out at the end of the next year, paying him $800 simply to keep 
 off the street with ice. 
 
 His first year's sales were $250 and the last year $3,500. In 1857 
 M. Van Dresar had a meat market and C. B. Bartlett worked for him. 
 In this market was the first ice box used for keeping meat in a market 
 in hot weather. It was a very crude arrangement compared with the 
 present, but it was not very long after this that Mr. Murphy, still a 
 resident here, began to manufacture a sensible meat market ice box, 
 and is making them yet. He has put some into markets in the Lake 
 Superior country, that cost several thousand dollars. His ice boxes 
 for this purpose have proven remarkably successful. The wonderful 
 success of the Gurney and Bowen refrigerators in Fond du Lac is well 
 known. The North Pole refrigerator, made here many years ago in 
 large numbers, by E. Perkins, failed onh' because it Jiad to give place 
 to more profitable manufactures. 
 
 It is not regarded now as a difficult undertaking to keep ice 
 through the summer, but fifty years ago it was thought necessary to 
 excavate a resting place for it in the side of a hill, or resort to some 
 other equally expensive method to preserve it from melting. Now 
 a barn or shed and a little sawdust is all that is needed. Lake Winne- 
 bago and Lake de Neveu give us an abundant supply of pure ice and 
 thousands of tons are cut here some winters by Chicago and Milwau- 
 kee dealers. 
 
 Disobedience of Orders. 
 
 It is remembered by many who now reside here, that some years 
 ago when Conductor DePue ran the passenger train daily between 
 Fond du Lac and Milwaukee, his two children and servant girl were
 
 208 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Stricken and died of black diphtheria. The children were promptly 
 buried, but a brother of the servant girl was here and very anxious 
 that her body be taken to her home near Kewaskum. The law pro- 
 hibited its shipment by rail. Undertaker Reader prepared it and put 
 on the box plain directions that it was not to be removed from the 
 sleigh until ready to put into the ground. Under no circumstances 
 was a funeral to be held. With this freight Jesse Ribble, from Paine's 
 livery, started for Kewaskum. So bad were the drifts that he did not 
 reach Eden until noon. Stuck in a drift soon after at the home of the 
 pathmaster, that official summoned a gang of men and shoveled Jess 
 through to the end of his road district. The next pathmaster, with 
 another gang, shoveled him through to Kewaskum. Here he was met 
 by the father and brothers, who took the box three miles into the 
 country, under strict injunctions as to funeral and having their atten- 
 tion called to the directions on the box. But it was afterwards learned 
 that not only were the remains taken into a church, but the casket 
 was opened there, with the result that at least three persons took the 
 disease and died, one of them a brother. Possibly more may have 
 taken the disease, but those are known. Great credit is due to the 
 pathmasters but some sort of punishment ought to have been given 
 to the family of the girl. Ribble came back to Fond du Lac on the 
 cars after the father took the box, but so bad were the roads that he 
 did not get his team here for three days. 
 
 We Forget About It. 
 
 Lapse of time causes us to forget things that made strong im- 
 pressions on our minds at the time. Unless w^e have some record or 
 something tangible to couple with them, we are liable to forget what 
 we most desire to remember. For instance, it was but four years ago 
 that we had a steady rain of seven days and the water in the river 
 was very high — not quite so high as in our late experience, but high 
 enough to flood Forest Avenue and run down Sophia street, yet very 
 few people remember about it. At least twice before this, once in the 
 fifties, once in the eighties, we had freshets at least equal to this last 
 one. About 1875, the Saturday Reporter, then under the proprietor- 
 ship of Thwing & Farnum, was driven out of the basement of the 
 present postoffice building by high water. Alex White will have a 
 lively remembrance of trouble by water in his foundry and machine 
 shop, when the machinery was four days under water and the foundry 
 floor flooded. Rob. Zinke can tell you of a time that out houses and 
 fences floated in the streets but he don't know the year. In the early 
 days a flood was expected every spring. Less water runs ofif into the 
 streams now because more land is broken and cultivated and the 
 ground absorbs more water. Had we memorandum records to go to 
 for information, we should be surprised to find how many freshets 
 there have been in the past. Without records we forget. 
 
 There was probably never a time in our history that so much 
 water fell in so short a time as on one day in June, 1905. On the brick 
 pavement of Main street it looked like waves and 2.57 inches of 
 rainfall in twelve hours may be regarded as unprecedented.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 209 
 
 A Distressing Event. 
 It was in 1857 that a distressing event took place in the house now 
 the third east of the Congregational Church and occupied by C. D. 
 Smith. At that time George Smith, a millwright, occupied the house. 
 His work often took him out of town and he would be away for a 
 week or two. A man boarder slept up stairs and the servant girl in 
 another part of the house. Mrs. Smith had a baby in bed with her, 
 and left a lard oil lamp of the times, burning on a stand near the front 
 of the bed. About midnight Mrs. Smith awakened by the bed being 
 on fire. She tossed the baby out on the floor, fortunately without 
 hurting it, and her cries brought the hired girl and boarder to her 
 assistance. A\'hen the fire was extinguished and Dr. Adams had come, 
 it was found that Mrs. Smith's back was burned to a blister from her 
 neck to her heels. It happened in the early spring and Mrs. Smith 
 lingered along until one morning in September, three women of the 
 city called to see her and in their ignorance of the depressing effect 
 of discouragement, told her how bad she looked and with many long 
 sighs left the house and Mrs. Smith died that night. Of course the 
 doctor was mad, as he had a right to be, when the hired girl and Mr. 
 Smith told him about it, and there was great indignation among 
 Mrs. Smith's many friends. She had been lingering a long time with 
 that terrible burn, but Dr. Adams thought she had a fair chance for 
 recovery until the coming in of those foolish women with their de- 
 pressing talk and manner. How the fire originated Mrs. Smith could 
 not tell, but it must have been from the lamp. 
 
 Practice of Delivering Goods. 
 
 The practice of delivering goods at the homes of customers by 
 dealers of whom they were purchased, is of comparatively modern 
 date. It came about i860, with the flour and feed men and the ship- 
 ping in of their product by the big mills outside. People tired of 
 taking along a wheelbarrow or sled when they ordered flour or feed, 
 and to carry it home was dusty and unpleasant. And so it came 
 about that the dealers in flour and feed delivered their goods, T. S. 
 Henry being one of the first to do just what his two sons are ^oing 
 now and in the same place. E. C. Thompkins, the grocery man, in 
 business here under the name of Davis & Co., from 1854 until 1896, 
 extended the delivery to groceries and from that time on it spread 
 until now the practice is recognized by pretty much all sorts of busi- 
 ness. Even the drug stores now keep delivery boys. Since the 
 coming in of the telephone a few years ago, the parcel, delivery man 
 has been called into existence, and the streets are filled with them. 
 The old fashioned drayman of twenty-five years ago, is now almost 
 unknown. We now have a half dozen or so of freighters but no old 
 time draymen. Before the introduction of the delivery system the 
 purchaser had to carry home his goods or pay a drayman twenty-five 
 cents to do it for him. 
 
 An Old Time Fourth of July. 
 At one of the old time Fourth of July celebrations, it was deter- 
 mined to have a fun parade in the afternoon and Mr. Dormer, of the
 
 210 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 firm of Dormer & Green, dealers in dry goods, was placed at the head 
 of a committee to prepare a program. He was a man of infinite 
 humor, and if one had a few of the half sheet programs now as Mr. 
 Glaze printed them, they could be readily sold for a dollar each. The 
 equal of it was never seen here or anywhere else. They called them- 
 selves Rifif Raffs. Many of the most prominent men in the city took 
 part in this parade and enjoyed it. Mr. D. E. Hoskins, father of 
 F. B. Hoskins, was the commander-in-chief and Dormer gave him a 
 name suggestive of those we now get daily from Russia. Here is the 
 name : Gen. Dolgorustnogrudnogorehakoffruffemoffpluffemoffheade- 
 moft'pushemoft'knockemoffprowsbiprisbiskisgi. Among the aides to 
 Commander-in-Chief Hoskins were D. R. Curran, Thos. H. Green, 
 -Vlex White, Ed. Farnsworth, A. H. Boardman and others, all of whom 
 had startling names on the program. Tim Strong gave the address 
 and D. W. C. Wright tried to sing a song. Fun was laying around 
 loose everywhere that afternoon, and such a Fourth of July celebra- 
 tion as that, was never witnessed before or since, here or elsewhere. 
 
 Storm in a Printing Office. 
 
 When Beeson's Job Printing office was doing the printing for 
 the northern division of the Northwestern road in 1857 and 1858, an 
 order was received for 100,000 dodgers, known to printers as one- 
 twelfth sheets, or six by twelve inches in size. Such dodgers were all 
 the rage among railroad men at that time. The office was far short 
 of the facilities of today and Web. Henry was put to work on them 
 on a Cincinnati hand press, which piece of machinery had but one 
 recommendation for its existence — it was cheap. Web. worked about 
 six weeks steady on the press work of that job. One day when the 
 hands in the office went to dinner they left about 25,000 of these 
 dodgers on the table, plain and printed, and without weights on the 
 piles. During the noon hour a thunder storm came up, preceded as 
 usual by wind, and when the boys returned they found the office in 
 places about knee deep with those bits of paper, and it required the 
 time of the afternoon to recover what had not been spoiled. The 
 washing trough, lye kettle, ink slabs and rollers got fully their share 
 of the ruined paper. But Web. Henry finally got the job completed, 
 all the same. A modern office would print that job now in two days 
 or less. 
 
 Cruelly Shot Down. 
 
 When the Thirty-second Wisconsin regiment was called to the 
 war, Ike Stirison was a printer in the Commonwealth office in the 
 employ of J. A. Smith. Charley Jewell, of Eldorado was an employe 
 there at the same time. Miss Mary Lawrence, wife of Edward 
 McGlachlin, of the Stevens Point Journal, and Miss Emma Farr, were 
 type-setters in the office. Mr. Smith had a job on his hands to keep 
 the boys from annoying the girls and when the Thirty-second regi- 
 ment was called to the field. Ike was encouraged to enlist. He went 
 to the war and one morning early when the regiment was at Memphis, 
 Ike had just come off duty, and was walking along a street, when
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 211 
 
 some one at an upper window of a business building shot him dead 
 in his tracks. A rush was made for the coward who fired the shot, 
 but he was not found. The confederate soldiers and people of 
 Memphis denounced the cowardly act. Ike Stinson was naturally full 
 of jollity from crown to toe and was the life of the company, wherever 
 he was. Of the Fond du Lac boys who lost their lives in the war, 
 none were more sincerely mourned by his friends than was Ike 
 Stinson. 
 
 Quickly Taken Up. 
 
 When Dr. Darling offered lots free to those who would build on 
 them, and for $25 to others, free as to location, the corner lots from 
 First to Fifth streets, the lots on Main street, were quickly taken. 
 Southeast corner of First and Main was taken by Keyes A. Darling; 
 northeast corner of Second and Main, Col. Tryon ; southeast 
 corner of Second and Main, George Henning; northeast corner 
 pf Third and Main, Lyman Bishop ; southeast corner of Third 
 and Main, J. L. Ault; northeast corner of Fourth and Main, John 
 Bannister ; southeast corner Fourth and Main, Isaac Brown ; northeast 
 corner Fifth and Main, Airs. Carey and the southeast corner, Dr. W. 
 H. W^alker. The lots between these were largely and almost immedi- 
 ately taken by builders for business purposes. When the county seat 
 was fixed here and the location of the court house determined, these 
 lots so near the court house were deemed very valuable, but Dr. 
 Darling did not change his policy in disposing of them. 
 
 Oats in a Church. 
 
 The old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, located on Follett and Ban- 
 nister streets, was a neat and comfortable place of worship, but it was 
 so far north that it was felt that a great mistake was made when it was 
 built there. Some of the attendants frequently remarked that they 
 were going to "Oshkosh to church," yet the Rev. Joshua Sweet and 
 the Rev. G. B. Eastman held regular services there many years and 
 J. H. Burger, the well known music teacher, was long the organist 
 with an always excellent choir. But a change had to be made in the 
 location of a church and the place decided upon was that of the 
 present Cathedral. A Sunday school was for some time held in the 
 old church, but finally it was left alone, even the old cushions in some 
 of the pews remaining untouched and when the writer attended the 
 funeral of Mrs. Ferris, which was held there, green oats six or eight 
 inches high, had sprung up through some of the cushions from seed 
 in the straw. 
 
 Died in His Chair. 
 
 In 1858 there was a small man in Fond du Lac who went by the 
 name of Danty Martin. He had a jewelry store and watchmaker's 
 shop on the east side of Main street, three doors south of First street. 
 He was a very pleasant old gentleman and all seemed to like him. 
 One cold night he was at a church social on the west side. He slept 
 in his store and took his meals at Charles Olmsted's. He left the 
 social for home at about 11 o'clock, and as he did not come to
 
 212 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 breakfast next morning, Mr. Olmsted went to the store and found him 
 sitting in a chair dead. The surroundings showed that he had come 
 in, lit his lamp, started a fire and sat down to read. The lamp was 
 still burning and he W^s sitting apparently very comfortable in his 
 chair. Little was known about him here, but a nephew or some 
 relative turned up to claim what property he had, which was not 
 much. His peculiar death, discovered at about 8 o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, made much stir on the street. 
 
 Early Lecture Course. 
 
 It was in September of 1856, that A. O'Leary made his first ap- 
 pearance in Fond du Lac as a lecturer. He was here several times 
 since and always drew a crowd. His first lectures were given in 
 Darling's hall and were mainly on phrenology. His subsequent 
 lectures were mainly on physiology and hygiene, probably because 
 it paid better to doctor people than it did to read characters. He was 
 a Boston Yankee with an Irish name, was a very good talker and a 
 good reader of character. The last time he was here he seemed to 
 ignore phrenology, but would read characters on the stage when re- 
 quested. He talked what he thought, therefore at times made enemies. 
 Yet it was a remarkable fact that every time O'Lary appeared here, 
 he drew crowds to his lectures, even on nights when he charged an 
 admission fee. He died a few years ago. 
 
 He Forgot Himself. > 
 
 In early times it was not an uncommon thing to see a wagon fast 
 in the mud of Main street in Fond du Lac. Mud holes were frequent 
 and some of them deep. One morning in about 1851, a farmer's 
 wagon loaded with bags of grain, suddenly went down in a chuk- 
 hole south of Forest avenue, and stuck there. After vainly trying 
 to pull the wagon out, the farmer began carrying the bags of grain 
 to the sidewalk to lighten the load. Standing among the men, looking 
 on, was a young man who had been about town a week or two begging 
 by playing the deaf mute trick. Advice and suggestions about what 
 to do, were flying about, when suddenly becoming excited, our deaf 
 and dumb friend began to tell what he would do. He had betrayed 
 himself and left the scene suddenly. 
 
 A Captive Bird. 
 
 It is said that the robin is not a desirable cage bird for the reason 
 that he will not sing in captivity and is short lived. But in i860. Miss 
 Libbie Farnsworth, now Mrs. Mears, of Oshkosh, had one in a cage 
 at her home in Fond du Lac, northeast corner of M'arr and Fifth 
 streets, that was a loud and beautiful singer. How long he lived in 
 captivity is not now remembered with certainty, but it was more than 
 two years. He certainly was a good singer and his voice could be 
 plainly heard a block distant. They are migratory birds and it is 
 very likely that they would not live very long in captivity. The one 
 here spoken of was much admired by everybody in the neighborhood.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 213 
 
 It Was a Surprise. 
 
 The telephone was first introduced to Fond du Lac people only 
 twenty-seven years ago. In 1878, Mr. Haskins and another gentleman 
 came from Milwaukee to show us the new wonder, and with a tem- 
 porary cross town wire, showed us that a message could be talked 
 over it and the voice could also be recognized. How we all stared 
 with wonder as we listened. But it was three years later, or twenty- 
 four years ago, that the telephone came into practical use by an ex- 
 change. It was a new thing then, now it is old and we can well 
 wonder how we could get along without it. But we did up to 
 twenty-four years ago, and pretty well too. 
 
 Darling's Gap, Oakfield. 
 
 What is known as "Darling's Gap," Oakfield. is entitled to at 
 least historical remembrance of its early day condition. A gap at an 
 angle north and south of about thirty degrees, occurs at a high point 
 in the ledge and for many years was about the only place at which the 
 ascent could be made without great danger. It was not a wagon road, 
 yet wagons had been through it. It was a rough place but it served 
 its purpose for the people to get up and down the ledge. 
 
 Some White Indians. 
 
 Edward Beeson. A. H. Clark, Capt. Soper, J. B. Clock, C. N. 
 Kendall, John Hale and Darius Hooker made up into as perfect a 
 band of tom-tom beating and dancing Indians as one might wish to 
 see. They were at the first masquerade of the German and English 
 academy and at other entertainments after that, and a crowd was sure 
 to surround them when they appeared. 
 
 Lawsuit for a Calf. 
 
 When David Babcock was Clerk of the Court, a lawsuit was be- 
 gun involving the value of a calf less than a year old, but which was 
 three years old when the suit ended and the two men had nearly 
 sacrificed their farms in costs and expenses. Both men claimed the 
 calf and brought proof so positive that it was difficult to get a jury 
 to agree. The suit came from the southwest part of the county, and 
 as Dave used to tell about it, was an exciting suit. It was first tried 
 in justice court and came to the circuit court on appeal, where it was 
 tried several times. On the last trial the jury disagreed and Judge 
 Taylor, then on the circuit court bench, told the parties they must 
 settle it themselves or he would settle it if ever it appeared on the 
 calendar again. It did not come to trial again and few knew how it 
 was settled. It was known, however, that the farmer in possession 
 had long before sold the animal to the butcher but was responsible 
 for its value. The case was one showing how persistent some men 
 are in a lawsuit.
 
 214 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Some of the Railroad Men. 
 
 Those people who have come to manhood and womanhood in 
 the last forty years, have little conception of the tribulations incident 
 to handling railroad trains in early times. Forty years ago the 
 locomotive engineer had the sides of his boiler cumbered with pumps 
 and the appliances for operating them, and in winter had to be on the 
 alert constantly to keep them from freezing, and his method of oiling 
 cylinders was quite different from what it is now. The pump had to 
 be used to supply the boiler with water, now the injector is used so 
 easy, quiet and sure that no trouble or anxiety is felt about it. To 
 watch the water gauge is about all the engineer has to do. 
 
 And the brakeman, well that railroad employe as old timers 
 knew him, is now wholly unknown. The air brake has left him out. 
 Until well along in the sixties we were accustomed to see a brake- 
 man rush out of the passenger coaches obeying the signal of the 
 engineer to turn tighter or loosen the little brake wheels. The 
 brakeman played a very important part in bringing the train to a 
 stop at a station. Now the engineer does it all with his air brake. 
 And on freight trains in old times, one could see a lot of men running 
 about on top of the cars, stopping now and then to give the brake 
 wheels a turn. We now see these brakemen only in switching yards 
 and in making up of trains. The brakeman of today has little of the 
 duties and responsibilities of the brakeman of early times. 
 
 This has been brought about by the air brake, the invention of 
 which is credited by some to the Wisconsin state prison. In 1866, 
 when Alex. P. Hodges was state prison commissioner, the writer one 
 day while on a visit to that institution, was shown the drawings of 
 a proposed air brake for railroad cars, made by a prisoner. It was 
 ingenious, but at the time seemed wild, and little was heard about 
 it, but in a year or two the ingenious Westinghouse people were 
 announced to have applied air to the braking of trains on railroads. 
 It was subsequently insisted by employes at the prison, that not only 
 the idea but the principles of its application were obtained there by 
 those in the Westinghouse interests. The idea at this time was air 
 by pressure, but it was soon found that the vacuum principle could 
 be made more effective and safer and was first applied by Westing- 
 house. The patent on it long since expired and is now used on all 
 railroads. But Fond du Lac had an air brake inventor in Jo. Irwin, 
 at the time rnaster mechanic of the Sheboygan road. His patent was 
 for the use of direct pressure, and for that principle is believed to be 
 the best ever brought out. He applied it to cars on his road, most 
 effectively, but the vacuum idea displaced it. The railroads still have 
 brakemen but their duties are quite different from the early day 
 brakeman. 
 
 There have been close votes in Fond du Lac county a number of 
 times in the election of county officers, but none quite so close as 
 that of John B. Wilbor over George W. Sawyer in 1858, for County 
 Treas\irer, by a majority of i.
 
 THINKING, TALKING. ACTING 
 
 How the Pioneer Settlers and Business Men Thought, Talked and 
 
 Acted in Pursuit of Business and in 
 
 Social Life. 
 
 Franklin Fire Insurance Company. 
 
 The Franklin Fire Insurance Company was a Fond du Lac insti- 
 tution, organized in 1850, and for some years was quite prosperous, 
 the officers were N. M. Donaldson, President; H. W. Wolcott, Vice- 
 President ; W. T. Gibson, Secretary ; Allen Gibson, Actuary ; E. 
 Perkins, Treasurer. The company might be yet one of the strong 
 financial institutions of Fond du Lac, if it had been properly managed. 
 It was running along smoothly, when suddenly and to the surprise of 
 all, it collapsed. The Gibsons were experienced insurance men and 
 it was apparently their aim to build up a strong and popular company, 
 but after a few years, like so many other men under like circum- 
 stances, they overstepped the boundaries of financial prudence in the 
 hope of piling up assets more rapidly and failed. They began taking 
 risks on hazardous property that was promptly refused at the begin- 
 ning, but most disastrous of all, they began writing policies on mills, 
 the rate on which had long been so high as to be almost prohibitory. 
 For a long time it seemed that almost every mill the Franklin 
 touched was burned and the pressure of losses became more than the 
 company could stand. This was the great mistake in the manage- 
 ment of the Franklin Fire Insurance Company. Had the same con- 
 servative management been continued that marked its beginning, who 
 can tell what it might have grown to be in the business of Fond du 
 Lac. W. T. Gibson also conducted an insurance agency and had a 
 long list of the best companies, but abandoned it all after the collapse 
 of the Franklin, and established himself in the insurance business at 
 Indianapolis, Ind., where he continued to reside until his death, a 
 few months ago. Allen Gibson died at Rockford, 111., many years 
 ago. He was the manager, if indeed he was not the organizer of the 
 old Rock River Mutual Insurance Company that went up the spout 
 after a limited career. 
 
 Fooled Away His Money. 
 
 In the fall of 1855, a man well advanced in life, named Stephen 
 Ferine, appeared in Fond du Lac. He had plenty of money and re- 
 tained S, D. Stanchfield as his attorney. He bought a couple of city 
 lots but said he wanted to buy property that he could turn over 
 rapidly and make money. He soon became known to the sharpers 
 about town and those who had any old truck that they wished to get 
 rid of, they were sure to work it ofif on Uncle Ferine, and so in a 
 few months he was loaded with moth-eaten furs, shoddy cloth, shop
 
 216 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 worn boots and shoes, worthless groceries, dilapidated store fixtures, 
 and so on ad infinitum. Mr.' Stanchfield tried to stop him, but it was 
 no use. In a couple of years his money was all gone, and all he had 
 to show for it, besides the two city lots, was a lot of old truck that 
 he could hardly give away. Mr. Stanchfield succeeded in getting his 
 history and it was found that he had a family in Ohio that was wealthy 
 and had sent him west to stay. In early life he was an active man and 
 accumulated much money in handling, feeding and driving cattle, but 
 in after life he became a burden, fooling away his money and doing 
 many foolish things. His wife managed to get things into her own 
 hands and finally told him if he would go west, where he said there 
 were such grand chances for investments, and stay there, she would 
 give him $20,000 in cash. He accepted the ofTer and this was the 
 money he brought to Fond du Lac and squandered so quickly. When 
 it was gone, he importuned her for more, and she came here on his 
 representation of the good chance for investment, but after looking 
 the ground over, went back to Ohio without leaving a dollar. To 
 cap the climax of absurdity, he now sold his city lots and married a 
 little woman crippled with rheumatism, and he lived in a small house, 
 a little better than a shanty, on Fourth street. He was soon compelled 
 to do little jobs like sawing wood, hoeing gardens, cleaning cellars, 
 etc., to the end of his life in 1863. He had very little education and 
 the last years of his life little judgment in business matters. He said 
 his family in Ohio had $75,000 of his money, but he could not get any 
 of it. Mr. Stanchfield tried hard to save for him some of his $20,000, 
 but he was so stubborn that he could do nothing and gave it up, 
 leaving the old man to die a pauper. 
 
 R. R. V. U. Railroad Company. 
 
 The first ground broken on the Fond du Lac end of what is now 
 the Northwestern railroad, was on July 4th, 185 1, and took place at 
 lowertown. John B. Macy was there and made a speech. Waiting 
 for the iron for the road to come from England, little was done for a 
 couple of years. Robert J. Walker, then secretary of the treasury 
 in Buchanan's cabinet, and Mr. Macy, were the chief promoters. 
 The company was first known as the Rock River Valley Union Rail- 
 road Company, then changed to the Chicago, St. Paul 8z Fond du Lac, 
 and on the re-organization was named the Chicago & Northwestern, 
 the name it has borne ever since. The line was first built to Chester, 
 and to operate it, a switch engine named Winnebago, was loaded at 
 Sheboygan and brought across the country to Fond du Lac. The 
 car shops were started here and built the cars used. In a couple of 
 years the line was extended to Minnesota Junction to connect with 
 the Milwaukee & La Crosse road and we had a through railroad line 
 to Milwaukee. Fond du Lac people then felt that they were truly 
 out of the woods. During this time two passenger engines, the 
 Fountain City and Rock River, were brought from Sheboygan, and 
 virtually wrecked the plank road. The road had a gauge of six feet, 
 but to secure best results at junction points it became necessary to 
 change the gauge of the road and rolling stock to the standard gauge
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 217 
 
 of four feet, eight and one-half inches, which was done quickly when 
 all was ready. The line was now extended south from Minnesota 
 Junction and the south end was built on northward from Woodstock, 
 until in 1858 the two met and we had a through line to Chicago. The 
 line was being also pushed north and Oshkosh, Appleton and Green 
 Bay became near neighbors. 
 
 Early Days of Spiritualism. 
 
 Spiritualism had its start in what was called the "Rochester 
 Knockings" of the Fox sisters, in 1848. The phenomena brought in- 
 vestigation by some of the brightest minds of the country, including 
 Judge Edmunds, A. J. Davis, Horace Mann and many others. Many 
 able and interesting books were issued in its support, among them 
 "Nature's Divine Revelations," by Andrew J. Davis, a most ingenious 
 and attractive writer. The doctrines spread and between 1852 and 
 i860, Fond du Lac had its full share in the movement. In the midst 
 of it, in 1857, circles were held almost nightly at the homes of citizens. 
 Lectures were arranged for by eminent speakers, including Emma 
 Frances Jay, Cora L. V. Hatch and Messrs. Finney, Wilson, 
 Tallmadge and many others. It was in 1857 that the discussion took 
 place in Amory hall between T. G. Kutchin and Mr. Finney, which 
 occasioned much excitement. The following year the hall was built 
 that is now the Division Street Methodist Church. As the feeling 
 subsided over spiritualism, the hall was transferred first to the Uni- 
 tarians, then to the Universalists, and finally to the ^Methodists, who 
 changed it to what it is now. 
 
 The origin of spiritualism in Fond du Lac was at the home of 
 Mrs. Fisher, in Empire, who produced the phenomena of a writing 
 medium. Then a number of local mediums of varying powers were 
 developed in rapid succession, including Mrs. Stow, Van Vleck, Holt, 
 Fairchild, the Potter children, and others, test circles were held, 
 socials arranged, services held Sundays and the faith seemed to be 
 strong in all parts of the spiritualist work. But eventually nature's 
 law, that "an excess is always followed by a corresponding reaction," 
 prevailed and the faith took a downward turn, possibly aided by the 
 excitements of the war, and slowly subsided and in two years little 
 was heard of it. This condition of things has continued to the present 
 and it is seldom heard of now. There are still some spiritualists, but 
 they seem not to be demonstrative. 
 
 A Well Known Pioneer. 
 
 Who of the early settlers fails to remember Jo. King, father of 
 Mrs. A. \\\ Chapman, the latter still with us and an honored member 
 of the Old Settlers' Club. Jo. King was one of the characters of early 
 days. He was a Frenchman and came here in 1846. He was a natural 
 born trader and was always ready to swap anything he possessed, 
 from a jack knife to a house and lot. It was said of him that he could 
 see the defects in a horse at a glance, therefore took delight in buying, 
 selling and trading horses. He was very quick on his feet and would 
 get a deal finished and be gone in the time many men would be getting
 
 218 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 ready. He was also a good judge of the characters of men, and no 
 doubt here was his great advantage in dealing with them. He was 
 so well known to all classes of citizens and through so many years, 
 that a history of Fond du Lac without a notice of Jo. King would be 
 incomplete. # 
 
 Louis Russell was another of the peculiar Frenchmen of Fond du 
 Lac, whom everybody knew. He and Jo. King were as near alike as 
 two eggs and it was a joke to get them together for a horse trade. 
 They were sharp in any sort of a deal and each pretty sure not to let 
 the other fellow get the better of him. Once Peter V. Sang fixed up a 
 horse in good shape and beat Louis bad. He said nothing, however, 
 and "laid for" Sang and caught him for what Sang said was the 
 worst thing of his life. 
 
 Brought a Bear to Market. 
 
 One day in the early fifties, a German, speaking very little 
 English, appeared on the streets of Fond du Lac with a cart and a 
 yoke of oxen, and in the cart was the carcass of the largest black bear 
 ever seen here. The afternoon before, the bear came into a clearing 
 where the German was at work, in the town of Calumet. He coolly 
 picked up his smooth-bore gun and gave the bear a slug that disabled, 
 but did not kill him, then deliberately loaded the gun again and gave 
 him another dose, which also failed and the job was completed with 
 an ax. Few men would have dared to do what that German did and 
 it was very amusing to hear him in broken English, tell about it. 
 The size of that bear's feet and the length of his claws made one feel 
 that he would like to keep out of the way when the owner was out 
 on a foraging scout. J. W. Partridge, the druggist, bought the bear 
 for $4.50 and the German went home well satisfied with his trip, 
 although the skin alone was worth more. There was considerable oil 
 which Mr. Partridge tried out and sold at a high price to H. Bosworth 
 & Sons, the Milwaukee wholesale druggists. There were a few bears 
 in the timbered regions in an early day, but they were never numerous 
 in this part of the state. The Indians killed ofif many, as they also 
 did the deer. 
 
 A Prominent Farmer. 
 
 Another of the pioneer men whose acquaintance extended over 
 the entire country was John H. Martin, whose farm south of the city 
 is now partly within the city limits. Mr. Martin was an expert in 
 handling stock, especially cattle, and buying, selling and holding so 
 many, came to be known as "the cattle drover." The butchers bought 
 most of their stock of him and so accurate was his knowledge of 
 cattle that when a sale was made they were not weighed, as he could 
 estimate the weight by sight within a very few pounds. He once 
 estimated the weight of eight head of beef cattle, sold by Elisha Hall, 
 Lamartine, to D. D. Cooper, the butcher, but Cooper, believing he 
 estimated too high, had them weighed and Mr. Martin's figures were 
 seven pounds too low. He possessed another peculiar faculty ; he 
 could correctly count a flock of sheep out in the field without the 
 trouble of running them through a gap, as is generally done. It was
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 219 
 
 said of him that while he knew all the tricks of stockmen, he never 
 practiced them. In business he was strictly honest, in social life 
 genial and pleasant. All old settlers of the country remember J. H. 
 Martin as a reliable and honorable citizen. He was born in Pennsyl- 
 vania on the last day of the year 1806, came to Fond du Lac in 1846 
 and died in 1883. Before coming west he was for six years in charge 
 of the great stock farm of Gen. Wadsworth, in the state of New York, 
 and handled stock in Chicago and Racine before coming here. He 
 was a director of the First National Bank from the time of its organi- 
 zation until his death. 
 
 Elder Rogers and the Contrabands. 
 
 Elder Rogers, pastor of the Fond du Lac Baptist Church in 1862, 
 was appointed chaplain of the Fourteenth regiment. When the regi- 
 ment arrived with other troops at Island No. 10, the question was 
 under discussion what to do with the great number of negroes there, 
 known as "contrabands." They were yet property at that time and 
 were held by the government as contraband of war. So many of the 
 younger men having gone to the war. Elder Rogers thought labor 
 was very much needed here and proposed bringing some of the 
 negroes here, thus relieving the government of the care of them and 
 furnishing labor at the same time. He was given about three hundred 
 of them and brought them to Fond du Lac, Beaver Dam and Fox 
 Lake. This, as all know, is where our stock of negroes came from. 
 Before this there were but about five or six colored people in Fond du 
 Lac, and often less than that number. The habitat of the negro is a 
 warmer country than this and it is not healthful for him here and 
 never will be. 
 
 Thought High Ceilings a Mistake. 
 
 Charles Chandler, who died a few years ago, was a well known cit- 
 izen and with Daniel W. Smith composed the early day firm of Smith 
 & Chandler, who conducted a general store in Fond du Lac many 
 years. At one time Mr. Chandler built three houses and himself lived 
 in the one on Fifth street. He told the writer that in all three of his 
 houses there was the same mistake that is so often found in buildings, 
 that of making them so high between joints that it is difficult to warm 
 them in winter. One of his houses was fourteen feet high in the first 
 story and it was very difficult, without burning a large amount of fuel, 
 to keep warm in cold weather. A family moved out of it because 
 they could not keep warm. Some people build such houses because 
 they think a high ceiling looks nice, and it does, but as Mr. Chandler 
 said, "it makes a woodpile look sick." Perhaps it would be well for 
 those building moderate sized houses, to remember Mr. Chandler's 
 experience. 
 
 Capt. Knapp and the Badger State. 
 
 The steamboat, Badger State, Capt. W. A. Knapp, was in her day 
 the handsomest appearing steamer that ever stirred the water of Lake 
 Winnebago and Fox river. She sat like a duck on the water and 
 Capt. Knapp took pride in her appearance. Her regular route for
 
 220 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 years was between Oshkosh and Berlin, or Strong's Landing, as it 
 was known in 1850. There was afterwards a steamer W. A. Knapp, 
 which for one season was put on the lake between Fond du Lac and 
 east shore landings, but was found not to pay. The steamer Tom 
 Wall, Capt. Anson, was the largest boat ever known to these waters. 
 So little attention has been given to navigation on the lake in the last 
 thirty years that even the names of many localities along its shores 
 have been forgotten. In former years those names were constantly 
 in use, now they are seldom or never heard. The railroads did the 
 mischief. Steamboats were too slow for this fast age, and when rail- 
 road transportation came, water transportation went. 
 
 A Tedious Trip for Travelers. 
 
 Before the railroad was built between Fond du Lac and Ripon, 
 it was necessary for traveling men to cross the country with livery 
 rigs. The trip was sometimes a hard one, especially through the 
 "Eldorado woods," sometimes a veritable swamp. On one of his 
 many trips over this road, with two traveling men and four big 
 sample trunks. The, Matson's spring wagon upset in the mud and he 
 had a tough time of it. The two men went on to Rosendale on foot 
 and "The" got three farmers, one of them "Big Fred," chairman of 
 the town, to help get the trunks out of the mud and the wagon 
 righted. It cost him three dollars and one dollar more at Ripon, to 
 wash the trunks. The question now was, who should pay the bill of 
 four dollars. The traveling men insisted that it was none of their 
 affair and when "Big Fred" was asked to have the town pay it for 
 having such bad roads, his reply was, "Sue the Almighty, for sending 
 so much rain." The. Matson had already paid it and the result was 
 never changed. Those "Eldorado woods" were the bugbear to travel 
 for many years. 
 
 Quick Answer to Call. 
 
 The first soldiers sent to the war by Fond du Lac, were enlisted 
 in April, 1861, and became Co. K, of the First Wisconsin regiment, 
 under Col. John C. Starkweather, The company was filled to the 
 maximum inside of two days, and elected James V, McCall captain. 
 The boys did not make a long thing of it. The enlistment roll was 
 in Soule's music store, where Voell's music store is now, and the 
 boys went in, put down their names and the whole outfit was in 
 Milwaukee in camp inside of a week. That is the way the young 
 men did things in 1861, after Fort Sumter had been fired on and the 
 Union was in danger. The next company was enlisted by Gen. E. 
 S. Bragg and Edwin A. Brown and was done about as quick. It was 
 put into the Sixth Wisconsin regiment, as Co. E, and we all know 
 its record. 
 
 Fell Into the River. 
 
 In 1 85 1, a large tree standing on the bank of the river near where 
 the Howie house is now, blew over and fell directly across the 
 channel. It was for a long time a favorite foot-log and the boys, and 
 girls too, used it freely. It was largely woods over on the west side
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 221 
 
 then, and a favorite place to wander. One Sunday afternoon a young 
 woman fell plump into the water from that log, and the current being 
 prett}' strong, she floated down stream. Her escort, afraid of spoiling 
 his clothes probably, failed to jump in after her, but "Bill" Ellsworth 
 hearing the cries and well filled with booze, was not afraid, and with 
 little delay brought the girl out of the water. Bill got some new 
 trousers for the job, anyhow. 
 
 First Concrete Cellars. 
 
 The home occupied by Mrs. W. C. Hamilton, oh Forest avenue, 
 was owned in an early day by W. T. Gibson, the insurance man, but 
 Mr. Hamilton changed the buildings so it is a very different place 
 from what it was originally. It was in the basement of this house 
 that Mr. Gibson tried the first experiments in Fond du Lac in secur- 
 ing a concrete or cement cellar. He tried the experiment in different 
 forms five or six times, but was unable to keep the water and frost 
 out more than one season. He told the writer that he believed it im- 
 possible to succeed in such an undertaking in Fond du Lac. But 
 other methods did succeed and on the same premises too. 
 
 A Dangerous Cannon. 
 
 For a long time there was a large field piece cannon at lower- 
 town, wholly without fixtures of any sort. It was too large and 
 heavy for small boys to handle and so was let alone by them. But 
 on special occasion the men handled it and so on July 4, 1857, placed 
 it on a pile of railroad ties to fire it. After a few rounds there was a 
 premature explosion and a young man killed. The cannon had done 
 mischief once before, but no one was killed, so it was deemed best 
 to get rid of it and it was taken over to Peacock & White's foundry 
 and melted down. That was the last of the lowertown cannon. 
 
 Early Day Skating Trip, 
 
 One afternoon in the winter of 1851, a half dozen young men, 
 among whom was the writer, put on skates at Forest street bridge, 
 went down the river to the lake shore, thence east to Taycheedah and 
 then across the marsh to what is now the corner of Division street 
 and Park avenue, where we took off our skates. There was good 
 skating all the way and we have wondered many times if there has 
 ever since been good skating over that route. Doubtful. 
 
 A Rotten Egg Dealer. 
 
 When you wish to buy eggs do not buy them from an adventurer 
 from Waushara county, as some of our dealers did once. The man 
 came here from the "Indian Land," saying his eggs were nice and 
 fresh, but J. W. Carpenter first discovered that nine out of ten of 
 them were bad. and followed the fellow nearly to Rosendale, com- 
 pelled him to return and take them. It was afterwards learned that 
 he sold them again at Ripon.
 
 222 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Another Old Settlers' Club. 
 
 There are probably few people in Fond du Lac county now, who 
 remember that an Old Settlers' Club was organized more than thirty 
 years ago. In June, 1874, a meeting was held at the Patty House 
 for the purpose of organizing such a club. Edward Beeson, Charles 
 Olmsted and Wm. StCAvart were appointed a committee to prepare 
 a plan and draft a constitution and by-laws, but nothing further 
 seems to have been done until the next year. In 1875 ^ successful 
 picnic was held and organization effected. In 1876 another picnic 
 was held but not as successful as the first one, and from this time 
 the club was not heard of — it was forgotten by Mr. Beeson, who was 
 the chief mover, and- was finally forgotten by all to the extent that 
 it is doubtful if there are twenty people in the county now who re- 
 member that there ever was such a club. The object was to collect 
 historical facts and relics and preserve them, and especially to collect 
 biographical notes and put them in such shape that the pioneers and 
 their immediate successors should not be lost to memory. 
 
 It is quite unfortunate for the club of today, that no one appeared 
 to take up the work contemplated by the club of 1874. Thirty years 
 have passed and during that time pioneers have passed away rapidly 
 and valuable historical facts have become forever lost. Every day of 
 delay now but adds to the difficulties. Our predecessors realized the 
 value and the necessity of this work, but it seems did not realize the 
 necessity of personal effort in doing it. A few persons cannot do it 
 all. Every one interested should do something. In no other way 
 can it be a success. 
 
 A business and personal history is what is most needed. We 
 must not let the different lines of business, the individual efforts of 
 men in promoting manufactures, and personal matters of interest 
 should not be allowed to drop into forgetfulness. All citizens of 
 Fond du Lac, old and young alike, are interested in this work. 
 
 Nearly all the cities and counties of the state now have these 
 clubs and societies, many of them places much smaller and of far 
 less importance than Fond du Lac. 
 
 Manley Fell Into the River. 
 
 J. W. Manley was one of the old time employes of the North- 
 western Road. He was a first-class mechanic in his line and a citizen 
 whom everybody respected. He was here from the early days until 
 he died in 1886. Engaged in repairing the Brooke street bridge, one 
 of Manley's gang tumbled into the river, but in such a way that he 
 got wet only to the waist. The affair was so comical that Alanley 
 could not get over laughing, but he got his pay, for not long after 
 Manley tripped and went in all over — not a dry thread on him. Of 
 course the men laughed and so did he. ''Now see here, boys," said 
 Manley, "I'm your boss, and when you do a thing I want you to do 
 it right. What's the use of getting wet only to your knees, when you 
 get a fall into the river. Why not make a good job and get wet all 
 over, as I do." He said he didn't l)elieve in half doing a thing.
 
 A LONG TIME AGO 
 
 Incidents and Anecdotes of the Long Ago, But Were Interesting. 
 
 Then and are Interesting Now to the 
 
 Old and Young. 
 
 Did Not Like Politics. 
 
 H. K. Laughlin, one of the most highly respected merchants 
 Fond du Lac has ever had, was a native of the state of New York, 
 but before coming here, held a high position in one of the departments 
 at Washington, under the administration of James K. Polk. But in 
 Fond du Lac could not be induced to touch politics. Twice when 
 it was desired to run him for mayor, he not only declined, but seemed 
 offended and said politics had become too nasty for him. 
 
 First Methodist Church Here. 
 
 The old church building at the northeast corner of Marr and 
 Third streets, which recently gave place to the fine brick structure 
 of the Evangelical Association, was the first built here of any pre- 
 tensions. The Congregationalists had a small building where the 
 Crescent Opera House is now, and St. Joseph's Catholic was a small 
 building where that church is now. The Baptist came two or three 
 years later. Previous to the erection of the building at the corner of 
 Marr and Third, the Methodist people held services at the court house, 
 in school houses and in private houses, but as Bishop Ames was to 
 hold a session of the Wisconsin annual conference here in 1852, they 
 determined to erect a church, and this was the result. It had a bell in 
 the steeple for several years which was rung at 7 a. m., at 12 m., i, 6 
 and 9 p. m., at the expense of the city. The building occupied since 
 the old one was vacated, known as Division Street Church, was built 
 by the Spiritualists, afterwards used by Unitarians and Universalists. 
 Soon another of the pioneer churches of Fond du Lac, the Baptist, 
 will disappear as that congregation has its plans all ready for a new 
 building. The old Episcopal, the old Methodist, the old Congrega- 
 tional, the old St. Joseph's Catholic, the old Plymouth, the old 
 German Methodist, are all gone. 
 
 Had a Blister to Fight. 
 
 In the fifties, when the Illinois Central railroad was being built 
 from Chicago to Cairo, ague and bilious fever was so plentiful that 
 it was customary for laborers and bridge builders to go home sick 
 in about two weeks. So difficult was it to get and keep men that the 
 railroad company furnished free transportation to all who would go, 
 besides paying big wages. Among those who went from Fond du Lac 
 was Charley McClanathan, as a bridge builder. He returned sick in 
 the usual two weeks and took his old quarters in the Globe Hotel, 
 now Windsor House. His malady was developed into congestion of 
 the bowels and Dr. Raymond was called. The doctor put on a blister
 
 224 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 in the evening, directing Charley and his room-mate to leave it on 
 until it scorched the skin to a bright red. But both dropped off in 
 sleep, Charley in a sort of delirium and his room-mate knew nothing 
 more until daylight, when he awakened to find Charley sitting on the 
 edge of his bed groaning and trying to pull on his trousers. The 
 blister had burned him awfully, and the room-mate was so frightened 
 at his neglect that he started at once for the doctor, who, when told 
 of what had happened, laughingly remarked that he was glad of it. 
 The room-mate felt very much relieved in his mind. The doctor came 
 over and dressed the blister and Charley made a rapid recovery. Dr. 
 Raymond afterwards told us he expected just that result from a sick 
 man and a sleepy printer. 
 
 Attempt at Street Improvement. 
 
 The first improvement of Fond du Lac's Main street was a "mud 
 pike." That is ditches were made at the sides and the dirt thrown 
 to the center but it soon slid back. The next effort was with gravel, 
 but this mixed in with the black soil and soon disappeared. Then 
 came two more coats of gravel with the same result. Now came the 
 cry of plank roads and our Main street got a coating of two and one- 
 half inch oak plank, but the under side of those being on the moist 
 ground and the upper side in the hot sun, especially after a shower, the 
 plank curled up at the ends like a rainbow and these were removed. 
 Next came a coat of broken stone, which disappeared and with it 
 another coat of gravel. Now stone eight or ten inches wide, set on 
 edge end, and packed in sand, was tried but did not prove lasting and 
 what could be found of it was removed for another coat of gravel and 
 broken stone. All proved ineffectual for making a decent street. Our 
 black soil could not be made to hold up any material. Now came the 
 Nicholson pavement agitation. It had been used in other cities suc- 
 cessfully and it was resolved to try it here. It was put down and lasted 
 several years, the best street we ever had to that time. It consisted of 
 a board bottom and pine blocks four by four and eight inches long. 
 Now came the cry of cedar blocks with tarred boards and blocks, and 
 have been a great success, but still the authorities wanted something 
 better and the result has been the use of brick. Before many years 
 some of the present streets will have to be repaved and by that time 
 we shall probably be able to determine fully what system is the best. 
 We have about three feet of outside material mixed with our black 
 soil on Main street, and maybe the paving will now be lasting. 
 
 The Hazen Martial Band. 
 
 Who of the old settlers does not remember the Hazen Springvale 
 Martial Band? .At fairs, ■4th of July, political meetings and other 
 gatherings, if the Hazen Springvale Band was there or to be there, the 
 crowd was in the immediate vicinity. All the band were Hazens but 
 one. Uncle W. Florida. Chester and Loren Hazen were the fifers, 
 Sanford, Lorenzo and Calvin Hazen the snare drummers, and Warren 
 Florida, the bass drummer. When they were in Fond du Lac at the 
 Harrison political meeting in 1892, the statement came from them that
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 225 
 
 this was probably the last they would ever play together, and it was. 
 All have died since then. The band was organized and first played 
 in the Harrison campaign of 1840, in the state of New York, so they 
 were together as a band, more than half a century. 
 
 A Successful Doctor. 
 
 Dr. T. J. Patchen used to say he didn't care much what the dis- 
 ease was, if he was called early enough to the bedside of the patient. 
 He wanted a chance at it in the beginning. That he was remarkably 
 successful, all admit, whether of his school or not. No doubt all 
 physicians often feel that the}' ought to have been called earlier. 
 
 A Strong Union Man. 
 
 T. S. Henry, so well known to all residents as Tom Henry, was 
 a violent abolitionist, and was ready to fight a "copperhead" any 
 minute. Many a time when the feeling ran high, Tom gave such 
 people warning to go slow on anti-union talk. He was a true repre- 
 sentative of union sentiment. 
 
 He was a Spaniard. 
 
 One of the early barbers in Fond du Lac was a Spaniard, known 
 as Francisco, but who, when he went to the polls to vote, gave the 
 name of Miguel Francisco de Paula. Francisco had spent most of 
 his life on shipboard and knew comparatively little of land life. 
 Meaning a barn, he said he had never been in a horse's house but twice. 
 It was quite amusing to hear him tell of his adventures, which he was 
 always ready to do. His manner of telling a thing was as amusing as 
 the story. He came here from Milwaukee on foot, but on the way 
 got a ride with a peddler, who went into a house and told Francisco 
 to drive on to the next house. He told the peddler that he never talked 
 to a horse in his life and he couldn't, but he cufifed him and called him 
 names and compelled him to get on the wagon and go ahead. "So I 
 started," said Francisco, "I picked up the strings," meaning the lines, 
 "took the whip and hollered gee ho, and the horse went toward the 
 ditch, and the more I laid on the whip and hollered gee ho, the more 
 the horses went toward the ditch and into the woods on a run. We 
 struck a tree and broke the wagon so that it cost ten dollars to fix it. 
 He took my three dollars and I went on foot. When he saw me on the 
 street here a week after, he ran after me and cufifed me again." In his 
 simplicity he thought horses were driven the same as oxen, and having 
 seen the whip used on them and heard "gee" and "haw," he used the 
 whip and hollered "gee ho," when he drove the peddler's team. So 
 ignorant was he of law that he thought to get back a stolen razor he 
 must find the thief and take it away from him. As F;"ancisco was 
 raised mostly on shipboard, even ignorant Spain was not altogether 
 responsible for his crude ideas. 
 
 Fastest Steamboats on the Lake. 
 
 The steamers Peytona, Capt. Estes, and Menasha, Capt. Peter 
 Hotaling, were the best and fastest boats ever on Lake Winnebago.
 
 226 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 So near alike were they in speed, that in making the run from Tay- 
 cheedah. they would enter the mouth of the river at Oshkosh, side 
 by side, although both used fine split wood to get up a pressure of 
 steam. 
 
 Were Popular Pioneers. 
 
 Selim Newton and Esek Dexter, known to all as "Squire" New- 
 ton and "Uncle" Dexter, were early day celebrities and favorites. 
 Who would think for a moment of saying anything against either? 
 Squire Newton was the standard auctioneer, and his general wit and 
 jokes kept his crowds good natured and generous. He was a quite 
 noted checker player and in this ancient game was regarded as the 
 champion of the town. He was fluent of speech and could talk 
 rapidly and correctly, and on the auction block could make a speech 
 that would capture the crowd. 
 
 Uncle Dexter was a carpenter and joiner, and carried on a shop 
 for general repairing and all sorts of tinkering. He would undertake 
 almost any job ordered, from a piano to a penny whistle. He, like 
 Newton, was filled with stories, jokes and general wit, and his shop 
 was always a favorite resort, but there were a lot of old men cronies, 
 who were to be found there, almost night and day, among them Squire 
 Newton, if in town and not busy. Squire Newton and Uncle Dexter 
 were old gentlemen that the people honored. 
 
 Disappearance of Five Pies. 
 
 At an early date an old gentleman named Chandler had a small 
 bakery and restaurant next door south of the Journal ofifice. One day 
 Dr. Elliott Brown, noted as a tremendous eater, asked Mr. Chandler 
 what he would charge him for what pie he could eat. The price of 
 the pies was one shilling each and Chandler thought he would be safe 
 at two shillings or twenty-five cents, as he was sure two pies would 
 be the limit, but when Dr. Brown had finished five, Chandler was 
 ready to compromise. Thirty cents paid the bill and the trouble over 
 it ended. 
 
 Kept Pies and Pop Beer. 
 
 Old settlers will remember the Kirk pie shop and pop beer stand, 
 on the ground where the Kummerow & Menge liquor store is now. 
 This place was not noted for neatness, and though a beer bottle some- 
 times broken, was found to be half full of slime and a cat could be 
 seen sitting on a pie in the window, some folks would continue to go 
 there and eat. 
 
 Another place, not so notorious, but bad enough, was up town, 
 opposite the present Windsor House. It was here on a fair day that 
 two men tried to make a bet on the number of hard boiled eggs they 
 could eat, but were refused by the pro])rietor, as he was afraid of 
 death of one or both. 
 
 Was Hit with a Beer Glass. 
 
 In the election in the fall of 1852, when B. F. Moore was the 
 candidate for the assembly against Jo. Wagner, of Marshfield, there
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 227 
 
 was much anxiety to learn the result, and the next evening when it 
 was known that Mr. Moore was surely elected, a few of his friends 
 could not restrain their hilarity and went out on a tour of rejoicing. 
 They were in Chandler's beer and pie shop, next door south of the 
 Journal office, making some noise, when A. T. Glaze stepped from the 
 front door to see what was up. His face had but just reached the 
 seeing point, when a large beer glass came crashing through the 
 window, striking him on the chin, knocking him down and filling his 
 neck and chin with fine glass. Dr. Walker happened to be passing 
 and spent an hour picking out the glass, but all of the little fragments 
 were not gone in six months. The glass was thrown by the young 
 lawyer, O. B, Tyler, known to us all as "Ben" Tyler, who was very 
 much ashamed of it and would not meet Mr. Glaze face to face after- 
 ward — he even avoided him on the street. He was full of booze 
 when he threw the glass and did not know what he was doing. He 
 went to California soon after and was drowned. 
 
 Prominent Men of Ripen. 
 
 E. P. Brockway, Capt; D. P. Mapes, G. N. Lyman, William Starr, 
 Geo. W. Mitchell, Almon Osborn, D. Greenway, D. P. Lyon, W. B. 
 Kingsbury, J. Bowen, C. F. Dodge. G. W. Dellinger, H. S. Town, 
 Wm. Taggart, E. Manville, Col. B. Pinkney, A. E. Bovay, A. M. 
 Skeels, C. F. Hammond, Wm. Workman, W. W. Robinson, H. T. 
 Henton and Byron Kingsbury were all prominent citizens of Ripon 
 at one time. They all resided there in the sixties, and a few of them 
 are still living. There were others in city and town. Few places the 
 same size have produced as many noted men as Ripon or had as many 
 residing within its borders at one time. One of the early pioneers of 
 the town of Ripon was Ezekiel Babcock, who died a few weeks ago. 
 He was twice a member of the assembly and many times a member 
 of the county board. 
 
 George McAVilliams, one of the original stockholders in the old 
 Fond du Lac Company, became a resident here in the forties, and was 
 still here at the time of his death, in 1866. His residence stood where 
 the malt house is now, and the entire front of the block being unob- 
 structed by buildings and the lawn well kept, it was a very pretty 
 place. He was a bachelor and a most companionable man. 
 
 They All Sold Liquor. 
 
 All of the early day hotels in Fond du Lac had bars and sold 
 !iquOr, and Harry Blythe, Alex Gillies and Harry Jones kept whiskey 
 shops. The only saloons after the style of the present were Charley 
 Johnson's, Astor Hall, and the Meyer and Bischof places. The pro- 
 prietors of drug stores, if disposed to sell liquor, otherwise than for 
 medical purposes, were required to take out saloon licenses. Places 
 where liquor was sold by the drink were not as numerous as now, but 
 a man could get drunk without much trouble anv dav of the week.
 
 228 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Very Slow Workmen. 
 
 It was said of William Mumby, an early day wagon maker on 
 West Second street, that if he began a wagon with green timber, it 
 would be thoroughly seasoned when he got it done. 
 
 And of a certain marble cutter it was said if he had an order for 
 a tomb stone from a well man, he could go on with date of death by 
 the time he was ready for it. 
 
 And as Squire McCarty said of Dr. Howard — a patient would 
 have time to die and get to heaven by the time Dr. Howard wou'ld 
 get to his bedside. 
 
 It is not very easy to understand why some people are so slow. 
 Some mechanics seem to work busily but accomplish little. If he 
 does not waste time, he surely lacks in ingenuity. Often this is 
 natural to the person, but is most likely to be the result of education 
 of the hands, for hands must be educated as well as brain. Profes- 
 sional men are too often afflicted Avith laziness and neglect. 
 
 Early Telegraph Operator, 
 
 Until the fall of 1853, the only telegraph line Fond du Lac had, 
 was the one to Sheboygan, and as it was a poorly constructed line and 
 much of the way went through timber, where trees and limbs- fell on 
 it, the line was very often not in working order. Bill Ellsworth was 
 the operator and he therefore had lots of time to fill up with booze, 
 which he often did. One day some one had died and it was desired to 
 send out a message, but where was Bill? After a long search, he was 
 found asleep under a tree over where Cherry street is now. He came 
 over and sent the message all right. 
 
 Billy Armstrong, for many years chief of the telegraph lines of 
 the St. Paul railroad, was the first operator in Fond du Lac to take 
 messages by sound. Up to that time paper was generally used on a 
 recorder. The telegraph office was in the Commonwealth office and 
 as boys used to wonder how in the world he could sit in the editorial 
 room reading newspapers and yet read every word that passed over 
 the machine out in the other room. He did not have a modern sounder 
 so he put an oyster can on the machine to make more noise. It was 
 a long time before all the old telegraph machines went out of use. 
 
 Instructor at Gymnasium. 
 
 Johnny Reichert, I believe, was the first instructor in gymnastics 
 of the Fond du Lac Turners. Johnny was very industrious and it 
 was said of him that he didn't know how to loaf. Among many things 
 he did at odd times were the training of a couple of doves or pigeons 
 so that they would come to him and eat from his hands. These 
 pigeons were the admiration of all who saw them. Often they would 
 follow him about town like dogs, only higher up in the air. He had 
 them a long time and finally when one of them did not return, Johnny's 
 mourning lasted far beyond the usual time. 
 
 Croft Would Not Pay Dog Tax. 
 
 The first dogs sacrificed to a dog tax in Fond du Lac, were the 
 five or six owned by Geo. Croft, father of the well known Geo. Croft,
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 229 
 
 formerly of Oshkosh. Croft was a queer Englishman and when he 
 appeared on the streets these miserable dogs were at his heels. The 
 city passed an ordinance taxing dogs. Croft would not pay the tax 
 and the city marshal killed them. The whole bunch was worth maybe 
 a nickel and Croft declared that he could sue for damages, but never 
 did. He went west to grow up with the country and where he could 
 keep all the dogs he liked. 
 
 Channel at Lakeside Park. 
 
 .The channel leading into the Lakeside Park had its original con- 
 ception in the brain of B. F. Moore, in 1853, at the time he lived at 
 the northeast corner of Main and Scott streets, and owned most of 
 the steamboats on Lake W^innebago. The boats so frequently stuck 
 on the sand bar at the mouth of the river, that he thought it important 
 to make some change. So he proposed to make a channel into which 
 the boats could run and where there would be no current to make a 
 sandbar. A dock on this channel would be the landing and with an 
 improved road from Main street, would be far more convenient than 
 the old landing. But in a year or two Mr. Moore sold all his boats 
 to Capt. Fitzgerald, of Oshkosh, and of course the channel proposition 
 was abandoned and soon filled with weeds. No dredges were obtain- 
 able at that day and the work of excavation was done with shovels 
 and scrapers. Much work remained to be done to render the proposed 
 new landing: available for steamboats. 
 
 A New Judicial Circuit. 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1905, the work in the Fourth Circuit 
 had become so heavy, that Fond du Lac county was detached and 
 with Green Lake. Marquette and Columbia, was made the Eighteenth 
 Circuit. Judge Fowler, of Portage, was elected judge over Messrs. 
 Sutherland, Griswold and Pedrick. AMth Judges Taylor, McLean and 
 Gilson on the bench. Fond du Lac county held the circuit judgeship 
 over thirty-five years, and perhaps we ought not to complain at the 
 loss of it. Judge Kirwan retains Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Ke- 
 waunee counties. 
 
 Ripen Convention Men. 
 
 At the local political conventions of the earh' days, if William 
 Starr, H. S. Town, D. C. Lamb, A. E. Bovay, J. Bowen, E. L. Runals, 
 Wm. Workman, Charley Bennett, J. C. Russell, or part of them, 
 appeared in Fond du Lac at a republican convention, or Geo. W. 
 Mitchell, Wm. Taggart, Ad. Mapes, D. F. Shepard, Jerre Dobbs, E. 
 Manville, Dr. Everhard or D. Greenway in a democratic convention, 
 it could be surmised that Ripon meant business. They were there to 
 do work for the party and for the men they had decided upon. As a 
 rule they got there and the balance of their conventions knew that 
 was what thev were there for. 
 
 t
 
 230 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 An Early Day Hashery. 
 
 In 1849 ^"d for a few years subsequent, there was a place on 
 Main street nearly opposite Forest Avenue, known to many of the 
 working boys as "Gillies' Hashery." At the place indicated, for many 
 years a well known Scotchman, Alex. Gillies, had a liquor store and 
 in connection therewith, conducted a cheap boarding house, where 
 working boys could get meals for eighteen cents a day or six cents 
 each, and they were good for the price. When the "Gillies' Hashery" 
 disappeared from Main street it was moved back to Portland street, 
 where it remained as a liquor store until about 1898. Gillies always 
 had the credit of keeping an orderly place. Unlike Harry Jones and 
 some others of the old timers. Gillies never had loafers and never 
 any fights. It was his delight to get a few cronies about him, and 
 crossing their legs under the table, tell stories. His place was one 
 of the old fashioned quiet Scotch resorts. We have no such places 
 now. 
 
 First Appearance of Bicycles. 
 
 The first bicycles then generally known as velocipedes, to appear 
 in this county, was at Ripon in 1873. Dr. Hubbard, of that city, had 
 been in Boston and places in New England, where he saw some, and 
 while in New York city on his way home, watched for and saw 
 Charles A. Dana, of the New York Sun, ride one several times. 
 Being a fair mechanic as well as a hydropathic doctor, on his arrival 
 home at Ripon, went to work and made two velocipedes which he 
 rode about town and taught some of the young men to ride. He had 
 a school for practice in Greenway Hall, and among his pupils were 
 ex-Gov. Geo. W. Peck, ex-Sheriff H. R. Hill, John Hill, A. W. Petti- 
 bone and others, and a high time they had of it. The machines used 
 were very crude home made things, but they served their purpose. 
 Very few had yet appeared elsewhere in the state. In a year or two 
 after this the high wheel machines appeared, and about 1892 the 
 present two wheel machines came under the name "safeties." ex-Gov. 
 Peck could tell some amusing stories about the first bicycles in this 
 county. 
 
 Early Building by Bonesteel. 
 
 The elTort of A. D. Bonesteel at home building when he erected 
 the house on the south side of West Division street, opposite Doty 
 street, was laughed at. Cherry street as a street, was almost un- 
 known, and the region of Cherry, part of the south side of West 
 Division and part of the north side of Forest, were largely woods. 
 The house stood in the woods. A large republican meeting was held 
 in the woods there, at which Lieut. Governor Butler G. Noble spoke, 
 after this house was built. After Mr. Bonesteel left Fond du Lac, he 
 was thought to be very fortunate in being able to sell the property 
 to Mr. Fredericks. In after years the people thought better of it.
 
 EXPERIENCES IN PIONEER DAYS 
 
 A Paper Read Before the Old Settlers' Club, at Its Picnic Meeting 
 
 on the Fair Grounds, September 2, 1904. 
 
 By Miss Alice Stearns. 
 
 One of the most interesting features of the reunion held by the 
 Fond du Lac County Old Settlers' at the fair grounds Friday, 
 September 2, was a paper by Miss Alice Stearns, of the town of 
 Springvale, on incidents connected with pioneer life in this county. 
 It will be read with interest by the people throughout the county. 
 The paper follows : 
 
 "We love and reverence the pioneers as we \o\e and reverence 
 all good men and women for what they have been and for what they 
 have done. It is well for us who live in times of luxuries and con- 
 veniences, made possible by the toil, thought, courage and heroism 
 of the early settlers, to turn aside from the engrossing pursuits of 
 today and dwell upon the virtues and deeds of those who have formed 
 from the wilderness and primeval soil, the county of which we are 
 so justly proud. 
 
 Dr. Miller's Arrival in the State. 
 
 "Many amusing and pathetic incidents are related of the ways 
 and means of transportation in the early days of this state. Rev. Dr. 
 Miller, of Methodist fame, who landed at Racine in June, 1844, says: 
 'The Madison, a crazy old steamer that could lay on more sides during 
 a storm than any other water craft that I have ever seen, landed us on 
 a pier in the night, and thence we reached the shore in a scow. At 
 Racine we engaged a man to take us. six in all, with our trunks, to 
 Delavan. The roads were almost impassable. The rains had fallen 
 so copiously that the streams overflowed their banks, the marshes 
 were full and the prairies inundated. We made an average of fifteen 
 miles a day. Our vehicles stuck fast eighteen times between Racine 
 and Delavan. Sometimes we found these interesting events would 
 occur in the middle of a broad marsh. In such cases the gentlemen 
 would take to the water, sometimes up to the loins, build a chair by 
 the crossing of hands and give the ladies safe passage to the prairie 
 beyond. To make the chair and wade ashore with its precious burden, 
 involved a very nice adjustment of balances. If the three went head- 
 long before they reached the shore, each received a generous coat of 
 mail.' 
 
 A Milwaukee Road Experience. 
 
 "The following is the experience of our worthy secretary, A. T. 
 Glaze, in reaching Fond du Lac from Milwaukee, August 24, 1850. 
 Accompanying his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Beeson, 
 then editor and proprietor of the Fond du Lac Journal, he left the
 
 232 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 American House. Milwaukee, at 4 o'clock in the morning, after pay- 
 ment of $3.50 each, in Indiana uncertainty, believed by some to be 
 money. The stage company agreed to land them at Fond du Lac 
 with certainty and reasonable speed. The arrival at Menomonee 
 Falls at 9 o'clock brought them to a glorious ham and eggs breakfast 
 at Bancroft's, at 3 in the afternoon to dinner at Hall's 'half way 
 house,' 10 o'clock to Theresa, and as the party walked into the old 
 Beeson home on Third street, where Guse's wagon shop now stands, 
 the hands of the clock pointed to exactly 3 130 in the morning. Please 
 reflect that most people who now cover the distance by public con- 
 veyance, grumble grievously if the time limit exceeds two hours by 
 a single minute, but in this case it was just a half hour less than 
 twenty-four hours and it was by no means a long trip at that time. 
 The early boyhood days of Mr. Glaze were spent in Ohio with his 
 grand parents, on the edge of the notorious 'black swamp.' He 
 crossed that famous bog many times, but never did he see a more 
 interminable labyrinth of mud holes, water, bogs and brush than they 
 ran into in the Rock River woods, between Hall's and Theresa. With 
 as experienced a driver as the well known 'Long Sam' while endeav- 
 oring to avoid a bad looking mud hole, the leaders of the four-horse 
 team jumped a brush fence and a bad upset was the result. 
 
 Trip of the Kazan Family. 
 
 "In 1844, a company of twenty-four from New York state, among 
 whom were the Hazen brothers of the famous martial band of Spring- 
 vale, landed at Milwaukee in June. A team of three pairs of oxen 
 was purchased, wagon decked, boxes and trunks loaded, when it was 
 found that but three could ride. 1 nere were eight women in the 
 company. Did they wait for a parlor car? No, indeed. They un- 
 complainingly took turns in walking. They left Milwaukee Monday 
 morning and Saturday night found them within three miles of what 
 is now Oakfield, the wagon stuck in the mud and the oxen too tired to 
 travel further. One of the men remained with the team and the 
 others bravely resumed their journey. Every rod seemed a mile to 
 the weary, foot-sore company. After what seemed to be hours, the 
 log cabin of Lorenzo Hazen came in sight and the company were 
 gladly received. Too tired for supper, they took boots, bundles of 
 clothing, foot rests, anything they could lay hands on for pillows, 
 and with puncheon floor for feather beds, were soon oblivious to 
 their surroundings. Three of the Hazen brothers were soon keeping 
 house in single room shanties with puncheon floors and troughed 
 roofs, which had the faculty of letting most of the rain find its way 
 to the room beneath. Their furniture was home made and the good 
 housewives did all their work for one summer out of doors by camp 
 fires. Their bread was baked in a kettle. As the summer of 1844 was 
 very rainy, such outdoor work was no light task. For this story and 
 many other facts, I am indebted to Mrs. Sanford Hazen, of Ripon, 
 lovingly known as 'Aunt Susan.' Her courage, her bright and cheery 
 manner of today tell us she was the life of this little company. The
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 233 
 
 mud must not have seemed so deep, the bogs less numerous, the hills 
 not so high or steep by the sunshine and cheerfulness of her presence. 
 
 A Shopping Party's Trials, 
 
 "In 1852. Mr. Wedge took a party of young people to Fond du 
 Lac for shopping. It was dark when they started for home. About 
 a mile from town the heavy wagon stuck, the horses gave a quick 
 jump and the result was a broken whippletree. 
 
 "This was rather a dark outlook for a party sixteen miles from 
 home. The girls were carried to high ground, a lantern procured and 
 the whippletree spliced, but the party had had enough mud ride for 
 one night and remained at the Two Mile House until morning. In 
 early times Fond du Lac and vicinity was truly a veritable mud hole. 
 A joke was perpetrated at the Lewis House one morning, when the 
 guests were horrified at seeing the toes of a pair of boots sticking out 
 of the mud and Col. Ewen was appealed to without result, but later 
 on 'ye hostler' admitted that in a spirit of mischief, he had placed 
 them there. 
 
 Riding Behind the Oxen. 
 
 "In the early days teaming, pleasure driving, racing and farm 
 work were mainly done with oxen, and they were not to be despised 
 either. On July 4, 1851, while many were returning from the cele- 
 bration at Ripon, an ox team appeared on the scene and ran by every 
 team but one. Those who knew my father in those days, well know 
 he had a good team and headed the line. For miles he had to be on 
 the alert to be sure that the oxen did not pass him. 
 
 "When Elder LeFever came to Rosendale, the family were invited 
 to dinner at the home of Senator Bertine Pinkney. Mrs. LeFever 
 was shocked at the idea of riding after oxen on her way to a senator's 
 home to dine, but when once started she saw the amusing side and 
 had a merry ride. They were received with all the courtesy due a 
 coach and four. When Elder LeFever was a young circuit rider, near 
 New York city, he was overtaken by a severe rain storm. Two 
 young ladies were also overtaken by the rain and circuit rider. He 
 bowed to the strangers who decorously returned the courtesy, and 
 one quaintly remarked: 'Don't you think it looks like rain?' To 
 make a long story short, she afterwards became Mrs. LeFever. 
 
 Some Kitchen Experiences. 
 "The resourcefulness of the pioneer often proved true the saying 
 that 'necessity is the mother of invention.' During the first year of 
 Mrs. H. D. Hitt's life in Wisconsin, she gathered some wild goose- 
 berries on the ledge, and having flour and lard, decided to have a pie. 
 No rolling pin was forthcoming, but pie she would have. In the 
 emergency, her eyes rested on the camphor bottle. Eureka ! Pie she 
 did have, the crust rolled out with a camphor bottle. This was too 
 much for Mr. Hitt, and with fire in his eye he started for the wood 
 pile. Selecting a fine stick of butternut of the proper size, he soon 
 had a rolling pin which still remains in use in the family. I will 
 pledge my word that it has rolled out crust for more good pies than 
 any other family rolling pin in the county.
 
 23i BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 "July 4, 1852, mother thought she would have a pie for dinner, 
 and going to the garden gathered all the currants and all the goose- 
 berries, and yet they were not enough for the pie. But pie she must 
 and would have, so she gathered rose leaves, which added to the fruit, 
 made the best pie we ever ate. As a substitute for apples for pies 
 in the early times, the housewife sometimes boiled pumpkins in 
 vinegar and sliced them for pies. Pumpkin molasses was also made 
 by many in the emergenc}^ for table supplies. 
 
 "At the first banquet held at Ripon College, Mrs. Tracy, the 
 dear mother of the college, wished to hear the address, which was 
 given at Pedrick's hall at 4 p. m. As she was matron she had to 
 superintend serving the collation, as it was then called. She cut the 
 cakes, put the cream into the twenty pitchers, locked all in the cup- 
 board and hied away to the hall. After the address, she rushed back 
 to serve, when, alas! the cream was sour. Filled with inventive 
 genius, she sent one student to milk the college cow, which was then 
 pastured on the campus, another to milk the cow owned by President 
 Merryman and another to milk the cow owned by Mr. Mason. They 
 certainly had plenty of fresh milk for cofTee. 
 
 Wisconsin Phalanx and the Mail. 
 
 "Madam N. Hunter, of Ripon, the only living member of the 
 Wisconsin Phalanx, is very interesting in reminiscences of pioneer 
 life. She furnished the first mail sack in which the first mail was 
 carried between Ceresco, now Ripon, and Fond du Lac. It was a 
 pillow case and the lock was a tow string. The carrier did not have 
 even a blazed trail to follow, but used a compass as a guide. 
 
 The Privation of Mills. 
 
 "It was difficult for early settlers to obtain flour. They sometimes 
 had to team sixty to ninety miles and the trip required from two to 
 four weeks. Joseph Fairbanks, who was county surveyor in early 
 times, and of whom the people of Waupun always speak as Uncle 
 Joe, on one of these milling trips was detained longer than he ex- 
 pected, and the supplies at home were running low. Finally Aunt 
 Hannah used the last of her meal for a small Johnny cake, which she 
 baked in a quart basin. Just as it was cool enough to eat, her sister- 
 in-law came to see if she had any food to spare. She said her children 
 were crying with hunger and she had not a morsel to give them. 
 Aunt Hannah broke the cake in tAvo parts, giving her the larger piece. 
 Then she divided the remainder between her two little boys and sat 
 down to cr}^ utterly discouraged. At midnight Uncle Joe returned 
 and she did not wait until morning for the cooking of a meal which 
 was to her breakfast, dinner and supper. On the trip Uncle Joe stayed 
 one night with a pioneer family. The hospitable settler gladly made 
 a bed on the floor for the children and Uncle Jo took the one vacated. 
 He was congratulating himself on. his good fortune, when right by 
 his head a bell rang. The settler had tied his cow to that corner of 
 the cabin and every time she moved the bell tinkled. About 11 o'clock 
 the old chanticleer, roosting on top of the cabin, proclaimed that
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 235 
 
 morning was coming, and continued to proclaim until morning did 
 come. There was not much sleep for Uncle Joe that night. 
 
 The Rich and the Poor. 
 
 "George Russell, of Brandon, used to enjoy telling this story. 
 When they first came to Brandon they were very poor, having just 
 money enough to pay for oxen and wagon with which they made their 
 wedding trip. Their house was a pole shantv without a floor. ]\Irs. 
 Russell, faithful helpmeet that she was, drove the team and he held 
 the plow in the farm work. One day they heard of a rich settler who 
 had come into the town. He was so rich that he had paid the govern- 
 ment price for his land and also had a seventy-five cent cofifee mill. 
 Now, Miranda, said Mr. Russell, you must make their acquaintance, 
 and in doing so you must take along a pan of wheat and see. if they 
 will let you grind it. Miranda walked the three miles, ground the 
 wheat and returned home in time to make a shortcake for supper, 
 which they thoroughly enjoyed. 
 
 ''Wild game was plentiful, but as a general diet, the people soon 
 tired of it. In some localities pork was a luxury. Mrs. J. Amadon. 
 of Waupun, invited her sister and family to spend Thanksgiving 
 with her, and as a special inducement said to her: "We will have hot 
 biscuit and the best milk gravy I know how to make.' 
 
 The Settlers and the Indians. 
 
 "As we read the history of the Pier and Wilkinson families, first 
 settlers in the towns of Fond du Lac and Oakfield, we can but wonder 
 at the heroism and fortitude of the early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Russell \'Vilkinson were the first settlers in Oakfield, their nearest 
 neighbor being Edward Pier, of Fond du Lac. Crude log cabins, 
 howling wolves at night, Indians constantly passing, peeking in at the 
 windows or boldly walking into the house, and women of the family 
 often left alone for days at a time, these were a few of the things it 
 required courage to endure. ]\Ir. Pier knew of their unprotected lives 
 and always watched the Indians as they passed his place, to see if 
 they had indulged in fire water. If such was the case, he sent a man 
 to protect them. Once when Mrs. Wilkinson was alone she saw some 
 drunken Indians coming. She quickly barricaded the door and 
 windows, then waited in terror for them to fire the cabin. They were 
 on the roof, pounding on the door, howling and yelling. Suddenly 
 it became quiet and she heard the bark of a dog. Then she heard a 
 white man's rap on the door which she opened to find that Mr. Pier 
 had sent a man to her assistance. History tells us that the Indians 
 afterwards did burn the cabin while the family were at Mr. Pier's 
 home. Two other settlers came into the town and an agreement was 
 entered into that if the Indians attacked them, the firing of a gun was 
 to be the signal for all to meet at the Botsford cabin. One night 
 Messrs. Botsford and Bierne thought it would be a good joke to 
 scare the Wilkinsons, and fired the signal gun. The women jumped 
 from their beds, grabbed their infants and in their night clothes made 
 speed for the fort, only to find that the rumpus was the result of a
 
 236 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 frolic. It is due the Indians to say that they were troublesome but 
 not dangerous, unless they had taken an undue quantity of the white 
 man's fire water, the same fire water that is still a disgrace to our 
 country, ^^'e are glad to be able to say that public sentiment is 
 stronger against the liquor traffic today than it was in 1850. May 
 1950 see ever}^ saloon, club house, every place where liquor is licensed 
 to be sold, driven from our country by the irresistable force of public 
 sentiment. 
 
 "Mrs. Lyman Bishop tells how her sister outwitted the Indians. 
 Mrs. Bannister had just made some fried cakes when a squaw came 
 in but did not stay. Mrs. Bannister knew, however, that she would 
 soon return with others. Under her log house was a place for tubs 
 which were put through a trap door in the floor. She quickly put the 
 pan of cakes through this door and covered them with a tub. Six 
 Indians soon arrived, as expected, and looking through cupboards 
 and places where they thought they might be stored, failed to find the 
 cakes. Mrs. Bishop was very much frightened and started for help. 
 She fortunately met a teamster who soon put the Indians to flight. 
 
 "Three hundred Menomonee Indians at one time camped on the 
 farm of Thomas Boyd, in the town of Calumet. Adam Boyd, of 
 W'aupun, well remembers playing with the Indian children. One day 
 as he entered the camping ground he noticed that the Indians were 
 very much excited. Then a squaw took him into a wigwam and cov- 
 ered him with robes and blankets, told him not to move or speak. 
 After what seemed to him hours, she uncovered him and told him to 
 go. The Indians had been drinking and the squaw knew there was 
 danger. 
 
 An Editor Lost in a Hen's Nest. 
 
 "In 1847 Edward Beeson owned a farm in the town of Fond du 
 Lac, in the Arthur and Crofoot neighborhood, and lived there with his 
 family. The comparatively innocent Menomonee Indians were 
 numerous in the neighborhood and there were also some of the danger- 
 ous Winnebagoes, always in mischief. One morning early Mr. 
 Beeson left home for Taycheedah to have a grist ground, leaving at 
 home Mrs. Beeson and her then little son, John J., in after years the 
 founder and editor of the Fond du Lac Reports. Early in the fore- 
 noon Johnny was missing. He was searched for all over the place 
 but could not be found. Mrs. Beeson was alarmed, fearing he had 
 been stolen by the Indians, and promptly sought the assistance of 
 such of the neighbors as could be reached. While the search among 
 the Indians was in active progress, Johnny crawled from a straw bed 
 behind a board Mrs. Beeson had placed against a tree for a hen's nest. 
 
 Sickness and Death Came Also. 
 
 "Mrs. Lingenfelter, of Brandon, told me that in 1852, one hot 
 summer day, she was resting on her bed, when whack ! came some- 
 thing which struck her on the shoulder. She very soon found it to be 
 a large snake that had fallen from the upper logs of the house. Priva- 
 tion, sorrow, loneliness, sickness and death were linked in the chain 
 that bound these settlers very closely together.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 237 
 
 "In 1846, William Galland, with his wife and family of six chil- 
 dren, located in Lamartine. All looked bright to the family until the 
 parents were stricken with typhoid fever. The care of the sick ones 
 and the children fell upon the eight year old daughter. A\'ith the best 
 she could have done the sick ones must have died, had not Mr. Storey, 
 a new settler, taken them to his own home to care for them. Mrs. 
 Lyman Bishop, who came to Fond du Lac in 1845, ^^^ made her 
 home with Isaac Brown, gives an account of sickness in the families 
 of two brothers by the name of Wright. They lived in quickly con- 
 structed shanties and three were stricken in one family and two in 
 another. Mrs. Col. Tryon gave vip her home to one family. Mrs. 
 Bishop did sewing during the day and watched nights. When it 
 rained the watchers held umbrellas over the sick, and put pans and 
 plates on the beds to catch the water as it fell. Four of the five died, 
 strangers in a strange land. ]\Irs. Bishop had the fever herself, but 
 grit pulled her through and she still lives in her home on Third 
 street, a hale and hearty old lady of about eighty years of age. Coffins 
 for burial of the dead were home made. Many still remember the 
 loving services of Elder Vaughn in times of bereavement. He not 
 only made coffins for the loved ones who had passed away, but 
 preached the funeral sermons and gave consolation to the surviving 
 friends. 
 
 Education Not Neglected. 
 
 "Grateful ought we of this later generation, to be for the atten- 
 tion given by the early settlers to education. Primitive indeed, were 
 the buildings, but the teachers were generally from good eastern 
 schools. One student from an eastern college thought it belittled him 
 to be examined by a town board, but in order to teach had to comply 
 with the law. Elder Brown, of Springvale, conducted the examina- 
 tion. They got along nicely until they came to algebra. A question 
 was asked and the student replied : T think you would not understand 
 if I should explain it to you.' This was too much for the good elder, 
 and question followed question until the young man did not know 
 where he was at. Finally the elder told him he would give him a 
 permit to teach if he would brush up on algebra. The primitive school 
 buildings were also used for church services by the settlers who came 
 sometimes many miles in the conveyances used at that time. Divine 
 services were always well attended. One Sunday the school house 
 at Rock River would not hold the people. They stationed them- 
 selves at the doors and windows, when a little girl was heard to 
 remark : 'Oh. mamma, just see how full the school house is on the 
 outside.' 
 
 Primitive Vehicles. 
 
 "Before our honored president had a box for his wagon, he had 
 what they called' a buckboard with a chain underneath for a footrest. 
 As he was returning from church with Mrs. Hitt, who was holding 
 a child in her arms, the board caught an obstruction and tipped, 
 nearly throwing them to the ground ; but Mr. Hitt did not intend 
 leaving his wife in that fashion and seized her with one hand and
 
 238 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 held the mettlesome colts with the other until the vehicle righted 
 itself. Alas! her wedding dress had been caught by the chain and 
 completely ruined. 
 
 United States Senator Howe, 
 
 "United States senator and afterwards cabinet minister, T. O. 
 Howe, was in his time one of Wisconsin's ablest and most popular 
 men. In 1850 he was circuit judge and Fond du Lac county was in 
 his circuit. While upon the bench he was noted for three things, 
 knowledge of the law, clearness in his charges to juries and determin- 
 ation in maintaining the dignity of the court. 
 
 ■'The Fond du Lac county bar at this time consisted of Judge 
 A. W. Stow, Judge C. M. Tompkins, J. M. Gillett, Robert Flint, C. A. 
 Eldredge, Edward S. Bragg, D. E. W'ood, F. H. Waite, John C, 
 Truesdell, O. B. Tyler, W. H. Ebbets, L S. Tallmadge, James Cole- 
 man, E, W. Drury, W. C. Dodge, A. W. Paine, Carson Graham, Jared 
 Chapel, Amos Reed, Campbell McLean, E. Hodges, J. A. Eastman, 
 M. C. Eaton, C. F. Davis, Samuel W. Beall, total twenty-five. With 
 a population then of less than 2,000, now nearly 20,000, the difference 
 is but about a half dozen. Ripon had Judge Seely, E. L. Runals, 
 Jerre Dobbs, A. B. Hamilton and John S. Horner. Waupun had 
 Eli Hooker, and the then noted litigant, Rufus P. Eaton could be 
 found at Pipe Village, town of Calumet. Alas ! of these thirty-two 
 lawyers constituting the bar of Fond du Lac county, but two, Edward 
 S. Bragg and Jerre Dobbs, remain here to recall legal events of the 
 past, all the rest have passed on to the other shore. 
 
 Calves in Court. 
 
 "A somewhat noted case found its way to the calendar of Judge 
 Taylor's court, and it must have been an important one, requiring as 
 it did, the talent of three lawyers on one side and two on the other, 
 and involving the value of a two months' old calf. The frequent 
 disputes of the lawyers and their earnestness about points of law 
 that the judge thought to be trifling, aroused his anger and he sug- 
 gested that possibly there might be present in court other calves 
 than the one mentioned in the pleadings. This caused an audible 
 smile, but a reply from the bar came that such might be the case, but 
 there was not far away another domestic animal whose voice is not 
 as musical but sometimes conveyed as much wisdom and wit as people 
 more gifted and more pretentious. The laugh w-as long and loud and 
 no one dared to show wrath. 
 
 "While we have dwelt upon so much of interest to us all, both old 
 and young, we of the later generation rejoice to look into the faces of 
 so many of you to whom belongs the name of 'old settler,' a name 
 which, if w^orthily borne, is honorable indeed. May you long remain 
 wath us to gladden our hearts and see many returns of this happy 
 day. With hearts full of grateful appreciation and afifection, we say 
 to each and all of you, in the beautiful words of Holy Writ, 'The 
 Lord bless and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you 
 and be gracious unto you. The Lord life up the light of his counte- 
 nance upon you and give you peace.' "
 
 TO AND FROM OAKFIELD 
 
 As a Member of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank; 
 
 of Fond du Lac, Hon. H. D. Hitt Did Not Miss a 
 
 Monthly Meeting in Fifty Years. 
 
 H. D. Hitt, of Oakfield, has a record of fifty years a director of 
 the First National Bank of this city without a break, during which 
 time he has attended every annual meeting of the stockholders. He 
 was present at the meeting of the stockholders last March, though 
 he had been in poor health three months, and could not 
 have summoned courage to leave his home under similar weather 
 conditions for any other purpose. Never having had a break in his 
 record up to this time, he said that it was too late to begin and so he 
 came forth with the thermometer nineteen degrees below zero when 
 he set out for the city to attend the meeting. 
 
 For many years when the board of directors of the bank consisted 
 of but five members, Mr. Hitt attended every meeting, as it was 
 difificult at times to get a quorum, but of late years, the board having 
 been increased to nine members, there has been no such necessity 
 and he has passed some of the weekly meetings. Mr. Hitt was re- 
 elected second vice-president of the bank at the meeting of the 
 directors. 
 
 When the old Bank of the Northwest, the father of the First 
 National Bank, was organized fifty years ago, Mr. Hitt was too late 
 in making his application for a block of the stock which he wanted 
 very much. He and Edward Pier, one of the founders of the bank, 
 were firm friends and through their friendship Mr. Hitt's insistence 
 was soon rewarded by an opportunity being provided for him to 
 purchase a block of the stock amounting to $i,ooo. This original 
 block of stock he has always retained and in later years he had added 
 considerably to his holdings. 
 
 Mr. Hitt is 82 years old and he has resided in Oakfield since 1848, 
 or fifty-seven years. He has alwa3's been prominent in local affairs 
 and was a member of the legislature in 1858. He was elected presi- 
 dent of the Old Settlers' Club of Fond du Lac county when it was 
 organized in 1904. 
 
 An Oil Mill Once Here. 
 
 In the early days of Fond du Lac, Gen. C. S. Hamilton, known 
 to everybody here as Capt. Hamilton, had an oil mill here and made 
 a large amount of linseed oil. It was located on West Division 
 street, on a portion of the land now owned by the Gurney Refrigerator 
 Company. Hydraulic pressure was used to press the oil out of the 
 ground flax seed, and the amount of pressure was almost inconceiv- 
 able, the material coming out of the pressure cylinder as hard as a 
 board and as dry as baked sawdust. After the war the mill was moved 
 to Milwaukee, where Gen. Hamilton afterwards resided.
 
 240 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 A Grand Masquerade. 
 
 The first masquerade given b}- the Fond du Lac Turners for the 
 benefit of the German and English Academy, was in Amory Hall, 
 February 21, 1858, and was one of the largest and most brilliant 
 parties ever seen in this city. It was not wholly a German afifair, but 
 the people of all nationalities were there to the extent that Amory 
 Hall was so crowded that dancing was impossible. A small space 
 would be cleared for the dancers, but it would be filled again before 
 the committee could get twenty feet away. About everything in 
 society was there, from the low clown Indian wigwam and negro hut, 
 to the most brilliant court scenes of Europe and the high social circle 
 of this country. Seemingly about every condition of people was 
 represented. The hall was new and attractive, the music was the 
 best to be obtained and the school was a very popular one under ex- 
 cellent management and was patronized by leading families of the 
 city. The greatest care was taken that no objectionable person 
 should be allowed to enter the hall at these masquerades, or that dis- 
 tasteful characters should appear. x\nd so for many years these 
 functions were very popular and largely attended. But like every- 
 thing else the time came for a change. For some reason the school 
 went into a decline and the attendance was so small that it could 
 not be continued. Prof. Schmidt went to Appleton, where he was 
 killed by the cars, and the grand days of the German and English 
 Academy had fully passed away. It is understood that this was not 
 the result of bad management of poor teachers, but on account of 
 small attendance. It was a steady decline for more than thirty years. 
 In its prosperous days, the school of the German and English 
 Academy in Fond du Lac, was believed to be the best in the state. 
 
 Mr. Beeson as a Musician. 
 
 One of the boys at one time in Beeson's Job Printing office, was 
 the possessor of that primitive little instrument known as a flageolet, 
 and Mr. Beeson would sometimes amuse himself with it, though he 
 could not play a tune. One day Jay Hall came along pretty full of 
 whiskey, as usual, and ofifered Beeson a dollar to be applied to 
 charity, if he would play as loud as he could, the tune he could play 
 best. Beeson puffed his cheeks and went at it, making lots of noise 
 but no tune. Jay refused to pay on the ground that it was not a 
 tune, but after a long argument they compromised on the payment 
 of fifty cents. 
 
 Old Fashioned Democrats. 
 
 In the early days of city and county, D. R. Curran, D. E. 
 Hoskins, John B. Wilber, John Bonnell, J. L. D. Eycleshimer, Frank 
 D. McCarty, E. W. Drury, Geo. W. Weikert, John B. Macy, Amos 
 Reed, H. K. Laughlin. Geo. W. Mitchell, Capt. D. P. Mapes, S. M. 
 Smead, Aaron Walters and many others, were democrats that never 
 swerved from the old democratic path.
 
 ADDRESS BY H. E. SWETT 
 
 Address Before the Old Settlers' Club, September 2, 1904, at the Fair 
 Grounds in the City of Fond du Lac, Wis. 
 
 "Ladies and Gentlemen: The subject which I have been given 
 to speak upon before you today, is somewhat formidable in its 
 phraseology. It was probably assigned to me in the spirit with 
 which Johnny set thirty-five eggs under a pet hen. He reported the 
 fact to his mother, who exclaimed, 'Why Johnny, you don't expect 
 her to cover as many eggs as that, do you?' Johnny replied, 'Of 
 course not, but I wanted to see the darned old thing spread herself.' 
 
 " 'The elements of civilization which have drawn so many of the 
 best people of the world, who have made Fond du Lac county one of 
 the best in the grand state of Wisconsin.' 
 
 "That is the subject to which I invite your attention. 
 
 "The Creator endowed Fond du Lac county with a fruitful soil 
 and blessed it with a kindly climate. True, the climate is rigorous 
 and changeable, and the surface in places is rough, but the produc- 
 tions are varied and bountiful, and each year there has been a crop 
 for harvesting. Then, too, a little more than fifty years ago, this land 
 was free and unoccupied. 
 
 "These conditions were a standing invitation for the thrifty to 
 come here and profit by them. Consequently, the more pushing and 
 enterprising of those who were toiling for a bare livelihood on the 
 niggardly slopes of New England came here. 
 
 "Tales of the richness of the great valley to which this county 
 belongs, were carried even across the ocean to Europe and they in- 
 spired with hope many of those struggling there under the weight of 
 poverty and lack of opportunity. It was the progressive ones who 
 came here from those different places. They expended their energies 
 in developing the new country, and the impress of their character 
 still remains. They were courageous and industrious. They were 
 ambitious and intelligent. They were temperate and moral. They 
 were the best in the world as settlers. They made our country one 
 of the finest of the richest agricultural belt within the territory of the 
 United State?. Our people are prosperous and their prosperity is 
 evidenced by fine farms, fine buildings, fine stock, fine fields, fine 
 carriages, fine horses, fine clothes and fine times, but this desirable 
 condition was brought about by long years of grinding toil and pinch- 
 ing economy. The task of making farms, such as lie about us today, 
 out of the forest which was here fifty years ago, was a Herculean one. 
 To many of you this statement is freighted with meaning that words 
 cannot express. 
 
 "Turn your recollections back to the light of the great log fires, 
 where the riches of the forest which had been slowly accumulating
 
 242 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 for you throughout ages, were dissipated iu smoke in order that }ou 
 might use the soil. To you, then, those magnificent gatherings of 
 children of the sunlight and soil were but incumbrances and obstacles, 
 but you have since learned to sigh for the treasure so wasted. 
 
 "Allusion to those log fires must arouse vivid recollections with 
 those of you whose thatches have been whitened by the many snows 
 that have fallen since the fires died away. You see the long strings 
 of panting oxen, yoked in pairs, and straining under the lash while 
 tugging the breaking plows. You hear the cracking of roots and the 
 rasp of stones as the great plows tear through the soil. You see the 
 blackened stubs and the thickly dotting ash heaps. You smell the 
 odors that arise from the newly turned furrows. 
 
 '"Things were different then from now. Life was all about you 
 exuberant, impetuous and warm. Everything was young and vigor- 
 ous, even the sun shone brighter. Your hearts were strong for work, 
 and you did work ; yes, work, work, work. In the season allotted for 
 that purpose to all tenants of the soil, you planted, sowed, reaped, 
 threshed and stored away. All life was busy then, but after the 
 foliage had changed from green to gorgeous hues and then turned 
 brown and dead, after the winds had frolicked with the leaves and 
 had strewn them about carelessly ; after the rains had patted them 
 down on the ground and fastened them there, the frost embraced the 
 soil and the growing things in it rested under a blanket of snow until 
 springtime called them to activity again. But you did not rest. Day 
 after day the ring of your axes echoed on the biting air, and one after 
 another the great trees fell. You cut them into log lengths, you split 
 them into rails, you made them into cord wood and you sawed them 
 into lumber. You built them into houses and you built them into 
 barns, and sometimes'^you wastefully burned them to clear the land 
 for plowing. Those scenes will never recur. Conditions have 
 changed. You have seen the evolution which has lifted almost all 
 the labors of farming from the shoulders of men and put them upon 
 the shoulders of horses. The sickle has been replaced by the self- 
 binder, and the flail and husking peg by the steam thresher and corn 
 shredder, 
 
 "What brought about these things? What is it that keeps the 
 great ocean of humanity ever restless? It is the desire for gain, for 
 impro^•ement. Desire for improvement is the inspiration of progress. 
 It brought our settlers here. And it, coupled with the exercise of 
 industry, intelligence, courage and economy, accomplished the results 
 of which we are so justly proud." 
 
 Some Straightening Done. 
 
 A crookeder stream than was the east branch of the Fond du Lac 
 river between Western avenue bridge and Division street, in a state of 
 nature could hardly be imagined. It twisted and turned and hardly 
 was a straight rod to be found. A good job was made of it when 
 the city straightened the channel as we see it now. The work done 
 on it by the city was a necessity.
 
 TALES OF PIONEER DAYS 
 
 Embracing Some of the Remembrances of People and of Interesting 
 
 Events in the Pioneer Days of Fond du Lac County. 
 
 By Madame de Neveu, 
 
 Scout's Lost Dauphin Story. 
 
 Some of you, doubtless have heard of the pretended "Lost 
 Dauphin" of France, whom Mrs. Catherwood made the hero of her 
 novel "Lazarre." It is almost certain that the son of Louis XVI and 
 Marie Antoinette died in his infancy. I am confident that those of 
 you who believe that Eleazar Williams was that son, would have 
 changed your minds regarding his noble birth, had you seen him as 
 many dozens of times as I. He was a little, black, half-breed Indian 
 and looked more like an Indian than a full blooded one. His wife 
 was named Jerdin before her marriage and was quarter Indian, her 
 father being a white man and her mother a half-breed. If any of you 
 care for proof of Eleazar's birth, let her read a book written by Arthur 
 Little and called (I believe) "The Living Churchman." This book 
 declares Eleazar Williams was the son of a daughter of an Episcopal 
 missionary in New York. She was stolen, with the rest of the family, 
 by the Oneida Indians and carried to the western part of New York, 
 where they lived for years. After searching many years, Mr. Williams 
 found his wife. His daughter was then married to a chief and had 
 several children. She refused to leave her husband at that late day, 
 but gave her oldest child to her father. He educated the boy for the 
 ministry, giving him his own name. Eleazar, Jr., came to Green Bay 
 as a missionar}^ and when Prince de Joinville came to Green Bay he 
 and his suite nearly died with laughter over Eleazar's pretentions. 
 After bowing and scraping before "His Majesty," each man would 
 rush from the room and fairly roll on the floor in convulsions over 
 the calm way he accepted their homage. It stands to reason that had 
 he been the true claimant to the throne, the Prince would never have 
 come into the wilderness to seek him. All of these Frenchmen carried 
 the farce to the end, giving him presents and making him think they 
 believed in him. 
 
 Indians Were Friendly. 
 
 Buena Vista was in the early days crossed by the Indian trail 
 which led from Milwaukee to Lake Superior and almost dailv 
 Indians passed. LTsually they stopped and asked for food which they 
 would receive in a dish and would eat out of doors, sitting on the 
 ground near the house. If the weather was stormy they ate in the 
 house, usually squatting on the floor. If I had nothing cooked, I 
 would give them potatoes, squashes and a kettle, and they would 
 cook and eat the vesretables out of doors. In return for our kindnesses
 
 244 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 to them the Indians would very frequently leave large pieces of bear 
 meat, venison, fish, etc., for us and though many were the times they 
 found no one at home, and they would enter and eat, yet never a thing 
 did they evei steal from us, and later, when we saw them, they would 
 always tell us whom we had entertained. Sometimes we would only 
 be aware of their presence by seeing them peeking in the windows 
 and the next minute, always waiving ceremony, they would walk in 
 the house and with many grunts, the sounds of which are unspellable, 
 they would point to their mouths — that required no translation. Some 
 of them could understand a little English. I finally grew to under- 
 stand some of their words, but could not talk, while my husband, 
 getting my halting translations, could talk to them but could not 
 understand them. Another version of Jack Spratt and his wife. 
 
 One day a one-eyed Indian named Pe-nasse-cisse, walked in, took 
 a cup from the table and after drinking some water accidentally hit 
 the cup and broke it. I motioned it was nothing, but weeks later he 
 brought me a beautiful piece of bear meat, thereby proving his keen 
 sense of obligation, for it must have meant much to him to give the 
 bear meat, as he was considered a dependent by the other Indians, 
 living largely on their bounty, as when hunting he could not aim 
 correctly, having but one eye. Bear meat was thought to keep best 
 hanging out of doors against the shady side of the house, and there 
 we hung this piece. It was seen by Messrs. Klock and Weikert, 
 merchants in Fond du Lac, who happened to come to our house. Mr. 
 Klock said he loved the meat and asked me if I would give him a 
 piece. I told him to help himself and he cut off about eight pounds. 
 The two men kept bachelor's quarters above their store and later re- 
 ported to me a feast on the meat in their rooms for themselves and 
 seven or eight friends. Mr. Klock was the father of Mrs. H. F. Whit- 
 comb, of Milwaukee. 
 
 Scorned the Tomahawk. 
 
 One fall my husband had gone to see how the Indians were paid 
 at Lake Poygan (then called Poywaygan.) I was alone with the ex- 
 ception of my sister Kate and my baby girl about six months old, 
 during his absence of ten days, he making the trip on horseback. One 
 day while he was away, four Indians with bodies bare to their waists 
 and hideously painted, passing on their way home to Milwaukee from 
 the pay grounds, entered the house, after peeking in the windows, 
 and asked for food. I gave them plenty to eat, after which they 
 begged for tobacco, pipes, soap, etc., which I, tired of hearing — as we 
 shopped at this time in Green Bay — and refused to give them anything 
 more. One man then calmly took his tomahawk and standing so 
 close to me that his fringed leather leggings vv^ould touch my 
 dress as I sat sewing, began to sharpen it, testing the edge frequently 
 and looking at me to see how I was taking it. He soon saw, for I 
 jumped up and told him to puck-a-chee and he, seeing wrath instead 
 of fear, did puck-a-chee, and when outside the house, roared with 
 laughter, each man fired a salute of one gun, mounted his horse and 
 rode away. My courageous sister in the meantime, had run up stairs
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 245 
 
 imploring me "for God's sake give them anything and everything." 
 She had carried my baby up also and then had promptly fainted. 
 Many w^ere the threats she made of "telling mother" how fool-hardy 
 I was, but I had a good laugh at her ever after. 
 
 Laughter was not always the order of the day, however, for one 
 day I was badl}^ scared — an Indian, Shus-ko-meen by name — a fearful 
 man who boasted of his butchery and savagery at Fort Dearborn, and 
 whom I had seen at Green Bay, walked in my house the first spring 
 I was here and asked for the Witch-e-mo-com-on (Americans). I 
 looked out of the window and pointed to the corner of the house. 
 He simply flew out of the house, jumped on his horse and disappeared 
 forever. My husband was some distance away, but I dared not let 
 the man suspect this as he was such a fiend. He had evidently just 
 robbed a clothes line, for his only garments were moccasins and a 
 white suit of canton flannel under clothes, wearing no hat and with 
 hair braided and tied with string, the braids starting from over the 
 forehead on each side and joining in one braid at the back. 
 
 Another day Tot-on-a-wa and another Indian came and left a 
 bottle of whiske}'^ for safe keeping, motioning they were going away 
 hunting all winter and when they returned would be very tired and 
 then would want the whiskey ; so I took them to my pantry and 
 showed them where I put the bottle on a high shelf. Next spring I 
 came home, after spending the day with friends, and found four fine 
 mallards on the table and the whiskey gone. 
 
 The Indians while hunting deer, would frequently kill does with 
 fawns and not having any use for the fawns, would always give them 
 away. At different times they gave me seven. One I named Dickie. 
 He was a smart little fellow and whenever I asked him to come and 
 kiss me, would lick my face. When I told my husband Dickie would 
 do this, he laughed at the idea, so one day as my husband was sitting 
 in the doorway I called Dickie, and he not only came to kiss me but 
 leaped over my husband's head in order to get to me. 
 
 Another fawn I had, while in its stable one day, was attacked by 
 a wolf. I went to the rescue armed with a hatchet, but the wolf ran. 
 I noticed that he limped and the next day our neighbor's dogs, three 
 miles away, killed a wolf and as it had lost part of one foot. I knew 
 'twas my wolf. 
 
 I was always fond of pets and had many and it may interest you 
 to hear of a tiny pet pig I had. I cared for and raised it, naming it 
 Sall}^ She was sent away several times, being a great nuisance, but 
 like a bad penny would always turn up. What do you think of a pig 
 swimming the Fox river to get home? She was very clever and once 
 thought she would do a little temperance work and went into a 
 saloon in the village. The man in charge tried to eject her and she 
 objected, attacking him savagely. Screams were heard and a crowd 
 collected. Some one who knew her ran for my brother, who went in, 
 finding Sally leaping for a man who had mounted a table. His 
 wooden legs were within her reach and they were fairly well bitten. 
 She followed John meekly away when he called her and scolded her. 
 If I had her now I should chanoe her name to "Carrie."
 
 246 BUSINESS HISTORY OF POND DU LAC 
 
 During- our first years on the farm our calves were frequently 
 attacked by wolves, but we always managed to rescue them, but our 
 neighbors, Messrs. Piatt and Vincent, were not so fortunate as they 
 had some killed by bears and wolves. Occasionally at night on the 
 hill where our house now stands, the wolves would gather, and many 
 and blood-curdling were their cries. Sometimes my husband would 
 take his French hunting horn and during lulls in their serenades, 
 would play to them. They would listen in absolute silence until the 
 music would again sound. His would be the solo, theirs the chorus. 
 In these early days wild strawberries were very plentiful, and fre- 
 quently I have picked a bushel on the stems in about two hours. 
 
 After some years my dear friend, Mrs. Everett Hoskins would 
 come and pick berries with me. She always brought her son, then a 
 creeping baby. The then baby is now known to you as your ex-Mayor 
 F. B. Hoskins. One day while gathering berries, about a mile from 
 home, I lost my bearings and as the afternoon was very cloudy I 
 believe I would have been obliged to stay out all night had I not 
 heard our cow bell in the distance. Knowing that calling was of no 
 use, I followed the sound of the bell. When I reached the cattle I 
 started driving them, and in a short time they had led me safely home. 
 Our cows roamed everywhere for there was no fence between here 
 and Milwaukee. 
 
 When a Woman Will, She Will. 
 
 One day when I was about fifteen years old, my mother found 
 she was "out" of tea. We were away from home in a sugar camp, 
 and always being ready for anything that came up, I ofifered to go to 
 Green Bay for some. This was in the early spring, and as the ice 
 was still on the river and no snow on the land, my venturesome spirit 
 made me induce my driver to take a sleigh and go the six miles on 
 the ice. We covered the distance in' safety, but I should not like to 
 state how fast our pony had to trot, but trot it did and fast, too, for 
 the ice swayed with us and the spot we were on the entire distance 
 was bent down "V'shape. Returning home that night was an impos- 
 sibility, so I remained with friends and walked back the next day under 
 the escort of a boy a trifle older than I. When we reached what is 
 now the first lock we had to cross the river, which was narrow at this 
 point. The river was now entirely open and a raging torrent here 
 where it was dammed. A mill at this spot was in course of construc- 
 tion and the frame only was up. On the river side the frame held 
 discourse with the-opposite bank by means of ordinary planks in some 
 way fastened in a horizontal position. The boy with me insisted that 
 he alone should cross, but I indignantly asserted my intention of 
 crossing with or without him (when a woman will, she will, was true 
 even then you see.) So I climbed up forty feet and then walked over 
 on the beams, holding onto braces whenever I could get hold of one 
 and all the boy could do was to keep shouting to me to "not look 
 down." The water was foaming and boiling down below us and very 
 deep, too, as you may realize when you remember that huge ships 
 pass the place now. We finally reached the planks and then the land,
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 247 
 
 and if I did not confess to a sense of relief, it was because I would 
 not — but mother received both her tea and daughter in safety. 
 
 Many were the rides I took during my life. The last one was 
 when I was about 78. Regretting my refusal to go driving with the 
 family one beautiful October morning, and being somewhat lonely, I 
 decided to take a horseback ride. So I ordered the saddle horse 
 brought to the door and I mounted and started away. When about 
 a mile down the road I met Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Hamilton, and from 
 their laughter and surprise, I judged it advisable not to let my 
 daughters see me. So I hurried home. I might not have done so if 
 I had liked the saddle. I broke the news of my ride to the family by 
 saying I w^anted a new saddle, for I did not enjoy riding on that one. 
 We did get the new saddle, but I never found the opportunity to ride 
 again, but if my sight were good, you would some of you see me on 
 horse back again even though I am 86. 
 
 Our lives through all these years were far from luxurious ones 
 and were more than full of work, for help was scarce and we house- 
 keepers had to be our own dressmakers and tailors and no sewing 
 machines for years. All the clothes we wore our own busy hands 
 had to cut and sew. 
 
 Gov. Tallmadge came four or five years after we did. Gov. Doty 
 had a house built when we came but he was here very little. It was 
 he who told my husband, in Detroit, of our little lake. 
 
 I so well remember in 1840 the numbers of tiny wild ducks there 
 were upon the lake. We had only a dug-out canoe, one of the tippiest 
 things in the world, but I would venture out in it and paddle in the 
 midst of the ducklings, but where the duck had been I only found the 
 water — they would give quick little dives and escape. I tried many 
 times to catch them but never succeeded. 
 
 No human voices, save our own, disturbed the echoes of our 
 little lake. Loons would call, ducks and geese would alight without 
 fear and swim and dive with no one to disturb them. Can you 
 imagine the beauty and serenity of it all? "My love for nature is as 
 old as I," and I often live over in memory all that sweet time in the 
 long ago. 
 
 A Song of Long Ago. 
 
 A song of long ago: 
 
 Sing it lightly — sing it low — 
 Sing it softly — like the lispfng of the lips 
 
 We used to know, 
 When our baby — laughter spilled 
 From the glad hearts ever filled 
 W'ith music blithe as robin ever trilled! 
 
 Let the fragrant summer breeze, 
 
 And the leaves of locust trees, 
 
 And the apple buds and blossoms, and the wings of honey bees, 
 
 All palpitate with gi^e, 
 
 Till the happy harmony 
 
 Brings back each ch^.dish joy to you and me.
 
 248 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Let the eyes of fancy turn 
 
 Where the tumbled pippins burn 
 
 Like embers in the orchard's lap of tangled grass and fern, — 
 
 There let the old path winu 
 
 In and out and on benind 
 
 The cider-press that chuckles as we grind. 
 
 Blend in the song the moan 
 
 Of the dove that grieves alone, 
 
 And the wild whir of the locust, and the bumble's drowsy drone; 
 
 And the low of cows that call 
 
 Through the pasture bars when all 
 
 The landscape fades a^yay at evenfall 
 
 Then far away and clear, 
 
 Through the dusky atmosphere, 
 
 Let the wailing of the killdee be the only sound we hear; 
 
 O sad and sweet and low 
 
 As the memory may know 
 
 Is the glad, pathetic song of Long Ago! 
 
 — Riley. 
 
 Some of the Ripon Pioneers. 
 
 Ripen in its earliest days had many men of note and some 
 hustlers. A few of them were members of the Phalanx, but the 
 larger number were settlers who came after that organization had 
 practically ceased. Many of these settlers became noted in state 
 and nation. Here are the names of some of these Ripon pioneers : 
 
 Capt. D. P. Mapes. 
 Col. O. H. LaGrange. 
 Col. Ed. Daniels. 
 Maj. H. C. Eggleston. 
 Maj. H. S. Town. 
 Maj. A. E. Bovay. 
 Surgeon H. L. Barnes.* 
 E. L. Runals. 
 Jerre Dobbs.* 
 W. M. Taggart. 
 Wm. Workman. 
 O. J. Clark.* 
 Put. Mason. 
 R. D. Mason. 
 William Starr. 
 
 Geo. W. Mitchell. 
 A. B. Pratt* 
 Benj. Pratt. 
 J. L. Horner. 
 A. M. Steels. • 
 Byron Town. 
 Sam Fargo. 
 J. J. Foote. 
 Col. B. Pinckney. 
 Dr. A. Everhard. 
 Dr. J. Rogers. 
 David Greenway. 
 Nathan Hunter. 
 D. F. Shepard. 
 J. Bowen. 
 
 H. B. Beynon. 
 Samuel Sumner. 
 L. M. Carlisle. 
 J. Woodruff. 
 K. Lindsley. 
 0. P. Reed. 
 D. P. Imson. 
 Abram Thomai?. 
 J. B. Barlow. 
 Geo. Bushnell. 
 Thos. Ford. 
 S. B. Fobes. 
 C. F. Hammond. 
 Chas. Combs. 
 James Lambei't. 
 
 Winnebago Furniture Company. 
 C. J. L. Meyer began making furniture at this well known plant 
 but was not successful. In 1886, Maj. E. R. Herren and C. V. 
 McMillan, of Stevens Point, bought the Me)^er plant and formed the 
 above company, which has been remarkably successful. As business 
 men they have no superiors and the very large business is so managed 
 as to be one of the solid enterprises in Fond du Lac. The plant is 
 always a busy place. As to business reliability it has no superior in 
 the city. 
 
 In this year 1905, all those are dead except the five marked *
 
 QUAKER ABOLITIONISTS 
 
 Something About These PecuHar People, of Which Fond du Lac 
 Has Had a Few in Times Past. 
 
 Speaking of J. A. Smith, founder of the Fond du Lac Common- 
 wealth, as a Quaker Abolitionist, it occurs to the writer that there 
 are many people now who do not know the real meaning of either 
 of these terms. We have drifted away from these people and we now 
 hear little about either. The Quakers are a religious sect who believe 
 in keeping as near to Bible times and practices as possible. They 
 use Bible language, ignore styles in dress, number the days of the 
 week instead of naming them, believe the gospel to be free, hence do 
 not pay ministers for preaching, invariably speak of churches as 
 meeting houses and altogether are a strictly honest and truthful class 
 of people. There are some of them left in Philadelphia, a few 
 colonies in North Carolina, a large colony in North Dakota and a 
 congregation in Minneapolis and a few other cities. In central Ohio 
 a few country congregations are left, but the Quakers have largely 
 disappeared and a great loss it is. 
 
 An abolitionist as understood in times ante-dating the war. was 
 one who demanded the abolition of slavery as a great national wrong. 
 The emancipation proclamation was issued by President Lincoln in 
 1863, since which time little has been known or heard of abolitionists. 
 There was a time when it required considerable courage to be known 
 by this term. Abolitionist speakers were egged and mobbed. An 
 abolitionist was likely to have the doors of his house daubed with very 
 offensive material, or an}- sort of trick played upon him personally. 
 The democratic and whig parties were both pro-slavery, and the 
 first serious move made by the abolitionists in politics was in 1840, 
 when they ran James G. Burney for president. In 1844, in the Polk 
 and Clay campaign, there was a great awakening and as the south 
 seemed determined to extend slave territory, the people of the north 
 stirred themselves to resist it. In 1848 came the free soil party and 
 a man could with safety declare himself to be an abolitionist. In 
 1852 with the advent in congress of measures for the admission to 
 the union of Kansas and Nebraska and the efforts of southern mem- 
 bers to force slavery into them, the whig party had drifted some- 
 what toward freedom, but not strong enough to control the party and 
 Gen. Whinfield Scott met the opposition of the free soilers with John 
 P. Hale, now the party of the abolitionists, who were much stronger 
 than ever before in their work against slavery. But the whig party 
 could continue no longer and was not heard from in 1856. In the 
 meantime the democratic champion, Stephen A. Douglas, appeared 
 with his doctrine of "Squator Sovereignty," which meant to allow 
 the people to vote out there, and vote slavery up or vote it down.
 
 250 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Here the whig party disappeared in 1856 and John C. Freemont 
 marked the advent of the republican party. From 1840 the opponents 
 of slavery increased in number and were now able to retire one of the 
 great parties of the country. The democratic party was still loyal to 
 the south, and so able to elect their candidate, James Buchanan, to 
 the presidency, but were retired thereafter for a quarter of a centviry. 
 The people arose in their might in i860, elected Abraham Lincoln, 
 and then came the war of the rebellion, an attempt to destroy the 
 union to found a southern confederacy to save slavery. But after four 
 years of the bloodiest and most gigantic war in history, the abolition- 
 ists and their freedom loving successes were the victors. President 
 Lincoln did not issue the proclamation of emancipation until 1863, 
 and after he had exhausted all efforts for peace that were honorable 
 to all concerned. The old abolitionists bore their trials to the end 
 with all meekness and fortitude. All this is what the term means as 
 applied to national politics. We all rejoice now that there is no 
 more of those troubles and that a man is now free to talk as he will 
 in all parts of this great country, one of the most powerful and en- 
 lightened on top of the earth. He is no longer expected to make 
 excuses for slavery or for anything foul that may come to nations. 
 
 The ''underground railroad." No doubt you have often read 
 about it and heard about it, but do you know really what it means? 
 In the forties the writer lived on the main line of the great under- 
 ground railroad, and hundreds of times did he in the night hear the 
 wagons or cars go by his home in central Ohio. It was a means of 
 help for worthy and persecuted negroes to escape from slavery in 
 Kentucky to freedom in Canada. This line was run largely, in fact 
 almost wholly by Quakers, who were abolitionists almost to a man. 
 Transportation was almost wholly at night, the sidetracks for the day 
 being in Quaker settlements, there being at that time several between 
 the Ohio river and the lakes. The only secret about it seemed to be 
 when the w^agons would be upon the road. There might be intervals 
 of several weeks or nearly every day. This practice gave ground for 
 the main argument in congress for the fugitive slave law signed by 
 President Fillmore in 1850, which caused great excitement, but in 
 the end did the slave power far more harm than good. 
 
 The fugitive slave law troubles have a local application to Wis- 
 consin and to Fond du Lac county, since we had a taste of it in the 
 Glover rescue, the arrest of Booth and Rycraft for violation of its 
 provisions, and the taking of S. M. Booth from the custody of the 
 United States marshal and secreting him near Ripon. Guns were 
 taken from the armory of the Fond du Lac guards in 1858, with 
 which to defend Booth if necessary. The situation showed many 
 earnest abolitionists here at that time and particularly at Ripon. 
 
 It is not out of place to state here that Edward Beeson came from 
 Pennsylvania Quaker stock, and to the day of his death was a believer 
 in Quaker practices, though he did not use their language. In re- 
 ligious thought he was more of a Quaker than anything else. The 
 proper name is Friends, the word Quaker being but a nickname be- 
 stowed upon them.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 251 
 
 There was another term frequently used half a century ago, but 
 is seldom heard now. A person is now spoken of as honest or a thief, 
 as truthful or a liar, as straight or crooked, right or wrong, genuine 
 or a fraud. The word hypocrite or hypocrisy seems to have lost its 
 old time significance. There is no middle ground now to give it the 
 old time application. Extremes of character rule now. It is hardly 
 known now what a hypocrite is, but there is no mistake about the 
 modern designations of liar, thief and fraud. We cannot object to the 
 words but only to the daily application of them to persons. 
 
 And the methods of expression and terms now used are not 
 really the successors of those of a half century ago. Old ones have 
 dropped out and entire new ones coined. The older people of today 
 onh' know what some expressions mean by having been here during 
 the period of manufacture of the new ones. Slang adjectives have 
 appeared by scores and some of them have been forced into permanent 
 adoption. Still it goes on and our children fifty years hence may be 
 doing the same sort of work we have been at in the coinage of words 
 in the last half century. The Quaker is almost unknown, the work of 
 the abolitionist has ceased, the hypocrite is unknown by that name. 
 
 A Nephew of Gen. Longstreet. 
 
 Gen. Longstreet, of confederate fame in the war of the rebellion, 
 once had a nephew who was a resident of Fond du Lac county, \\ is- 
 consin. Our member of the Longstreet family resided in the town of 
 Osceola, and while putting in a claim of being a farmer, was not much 
 of a farmer after all. He was more of a schemer and speculator than 
 farmer. He was a good talker and of course a strong pro-slavery 
 democrat, preferring southern ideas to those of the north. He was 
 proud of his uncle, Gen. Longstreet. 
 
 Alonzo Raymond's House. 
 
 Alonzo Raymond, a very early settler here and the first man 
 married in Fond du Lac county, built a house which seemed large 
 at that time, at the corner of Marr and Eighth streets, and was often 
 talked to about building so far out of reach of neighbors. He said 
 he guessed it would be all right after a while, and so it was. How 
 many can remember now of a time when there were not plenty of 
 neighbors in that vicinitv. 
 
 Imitation Stone Made Here. 
 
 In 1876, imitation stone was first introduced in Fond du Lac by 
 John C. Bishop, who accepted the agency of a factory where the 
 stone was moulded to any size or shape desired for building or 
 cemetery purposes. The material was colored to any color desired. 
 Why it was not a success it is difficult to say, but such was the case. 
 A like material is now made here.
 
 252 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 The Old Lathrop Ellis House. 
 
 Lathrop Plllis was a many years' resident surveyor and civil en- 
 gineer in Fond du Lac. He was a number of times elected county 
 surveyor and did a great deal of work in that line when not a county 
 ofHcial. His home for many years was the small house that until a 
 few years ago stood on Marr street, next north of W. W. Clark. Mr. 
 Ellis moved to Nebraska and resided near Nebraska City until his 
 death a few years ago. 
 
 Banks in the County. 
 
 First Wisconsin Bank, North Fond du Lac. — Capital $27,500. 
 S. D. Wyatt, President; Dr. D. J. Pullen, Vice-President: Fred 
 Givens, Cashier. 
 
 First National Bank of Campbellsport, Wis. — Capital $25,000. 
 S. J. Barber, President ; John Loebs, Vice-President ; H. A. Bacon, 
 Cashier. 
 
 Bank of J. R. Foster & Son, Brandon. — Capital $50,000. J. R. 
 Foster, President ; J. W. Foster, Cashier. 
 
 Bank of Oakfield. — Capital $20,000. F. J. Bristol, President; C. 
 G. Morgan, Vice-President; W. E. Bristol, Cashier; Clara Orvis, 
 Assistant Cashier. 
 
 Rosendale State Bank. — Capital not listed. A. Salisbury, Presi- 
 dent ; C. L. Hill, Vice-President ; Frank Bowe, Cashier. 
 
 The First Bookbindery. 
 Fond du Lac's first bookbindery was started by J. R. & J. W. 
 Partridge, over their drug store in the centre of the old Darling 
 block, in 1855. Ed. Sickles, killed in the great railroad accident on 
 the opening of the Northwestern road, was the binder in charge, and 
 his brother-in-law, the late Col. C. H. DeGroat, was his assistant. 
 All of the binding for the Northern Division of the Northwestern 
 road, was done there, and of course neatly and well done, as T. F. 
 Strong, Jr., had charge of the work for the road, and "Tim" could 
 not tolerate anything slouchy. After the death of Mr. Sickles, the 
 bindery was sold to J. A. Smith, of the Commonwealth, and an 
 Englishman named Aldred, was the binder several years. Much of 
 his work is now in the Resfister's office at the court house. 
 
 An Early Door Factory. 
 
 In 1855, on the lot next east of the armory of Co. E, now occupied 
 by the residence of Mr. Swett, was located a shop in which doors were 
 made, and was probably the first door factory in Fond du Lac. Doors 
 were made before this date, but not in a factory as a business. 
 Though of small capacity, this was really a door factory. It was 
 owned and conducted by Norman Whitacre, the early date grocery- 
 man, and it was one of the first places in which Solon Edson worked 
 after he came here, and he can tell of many interesting and amusing 
 incidents connected with the work there.
 
 THE PRINTER EDITOR 
 
 How the Early Days' Print Shop Men Had To Work Their Way. 
 Difficulties They Encountered. 
 
 When he came to Wisconsin in 1850, from Ohio, A. T. Glaze had 
 already served time as a printing office apprentice. He was skilled in 
 any and all departments of printing office work. A severe run of 
 scarlet fever compelled him to abandon the course at Heidelburg 
 after two and one-half of the four years, and thus equipped mentally 
 and mechanically, he came to Fond du Lac and entered the office of 
 the Journal, established by Henning & Hooker, in 1846, but at this 
 time owned by Edward Beeson. The early day work, editorial as well 
 as mechanical, of Mr. Glaze, may be seen in the files of the old 
 Journal in the rooms of the public library. At this time competent 
 printers were not numerous and material could not be obtained as 
 now, so the services of Mr. Glaze were often, in demand in the region 
 round about, in starting new papers. He was called even to Oshkosh, 
 more than once, to make rollers, cover tympon frames of hand 
 presses, cutting rules and leads for first forms and adjusting them, 
 and by no means a pleasant job, as we had no rule or lead cutter, the 
 former being cut with a file and the latter with a knife. It may be 
 of interest to many to state the fact that the present Oshkosh North- 
 western was started as a weekly by the Messenger boys and Mr. 
 Glaze made the rollers and helped them to adjust the forms. He 
 made two or three sets of rollers for the old Oshkosh Courier, owned 
 by Reed & Nevitt. He went to Berlin once, overland, to assist in 
 putting the Marquette Mercury afloat. There was no Green Lake 
 county then — it was part of Marquette county. After this he went 
 there to help Uri Carruth with the Spectator, and made the trip on 
 the steamboat Badger State, Capt. W. A. Knapp. Early in 1862, he 
 made rollers and assisted A. P. Mapes in launching a paper that not 
 long after was thrown into the street by some of the men of Ed. 
 Daniel's First Wisconsin Cavalry for alleged disloyalty. He was 
 once sent for to assist in putting afloat a paper at Kingston, but 
 sent Walworth Chapel to do the work. The well known early day 
 country lawyer, Rufus P. Eaton, by some means got hold of the idea 
 that there ought to be a paper at Pequot Village, near what is now 
 Winnebago Park, got his old press from Edwards, at Oshkosh, and 
 maybe half enough type, and sent for Mr. Glaze to help him out. 
 But before getting things in shape to start his foolish enterprise, sold 
 the outfit to Flavins Josephus Mills, and it went to Sheboygan and 
 into the office of the Lake Shore Journal. In 1852 Mr. Beeson sold 
 the Journal to M. J. Thomas, son-in-law of John B. Macy, and resulted 
 in the change to Fond du Lac Union to aid in the election of Mr. 
 Macy to congress. The Journal was dormant for a while, but was 
 put afloat again by Kingman Flint, son of Judge Flint, and S. D.
 
 254 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Stanchfield, uncle of our present S. B. Stanchfield. But its light went 
 out again after a year or two, as did that of the Union, all of which 
 was in the interest of Smead's Democratic Press. But the old 
 Journal could not rest in peace, and was revived by Tim Strong, Jr., 
 one of the best educated men Fond du Lac ever had. It drifted into 
 the hands of James Russell and thence to Edward Beeson again. In 
 his old age Mr. Beeson sold it to Jake Bloom and last of all it was 
 absorbed by the Reporter, where it still rests. With many, indeed 
 most of these changes, Mr. Glaze had much to do, editorially and 
 mechanically, but the difficulties encountered were far less than those 
 of the early days. The Fond du Lac Commonwealth, resulting from 
 the consolidation of the Western Freeman and Fountain City Herald, 
 in the hands of J. A. Smith, in 1854, the Saturday Reporter started in 
 1862 by J. J. Beeson, son of Edward Beeson, and the Ripon Common- 
 wealth, founded upon the ruins of the Prairie City Record in 1864, 
 by A. T. Glaze, all successful newspapers of today, each in their 
 infancy had their clothing adjusted by Mr. Glaze. 
 
 The job printers really had more difficulties than the newspaper 
 printers. The latter, when they had the forms once adjusted, had only 
 to distribute the used type and make up with that newly set, lock the 
 forms and go to press, but the job printer was constantly encounter- 
 ing something new, and being short of type he had often to cut lines 
 of wood type, use home made borders, patch rules, cut rules with a 
 file, and leads with a knife, use a piece of plank to distribute -the ink 
 on the rollers, make a paper cutter of a shoe knife and coarse stone 
 and many similar things in all parts of the work, and though a very 
 good printer, he may be horrified to find a hideous job, the result of 
 his best efforts. All these troubles might come every day, but the 
 newspaper man faced them but weekly. Yet how many of the 
 printers of today would care to face either task. But fifty years ago 
 it had to be done in Fond du Lac or not have a newspaper or print- 
 ing office at all. It is not needful to face these troubles now, no 
 matter how near the printer may go to the pioneer border. Conditions 
 are different. Material is more plenti^ful, easier obtained, in greater 
 variety and cheaper. The printer of the long ago was expected to be 
 competent for every part of the work, today they are mostly press- 
 men, machine men, make-up men, and general utility men. Type 
 setting is mostly done on machines, except headings and display, and 
 it is daily becoming more general. Editors in the old times wrote up 
 everything that came his way, no matter on what subject. Now they 
 are divided into general, local, news, society, sporting, financial, etc. 
 The old time fellow was expected to be up in all these. This is writ- 
 ten, not to criticise present methods but to show the difference be- 
 tween old times and the present. Under conditions as they now exist, 
 old methods would doubtless be impractical. 
 
 After having served as County Treasurer, Gen. John Potter said 
 that the humiliation of getting the nomination, the expense of the 
 election and annoyance of giving the bonds, was too much to ask of 
 an honest man.
 
 HELPED TO MAKE HISTORY 
 
 History Making was Active in Pioneer Days and Here is Some of 
 It to Interest and Amuse People in Our Day. 
 
 County Seat Contest. 
 
 Few people now living in Fond du Lac have remembrance or 
 knowledge of the contest had in the forties to secure and hold the 
 county seat. Taycheedah put up a strong fight. Dr. Darling sold lots 
 for $25. or gave a lot to anyone who would build on it. These lots 
 might be selected anywhere on his land, and this liberal policy brought 
 many settlers. But'^this did not settle the matter, although it helped 
 much. Taycheedah owes its defeat to the river channel, now little 
 better than a slough, from Scott street to the lake. Lake navigation 
 was a great thing at that time, and the Fond du Lac river channel was 
 deemed the natural harbor at the south end of the lake. It was 
 argued that vessels must seek this channel for safety. The people 
 were not able to foresee the fact that in just ten years the railroads 
 would kill this lake navigation, and that our boasted Fond du Lac 
 river would be almost valueless. But at the time of which we write, 
 that channel served its purpose well for Fond du Lac. It was 
 a harbor (please don't laugh), but how much of a harbor is it now? 
 For more than forty years the harbor idea could be treated as a joke, 
 yet it brought the county seat to Fond du Lac. 
 
 During the time of the controversy, Taycheedah was a prosperous 
 village. There were two hotels, two or three stores, machine shops, 
 carpenter shops, cabinet shops, harness shops, a mill, a brewery, 
 a pier out into the lake for vessels, and various other things 
 that go to the making of a prosperous village. The chief 
 justice*^ of the supreme court lived there, the lieutenant governor 
 of the state lived there, and it had a number of prominent 
 men as citizens. But all this soon changed when the county 
 seat was lost. One hotel came to Fond du Lac on the _ ice 
 behind eight yoke of oxen, several houses came overland, and since 
 then many of the old houses have burned and others gone to ruin, and 
 today, but for the summer resort homes, the village would be in very 
 poor health. But who will venture to say that the location would 
 not have been a beautiful one for a city. The views from the slopes 
 of the ledge are grand, and the varying landscape most desirable for 
 homes. Fond du Lac gained the day and prospered. Taycheedah 
 lost and sank to ruin. 
 
 Was a Close Contest. 
 
 Previous to 1856, the territory now included in Tvlarquette and 
 Green Lake counties was in one county under the name of Marquette, 
 with Montello then, as now, the county seat. But trouble came over
 
 256 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 the county seat question, which was only settled by dividing the 
 county and creating the county of Green Lake. But now came 
 trouble in the new county. Princeton, Berlin, Marquette, Kingston 
 and Dartford were all in the field, but it finally went to Dartford. 
 Ripon now came into the field. A bill to detach the towns of Ripon, 
 Metomen and Alto from Fond du Lac county and add them to Green 
 Lake, failed in the legislature, but a bill did pass authorizing the 
 people of Fond du Lac county to vote on a proposition to detach the 
 town of Ripon from this county and attach it to Green Lake. This 
 proposition was voted upon at the fall election of 1859, and resulted 
 in a majority against it of 107, the vote being 2,604 for and 2,711 
 against. But now came another contest. The legislature directed 
 that the ballot should read: "For Detaching Ripon," or "Against 
 Detaching Ripon." Some friends of Ripon had tickets printed reading 
 "Against Division," and some of them were voted and returned as 
 cast. In the canvass of the votes Ripon contended that the law fixed 
 a specific form of ballot and that those votes could not be legally 
 counted against the proposition. The canvassers contended that the 
 statutes directed that the evident intention of the voter should govern, 
 and that the evident intention of the voters in this case was to vote 
 against the proposition, and so canvassed them. The case went to the 
 supreme court and was so decided there. This ended the efiforts of 
 Ripon to become the county seat of Green Lake county, and the whole 
 subject has now gone so far into the past that it is forgotten except 
 by a few. Forty-five years of peace have now reigned on that subject, 
 and it is likely to continue. 
 
 Looking at the matter candidly and fairly, no one can blame 
 Capt. Mapes, E. L. Runals, Jerre Dobbs, Mr. Workman and others 
 for their determined efforts in behalf of Ripon, for the lay of the land 
 and conditions were such that if the effort had carried, Ripon would 
 unquestionably have been the county seat of Green Lake county. 
 
 Made Wood Type. 
 
 In 1849, Uncle M. Farnsworth had a shop on East First street, 
 where T. O'Connell's carpenter shop is now, in which he made grain 
 cradles and scythe snaths and did general tinkering. He had a great 
 variety of tools and much bench room, and he being a very kind- 
 hearted old gentleman, was free to allow others to use the tools and 
 shop room. It was a favorite place of resort for those who desired to 
 do work of their own. He seemed to be glad to have those developing 
 patents or doing any sort of tinkering to come there. Wood type 
 was then, of course, high in price and difficult to obtain, and so it came 
 about that A. T. Glaze cut a large amount of wood type in the shop, 
 made small cuts, and with the aid of A. C. Stow, built the first paper 
 cutter used in Fond du Lac. It was a pretty good one, too, and was 
 used many years in Beeson's Job Printing office. Mr. Glaze also 
 made four banjos there, one of which was sold by William Harbaugh 
 to an Indianapolis gentleman for $16. The first one made, the "lone 
 fisherman," Harvey Durand, helped him to string and tune in Philo 
 Smith's jewelry store. Mr. Glaze was not a banjo player, but simply
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 257 
 
 took a notion to put in some extra hours making them. They were 
 all good ones, and were traded or sold to good advantage. He made 
 in that shop many things for printing office use, then not so easy to 
 obtain as now. Uncle M. Farnsworth is held in grateful remembrance 
 for his efforts in enabling the writer to spend so many pleasant hours 
 in his shop. 
 
 Oldest Continuous Business. 
 
 In this year of 1905, Mr. G. Scherzinger has the fact to his credit 
 of being the oldest in continuous business in Fond du Lac. He began 
 business here in 1854, and there is no business man now here who 
 antedates him. F. Sander, the furniture dealer, opened in 1855, and 
 is second. H. G. De Sombre began his jewelry business in 1856 and 
 holds third place. In the dry goods trade. J. C. Whittelsey is the 
 veteran, coming here in 1855, and M. Wagner is next, coming here in 
 1856, but did not enter the dry goods trade in his own name until 1878. 
 In the drug trade, Huber Bros, are the veterans, dating from 1864. 
 Reeves & Son are second, and L. J. Remington third. The veteran 
 dealer in hardware is John Hughes, the second and third Wilkie & 
 Son and George P. Dana. In groceries, Herman Zinke must rank 
 first, the Zinkes being in business at the corner of Main and Sixth 
 streets from the early fifties. Mason & Son sell groceries as well as 
 crockery, and hold second place, and E. H. Jones still dealing in gro- 
 ceries, is third. The city is well stocked with groceries on all streets, 
 some of them a few years old and some but a few weeks. The 
 veteran shoe store is Egelhoff's, the second is Youmans and the third 
 Fitzsimons. The oldest bakery is Snow's, the oldest meat market 
 Coughlin's, the oldest tin shop Decker's, the oldest saloon Chapleau's, 
 and the oldest wood-working shop S. W . Edson's. at the Five Points. 
 The latter is probably the oldest shop of any sort in the entire city. 
 In shops and business of almost every kind, the changes have been 
 rapid and numerous in the last twenty years. The old-time business 
 men have quit business or died. 
 
 An 1848 Tin Shop. 
 
 The 1848 tin shop in Fond du Lac was owned by Eliab Perkins, 
 afterwards Perkins & AVilliams, Perkins & Smith, then E. Perkins 
 again. The hardware and stove store became the property of Mr. 
 Smith and his widow conducted it until 1896, when she sold it and 
 returned to the east. Mr. Perkins in 1864, began the manufacture of 
 the North Pole refrigerator and made and sold many hundreds of 
 them. Two years later he invented and began the manufacture of a 
 fire-proof shutter, which for a time had an enormous sale. The brick 
 building, now the south part of the Wilkins livery barn, was erected 
 as a factory for making the shutters. Making the refrigerators was 
 abandoned as less profitable, and in 1871, after the great Chicago fire, 
 the shutter factory was moved to that city, and a little later to 
 Sycamore, 111., where it failed in competition with other and possibly 
 better shutters. Mr. Perkins died at Minneapolis in 1899, and his 
 remains were brought to Fond du Lac and buried at Rienzi. He was 
 a remarkably active business man, but seemed to lack in proper man-
 
 258 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 agement. He is believed to have made the great mistake of his life 
 when he left Fond du Lac. He did not hesitate to say so himself. 
 
 The Old Time Singing School. 
 
 How singular that the old fashioned singing school has disap- 
 peared and is no longer a part of our educational system. In the 
 early times a winter would no more than fairly begin when the sing- 
 ing school came, not only as an educational feature, but as a source 
 of enjoyment, and the young people especially found pleasure and 
 profit in them. There were classes for adults and for children. 
 Emerson H. Hawley, brother of Rev. Silas Hawley, the Congrega- 
 tional minister, had a music store here, and during the winter months 
 had singing classes in city and country every night in the week except 
 Sunday. He was an excellent teacher and so he was in demand for 
 ithis work several years. O. B. Judd was a fine teacher for children's 
 classes, and old residents will remember how the little folks came out 
 to his school. But neither Hawley nor Judd could succeed in their 
 work now. Singing schools are, to use a modern expression, played 
 out. Why this is so it is difficult to say. Even the old time musical 
 convention is heard of no more, and the professional conductor of 
 them is out of business. It has been many years since Fond du Lac 
 has had a regular singing school or musical convention. 
 
 An Old Time Quarrel. 
 
 Ichabod Codding is a queer name, isn't it? Well, he was a queer 
 man, too. He was a Unitarian minister, and also a decided, old- 
 fashioned abolitionist, who used to make political speeches before the 
 war. He abhorred slavery every time and all the time. One evening 
 Mr. Codding spoke in Darling's Hall and Charles A. Eldredge was 
 there to hear him, and at the close Mr. Eldredge denounced some 
 things said about the democratic party as lies. Mr. Codding declared 
 his readiness to stand by all he had said. The result was some bitter 
 talk, something of a row and nearly a general fight. But Edward 
 Pier, Edwin A. Brown and a few others stopped it. This incident 
 shows how bitter the political feeling was just before the war. 
 
 First County Surveyor. 
 
 Horace W. Newton, now doing daily service in the register's 
 office at the court house, was the first surveyor of Fond du Lac county, 
 being elected in the fall of 1848. He is a son of the pioneer. Squire 
 Newton, and was 22 years of age when elected surveyor. As showing 
 the perfection he has arrived at in the education of his hands as well 
 as brain, it may be here stated that ten years ago he wrote the Lord's 
 Prayer with a pen on a space the size of a ten-cent piece and had one- 
 third of the space left, and if you would see some of the prettiest 
 writing ever put in a record book, ask to see some of his work at the 
 court house. 
 
 Vote on Negro Suffrage. 
 
 In the fall election of 1857, a vote was taken on a proposition 
 that shows something of the feeling then in the public mind on the
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 259 
 
 slavery question. The legislature of the previous winter directed 
 that a vote be taken on the question of the extension of suffrage to 
 colored people. The vote in Fond du Lac county was 1,931 for and 
 1,865 against, a majority of sixty-six for extension. The proposition 
 was carried in the state by a large majority. But actual suffrage was 
 not given the negro until the adoption of the fourteenth amendment 
 to the constitution in 1863. The vote given here was taken merely 
 to show congress the feeling of the people on the subject, 
 
 A Mistaken Survey. 
 
 The reader has no doubt often noticed the jog in Marr street, 
 between First and Sheboygan streets. This was occasioned by an 
 error in the original survey. Until 1861, the street was closed, that 
 north of the jog" being known as \A''ingate street and that south as 
 Marr. In 1861 the city ordered it opened as we have it now, and it 
 became Marr street through to Merrill, Wingate street being abol- 
 ished. The faulty survey also made the jog still existing at the 
 corner of First and Portland street, and threw the Commercial 
 National Bank corner five and a half feet into First street. 
 
 Anniversary of a Printer. 
 
 Thursday, August 24, marked the fifty-fifth anniversary of the 
 arrival of A. T. Glaze, one of Wisconsin's pioneer newspapermen, in, 
 Fond du Lac. He came to this city from Milwaukee in a stage coach 
 pulled by four horses. The mail schedule called for the arrival of the 
 coach at 8 o'clock in the evening, but the trip was made during rainy 
 weather and Mr. Glaze did not arrive until 3 o'clock in the morning. 
 
 Mr. Glaze at once entered the office of the Fond du Lac Journal, 
 following the printer's trade there for several years. In 1854, four 
 years later, the Western Freeman, owned by J. A. Smith, a Quaker 
 abolitionist, and the Fountain City Herald, owned by Royal Buck, 
 were consolidated and the newspaper was called The Commonwealth. 
 
 Mr. Glaze made up the forms for the first issue of The Common- 
 wealth and printed the paper on a hand press. He continued to work 
 in the office until i860, when he took charge of the job office of his 
 uncle, Edward Beeson. 
 
 Reporter Established. 
 
 In 1862, John Beeson, a son of Edward Beeson, found it impossi- 
 ble on account of his health, to continue his work in school and he 
 sought employment where he hoped it would benefit his physical 
 condition. His father had a large quantity of type in the office that 
 had been used in supreme court work, and as there was little use for 
 this at the time the son left school, they decided to start another 
 paper. This new paper was The Reporter. Mr. Glaze made up the 
 first form of this paper and the first issue was run off on a hand press 
 by him. He also founded the Ripon Commonwealth in 1864, 
 so it will be seen that he established three newspapers in Fond du 
 Lac county by making the first forms and running the first issues. 
 All three of these papers are now thriving, the first two being 
 changed to dailies years ago.
 
 260 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 He still continues to take an active interest in newspaper 
 work and frequently visits the local plants. He has not given up 
 writing, although his health does not permit him to keep at the grind 
 as he did years ago. 
 
 Struck by Epidemics. 
 
 It is probably remembered by few people now living, that Fond 
 du Lac had a short season of cholera. It was in the fall of 1856, and 
 for the size of the city at the time, it may be said that many died, 
 and many had it who recovered. Among the latter was C. H. Benton, 
 E. Perkins, Thos. W. Dee and Geo. Driggs. A number of families 
 suffered much. The disease was first recognized as Asiatic Cholera 
 by Dr. Walker, and the physicians of the city held private consulta- 
 tion to determine what was best to be done, so as not to frighten the 
 people and keep country people from coming to town to trade. 
 Among other things the newspaper men promised to say nothing 
 alarming. It first appeared in August and lasted until the weather 
 became cold. Dr. Patchen and Dr. Raymond thought the disease 
 was an aggravated form of Cholera Morbus, but the other doctors 
 said it was genuine cholera. At any rate it was fortunate that it 
 started in so late in the year. 
 
 In 1 861, Fond du Lac had an epidemic of typhoid fever, and again 
 was it fortunate that it started late and ended as the cold weather 
 came on. It appeared in many prominent families. It was in a very 
 aggravated form and the doctors had a hard time of it as well as 
 their patients. We have occasionally had some typhoid fever since, 
 but nothing like as many cases or so severe. 
 
 About the same time, but it is said by those who ought to know, 
 that it was in 1859 that a spotted fever appeared, but was late and 
 soon stamped out. There were not very many cases, but they all died 
 but two, the survivors being Mrs. Jane Ann Ward and Mrs. A. T. 
 Glaze, both young ladies at the time. 
 
 From earliest times Fond du Lac has been singularly free from 
 smallpox. There have been a few cases at times, but not in any 
 sense epidemic. 
 
 Large Number of Deeds. 
 
 It will interest some people and maybe surprise others, to learn 
 that the late B. F. Moore, an 1841 pioneer of this county, during his 
 sixty-four years' residence here, executed a greater number of deeds 
 of real estate, which went on record in the Register's ofiice. than any 
 other man here. Abstract office books show a total of about 1,400. 
 Besides other business he handled real estate almost from the begin- 
 ning of his life here, and especially after moving from Taycheedah to 
 Fond du Lac in 1846. He was very liberal with pioneers with small 
 means, who desired to secure homes and sold much property to such 
 people.
 
 OLD TIME RECORDS 
 
 The Place to Find Interesting Records of Early Times is in the Old 
 Record Books in the Vaults at the Court House. 
 
 AH of the county officers, except perhaps the District Attorney, 
 carries in the vaults of his office, old books containing much that is 
 interesting to the young as well as the old. In granting the request 
 of a visitor to the county clerk's office at the court house a few days 
 ago, County Clerk Alfred S. Wilkinson withdrew the book recording 
 the meetings of the first county board from one of the shelves in the 
 vault in his office. This is said to be the oldest book in the court 
 house, but is remarkably well preserved in spite of its age. 
 
 The first pages in the minute book were written by M. C. Darling, 
 one of the pioneer residents of Fond du Lac county and the first 
 county clerk. Wisconsin was then a territory, the first board of 
 "commissioners" organized Oct. 7, 1839, sixty-six years ago. Then 
 letters "W. T." are written at intervals instead of the "State of Wis- 
 consin," which is now seen on the county books. 
 
 First Meeting. 
 
 The record of the first meeting of the county board reads : 
 
 "At a meeting of the county board of commissioners for the 
 county of Fond du Lac. W. T., held at the Fond du Lac house 
 Monday, October 7, 1839, present, Reuben Simmons, John Bannister 
 and Edward Pier, commissioners elect. The board was organized 
 by the choice of Reuben Simmons, chairman, and the appointment 
 of M. C. Darling, clerk, the clerk having given bonds to the treasurer 
 according to law. The said county commissioners then filed in the 
 clerk's office their oaths of office. 
 
 "Ordered that the county treasurer give bond in the sum of 
 $2,000 with two sufficient sureties. 
 
 "Ordered that $4.50 be allowed M. C. Darling for one ream of 
 copy paper for the use of the county. 
 
 "Ordered that the sum of $1.20 per day be allowed to Colwert 
 Pier, Oscar Pier and M. C. Darling for services as judges of election 
 on the first Monday of August, last." 
 
 The board at the first meeting made arrangements for holding 
 the next election at the following places : 
 
 Calumetville, residence of George White ; Fond du Lac, residence 
 of M. C. Darling; Madrid, residence of Seymour Wilcox. 
 
 Alexander La Bord, Edward Pier, Colwert Pier, William Arm- 
 strong, Philo Norton, Lebbens Heath, B. F. Smith, S. Simmons and 
 George White were the election clerks and judges at this election.
 
 263 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Modest Bills. 
 
 One of the bills submitted at one of these early sessions was one 
 submitted by M. C. Darling "for seven days self and horse in going 
 to Bay to attend upon board of clerks, $i8." The "Bay" referred to 
 was Green Bay, which was, as it is now, commonly referred to as 
 "the Bay." 
 
 An application for a new road was signed bv Oscar Pier, Albert 
 Kendall, A. D. Clark. Milton J. Brainard, M. C. Darling, B. F. Smith, 
 H. J. Peck, Joseph King, Alonso Raymond, Patrick Kelley, Alfred 
 Williams, John Wallis, Luke Labord, G. deNeveu, John Clevis, 
 William Labord, Alexander Labord, David Johnson. Alva Merton, 
 Russell Wilkinson and A. L. Simmons. 
 
 Another First Meeting. 
 
 The first account of the board meetings after Wisconsin became 
 a state on May 29, 1848, reads as follows: 
 
 "The county board of supervisors for the county of Fond du Lac 
 assembled at the court house in said county at the above date agree- 
 able to the requirements of an act entitled : 'An act to provide for 
 the levying and collecting state revenue/ and were called to order 
 by the clerk reading the act requiring the meeting." 
 
 The Members. 
 
 Those who answered the first roll call of the board of supervisors 
 after Wisconsin became a state, were : 
 
 Calumet — George White. 
 
 Taycheedah — Charles Doty. 
 
 Fond du Lac — Selim Newton. 
 
 Forest — Henry Giltner. 
 
 Auburn — James Adams. 
 
 Eden — Peter Vandervoort. 
 
 Byron — William Stewart. 
 
 Oakfield — James Patterson. 
 
 Lamartine — Peter V. Sang. 
 
 Rosendale — Jonathan Daugherty. 
 
 Ceresco — David Mapes. 
 
 Springvale — Warren Whiting. 
 
 Metomen — H. C. Eggleston. 
 
 Alto — Samuel A. Carpenter. 
 
 Waupun — M. Campbell. 
 
 Eldorado— M. J. Barnett. 
 
 This particular book was used for a period of ten or more years 
 before it was finally put away to become a part of the archives of the 
 ofifice. The binding is now in condition, and the reading is very 
 plain, the chirography of many of the county clerks being above the 
 average. 
 
 E. R. Ferris and Sheeps' Gray. 
 In an early day E. R. Ferris had a dry goods store in the Drury 
 block, next north of the present Amory block. Among his goods he
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 263 
 
 at one time bought a lot of sheeps' gray cloth, then all the rage for 
 substantial suits. The first suit sold from it was to William Hayes, 
 sometimes called "Noisy Bill," because he seldom failed to fill up 
 when he came to town. A. H. Clark made the suit for Hayes, but 
 did not like to spoil Ferris' trade by telling him how poor it was, 
 but he soon discovered it and sent word to Ferris that as soon as it 
 was warm enough for him to get out of the house, he would be down 
 to see about it. Other suits were sold, all of which showed the cloth 
 to be the poorest shoddy, and it was returned to Chicago. But as 
 to the Hayes suit — he had worn it at rough work, and when brought 
 to Ferris was in rags. Just how the settlement resulted is not now 
 remembered, but it was in a way to stop Hayes' loud talk, as Ferris 
 made it part of the contract. 
 
 An Early Days' Worker. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton Clark, so well known to all the old settlers 
 as "Ham Clark," father of L. H. Clark and Mrs. Ed. Kent, of this 
 city, was in early times a farmer and land breaker from necessity, an 
 inventive mechanic from innate skill, a tailor by trade, a fine violinist 
 from taste and a gentleman by nature. He could put in his spare 
 time on the farm, break land with six or eight yokes of oxen, work 
 with tools at the bench, make a suit of clothes, play the violin for a 
 dance, or attend a reception with equal facility. He, with his violin, 
 Jerome Gibson with his clarinet arid Hutchins with his horn, were 
 favorites for dancing music, and they played for the club parties in 
 the Marshall block several winters, where the contract was that if 
 midnight came with a set ofT the floor, they were to quit, however 
 strong was the teasing for just one more. If a set was on the floor 
 at midnight, they were to complete it and then quit. Injurious late 
 hours was thus avoided and the parties were a great success and 
 satisfactory to all. Ham Clark was a favorite, as he deserved to be. 
 
 Lake deNeveu Outlet. 
 
 The outlet of Lake deNeveu, on the west shore, was riot always 
 the insignificant stream that it is now. The water once poured out 
 in sufiricient volume to form a lively brook. Sufficiently large, anyhow, 
 to nearly drown Geo. P. Dana, the present day hardware merchant, 
 when he was a small boy living with his parents on the Macy farm. 
 He on that occasion, was pulled into the water by a pet deer. 
 
 An Early Planing Mill. 
 
 John Bonnell, assisted by C. Z. Gordon, late of Oakfield, had an 
 early day planing mill not far from where the water works pumping 
 station is now. This mill was of great assistance to the early house 
 builders in the preparation of lumber for use. For that early time, 
 the work was well done and the mill was kept going more than the 
 usual number of hours per day. It could often be heard going at lo 
 o'clock at nieht.
 
 264 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Period of Hoop Skirts. 
 
 It was early in the sixties that the women began to wear hoop 
 skirts, but it was not until 1865 that the extreme in size was reached, 
 of 117 inches in circumference or a little more than a yard in diameter 
 for the average sized woman. And at the time there were extremists 
 in this as there always is in other things, and women were often seen 
 with skirts even considerable larger than this. To reach these ex- 
 tremes they used rattans and made their own skirts much larger than 
 were kept in the stores. And they were often at the extreme too, in 
 stiffness, and had to be tilted as the wearer entered a church pew. 
 A lady would be horrified now with a stiff skirt more than a yard in 
 diameter, but they were just the thing then. A skirt properly pro- 
 portioned as to size with elastic steel springs, was very pretty and no 
 one would object to their coming again, which they are liable to do 
 at any time. The extremes is what one dislikes and is not slow to 
 express the hope that they be permanently retired. 
 
 A Simple Matter of Sense. 
 
 Judge Campbell McLean and D. R. Curran were democrats, the 
 latter of the old school and very rigid, but McLean was very much 
 inclined to VanBurenize in 1848 and become a Free Soiler. The two 
 men were very warm personal friends, but occasionally had disputes. 
 ]\IcLean liked to say sharp things and to spring jokes and Curran's 
 opinions when once formed, were as unchangeable as the laws of the 
 Medes and Persians. In the election of 1852, Pierce and King against 
 Scott and Graham, the free soil matter was much discussed. One 
 evening in Curran's drug store, both men became impatient and 
 McLean sang out, "Look here, Dave, why in thunder don't you get 
 a little more sense in your head — you can if you try." Curran re- 
 plied, "But you can't get any more into your head if you try ever so 
 hard." 
 
 Macy Street Changes. 
 
 Macy street from Second street to the court house, was once a 
 quite respectable street. On the west side of Macy were several quite 
 respectable houses for the times. In the house on the corner where 
 a shop is now, was the family of Mr. W'heeler, next north the family 
 of Solon G. Dodge, while he was Register of Deeds, and Rev. W. 
 L. Mather, pastor of Plymouth Church. A man whose name is 
 forgotten, lived in the next house, then the largest on the street, but 
 it was soon moved away to give place to a large shop erected on the 
 corner by R. M. & Asa Pierce. Later all these gave place to the 
 lumber yard. On the east side of the street were two houses, one of 
 them occupied by William Hope, father of the late George Hope. 
 These two houses and the barn of the Windsor House, was all there 
 was on the east side and all north of the barn, in 1859, gave place to 
 the gas works, and the houses on the west side were immediately 
 vacated. North of Second street, Macy was no street at all.
 
 SUCCESSFUL EFFORT 
 
 An Address Given at the Meeting of the Old Settlers' Club, August 
 30, 1905, by Mrs. Edgar Wilcox, of Oakfield. 
 
 Ancestral worship is not greatly in vogue with the average 
 American. The self-made, self-sufhcient. and self-satisfied man is 
 much more in evidence. Even the scanty and infrequent praise, 
 which we bestow upon those, who earlier or later, bore the heaviest 
 burdens and did the roughest work of founding a new nation, state, 
 county or township, is apt to terminate with something of the Phar- 
 isee's form of gratitude. It may be only a mental reservation, but 
 we are conscious of being glad that we are not as the pioneer. 
 
 The organization of which we are members or guests today, 
 might be supposed to have in it at least an element of that reverence 
 for the former things with the lack of which we are so often charged. 
 And doubtless it has. But no mere recognition of results will be 
 sufficient to inspire us with veneration. We must look deeper than 
 this. Perhaps mere gratitude towards those whose privations, hard- 
 ships and labors obtained for us not merely comfort and plenty, but 
 abundance and luxury might be a sufficient motive for this effort to 
 keep fresh the memory of them. The noblest of heroes are those who 
 live and die unconscious of their heroism and the appeal of the noble 
 dead is a strong and pathetic one. But one thinks of man}- things in 
 these days when privilege is so great and self-questioning is inevi- 
 table. Their choice was limited ; ours is greater. Are we choosing 
 wisely? The main value of all praise or blame, even for the living, 
 much more for the dead, lies in its reactionary effect upon ourselves. 
 Therefore it is wiser for us to forget all that is base and worthless 
 and remember only that which is noble and worthy. 
 
 From a material point of view, it is not difficult to make note of 
 much for which we are primarily indebted to the pi6neer. The 
 wilderness has become a garden. The corduroy roads traversed by 
 the clumsy oxen and clumsier cart, have been transformed into 
 smooth highways, fitted for the automobile and pony carriage. Log 
 cabins and board shanties have made way for many roomy and com- 
 fortable and some elegant and luxurious homes. The wretched 
 animals crouching under straw stacks, through the bitter cold of a 
 Wisconsin winter night, have been replaced by well-kept and high 
 blooded cattle that scarce know a discomfort in their warm, clean, 
 and well-ventilated stables. If we do not vie with the Holland 
 dairymen by tying the cows' tails with blue ribbons and decorating 
 the window sills of their apartments with pots of blooming geraniums, 
 we can only say — the end is not yet. 
 
 While none of us would affect to despise any of these marks of 
 progress, we should not forget that a yet richer legacy awaits our
 
 266 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 acceptance. We possess not alone the dearly bought estates of our 
 fathers, but we of this day, in any part of our favored land, are the 
 heirs of the ages. The rapid march of civilization, and the legislation 
 of a paternal government, have carried us close to the treasures of 
 the past as well as of the present. A fraction of the energy, self- 
 denial and privations which felled the forests, bridged the streams 
 and made firm paths across our prairies, will unlock for us the world's 
 storehouses of art, of science and of literature. Are we content with 
 enough of material goods? Are we giving our leisure to the acquisi- 
 tion of mental and spiritual wealth? The old settlers were industrious 
 and frugal, perforce, possibly. The get-rich-quick schemes and The 
 Associated Charities are of later date. Are we practicing the same 
 virtues because thus we may render our homes, our neighbors, our 
 church and our country, the larger service. Circumstances do not 
 so narrow our lives. Are we enjoying our liberty on making our- 
 selves slaves to custom and fashion? 
 
 The pioneer had faith, at least, the faith of Columbus, that there 
 was land west of him. And he pushed on, like the illustrious dis- 
 coverer, in spite of discouraging words and often in the face of 
 difficulties, scarcely less appalling than those which the early 
 navigators encountered. Almost as trackless as the ocean were 
 forest and prairie. All this is changed for us and the homeseekers 
 in the yet untamed regions of our land, are transported in swift and 
 comfortable coaches, with reduced rates as an inducement. But are 
 there no social complexities, no waste moral regions, which puzzle 
 and alarm? Do we ever turn away from the fascinating romance or 
 charming pictvire words of the cultured and witty traveler to con- 
 sider the horrors of child labor, the soul of black folk,and the grinding 
 slavery of the unskilled workwoman? On having considered these 
 things, do we at suitable times and in suitable places speak our con- 
 victions without fear of the consequent odium? Or are we more 
 concerned about the cheapness of products or the question of personal 
 popularity? If so, are we maintaining the faith of our fathers? 
 
 The courage with which the pioneer faced the red man, miasma, 
 drouth and forest fires seems almost like the fearlessness of ignor- 
 ance. But it will be remembered that few, comparatively, made 
 voluntary retreat. The reservations hold the Indians now and the 
 hard and patient labors of years have largely diminished the danger 
 from fires and unsanitary conditions. But we have graft, the ward 
 boss and the political machine, and who is equal to these things? 
 We do exhibit fortitude worthy of a better cause under the exactions 
 of the monopolist and the outrages of the stricken, but the courage 
 which opposes, and, by opposing, ends them, is, mainly, (not alto- 
 gether) conspicuous by its absence. 
 
 Unselfishness, pure and simple, is a virtue so rare that it is not 
 safe to predicate it of any entire class. But those who lay the foun- 
 dations on, while others may build, do in efifect illustrate this most 
 lovable quality. In truth they may have labored only in their own 
 behalf, and in occasional instances may have enjoyed long the fruits 
 of their labors, and if we know them by that most sincere of compli-
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS 10 THE PRESENT 267 
 
 ments, imitation, we shall be mindful, in the superstructure which we 
 rear, not only of ancestral worth, but of the highest good of coming 
 generations. If their beneficence was in a measure forced, ours must 
 be conscious and voluntary and greater. No man can live to himself 
 alone, and we are not up to the standard if, with our enlarged oppor- 
 tunity and multiplied leisure, we are even trying to do so. The 
 social life, the open-handed hospitality of the early settlers, has been 
 much lauded. Surely in all but its spirit it left much to be desired. 
 But it is the spirit which giveth life. If in the skillful entertainment 
 of our guests we have lost that genuine love of their presence, we 
 have missed the finest touch of the social act. If this becomes a mere 
 exchange of pasteboard and bonbons, and social events shall be, aptly 
 as they are hideously termed, functions, then surely we are progress- 
 ing backward. 
 
 The pioneer was neither a mediaevalist nor an anarchist. He 
 lived necessarily the simple life, and the rules pertaining thereto were 
 often enforced without the consent of the ruled. As in other respects 
 where he had no choice, the highest value of such a life may not have 
 been his, but to some of its rewards he did fall heir. The educational 
 and religious institutions of the more distant past were re-established 
 in the earliest days of new settlements, and many of the philanthropic 
 and benevolent enterprises of the present were given by him good 
 countenance and substantial aid. 
 
 In many works we have today a far different outlook. Life is 
 apparently a more complex matter; its necessary simplicity has van- 
 ished, and it may some time be our duty to disentangle ourselves 
 from the conventional, to tear away disguises, to expose chains, to 
 act upon the principle that in morals, as in mathematics, the shortest 
 distance between any two points is measured on the straight line 
 which joins them. 
 
 It has sometimes been said by the better natured of our foreign 
 critics, that while we had neither art, literature nor history, we were 
 partly excusable from lack of time. We were so new. But, fortu- 
 nately, or unfortunately, that excuse is fast failing us — not because 
 our critics have made any mistakes in their dates, but because, like 
 that of the youngest child of a large family, our babyhood has been 
 much enriched by the garnered wisdom of our elder brothers and 
 sisters, and our wits sharpened by the conversation of those more 
 mature. These, too, with rare discretion, deferred their petting until 
 the youngest of the nations was fairly on its feet. We can no longer 
 truthfully say that we fight for an existence. Are we aiming to put 
 into the fabric of our state those principles of universal education, 
 religious principle and strict equity which were once proclaimed as 
 its foundation stones? Is the republic to be a republic or an olig- 
 archy? Are we vigilant of the rights of others as well as of our own? 
 Do we remember that Spartan fortitude was the result only of 
 Spartan discipline? Are we giving to the stranger within our gates 
 the freedom and the justice our revered ancestors claimed for them- 
 selves and for their posterity? If we are practicing the same virtue 
 by which our heritage was won, we are making good our claim to all
 
 268 ■ BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 its rank and power. But not for long^ can we make those principles 
 a neglected factor, and yet call high heaven to witness that we are 
 and of right ought to be, the most favored nation on earth. Have we 
 any doubt of this? History repeats itself, and the panorama of the 
 nations of all time is unrolled upon her pages. Some illustrations 
 of what may be our fate are so familiar as to need but slight allusion. 
 
 The beauty-loving Greek has long been a theme for poets and 
 rhapsodists, and his graceful marbles will never cease to be admired. 
 But when he made gods of his graven images, neglected the discipline 
 which had made him strong, and the careful self-culture which had 
 made him master of craft and art, he fell from his high estate. When 
 the spirit of caste had nurtured envy, and oppression hate ; when 
 luxury had enervated its votaries and drained the life blood of its 
 victims, the work of the foreign foe was easy, and men said, "How 
 strange." But we say it no more. 
 
 The Romans were a ruder race, but so long as they maintained 
 even a rough justice toward their own countrymen, regarded as 
 sacred the rights of Romans and fought for the common glory of the 
 Roman nation, they were invincible alike against the cultured and 
 powerful and the savage tribes and nations that hemmed them in on 
 every side. But when Rome said, 'T am mistress of the world," the 
 canker of pride began to eat at her vitals. When her emperors and 
 nobles maintained their state and splendor through her enslavement 
 of her citizens and her laborers, she had yielded the secret of her 
 power. Then Goth and Visigoth, Vandal and Hun might roam at 
 will through her marble palaces, stable their horses beside her altars 
 and pluck the beards of her haughty senators. 
 
 The great empire of Charlemagne fell to pieces in the hands of 
 his degenerate sons, and probably today the average Frenchman 
 could not name the territories where their great hero once held sway. 
 Does the comparison seem a fanciful one, or the thought unsuited 
 for consideration? Certainly not fanciful, unless the centuries have 
 abrogated the law of cause and effect and it is no longer true that 
 whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. Not irrelevant, if 
 we are a part of the whole. "Mine is a divine right, and no man may 
 gainsay me," said Charles I, of England. Not alone for his own arro- 
 gance, but for the accumulated wrongs of centuries he paid the pen- 
 alty. "We are the state," said citizen and citizeness of France, and a 
 howling frenzied mob cheered when the head of Louis XIV rolled into 
 the basket. The world has been long in learning that no man — king 
 or peasant, millionaire or day laborer — has any right which is not 
 based on righteousness. The wisest of presidents, the most learned 
 counselors, the most magnificent commerce, fleets and armies, cannot 
 preserve the honor, the integrity and the power of a republic. We 
 are the state. And such as we the state will be. 
 
 Not once in a thousand years, with blind and unreasoning fury, 
 to burn, to tear down, to pillage and to murder, but always, by our 
 individual worth, to build up, to guard, to cherish and to enrich. 
 
 We cannot be atheists. The wonders of creation forbid that. 
 We cannot forget our fathers. Their lives are too closely interwoven
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 269 
 
 with ours for that to be possible. And if we are not loyal to our 
 country — well, we could not discuss such a possibility. 
 
 I know of no finer epitome of a life than that given by Madame 
 De Stael, near the close of her long and memorable career. A woman 
 whose personal fascinations, intellectual brilliancy and political in- 
 sight have seldom been combined in one person, summed up all she 
 had been or done in the words, "I have loved my God, my father and 
 my country." It was enough for her; it is enough for us. 
 
 An Honest Grocery Man. 
 
 It has often been said that all grocery dealers were not honest, 
 but labored hard to sell what goods they had, regardless of customer 
 and circumstances. This may have been true in the years past, but 
 it was not true in all cases. There was at least one man in the grocery 
 trade in Fond du Lac who had the reputation generally for being 
 strictly honest and sold his goods for just what they were. He always 
 told the customer of the situation as to quality. This man, when not 
 much more than a boy, was employed in the grocery store of Robert 
 Wyatt, then on West Second street. He learned the business there 
 and afterwards went into business for himself on Main street, in the 
 room now occupied by Miss Tambke and the Jenz candy store, and 
 was in business there" a number of years. This man was Dennis 
 Conley, brother of our present well known grocer, J. W. Conley, who 
 clerked for his brother. Dennis Conley died some years ago, and in 
 the latter years of his life was in poor health. He at least left a 
 reputation for being a strictly honest grocer. 
 
 An Unfortunate Shoemaker. 
 
 "That's what's the matter," was the characteristic utterance of 
 John Rottman, and who of the old timers and many of modern times, 
 have not heard it from his lips. John Rottman was the best natured 
 German shoemaker ever in Fond du Lac. He had considerable 
 means, had a very good business, but bad habits and carelessness, 
 besides a bad marriage, ruined him. He had hosts of friends, but 
 they could not overcome his bad habits and home troubles, and the 
 result was that John was so frozen one cold night on his way home 
 to the distant east end of Ninth street, that he died. For many years 
 before he died, he occupied the little shop on East Second street, near 
 Main, where he cobbled himself into old age. John Rottman was 
 altogether too good natured. He signed paper for his friends that 
 cost him much money, and from good circumstances went into 
 poverty. Still he was always good natured and pleasant to callers. 
 He was a historical character. He sat on his little shoe bench from 
 morning to night, a most industrious citizen. Like many others, 
 industrious but wrong guided.
 
 270 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Dr. H. B. Dale Practiced Here. 
 
 The late Dr. H. B. Dale, of Oshkosh, was a nephew of Dr. T. J. 
 Patchen, and began practice here. Dr. Patchen came to Fond du Lac 
 in 1854 and Dr. Dale came a year later, and their professional card 
 of that date reads, Drs. Patchen & Dale, Homeopathic Physicians and 
 Surgeons. Three years later Dr. Dale went to Oshkosh, spending 
 the remainder of his life there, becoming not only one of the most 
 noted and successful physicians, but one of the most popular citizens. 
 For many years he was superintendent of schools of that city. Mrs. 
 Dale was Miss Augusta Olcott, daughter of Q. M. Olcott, one of the 
 prominent early days' lumbermen of Fond du Lac. During his resi- 
 dence here. Dr. Dale became a very popular doctor and he was greatly 
 missed when he went to Oshkosh. 
 
 Former Fond du Lac People. 
 
 J. H. Spencer will be remembered by all older citizens as a dealer 
 in leather and shoemakers and harnessmakers findings. He was a 
 noted talker and for many years was the leader of the spiritualists. 
 What he did not know about that faith it was not worth while to try 
 to find out. Mr. Spencer died in Chicago in 1897, at the age of 90 
 years. His son, DeWitt Spencer, has resided in Minneapolis many 
 years. He will be remembered as manufacturer of gloves and mittens 
 and of Brown's Blood Purifier. 
 
 Connected with the Spencer store was J. W. Hawes, so long there 
 as to be almost part of it. He died here many years ago. 
 
 Fred May and Homeing Pigeons. 
 
 Fred May, son of E. M. May, well known to all old residents, 
 now residing on the banks of 'Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis, has bred 
 some of the most noted Homeing Pigeons in this country. On July 
 4th, 1905, he had nine birds in a flight of six hundred miles, and every 
 one of them returned home safely, the first in thirteen hours and the 
 last in eighteen hours and fifty minutes. Fred ]\Iay is a native of Fond 
 du Lac, being born here in 1870. 
 
 An Old School Darkey. 
 
 "I don't want to interfere to cause no interruptions," was a re- 
 mark made by "Uncle Billy Jones," when Mrs. Overton asked him to 
 call for her boarding house garbage which another darkey had 
 neglected. At this time "Uncle Billy" had a horse and wagon and did 
 odd jobs about town, but he traded himself out of about everything 
 he had, and the last years of his life he was an indigent old beggar. 
 He was one of the slaves brought here by Elder Rogers, in war time 
 from Island No. 10. He died in 1900. and probably everybody within 
 ten miles of the court house knew Uncle Billy Jones.
 
 COURT HOUSE TALK 
 
 The Troubles of the Old Court House and Evolution of the Era. 
 Some Incidents of the Time. 
 
 The Old and the New. 
 
 The first Fond du Lac county court house was built in 1848 and 
 completed ready for use early in 1850, Isaac Brown being the con- 
 ■ tractor. It was a three-story structure, the first story being stone, 
 the others wood. It was 40x90 feet in size and for that early day was 
 a fine building. The lower story was divided by a hall, the north 
 half being the jail and the south half was used as a dwelling place 
 for the jailor. The second floor was made into rooms for the county 
 officers, and the third floor was the court room, well seated and 
 furnished. The building was surmounted by a modest steeple and 
 flag staff. After a few years the county board, believing the records 
 unsafe, had a small stone building erected on Court street, north of 
 the court house, into w^hicli the offices of the register of deeds and 
 clerk of the court were moved and remained there many years. 
 About 1868 the agitation began for a new court house, but the super- 
 visors from the west side of the county, fought those from the east
 
 272 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 side on the proposition. Finally as if to silence the argument that a 
 new and safer jail was needed, a new jail was conceded, the land 
 was bought on Linden street and the jail and sheriff's residence 
 erected as we see them today. But at last the end of the agitation 
 was reached, for in 1881, after a service of thirty-three years, the 
 court house burned down. The postofifice then occupied the build- 
 ing at the corner of Division and Macy streets, where the cold storage 
 building now is. The rooms above were fitted up for county pur- 
 poses and the court room continued there three years. At the session 
 of the county board in the fall of 1881, a building commission was ap- 
 pointed to prepare plans for a new court house and attend to the 
 preliminary work. In 1882 the plans were adopted and the con- 
 tracts were let. The progress of the work was slow and it was not 
 until 1884 that the building was completed and occupied. The little 
 stone building on Court street was then torn away and a general 
 improvement in appearance was begun, resulting finally as we see 
 it today. The building and its surroundings are such that the people 
 of the county are well pleased. The heat from the fire at the time 
 the court house was burned, took away three or four of the 
 beautiful trees. We were once proud of the old court house and we 
 are proud of the present structure. 
 
 But three county officers. Sheriff, Register and Clerk of the 
 Court, occupied offices in the old court house at the time of its com- 
 pletion, and afterwards these three moved out, the Register and 
 Clerk of the Court into the stone building that was built for safety. 
 Most of our county officers have occupied rooms about town. 
 
 Officers at time of completion of the old court house, were as 
 follows : 
 
 Judge of Circuit Court — Timothy O. Howe. 
 
 Judge of County Court — C. E. Tompkins. 
 
 Sheriff — Francis D. McCarty. 
 
 Register of Deeds — Nelson Wood. 
 
 County Clerk — Chauncey J. Allen. 
 
 Clerk of Court — Fayette S. Brown, 
 
 County Treasurer — Peter V. Sang. 
 
 District Attorney — I. S. Tallmadge. 
 
 County Surveyor — Lathrop Ellis. 
 
 Coroner — Alonzo Raymond. 
 
 The county officers holding official positions in the new court 
 house fifty-five years later, were : 
 
 Judge of Circuit Court — Norman S. Gilson. 
 
 Judge of County Court — George Perkins. 
 
 Sheriff — Frederick Konz. 
 
 Register of Deeds — Charles B. Bartlett. 
 
 County Clerk — Mark Crain. 
 
 Clerk of the Courts — A. E. Richter. 
 
 County Treasurer — C. F. G. Wernicke. 
 
 District Attorney — F. F. Duffy. 
 
 County Surveyor — Joseph Haessley. 
 
 Coroner — F. F. Parsons.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 273 
 
 The north side of the second story of the old court house was 
 divided into jury rooms, south side offices, of which there were but 
 three. The third story, or court room, was used for all sorts of pur- 
 poses besides court. Conventions, caucuses, church services, lectures, 
 all sorts of gatherings were held there, especially in the first few 
 years of its existence. 
 
 "The terms of court were held in the school house at Fond du 
 Lac, until it was burned. The local paper, in speaking of the fire, 
 said the court house had been burned, every church in the town has 
 been consumed, and even the school house and all other public 
 buildings here have shared the same fate. There is no insurance and 
 the loss cannot be less than two hundred dollars. 
 
 Old Court House Yard. 
 
 When the old board fence was built around the court house 
 yard, it was thought to be a nice thing and quite appropriate to what 
 was then regarded as a nice court house. Then the old sidewalk of 
 boards was removed and a new one laid with the plank lengthwise. 
 But this did not last many years and the Sylvesters furnished the 
 flagging for a stone walk for the frost to heave and break into pieces, 
 the size of your hand to a side of sole leather, which it proceeded to 
 do. Then it was removed and thicker stone used, which lasted much 
 longer. The county fairs came and assisted in making a dilapidated 
 fence and a mud hole of the yard. But still we pointed with pride 
 to our court house premises. Then the small office building began 
 to need repairs, but at an opportune time the old court house took 
 fire and was burned. Now something better was to come in the court 
 house of today, a concrete sidewalk, a well kept lawn and no fence 
 at all. Surely we have improved our county property. 
 
 Court House and County Fairs. 
 
 County fairs were af one time held on the court house square 
 and the old court house made use of for the exhibition of fruits, 
 flowers, grain and fancy goods. Panels of board fencing were made to 
 surround the square and after a fair had been held and the fence re- 
 moved, it was a most sorry- looking place — didn't have much the 
 appearance it has now. The last time it was attempted to hold the 
 fair there, it was a failure on account of rain. The fence panels were 
 piled up in the rear of the court house and disappeared one by one, 
 so that at next fair time very few were left. "Ike" Orvis said 'they 
 were put out there close to the street as an invitation to those going 
 by with wagons to throw on one or more and help abolish a public 
 nuisance. Anyhow it was done and no more county fairs were held 
 ori the court house square. The next fair was attempted on the 
 Ingram property on upper Main street, then an open field for some 
 distance. The day before the fair was to begin, a rain set in and the 
 water came down in torrents steadily for three whole days. A more 
 dismal scene was never witnessed on this earth than was that fair 
 ground and it killed the county fair business for several years. No 
 one had the heart to try it again until sufficient time had elapsed to
 
 274 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 forget about that fair ground scene. O. W. Townsend had some 
 pumps there and said he did not need to incur the expense of hauling 
 water to exhibit them — there was plenty right there. Jay Roblee 
 had some pigs there and had to remove them by another route on 
 account of the deep mud. Surely it was one of the county fairs to 
 beget lasting disgust. 
 
 Old Court House Offices. 
 
 When the old court house was completed and occupied in 1850, 
 it was regarded as a quite sleek place. For proof of this, talk with 
 J. B. Perry, of the First National Bank, who was one of the first in 
 it with Register of Deeds Nelson Wood, or with E. A. Carey, who 
 helped Isaac Brown in building it. But there was thirty years of 
 service coming to it before it was to be wiped out by fire, and in that 
 thirty years it became decidedly rusty. Its appearance, except the 
 court room, was little better than any old rookery, unused and un- 
 usable. It was thirty-four years from the time of its being completed 
 until a new structure had fully taken its place, an.d that is a long time 
 to live and prosper for a building erected as cheaply as that was. 
 It was not of the sort to last like the pyramids. It served its purpose 
 and probably long enough. 
 
 Saved the Court House. 
 
 The county board of supervisors once voted one hundred dollars 
 to the Fond du Lac City Fire department for saving the old court 
 house from burning. The city would rather have paid the same 
 amount to let it burn, for it had become an eye-sore. Once after 
 that it was complained that the department was very slow in getting 
 there because they wanted it to burn, and maybe it was true. The 
 country members of the board did not want to build a new court 
 house then. 
 
 Something About Roads. 
 
 The first road through this settlement was opened in 1836, from 
 Green Bay to Fort Crawford, known as the Military Road, though 
 it seems to have small claim to the name of road. The streams 
 which were otherwise absolutely impassable, were covered with poles 
 laid upon fragile foundations, a little above low water mark. 
 
 Through timbered land there were some definite marks to inform 
 the traveller of the road's locality ; through openings, prairies and 
 marshes, he had a wide field for selecting his route, provided he could 
 find the bridge over the next stream. 
 
 This was the general state of the roads for many years. In 1837 
 and '38 there was a road opened from Sheboygan. In the fall of 
 1838 there was a road opened and bridged to Fox Lake. This ro^d 
 had been previously surveyed by Mr. Brower. 
 
 In the winter of 1839, there was a road opened by way of Waupun 
 to Madison, and a settlement commenced by Mr. S. Wilcox, at 
 Waupun, eighteen miles from Fond du Lac, and one at Taycheedah 
 by F. D. McCarty and Reuben Simmons. In 1842 a road was opened 
 from Fond du Lac to Milwaukee.
 
 IMPROVEMENT COMPANY 
 
 Great Expectations of Early Days' People Not Realized. The Fox 
 and Wisconsin Rivers Improvement. 
 
 The Fox and Wisconsin Rivers Improvement Company struggled 
 along with the work, but the income was not sufficient to keep things 
 going on the Lower Fox, and the dams and locks went into decay. 
 On the Upper Fox almost nothing was done. At this time Fond du 
 Lac lost interest in the work, as it was seen that it would never be of 
 much value to us. In 1869, a scheme was arranged to sell the im- 
 provement to the LTnited States government and it was announced 
 that the sale had been effected, only to be learned later on, that the 
 government had in reality bought, as the late Charles W. Felker ex- 
 pressed it, only the right to rebuild the rotted out dams and locks, 
 and this it did between the years 1869 and 1879. Comparatively little 
 has been done in the last twenty-five years. The Lower Fox is of 
 some value, but the Upper Fox is of little account. The work on the 
 Wisconsin river is of still less value. And so it was that the early 
 days' expectations in regard to this water way, have proven almost 
 a failure. 
 
 In the introduction to the first Fond du Lac city directory, 
 printed in 1857, speaking of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers Improve- 
 ment, Mr. Bingham says: 
 
 Fond du Lac, from its location upon Lake Winnebago, commands 
 a large extent of water communication. Being at the southern ex- 
 tremity of the lake, which extends into a fine agricultural country, 
 it is a natural point for a large surrounding country to meet this 
 water communication. It is connected with Lake Michigan and the 
 eastern markets by the Lower Fox, which flows from the foot of Lake 
 Winnebago into Green Bay, and with the Mississippi country by the 
 Upper Fox and Wisconsin rivers, united b}^ a canal of about two 
 miles in length. This line of water communication has been known 
 as a public highway since Father Marquette, a Jesuit Missionary, 
 first passed over it, starting from Green Bay, to explore the upper 
 Mississippi in 1763. This water course through a fertile and unsur- 
 passed agricultural country, naturally attracted the attention of the 
 first settlers of the state, for the facilities it afforded for commerce, 
 and manufactures, and the first settlements in the state were made, 
 one at Green Bay, at the mouth of Fox river, and the other at Prairie 
 du Chieu, at the mouth of the Wisconsin. At an early day it became 
 apparent to the settlers of this country, that this channel of communi- 
 cation between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes might, without 
 great expense, be so improved as to become a great highway for 
 commerce through a rich agricultural country. In 1838, it attracted 
 the attention of the general government, and Mr. Poinsett, Secretary
 
 276 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 of War, called the attention of congress to its value as a route for 
 military communication and transportation, and urged an appropria- 
 tion for the construction of locks around the rapids of the Lower Fox, 
 between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay, and a canal to unite the 
 rivers at Portage. To effect this object, in August, 1846, congress 
 granted to the State of Wisconsin alternate sections of land on each 
 side of the Fox river, and in 1848, the state accepted the grant and 
 appointed a board, which were charged with the execution of the 
 work. The Constitution of the State forbids the creation of any 
 public debts ; the board were therefore limited in their expenditures 
 to the receipts from the sale of lands granted by congress. As the 
 population of Wisconsin was then comparatively small, and the public 
 lands had not been taken up by settlers, their receipts were not 
 sufficient for a vigorous prosecution of the enterprise. 
 
 On the 6th of July, 1853, the legislature transferred the remainder 
 of the grant and all the works of improvement to an association, 
 consisting of Mason C. Darling and Benjamin F. Moore, of Fond du 
 Lac; Otto Tank, Morgan L. Martin, Edgar Conklin, Joseph G. Law- 
 ton and Uriah H. Peak, of Green Bay, and Theodore Conkey, of 
 Appleton, and their associates, named and styled the "Fox and Wis- 
 consin Improvement Company," allowing them all the benefits from 
 the unsold lands of the grant, and all the profits of the work when 
 completed (restricted only by a maximum price for tolls), on condi- 
 tion that they were to assume all the indebtedness and liabilities of 
 the state incurred in the prosecution of the work, and were to com- 
 plete the same within a given time. 
 
 We who have lived long enough to see results, can hardly 
 suppress a smile when we read of the expectations of those who have 
 preceded us. The active days of Captains Sam and Ed Neff, Capt. 
 Crawford, Capt. Knapp, Capt. Golden, Capt. Anson, Capt. Morley, 
 Capt. Ole Olson, Capt. John Lynch, Tom Wall and others, have gone 
 from these waters forever. Nor can their places be filled by others, 
 as there is no demand for their services. The water, as well as the 
 men, have disappeared. 
 
 Born a Mathematician. 
 
 In the early fifties there was a young man named J. M. Sheffield 
 in Fond du Lac and clerked in the drug store of J. R. & J. W. 
 Partridge. He was a very quiet young man, whom few knew inti- 
 mately, and he is spoken of here only to note a peculiarity possessed 
 by him. He was a born mathematician and could work out questions 
 in that science with remarkable ease. It mattered not how intricate 
 the problem might be extending to geometry, trigonometry, or even 
 to conic sections, it did not seem to bother Sheffield very much. Com- 
 plicated problems in figures were often worked out by him without 
 resort to slate or pencil and paper. Men about town often tried to 
 bother him with problems, only to be astonished how easily and 
 quickly he could solve them. He was here only three or four years.
 
 POLICE DEPARTMENT 
 
 Something About the Police Force of Fond du Lac from the Earliest 
 Times to the Present. Some of Those Who , 
 
 Have Served. 
 
 In the earliest times of Fond du Lac, the people had to look out 
 for their own protection, and this was really the situation until after 
 we became a city, as constables were of not much real use as public 
 officers. When Fond du Lac was incorporated as a village in 1847, 
 two constables were elected, and this continued until the city charter 
 came in 1852. During this seven ,years we had George Williams 
 Carnii Wright, Joshua Barnet, George Croft. F. D. McCarty, 
 Milford Van Dresar, Charles Van Norder, Forbes Homiston 
 and others as contasbles, but to do police duty was below 
 the dignity of their office, therefore the people, as a rule, seldom called 
 on them for protection. And our first officers under the city govern- 
 ment were little better. Under the city charter this officer was 
 known as City Marshal, but he had no assistants unless the council 
 saw fit to give him help, which it seldom did, so that if he was fit for 
 the office, he had to cover too much ground to be efficient. 
 
 During the fourteen 3^ears from 1852, when the city government 
 began, to 1866, when the police force came into existence, we had the 
 following City Marshals : 
 
 1852— C. N. Snell. 1860— B. F. Midgley. 
 
 1853— F. P. Homiston. 1861— Charles Van Norder. 
 
 1854— John Case. 1SG2— John Dobyns. 
 
 1855—1. W. Bowen. 1863— John Dobyns. 
 
 1856— Daniel Banks. 1864— John Dobyns. 
 
 1857— Charles Arlin. 1865— Phillip Zipp. 
 
 1858— Charles Arlin. 1866— Louis Ladoux. 
 
 1859— E. S. Hammond. 
 The legislature abolished the office in 1866 and the police force 
 came into existence. Following are the chiefs of police since that 
 time : 
 
 1867 — James T. Conklin. 1885 — John Gill, served four months. 
 
 1868 — James' T. Conklin. 1885 — Jos. Como, served eight months. 
 
 1869— James O'Connel. 1886- G. A. Kretlow. 
 
 1870— L N. Welch. 1887— G. A. Kretlow. 
 
 1871— L N. Welch. 1888— G. A. Kretlow. 
 
 1872 — James Swineford. 1889 — Barney McDermotu 
 
 1873 — James Swineford. 1890 — Barney McDermott. 
 
 1874— Timothy Hardgrove. 1891- Barney McDermott. 
 
 1875— G. A. Kretlow. 1892— H. W. Eaton. 
 
 1876— G. A. Kretlow. 1893— Thos. McGrath. 
 
 1877— G. A. Kretlow. 1894— Sealy O'Conor. 
 
 1878— G. A. Kretlow. 1895— Sealy O'Conor.
 
 278 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 1879— G. A. Kretlow. 1896— Sealy O'Conor. 
 
 1880— G. A. Kretlow. 1897— Thos. McGrath. 
 
 1881— C. F. P. Clough. 1898— Thos. McGrath. 
 
 1882— C. F. P. Clough. 1899— Simon Schaefer, from Jan. 1st. 
 
 1883— G. A. Kretlow. 1900— Simon Schaefer. 
 
 1884 — G. A. Kretlow. 1901 — F. A. Nolan, to me present time. 
 
 Dtiring the entire period of the City Marshals, there was no 
 headquarters other than the rooms where the common council met, 
 which were also the city clerk's office. As previously stated, the 
 Marshals had no assistants in their police work and everything was 
 run on a cheap scale. When the police came matters were changed 
 a little. The chief of police had two policemen with headquarters. 
 The first police office was on Division street, without cells and other 
 means of caring for prisoners. These had to go to the county jail, 
 and about this there was trouble, as the county wanted pay from the 
 city for care of their local wrong doers. Mayors Patchen and Foster, 
 in the early seventies, were able to measure the situation, and the first 
 of the police stations came, on the ground where the present station 
 stands. Under the guidance of James Swineford, as chief of police, 
 we began to have a force worthy the name of police. 
 
 In early days, a small wooden building, hardly large enough for 
 a smoke house, located on Portland street, served as a city lock-up. 
 It had no cells, or its single apartment might have been called one 
 cell, and was made secure by weak, wooden shutters. It was used 
 only for the incarceration of unfortunates, who had become so 
 drunk they could not break out of a paper house. 
 
 In 1 866, a more substantial structure of brick, with cells and 
 apparatus for warmth, was erected near the corner of Macy, on First 
 street. In 1878, this having become too small to accommodate the 
 constantly increasing number of tramps, or wandering vagrants, and 
 too dilapidated to secure criminals, the present brick and stone 
 structure was built at a cost of $2,300 on the same site. It is two 
 stories high with six single and four double cells, and a commodious 
 office for the chief of police and police headquarters. 
 
 In 1904, this structure was further irnproved by an addition to 
 the south side, containing a private office for the chief of police and 
 an examination room, and the station otherwise improved by various 
 changes. This building is used merely as a detention prison and not 
 for persons under sentence.. It is probably not necessary to say that 
 these rooms are not provided with downy couches or Morris chairs 
 and a person so unfortunate as to get in there might possibly prefer 
 the Erving or Palmer House. 
 
 In the old times when a political pull put a man on the force, no 
 matter what his age or how infirm, the force could not be efficient. 
 Some of the policemen of twenty years ago, would make sorry work 
 of it now. Men who have passed to 55 or 60 years of age, are now 
 cut out of the police service in most cities and under civil service 
 rules look for young, strong, healthy men. Police service is very 
 different from what it was seventeen years ago. In the detective 
 service specialties are worked. There are safe blowing detectives,
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 279 
 
 bank robber detectives, train robbing, burglary, pickpocket and 
 others, and they give attention only to their specialties. 
 
 Previous to 1885 the common cotmcil each spring elected the 
 chief and policemen, but this process forced old and unfit men upon 
 the force. A man who had a political pull strong enough, managed 
 to get there, fit or unfit. In 1885, the law was changed by the 
 creation of a Board of Police and Fire Commissioners to manage 
 these departments. The force may now be changed at any time — it 
 is under civil service rules, and while there is sometimes some fric- 
 tion, things go on better. 
 
 Well Known and Wealthy. 
 
 All citizens of Fond du Lac and vicinity, between the years 1858 
 and 1875, well remember E. M. May, who conducted a fancy bakery, 
 ice cream parlors and fruit stand near the store of Henry Brothers, 
 and erected the fine three story brick building in that locality. Mr, 
 May plodded along here for about eighteen years, when he sold out 
 and went to Minneapolis, where he entered the same business on a 
 large scale and became wealthy, so well fixed that he retired with a 
 fortune, although in business there but about fifteen years. He died 
 in 1896. Mrs. May and her son Fred, reside in a fine home on the 
 shore of Lake Calhoun, and she has many flats and other property 
 from which to collect rents. Mrs. J. V. Frost, also well known in 
 Fond du Lac, resides a close neighbor of Mrs. May. Fred May has 
 one of the noted lofts of homeing pigeons in the United States, and 
 his birds have made some remarkable flights. Dr. Cad May, so well 
 known as a boy in Fond du Lac, died some years ago. The place 
 kept here by Mr. May in the old times, was one much frequented for 
 lunches, ice cream, fruit, etc., and few people had a more general 
 acquaintance. He went to Minneapolis at just the right time in the 
 city's business career, and pushing business prospered. The family 
 still has many warm friends here. 
 
 Experiences of Early Dealers. 
 
 In the early days of trade in Fond du Lac, dealers had their 
 troubles. The dry goods man knew nothing about rugs, made up 
 white goods or department store notions ; the hardware man knew 
 nothing about wire fencing, building paper or coal stoves ; the 
 grocer}^ dealer had no knowledge of cereal foods, canned goods or 
 foreign fruits : the dealer in furniture was ignorant as to cabinet and 
 spring beds, couches and willow chairs : the jeweler knew nothing 
 about Waltham, Elgin and other American watches, but sold English 
 levers, Swiss and French cylinder escapements ; the druggist did not 
 have the tablets, alkaloids and pills of the present ; milliners were 
 ignorant of the modern hat. These are but a few of the articles that 
 old time dealers were ignorant of, and the number is increasing now 
 from year to year. WHiat will be the situation in fifty years more no 
 one can foresee.
 
 280 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Wild Bakery and Confectionery. 
 
 The late B. Wild came to Fond dn Lac in 1858 and became pro- 
 prietor of the bakery at the corner of Main and East First streets, 
 in 1859, under the name Excelsior Bakery. In 1867 the property on 
 East First street, near Marr, was bought, the old premises having 
 become too small, a suitable building was erected and the bakery 
 removed there. These premises also became too small as the business 
 increased, and additions were made to it until at the time of consolida- 
 tion, it had become one of the largest concerns of its kind in the 
 state. In 1883, the buildings were partly destroyed by fire, but were 
 at once rebuilt larger than before. At this time the product of the 
 factory was mostly crackers and confectionery, though some other 
 bakery stock was made. Mr. Wild introduced the round "cottage 
 loaves" of bread and for many years was a by no means small part 
 of the daily output. In 1896 the Wild factory was consolidated with 
 the great American Biscuit Company and the factory in Fond du Lac 
 was closed and dismantled, much to the regret of all citizens and of 
 Mr. Wild himself, who consented to it because of advancing age and 
 a more profitable business arrangement. It was Mr. Wild who put 
 down the first of the deep fountains in Fond du Lac, at this factory. 
 He was a man of the highest character, and was beloved by all 
 citizens. He died in 1904. 
 
 The Rueping Tannery, 
 
 This is another of the grand business institutions of Fond du Lac, 
 and which has grown to immense proportions. The business was 
 started here in 1854 by the elder William Rueping and his two oldest 
 sons. The plant was a small one at the start, but they were practical 
 and pushing business men and there was rapid growth. The build- 
 ings were quite modest at first, but they were three times increased 
 by the addition of brick structures, until they have reached the 
 present very large proportions. It is now one of the largest and 
 most complete tanneries in the state. The machinery and appliances 
 used are of modern design and the process the best known to the 
 business. No acids or destructive material is used in any form. The 
 quick process for tanning has always been ignored. The tanning 
 obtained from hemlock bark, is the best material and thousands of 
 cords of hemlock bark is used every year. The output of this tannery 
 is very large but finds a ready market. Only a visit to this large con- 
 cern can give any adequate idea of its magnitude. 
 
 All is Not Possible. 
 
 In an experience of more than fifty years in a community like 
 Fond du Lac, so much transpires that it is impossible to make note 
 of everything in a book like this. The author would have been glad 
 to note many things which he has been compelled to omit. Future 
 efforts he hopes will bring all into line. If the reader is inclined to 
 criticise, let him but bear all the facts in mind.
 
 NOW ALMOST UNKNOWN 
 
 Some Things About the Towns, Cities and Villages in Early Times, 
 Now Almost or Quite Forgotten. 
 
 In early times there was in the town of Ashford, a place of some 
 notoriety under the name of Crouchville. L. Crouch had a water 
 power there, which he improved and the village of Crouchville was 
 well known and talked about. But the water decreased in quantity 
 as in all other sections as the land was improved and the notoriety 
 of the place ceased to the extent that few people now know where it 
 was. Recently the writer had occasion to look the matter up and his 
 inquiries reached to at least twenty old residents before he found 
 one to give the location with certainty and that person was born 
 there. What was in the early times known as Crouchville is now 
 New Cassel. This incident shows how completely things will drop 
 from memory. 
 
 Rising Sun and Tavern used to be talked of, but how many now 
 know that it was in the town of Springvale near Wedge's Prairie. 
 There it was, however, and all old timers knew the place well, but 
 there are few, if any, now living who could go to the place. 
 
 Reed's Corners was another once well known locality, but now 
 almost wholly unknown. Almon Osburn, Curt. Higly, George Good- 
 fellow and Squire Raymonds have passed away and Reed's Corners, 
 between Ripon and Brandon, in the town of Metomen, is almost 
 unknown. 
 
 Pequat Village, in the town of Calumet. Who can tell just 
 where it was in the palmy days of Rufus P. Eaton and John Boyd? 
 
 Arcade, just west of Ripon, once had several houses and the 
 fine flouring mill had a large patronage. The mill is there yet, but 
 the water of Silver Creek has largely disappeared, as have also most 
 of the houses in Arcade. Most people have forgotten that there 
 ever was such a place. 
 
 Black Hawk was the name of a proposed village at one time, in 
 the town of Alto, but little is known now about it. Black Hawk 
 postoffice was connected with it in very early times. 
 
 Avoca village, in the town of Oakfield, one mile north of Oak- 
 field station, at what was in early days known as the Orvis mill, 
 once gave promise of much more than has come to it. Avoca has 
 been in decline many years. The mill is there yet, but the water is 
 not sufficient for it to do much business. Decay is apparent. 
 
 Foster, at the Foster postofifice and home of Egbert Foster, two 
 and one-half miles east of the present Eden station, a village was 
 talked of but died out after Mr. Foster left the county. 
 
 New Fane postoffice in the town of Auburn, was an incipient 
 village, but died an early death, together with the postoffice.
 
 282 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 As if in need of a capitol, all the towns in this county possess 
 villages as follows : 
 
 Alto — Village of Alto. 
 
 Ashford — Campbellsport. 
 
 Auburn — New Prospect and New Cassel. 
 
 Byron — South Byron. AUenton is little more than a railroad 
 station and Hamilton is a stone quarry and lime burning village. 
 
 Calumet — Marytown and Calumet Harbor. 
 
 Eden — Village of Eden Station. Marblehead is a stone quarry 
 and lime burning place. 
 
 Eldorado — Eldorado Village. 
 
 Empire — Eggersville. The homestead of the de Neveu family 
 has been known as Buena Vista, but was never a village 
 
 Fond du Lac — City of Fond du Lac. The prosperous young city 
 of North Fond du Lac, is at the shops of the Wisconsin Central Rail- 
 road and the location of the Northwestern shops, near it, is sometimes 
 called New Fond du Lac. 
 
 Forest — Dotyville. 
 
 Friendship — Vandyne. 
 
 Lamartine — Seven Mile Creek. 
 
 Marshfield — St. Cloud and Johnsburg. 
 
 Metomen — Brandon. 
 
 Oakfield — Oakfield Station, Oak Center and Rock River have 
 little pretensions now as villages. 
 
 Osceola — Waucousta and Dundee. What was known as Arm- 
 strong's Corners was never much more than a postoffice. 
 
 Ripon — City of Ripon. 
 
 Rosendale — Rosendale Village. What is known as West Rosen- 
 dale, was and is but a school house and postoffice. 
 
 Springvale — Rogersville, with little claim to the title of village. 
 
 Taycheedah — Village of Taycheedah. The name of Peebles' 
 Corners is given to the railroad station just east of Taycheedah. 
 
 Waupun — North Ward of the City of Waupun. 
 
 Some of the old time postoffices now and for many years discon- 
 tinued, were Nanaupa, Banner, Woodhull, Kirkwood, Empire, Arm- 
 strong's Corners, Foster, North Taycheedah and Metomen. 
 
 When Fond du Lac was set off from Brown county, all of the 
 townships did not appear at the same time. When we appeared as 
 a county we had but eleven of the twenty townships now on the 
 roll, the others came later. The town of Marshfield was not sliced 
 from Forest and made into a township until 1854. Lamartine lost 
 the territory of Eldorado in 1853, and Auburn, Springvale and 
 Friendship were first entitled to places on the map of the county in 
 1854. Joseph Wagner put in his first appearance on the county 
 board from the town of Forest, but he subsequently had the chair- 
 manship from Marshfield until he had attended a total of fourteen 
 sessions of the county board. But S. B. Stanchfield holds the lead 
 with an attendance of twenty-two sessions from the town of Fond 
 du Lac, at six of which he presided as chairman. "Uncle Billy 
 Stewart" comes next with nine sessions from Byron and Eden. A.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 283 
 
 A. Loper attended seven sessions from the town of Ripon, Aaron 
 Walters five from Eden and a great many were on the boards two 
 to five times. 
 
 Ashford Bear Story. 
 
 In eafly times the timber country of the east part of Fond du 
 Lac county was infested by bears, and in the fall of the year in 
 particular, were numerous. Farmers often suffered much from their 
 depredations. Pigs, sheep, calves and even cattle were destroyed 
 by them. Few of them ever appeared on the prairies of the west 
 half of the county, but in the east half they were numerous. Follow- 
 ing is the Ashford bear story as told by Martin Mitchell : 
 
 Among the annoyances, with which the early settlers in this 
 town had to contend, was the ferocity of bears ; these were so numer- 
 ous that they became very bold, and somewhat dangerous. On one 
 occasion Mr. Alex. St. Mary, while looking after his oxen, was set 
 upon by a bear, which had a cub near by. 
 
 He sought refuge by climbing a tree ; but she was not to be foiled 
 of her prey without further effort, and attempted to climb after him 
 when his dog seized the bear by the thighs and pulled her back, the 
 dog then retreated, and the bear after him a short distance, and then 
 returned to the tree, and as soon as she attempted to climb, the dog 
 would pull her down, St. Mary in the tree all the time hallowing for 
 help : this was continued until several men, hearing the cry for help, 
 arrived with guns, and bruin made her escape, though with the loss 
 of her cub. 
 
 The Refrigerator Business. 
 
 The first refrigerator, or so called ice box, built in Fond du Lac, 
 was the "North Pole," by Eliab Perkins, in war times, but a business 
 worthy the name, was not opened here until 1890, by C. J. Medberry 
 and M. B. Peck, under the name of the "Gurney." In that year they 
 bought the real estate of the La Belle Wagon Works, and associated 
 with a few local stockholders, began building the Gurney on a larger 
 scale. So many were made that some believed they would be 
 swamped, but every one was sold and the demand was for more. 
 They went to eastern markets and many were shipped to foreign 
 countries. The business has increased from year to year, yet none 
 are left over. In 1901 the buildings were burned but were at once 
 rebuilt larger than before. Mr. Peck died in 1903, but the business 
 has been actively continued. 
 
 In 1892, George Bowen, till then superintendent of the Gurney, 
 with a number of local stockholders, formed the Bowen Manufactur- 
 ing Company and began making the Bowen Refrigerator. From the 
 start they readily sold all they could make, and ever since the 
 Bowen plant has been one of the largest and most active in the city.
 
 284 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Wisconsin Phalanx at Ripon. 
 
 This organization was based upon the theory of Horace Greeley, 
 of the New York Tribune, for the development of a new country. 
 Some of the best men in this part of the state came here as members 
 of it, but the old doctrines of disintegration asserted themselves and 
 its light went out after a comparatively brief period. It came here 
 in the early spring of 1844, and after six years, in the fall of 1850, 
 ceased to exist. When they came the locality was known as Ceresco, 
 but in 1849 was changed to Ripon. It may be truthfully said that the 
 Phalanx was in a large measure a success,, but individuality was the 
 rock to cause the wreck. In after years the members did not hesitate 
 to express their belief that the system was the best possible method 
 for the development of a new country. 
 
 Among the early arrivals as members of the Phalanx, were 
 W^arren Chase, Lester Rounds, Jacob Woodrufif, Wm. Starr, John 
 Irving, Nathan Hunter, Robert C. Mason, Gib. Lane, David Dunham, 
 M. Limbert and others. The Phalanx was organized at Southport, 
 now Kenosha, and came thence to Ceresco, now Ripon. They 
 brought their own teams and tools. They at once built a floviring 
 mill and a small sawmill. Geo. W. Dellinger was the miller. They 
 had their own store and their own shops. Liquor was not allowed 
 in the settlement and there was never a case of drunkenness. The 
 character of the men composing the Phalanx is shown by the fact 
 that during the whole of the six years there was not one lawsuit. 
 
 At the time the Phalanx disbanded, it owned six hundred acres of 
 the beautiful land in Ripon, and everything was divided and settled 
 upon a basis that left no trouble or bitterness and not one quarrel. 
 It is not at all probable that all organizations of this character would 
 so fully demonstrate the theories of Horace Greeley, especially in 
 regard to internal workings, as this one possessed members much 
 above the average in honesty and intelligence. 
 
 The Drug Mill. 
 
 This is one of the important institutions of Fond du Lac, 
 although the people generally hear very little about it. Started in 
 1844, it has slowly grown into a large concern. It was the object of 
 the proprietors, Messrs. Huber and Fuhrman, to make it a reliable, 
 rather than startling in its growth and reputation. They determined 
 from the beginning to build up a reputation for their product, which 
 should command the patronage of the wholesale trade east and west. 
 At first they ground and pulverized only home grown articles, but 
 later on they imported all products for which there was a demand. 
 To properly care for these articles and meet the demand from whole- 
 sale druggists, they have from time to time enlarged the warehouses 
 and the mill. All parts of the world are drawn upon to meet the 
 demand. The mill of the early timers was a sorry affair compared 
 with that of today. It is doubtful if there is any man in this country 
 more skilled in his line of business than Mr. J. C. Fuhrman, of the 
 Fond du Lac drug mill.
 
 PAPER MONEY SMELLS BAD 
 
 When You Receive a Package of Paper Money from the Bank, Don't 
 Put it to Your Nose for a Smell. It is Not White Clover, 
 
 Strength of Paper Money. 
 
 Picking up a bill of the paper money of the country, imagine, if 
 you can, where that bill may have been, into what sort of places and 
 into the possession of what class of people, since it was issued new 
 and crisp. All this is conjecture, but there is no doubt about the 
 smell. A package of money, much as we desire to possess it, is 
 suggestive of nastiness in the highest degree. You are willing to 
 pocket a package if you can, but you will not bring it to your nose 
 more than once by free consent. A one dollar bill by its individual 
 smell, may be suggestive of leprosy, smallpox, itch or other disease. 
 Tellers in banks no doubt incur risks sometimes. But there is some- 
 thing besides smell in considering the strength of paper money. 
 Bank notes stand much handling. 
 
 That Uncle Sam's notes stand a great deal of rough and careless 
 handling is a fact that impresses itself upon any one who has ever 
 chanced to note the manner in which the average cashier pulls and 
 jerks the bills before he pushes them through the window to the 
 waiting patron. 
 
 A single treasury note measures three and one-eighth inches in 
 width by seven and one-fourth inches in length. It will sustain, 
 without breaking, lengthwise, a weight of forty-one pounds ; cross- 
 wise, a weight of ninety-one pounds. The notes run four to a sheet — 
 a sheet being eight and one-fourth inches wide by thirteen and one- 
 half inches long. One of these sheets lengthwise will suspend io8 
 pounds, and crosswise 177 pounds. 
 
 It will be observed that a single note is capable of sustaining, 
 crosswise, a weight of ninety-one pounds, which is twice the amount 
 by nine pounds, of the weight the note can sustain lengthwise ; while 
 in the case of the sheet, the crosswise sheet lacks thirty-nine pounds 
 of double the sustaining power of the lengthwise sheet. 
 
 Notes of the Bank of England are never passed out a second 
 time. A note issued this morning and coming in during the day's 
 business, is not allowed further circulation, no matter how crisp and 
 new. They are destroyed and newly -numbered ones take their 
 places, therefore a Bank of England note is not likely to carry or 
 breed disease. These notes are not pretty, but they possess the merit 
 of being clean. 
 
 Except that the notes are not destroyed but are filed away in
 
 286 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAU 
 
 great vaults, the situation and practice in Germany is very much the 
 same as in England. 
 
 Why has not our government put into practice some form of 
 relief from the outrageously dirty and bad smelling paper money 
 issued here? Not only bank tellers but all who handle money ask 
 for relief. 
 
 Fev^ Now in Existence. 
 
 The pennies which Fond du Lac dealers had made and circulated 
 in war times, were for purposes of change in sums less than five 
 cents. The nickle coins did not come until the close of the war. 
 There was a three cent coin in use, but it disappeared with our other 
 coins. All were glad that the three cent coins were retired, as they 
 were so often mistaken for dimes as to cause trouble. Government 
 interfered with the local war pennies and they disappeared so com- 
 pletely that the writer has seen but one in many years. They were 
 plentiful at one time in our local history. In the first issue of the 
 fractional currency, there was a three cent note, but it soon disap- 
 peared and no more were issued. . 
 
 Matches Not in Use. 
 
 The family of today that goes out into the country for a while, 
 is very sure not to forget the matches. What could they do — how 
 could they get along without them. But remember that when the 
 pioneer came to Fond du Lac covmty, there were no matches to for- 
 get. A friction match, as they were called, were not put on the 
 market until about 1842. In the evening the candle was lighted with 
 a splinter or shaving, lighted in the fire. The active housekeeper 
 would have a bunch of dry splinters but no matches. If the family 
 got up in the morning to find that the fire had gone out during the 
 night, some one had to hike off to a neighbor's house to get some. 
 Care was taken to cover the fire so it could not die out, yet it did 
 sometimes. Old people well remember the "tinder box" on the 
 kitchen mantle, in which were the steel, flint and punk, the latter a 
 kind of rotted wood that would take fire from a spark. The writer 
 has one of them now, but it is held as a curiosity instead of necessity, 
 as in old times. 
 
 Level of Dr. Bishop's House. 
 
 Who would suspect when standing and looking at it, 
 that the ground on which Dr. Bishop's hovise stands, is the 
 highest in that part of the city. The corner of Marr and Sixth seems 
 to be higher, but it is really a trifle lower. When he built the house 
 Dr. Patchen had the levels taken by Col. Boardman and he found the 
 location of the house higher than any of the surrounding country. 
 Dr. Patchen informed the writer that Sixth street, near Main, was 
 just the same as at his house. Localities are sometimes very deceiv- 
 ing.
 
 OLD SETTLERS IN 1905 
 
 The Fall Meeting of the Old Settlers' Club, August 30, 1905, in 
 Every Respect Most Successful. 
 
 The pioneers of Fond du Lac county, who had laid the founda- 
 tions upon which to build and to whom all credit is due for what has 
 been achieved, gathered in Fond du Lac, August 30, 1905, the day of 
 the annual picnic of the Old Settlers' Club. 
 
 The gathering was one of the largest in the history of the or- 
 ganization, and Fond du Lac might well feel proud of entertaining 
 such a representative body. While the sturdy pioneer was there to 
 listen to the exercises, close by sat the younger generation, taking 
 equally as great interest in what was said and done. As the writer 
 looked over the vast throng, noticing the men and women who were 
 boys and girls fifty years ago, he felt that Fond du Lac county had 
 been in loyal hands during the early stages, and this in the main 
 brought about its success. It would have been interesting to have 
 had the afifair continue for several days and listen to each one tell of 
 the early days ; tell how the forests gave way to thrifty farms under 
 the axe in the hands of the pioneer, and how the fitting helpmate 
 endured the privations that fell to the lot of the early settler, uncom- 
 plaining by the side of her husband. 
 
 The younger generation drank in every word, and well they 
 might. The lesson was one of more value than a sheepskin or 
 diploma issued to a college graduate. Unless the young man or 
 woman could face adversity as the pioneers had, then all would be 
 of no avail. The college education would be of no value. The rising 
 generation should attend these occasions annually and take an in- 
 structive lesson. 
 
 The people commenced arriving in the morning and at the noon 
 hour fully five hundred were on the grounds to participate in the 
 picnic dinner. There was a steady pour into the fair grounds, and 
 when the hour arrived for the ceremonies to begin, fully 1,500 were 
 on the grounds, completely filling the large building, and hundreds 
 were outside. 
 
 H. D. Hitt, of Oakfield, president of the Old Settlers' Club, pre- 
 sided at the meeting, and shortly after one o'clock introduced the 
 first speaker, Lieut. Col. J. A. Watrous, of Milwaukee. Col. Watrous 
 is a pioneer of this state and at one time resided in Forest, this county. 
 At the present time he has relatives residing in Taycheedah. 
 
 "My remarks to you today, my kind friends," said Col. Watrous, 
 •'will be from the heart, as I am here to talk to you as one of you, 
 about the early days and some of the great developments which we 
 have witnessed during the course of the past fifty years. We have 
 seen a backwoods nation rise step by step until it has surpassed all
 
 288 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 of the powers, and yesterday we were given to understand what pres- 
 tige the United States has acquired. Our great president, Theodore 
 Roosevelt, who can no longer be regarded as a party man, but a 
 nation's pride, is now the man of the hour and the influential factor 
 in bringing about a reconciliation between warring powers in the far 
 east. I do not think any one can accuse a speaker of infusing politics 
 when he speaks of Roosevelt in glowing terms. His great victory of 
 yesterday is but another step in the advancement of the nation. 
 
 "I have not prepared any studied manuscript," continued Col. 
 Watrous, "but I have come here to tell a few stories and look back 
 with you over that great period of development in the nation's history 
 which in my belief, has no equal. We were here to see the country 
 before the war and here to witness its reorganization into a world's 
 power. I came here to Wisconsin in 1844 from New York state, and 
 to Fond du Lac county in 1847, so you see that I am as much a Fond 
 du Lac county product as many of you. I took up my residence in 
 the town of Forest, though I did not remain many years there." 
 
 Comparing the opportunities of today with those of the young 
 man fifty or seventy-five years ago. Col. Watrous said: "We are 
 often told that the young man of today has not the opportunity for 
 success as those of the time when we were boys, but I will say that 
 he has five times as much. There are greater and more avenues of 
 development now than there ever were before. Every road to success 
 awaits the young man of today, but he cannot travel with laziness 
 in his bones or inactivity in his brain. He must be alive to 
 every situation and have unbounded energy and courage. So 
 equipped he cannot help but be a success. 
 
 "When I first came to Wisconsin the opportunities were rather 
 limited. There were no railroads and the state was practically a 
 wilderness and the accommodations and conveniences in every line 
 were primitive indeed. But the pioneers had to make the best of 
 them, and the hard and industrious workers have been rewarded, for 
 they have done their share, as much as any one in building up the 
 state and nation. 
 
 "I am a firm believer in old settlers' clubs," said the colonel, "for 
 I think it is an excellent way for preserving memories of the day long 
 past and giving them to the present generation, that they may know 
 what has been endured for their good. I hope that the future of this 
 society will be crowned with success." 
 
 Old Settlers' Program. 
 
 Fall meeting of the Old Settlers' Club held at the fair grounds 
 in the city of Fond du Lac, August 30, 1905. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the club the Executive Committee was 
 directed to fix the time for the mid-summer meeting on some day 
 between the 20th and 30th of June. Early in June a meeting of the 
 committee was held, and because of the storms and floods and bad 
 condition of the roads it was thought best to adjourn the meeting 
 until about fair time. Another meeting of the Executive Committee
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 289 
 
 was held on August 2, all the members being present, and the time 
 for the meeting was fixed for August 30, at 10 a. m., at the fair 
 grounds. 
 
 The Executive Committee urged all old settlers to be present at 
 this meeting, whether members of the club or not, and to request all 
 their friends to come. The dinner was in the nature of a basket picnic 
 banquet, under direction of the committee on entertainment. 
 
 The following program was arranged for the occasion : 
 
 Annual address by Col. J. A. Watrous. 
 
 Paper by Mrs. Edgar Wilcox, of Oakfield. 
 
 Select readings by Miss Susie Hall, Miss Barbara Sweet and 
 Mrs. A. E. Lindsley. 
 
 Obituary notices were read as follows : 
 
 William Adams, by Franklin Swett. 
 
 R. K. Satterfield, by William Stearns. 
 
 J. J. Lurvey and M. W. Merrill, by Dr. J. W. Burns. 
 
 Charles Rodney Harrison, Benjamin Franklin Moore, Lyman F. 
 Stow, Charles Henry DeGroat and Mrs. Maria Probert Bishop, by 
 
 A. T. Glaze. 
 
 Short addresses and talks by Old Settlers. 
 
 The following committees were appointed for this meeting: 
 
 Program— President H. D. Hitt, F. B. Hoskins, G. N. Mihills, 
 Mrs. Hattie Sackett. 
 
 Entertainment — Mrs. G. I. Susan, Mrs. G. N. Mihills, Mrs. Jane 
 Ann Ward, Mrs. S. H. Cheney, Mr. O. F. Lewis. 
 
 Reception— S. M. Ingalls, B. J. Gilbert, Dr. J. W. Burns, Dr. D. 
 
 B. Wyatt, H. A. Ripley, Mrs. L. F. McLean, Mrs. H. D. Hitt, Mrs. 
 F. B. Hoskins, Mrs. L. A. Bishop, Mrs. A. T. Glaze, Mrs. M. E. 
 Dudley. 
 
 Transportation — W. A. Meiklejohn. 
 
 An abundance of stable and shed room was provided for all who 
 came in their own conveyances. 
 
 A Fourth of July Fire. 
 
 In the old times when Fire Engine No. i, located on Main street, 
 No. 2 on Division street. No. 3 on Arndt street, and No. 4 on Military 
 street, each with its accompanying hose cart decorated for a 4th of 
 July turnout, there was a worth while demonstration and the boys 
 who manned the drag-ropes took delight in it. On one 4th of July, the 
 year is not remembered, but it was not far from i860, a fire alarm 
 started from the east side of Main street, north of Division, just at 
 the close of the procession, and it would have been amusing, had it 
 not been provoking to see the flowers, ribbons and bunting flying to 
 get to work. Main street from Division to Merrill, was strewed with 
 the ornamenting material that the bo3's and girls too, for they helped, 
 had placed on the apparatus with so much care. No one, however, 
 was disposed to cry about it, for they were always ready at a 
 moment's notice to fight fire.
 
 290 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Coming of Stephen A. Douglas. 
 
 In September, i860, the democrats of Fond du Lac had what 
 was doubtless the largest political meeting ever held here. The ex- 
 citement in political circles was so great that all meetings were 
 exciting, but on this occasion it was particularly so. Nearly all the 
 democrats here were friends and supporters of Stephen A. Douglas, 
 and he was to be here on the occasion referred to. That party really 
 had three national tickets in the field in that campaign. Breckenridge 
 and Lane were supported by the southern pro-slavery wing, after- 
 wards the confederate or rebel side. Douglas and Johnson 
 represented the squatter sovereignty or northern progressive side, 
 and Bell and Everett claimed to be a sort of constitutional party. 
 The feeling in the north was very strong for Douglas and Johnson, 
 and when Douglas was announced to speak in Fond du Lac, the 
 feeling ran tremendously high. A committee of leading Fond du Lac 
 democrats, including Charles A. Eldredge, Edward Beeson, D. E. 
 Hoskins, Aaron Walters, D. R. Curran, G. W. Weikert and others, 
 was appointed to meet Douglas and party at Watertown, and escort 
 them here. A torchlight procession of magnitude never before seen 
 here, awaited the arrival of the train at the Northwestern station on 
 Division street, and the appearance of Mr. Douglas from the train 
 and in an open carriage through Main street to the court house 
 square, was a continued ovation. Douglas had been speaking in the 
 open air for two or three weeks and was very hoarse, but he enter- 
 tained the crowd for more than an hour. The torchlight procession 
 and excitement did not end until long after midnight. It is doubtful 
 if this demonstration was ever equaled here except by that of the 
 "Wide Awakes" for Lincoln and Hamlin the same fall. 
 
 Seemed Like a Long Job. 
 
 At the time the Northwestern railroad track was laid from the 
 Crofoot bridge south to Oakfield, though but about three miles, 
 seemed to be a long job. It took all the summer of 1856 to remove 
 the dirt from the cut north of Oakfield station. It is not a heavy cut, 
 but it was a formidable job at that time. It could be done now in a 
 month or less. Contractors in railroad building are hustlers now, 
 but at that time compared to today, they were short on appliances 
 and in experience. They know all about-it now. 
 
 Tallmadge and Mitchell. 
 Gov. N. P. Tallmadge was a very small man and Mlartin Mitchell, 
 who wrote the first history of Fond du Lac county, was a very tall 
 one. They were warm friends and were often on the street together, 
 where they attracted some attention. One day as they were passing 
 the corner of Second and Main streets, a number of people were 
 gazing at them, when Gov. Tallmadge, becoming indignant, re- 
 marked, "we are not animals to be gazed at," when the reply came, 
 "no, but you are a show, just the same."
 
 TO BE TRIED AGAIN 
 
 The Use of Peat Coming to the Front Again and the Question as of 
 Old, is How to Prepare It. 
 
 Assisting Dame Nature. 
 
 Dame Nature has furnished everything necessary to supply the 
 needs of man, and leaves it for him to make use of her bounteous 
 gifts. Man finds the supply for his wants at the proper time, directed 
 to it by the Providence which always watches over him, adopts it and 
 utilizes it to fit his needs. The forest was made for man, and he has 
 converted it into various forms for his uses, making building material 
 and fuel therefrom, pulp to convert into paper, and other things for 
 which he has pressing need. Nature also supplied the coal measures 
 from which he gets the coal and oil of commerce which gives heat 
 and light to the world. She has also furnished another fuel supply 
 in the form of peat to take the place of wood and coal, when they 
 become exhausted or are too costly to give the desired results from 
 the standpoint of economy. Man has used the forest for his fuel 
 supply from time immemorial. For a much shorter period of time 
 he has been taking coal and oil from the bowels of the earth for the 
 same purpose. The forests are passing away. The coal mines and oil 
 fields have for the most part passed into the hands of great corpora- 
 tions, which make the people pay the highest price possible for what 
 they get. Perhaps peat is destined to be the coming fuel for a large 
 portion of the American people for these reasons. 
 
 Nature Solves the Problem. 
 
 Nature, which is but another name for Providence, seems to have 
 furnished the solution to the cheap fuel problem. Peat in itself is 
 not new, for it has been used in some parts of the world as fuel for 
 centuries. Its use thus far, however, has been mostly in a crude way 
 and on a small scale, furnishing the home supply of fuel to residents 
 in the vicinity of the deposits, poor people who otherwise would have 
 little or no fuel to supply heat for warming their bodies and cooking 
 their food. Peat is Nature's simplest fuel supply, the rich, deep, 
 black muck of the marshes, nothing but an accumulation of the vege- 
 table growth of countless ages, and of the same general nature as 
 the great coal measures, but existing under different conditions. 
 
 The Development of Peat. 
 
 The development of this new fuel supply is yet in its infancy in 
 this section of the world, though it has passed through the experi- 
 mental stages in other localities. For many centuries pete has been 
 practically the only fuel known to the poorer people of Ireland and 
 some other countries. Nobody knows how the first peat burner 
 learned its value, but reasoning from analogy it was probably brought
 
 292 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 to man's comprehension by the burning of the "bogs" deep down 
 into the earth in seasons of excessive drought, when the grass was 
 set on fire. If the bogs would burn thus when set on fire, and con- 
 tinue to burn until saturated with water, why would not a dry turf 
 burn. 
 
 Should the development of peat be successful and a desirable 
 fuel be produced, surely it will be a grand discovery, as. the marshes 
 of the west half of Fond du Lac county, are peat beds of quantity 
 and quality unsurpassed. 
 
 Readers of history will remember that it was but about a century 
 ago that the people were ignorant of the use of hard coal for fuel 
 and the discovery was an accident. Some workmen were trying to 
 use it in a small furnace for melting brass, but after struggling 
 several hours, went to dinner with the fire apparently "dead out." 
 Returning they found a glowing fire and the secret of how to burn 
 hard coal, came to them and has been in use ever since. So with 
 peat, we have it in any quantity and we must learn how to use it. 
 The first agitation of this matter in Fond du Lac, was more than 
 fifty years ago, and Ripon men tried it thirty years ago, but all were 
 failures. In this as in many other things, we must live and learn, and 
 for profit "get there" as soon as possible. 
 
 Another Indian Scare. 
 
 Miss Fanny Conklin recalls an earlier Indian scare than that of 
 '62, when their home was on the Phillips farm. Her mother, with 
 three children, was alone in the house, the older boys and men being 
 in the hayfield some distance from the house. Suddenly a number 
 of Indians in their feathers and paint, were seen outside. They took 
 their positions in a circle and began what the frightened family 
 supposed was a "war dance." Mrs. Conklin sent the oldest boy for 
 help, a hired man who was familiar with Indian ways, soon pacified 
 their fears, telling them it was a "begging dance" and that they were 
 performing for something to eat. Mrs. Conklin, very much relieved, 
 gave them abundantly of provisions and with hunger satisfied, they 
 left as quietly as they had come. The worst Indian scare the writer 
 ever saw was when Forbes Homiston came out of the back door of 
 John Reilly's barber shop, with drunken Indians at his heels, when 
 he, as an officer of the village, was trying to stop their noise. Forbes 
 did succeed in reaching the street, but not in stopping the noise. 
 
 The Erving Hotel, opened to the public on the evening of 
 November 16, 1905, has a history not all its own by any means, but 
 in location and building. It started as the United States Cottage in 
 1848, built by J. J. Driggs, became the Globe Hotel in 1854, by A. C. 
 Ketcham, the American House in 1862, by Henry Shattuck, the 
 Windsor House in 1886, by W. Bittinger, and the Erving in 1905, by 
 C. E. Plum. There have been many landlords, some of long posses- 
 sion, some short.
 
 WAS A GRAND BIRD 
 
 Wisconsin's War Eagle "Old Abe," One of the Famous Relics of 
 the War, Has a Grand History. 
 
 The Eighth Wisconsin Infantry, famous in the war as the 
 "Eagle Regiment," was largely recruited in Sheboygan county but 
 some of the men were from the east half of Fond du Lac county, 
 hence it possesses some local claims. The company that brought 
 "Old Abe" into the regiment, however, came from Eau Claire 
 county. The veterans as well as their successors, feel a lasting 
 interest in the noble old bird and are glad to read about him, and it 
 is for this reason that we give space here to his history. He will not 
 be forgotten as long as memory holds the war of the rebellion. 
 The eagle is our national symbol and we will venerate the bird as 
 long as he remains such. 
 
 The Eighth was known as the "Eagle regiment," from the fact 
 that a live eagle was carried through all its campaigns up to the 
 return of the veterans in 1864. This noble bird was taken from the 
 parent nest in Chippewa county in this state by an Indian, who dis- 
 posed of it to a gentleman of Eau Claire county, from whom it was 
 purchased by the members of Captain Perkins' company, Eau Claire 
 Eagles, by whom it was presented to the regiment while organizing 
 in 1861. It is needless to say that it was instantly adopted as the 
 regimental pet and was christened "Old Abe." A perch was prepared 
 and the royal bird was borne with the regiment on all its marches 
 and into every battle in which the gallant Eighth was engaged up to 
 the time it was mustered out. Perched on his standard above the 
 heads of the men, the bird was more than once the mark for rebel 
 bullets, but luckily escaped unharmed, with the exception of the loss 
 of a few feathers, shot away. He returned with the veterans in 1864, 
 and was presented to the state, and placed in charge of the quarter- 
 master's department, and every care necessary was bestowed upon 
 him. At the great Chicago Fair, 1865, "Old Abe" was exhibited and 
 his photograph disposed of, realizing the amount of about $16,000. 
 He was also exhibited at the INIilwaukee Fair with profitable results, 
 we are told that the sum netted to the charitable objects was about 
 $20,000. He occasionally broke from his fetters and soared into his 
 native element, but he had become so far domesticated that he was 
 easily recovered. Occasionally the music of a band or the noise of 
 a drum would reach his ear, when he would instantly listen and 
 would respond with his characteristic scream, probably recognizing 
 the strain as one with which the battlefield had made his ear familiar. 
 "Old Abe" was celebrated in our military annals and his history is 
 inextricably interwoven with that of the brave and gallant regiment 
 who bore him triumphantly through the field of strife. 
 
 "Old Abe" was taken from the nest in Chippewa county in the
 
 294 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 summer of i860, so he could have been but about one year old when 
 he entered the army in 1861, and as he died in 1887, he lived to be 
 twenty-seven years old. At the time of his death, the taxidermist art 
 was brought into use and he was so mounted that he seemed alive 
 and ready for a campaign as of old. But the grand bird wholly dis- 
 appeared in 1903, when the fire took place in the capitol in Madison. 
 He was not exactly cremated, but his remains were burned and he 
 will be no more seen and admired. The Eighth Regiment did splen- 
 did service in the western army and "Old Abe" was a prominent 
 feature in all its campaigns and was most conspicuous in all its 
 fights. All citizens of Wisconsin, as well as soldiers, deeply regret 
 that he is to be seen no more. 
 
 Early Days Hotels. 
 
 Following are the hotels that did business in Fond du Lac in 
 early times : 
 
 Dr. Darling's log house, 1840, more a house of entertainment 
 from necessity than a hotel, on West First street, near Main. 
 
 Eagle Hotel, Fourth and Ellis, 1845. 
 
 American House, at the landing, 1846. 
 
 Hibbert House, West Johnson and Doty, 1847. 
 
 Hibernian House, Bannister and Doty, 1848. 
 
 Gromme House, (German) Main and Arndt, 1848. 
 
 United States Cottage, 1848. afterwards the Globe, the American, 
 the Windsor, now The Erving. 
 
 Lewis House, 1848, afterwards the Patty House, now the Palmer. 
 
 City Hotel, 1849. Main and AVest Second. 
 
 Badger Hotel, 1849, Main and Western AA-enue. 
 
 Exchange Hotel, Main opposite end of Forest, 1850, now on 
 Main opposite malt house. 
 
 Koehne Hotel, (German) Main and Fourth, 1850. 
 
 First National Hotel, Fourth and Marr, 1867. 
 
 Union House, Main and Fifth, 1874. 
 
 After i860 the hotels increased rapidly, and from 1880 Fond du 
 Lac has had more than was really needed. Of the old time hotels 
 only the Palmer, the Windsor and Exchange remain. 
 
 Black Hawk Lived Here. 
 
 It is probably known to few people now living, that the great 
 Indian warrior. Black Hawk, once lived in this county. What has 
 of late years been known as Grand Prairie, in the center of the town 
 of Alto, was in early times called Black Hawk Prairie, and it was 
 here that the great Indian warrior of that name lived, and drifted 
 from that region southward into Illinois, especially to the region of 
 Galena and of \A'isconsin's Grant County. In the town of Alto 
 there was for some years a postofifice bearing his name.
 
 PUT INTO THE BOX 
 
 What Was Put Into the Box at the Time the Corner Stone of the 
 Public Library Was Laid. 
 
 The list as read was : 
 
 Name of the president of the United States and his cabinet. 
 
 The governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. 
 
 Our United States senators. 
 
 Our member of congress. 
 
 Our state senator. 
 
 Our member of the assembly. 
 
 The mayor of the city of Fond du Lac. 
 
 Copies of all records of the library board, which relate to the 
 new library building. 
 
 Under this head, President Hoskins said, in part : 
 
 "The first is a communication from Laura B. Williams and Anna 
 G. Sweet, transferring to the library board a copy of Mr. Carnegie's 
 letter, and tendering to us these lots on which the building is being 
 erected. Mr. Carnegie's letter is next on the mintes, and is as follows: 
 "'Mrs. L. A. Bishop, Fond du Lac, Wis. Madam: Responding 
 to your letters : If the city of Fond du Lac will pledge itself to sup- 
 port a free public library at a cost of not less than three thousand 
 dollars a year and provide a suitable site, Mr. Carnegie will be glad 
 to furnish thirty thousand dollars to erect a free public library build- 
 ing. Respectfully yours, James Bertram, private secretary.' " 
 
 Mr. Galloway's resolution was then read, accepting the gift and 
 thanking the W^oman's Club. 
 
 "Under the minutes of March 4," said Mr. Hoskins, "is a com- 
 munication from the Woman's CUib, beautifully prepared and 
 reading as follows : 
 
 " 'To the library board of the city of Fond du Lac : Greeting. 
 The Woman's Club presents to you as library trustees for the city 
 of Fond du Lac, this deed to a piece of land to be used perpetually 
 as a site for a free public library. This gift from the citizens attests 
 their appreciation of ]\Ir. Carnegie's generosity to the city of Fond 
 du Lac' " 
 
 Attention was called to the few conditions named by Mr. Car- 
 negie, and the president of the board read the following: 
 
 " 'Hoboken, N. J., March 3, 1902. Mr. F. B. Hoskins, president 
 of Fond du Lac public library: Dear Sir: — In response to your favor 
 of the 13th, inst., would say that I have been instructed by Mr. Car- 
 negie to make payments to the extent of $30,000 for a library building 
 at Fond du Lac, and I will be pleased' to make remittances to this 
 extent in amounts of $5,000 each from time to time, as needed to 
 carry on the work of construction of the building. Requests for
 
 296 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 remittances should be signed by the president and treasurer of your 
 library board and the architect's certificate enclosed, to the effect 
 that' bills to the extent of $5,000 are due on the building. Yours very 
 truly. R. A. Franks.' " 
 
 The reading of the list of documents entering the receptacle was 
 then completed : 
 
 Copy of minutes of proceedings of common council relating to 
 new library building. 
 
 Copy of ordinance accepting Mr. Carnegie's gift. 
 
 List of all city officials. 
 
 List of members of common council. 
 
 List of school commissioners. 
 
 List of officers, employes and directors of library. 
 
 List of officers and directors of library for each year from organi- 
 zation to date. 
 
 Copy of a letter from Miss E. Rose, librarian, to Congressional 
 library at Washington ; a history of the library movement in Fond 
 du Lac. 
 
 Standing committees of common council. 
 
 Standing committees of board of education. 
 
 Standing committees of the library board. 
 
 Copy of "Fond du Lac Illustrated." 
 
 Last edition of Daily Commonwealth. 
 
 Copy of Semi-Weekly Commonwealth. 
 
 Last edition of Daily Reporter. 
 
 Copy of Saturday Reporter. 
 
 Last edition of Northwestern Courier. 
 
 Rules and regulations of library. 
 
 Catalogues, finding lists of library books. 
 
 City directory. 
 
 Cathedral souvenir. 
 
 Woman's Club year book. 
 
 Names of officers, standing and special committees and chairmen 
 of same of Woman's Club of Fond du Lac. 
 
 History of library work of Woman's Club. 
 
 Letter from Mrs. Waldo Sweet, secretary, to Mr. Carnegie. 
 
 Constitution of Woman's Club. 
 
 List of contributors to library site. 
 
 St. Agnes' Hospital, Souvenir. 
 
 Daily Reporter, March 7, 1903, containing history of St. Joseph's 
 Chvirch. its early missions. 
 
 Pictures of St. Mary's Springs Sanitarium. 
 
 Blanks and forms now in use. at the public library. 
 
 The Corner Stone Laid. 
 
 Following the reading of the list of articles consigned to the 
 metal box, the corner stone was swung into place. President Hoskins 
 wielding the trowel with which the mortar was applied. This trowel 
 is to be plated with silver, appropriately engraved and presented to 
 the Woman's Club as a souvenir of the occasion.
 
 COUNTY ORGANIZATION 
 
 Fond du Lac a Part of Brown County and Winnebago a Part of 
 Fond du Lac County in the Original Arrangement. 
 
 The division of Brown county, by which Fond du Lac came into 
 existence, was long after such an arrangement had been talked of, 
 in other words, it was known as Fond du Lac before it had a legal 
 existence. And the same was true about Winnebago county, which 
 was a part of Fond du Lac before its independent legal existence. 
 A division of counties was a common occurrence in the early history 
 of the state. In the division of the counties into towns, the process 
 was similar — territory was divided and new names taken, as pleased 
 the tastes of the people. The name Fond du Lac came from the 
 French traders and existed as a tangible designation of territory long 
 before the county had a legal existence. It was a county, however, 
 early enough to be represented in all of the territorial assemblages 
 but one, and took an active part in making the state constitution 
 before our admission to the Union as a state. 
 
 When in December, 1836, a certain portion of territory of 
 Brown county was designated as a new county and called Fond du 
 Lac, no provision was made for its organization. It had not a 
 sulhcient population. There was, indeed, but one family residing 
 within its designated boundaries. All that could be done was to 
 say where its county seat should be. and that the county should be 
 attached to some other county for judicial purposes. The county 
 seat was "established at the town of Fond du Lac," and the county 
 was "attached to the county of Brown for judicial purposes." 
 Finally by an act of the Territorial Legislature, adopted March 11, 
 1839, the county was to be organized, but "for the purposes of county 
 government only," it was still to remain a part of Brown county for 
 all judicial purposes. An election was held August 6, 1839, resulting 
 in the choice of John Bannister, Edward Pier and Reuben Simmons 
 as Commissioners, A. Raymond, Treasurer, and J. Bannister, 
 Register. The commissioners organized their board on the 9th of 
 October following, by electing Reuben Simmons, Chairman, and 
 Mason C. Darling, Clerk. Upon the entering of these officers upon 
 their respective duties, the county of Fond du Lac was organized 
 for all but judicial purposes, and began its onward career of pros- 
 perity. It was not until from and after the first Monday of March, 
 1844, that Fond du Lac county was fully organized. 
 
 Until 1840, the Indians in this county outnumbered the whites 
 at least ten to one ; they were generally friendly, bringing venison 
 and other game, wild honey and skins for sale or exchange : but 
 sometimes they would kill hogs that they never paid for, and had a 
 way of setting the woods on fire while hunting deer, burning up fences
 
 298 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 and pastures. In 1840, John Bannister took the United States census 
 and the numtfer of whites of all ages was 139, all told, in Fond du 
 Lac county. 
 
 Being organized by law in 1844 for all purposes, including 
 judicial, we had courts six years before we had a -court house, but 
 Judge Stow did not object to holding court in a school house. He 
 would no doubt, have dealt out the law from his rickety old wagon 
 on the street, if there had been no better place. He was not noted 
 for having things very nice, even at his home, but he was a good 
 judge for all that. The county courts did not have civil jurisdiction 
 until many years later and did not need a court house for only pro- 
 bate business. The county officers were quartered in rented rooms 
 in the village. The jail was of logs, from which a modern hobo 
 could escape in from five to fifteen minutes. 
 
 The settlers generally brought with them clothing enough to 
 last a year or two ; but in spite of all the good wife could do in the 
 way of mending and patching, it could not last forever. Everything 
 is perishable in this world and somehow clothes have a wicked way 
 of being most perishable of all ; after a while the original garments 
 would not bear the patches. What was to be done? Good looks 
 will hardly pay for a new suit, especially in a country where there are 
 no stores. So it came to pass that the settlers bought from the 
 Indians buckskin coats, without being too particular about their 
 being second hand articles and smelling smoky. Almost every one 
 of the early settlers sported his Indian coat in those days, but they 
 looked neither dandy nor very dignified. Even the grave old doctor, 
 who founded the city of Fond du Lac, wore one of the things at 
 times, he did not look like a learned doctor, but like an Indian 
 doctor, the Indians called him Mushkiki-enini, the medicine man. 
 The pants were often made of buckskin also, more frequently the 
 latter garment was faced with buckskin over the front, which opera- 
 tion gave it a longer lease of life and usefulness and like charity, 
 threw a mantle over many failings. Could you now see those 
 courageous and worthy men, many of whom have reached their last 
 resting places, leaving honored names and good deeds behind them, 
 file down Main street on a busy day, it would no doubt provoke a 
 smile, but with them it was the result of sheer necessity. 
 
 What about their fare? Milk and butter they had in abundance, 
 and also pork and excellent potatoes. They had enough coarse food, 
 but as you know, variety is the spice of life, and to eat constantly 
 pork and potatoes and beans is apt to become monotonous in the end. 
 George W. Featherstonehaugh, of Calumet, said that he had fed so 
 constantly on pork, that he could not look a hog in the face without 
 feeling guilty and blushing. Tea and cofifee were quite scarce 
 articles, as well as sugar, and were not used freely, although a little 
 was kept for company. The country was ransacked for substitutes. 
 Even such articles as wheat, barley, peas, beans, dandelion roots, 
 crust coffee and many other substitutes were resorted to and 
 dignified with the name of tea and cofifee, but when you came to 
 taste, especially without sugar, the fraud was too palpable and would
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 299 
 
 not go down, in spite of all assurances that the drink was very 
 healthy indeed, far more so than the real articles, which as every- 
 body knows are notoriously injurious to the system. 
 
 Every family knew pretty accurately the condition of the neigh- 
 bors' flour or pork barrel and supply of groceries. In case of sudden 
 emergencies, some youngster was dispatched to the neighbors with 
 compliments and request of the loan of a cupful of tea or some sugar, 
 a few pounds of pork or a pan full of flour for a few days. 
 
 Old Timers on the Board. 
 
 At each recurring session of the County Board of Supervisors, 
 old time citizens do not fail to think of some men who were once 
 there. He reads the list in the newspapers, but fails to see the names 
 he was once so familiar with. Year after year the familiar faces ap- 
 peared, the various towns deeming it prudent to return the same men 
 to the board. Experienced as they were it was safer than to send 
 new men without experience. At the present time a majority of new 
 men appear on the board each year, but the old timers had a different 
 policy. Among the old time members we could hear the roll call of 
 the clerk on such names as : 
 
 Daniel D. Wilcox, Dr. S. G. Pickett, Henry Crownhart and Peter 
 Johnson, from Ashford. 
 
 L. Crouch. R. F. Adams, Charles D. Gage and Harvey Parsons, 
 from Auburn. 
 
 James McElroy, R. AI. Harwood and Daniel Wilcox, from Alto. 
 
 ^^'illiam Stewart, D. C. Brooks and Benj. Nightengale, from 
 Byron. 
 
 John Boyd, Rufus P. Eaton and George White, from Calumet. 
 
 Aaron AValters. Peter Vandervoort and William Stewart, from 
 Eden. 
 
 M. S. Barnett, A. T. Germond and G. de Neveu, from Empire. 
 
 Edward Pier, S. N. Hawes and J. C. Lewis, from Fond du Lac. 
 
 Hestor Monroe, Joseph Kinsman and Theodore Herrling, from 
 Friendship. 
 
 Harry Giltner, Joseph Wagner and J. W. Hall, from Forest. 
 
 Peter V. Sang, Fay S. Brown and Dr. Elliott Brown, from 
 Lamartine. 
 
 Robt. Jenkinson. G. W. Parker, Capt. ^^^illiam Plocker, from 
 Metomen. 
 
 W. J. Ripley. H. D. Hitt anl Isaac Orvis, from Oakfield. 
 
 C. N. Prescott, John Beeson and J. W. Whiting, from Osceola. 
 
 Lester Rounds, \\'arren Chase, T. B. Robbins and A. B. Beards- 
 ley, from Ripon. 
 
 Jonathan Dougherty, Bertine Pinkney, Geo. D. Curtis and H. 
 G. Halsted, from Rosendale. 
 
 Warren Whiting, Geo. F. AA'heeler and A. C. \\'hiting, from 
 Springvale. 
 
 O. R. Potter, J. Y. Westervelt and Chas. Geisse, from Taychee- 
 dah.
 
 300 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 N. M. Donaldson, S. R. Vaughn and D. W. Whiting, from 
 Waupun. 
 
 E. S. Bragg, Dr. E. Delaney, George Hunter, Henry Shattuck, 
 H. P. Brown, S. B. Amory, C. O. Bissell and J. M. Taylor were among 
 those from the City of Fond du Lac, frequently seen at the county 
 board sessions in old times. 
 
 Among the earliest from the city of Ripon, were William Starr, 
 W. R. Kingsbury. C. P. Dunning, Capt. D. P. Mapes, L. M. Carlisle, 
 D. P. Imson and S. G. Dodge. 
 
 The towns of Eldorado and Marshfield did not have an existence 
 until 1854. H. W. Wolcott was the earliest member from Eldorado, 
 and Joseph Wagner represented Marshfield almost continuously 
 from its organization as a town, until his death in 1874. 
 
 William Stewart was a member from Byron and Eden nine 
 years, and was the longest in service except S. B. Stanchfield, of the 
 town of Fond du Lac, who has served twenty-two years, and chair- 
 man of the county board six years. 
 
 Abstracts and Land Titles. 
 
 The first books in this county from which abstracts of land titles 
 were made, were compiled by N. H. Jorgensen, our third Register of 
 Deeds. He sold them to Dana C. Lamb, afterwards Lamb & Smead, 
 and after some years they were sold to C. L. Encking. What became 
 of them after his death, no one seems to know, but they had become 
 so old and worn that they were of little value to anybody. James T. 
 Green, "Sandy" Leland, and two or three others, made "skeletons" of 
 abstract books. The last few years of his life, Mr. Green depended 
 largely on the books in the ofhce of the Register of Deeds. For many 
 years W. E. Angel did the abstract work in the Register's office and 
 was remarkably efhcient in it. H. W. Newton has been doing this 
 work a number of years and is at it yet. No man in the county has 
 as thorough a knowledge of the real estate as Mr. Newton. Some 
 years ago a set of abstract books was made by Wm. E. Cole, and the 
 ofhce of the Fond du Lac Title and Abstract Company is still at the 
 Savings Bank. The books of the. Fond du Lac County Title and 
 Abstract Company, were made by Chadbourne & Sallade, and are 
 now kept at the law office of Williams, Griswold & Chadbourne. 
 There are a few others who furnish abstracts, but they rely mainly 
 upon the books in the Register's ofhce. 
 
 Not Made Here Since, 
 
 Alonzo Simmons was an early days' chairmaker in this city and 
 had a shop just north of the present Erving Hotel, and the way he 
 used to rattle out the plank bottomed, then called Windsor chairs, 
 was astonishing. It is doubtful, however, if such a chair has been 
 made here since "Lon" closed his shop, which was when he went to 
 the war. The settlers took them away about as fast as he could 
 make them.
 
 ABORIGINES FROM 1764 
 
 Something About the Red Men of ' This Region More Than a 
 
 Century Ago. Who Were They and Where 
 
 Did They Live? 
 
 It is a matter of much interest to know what tribes of Indians 
 roamed this region more than a century ago, and where they lived. 
 We often read about tribes before the days of the Winnebagoes and 
 Menomonees, the tribes our pioneer families knew, and we 
 see the tribal names, but that is about all we know. It is here 
 attempted to give the reader some interesting information concerning 
 these Indians. They are nearly all out of existence now. Like the 
 trees of the forest, they do not bear civilization — they die when 
 their habits are interfered with. The once powerful Winnebagoes are 
 now nearly extinct, and the older tribes that roamed over what is 
 now Fond du Lac county, are all gone. We can now only read about 
 them as they once were, for they have no existence. 
 
 As early as the year 1615, Samuel Champlin heard of a tribe of 
 Indians living many leagues beyond Lake Huron, called the Five 
 Nations, better known at a later date as the Moscoutins. Their homes 
 were upon the Fox river, at that time, as it is believed, and here they 
 were visited by civilized men a little over a half century after. It is 
 presumed that their village was located within the present limits of 
 Green Lake county, somewhere on the Fox river between Berlin and 
 Lake Puckaway, and that they claimed as their hunting grounds, 
 among much other territory that now is included within the boundary 
 lines of the county of Fond du Lac. The nearest tribe to the Mos- 
 coutins down the river was that of the Winnebagoes, whose home 
 was at the mouth of that stream. To the south, extending perhaps 
 well up Rock River, was the territory of the Illinois. In the imme- 
 diate neighborhood of the Moscoutin (but in what direction is uncer- 
 tan) were the Kickapoos and Miamis, the former is supposed to have 
 at one time occupied the region around the head of the lake. 
 
 The Illinois, who lived in a country "where there was a quantity 
 of buffaloes," were afterwards driven beyond the Mississippi, but 
 subsequently returned to the river which still bears their name. 
 Meanwhile there commenced an emigration of the ]\Ioscoutins and 
 their kindred, the Kickapoos and Miamis, to the southward, as far 
 at least as the south end of Lake Michigan. This place was taken by 
 the Foxes and their relatives, the Sacs, and in time, these also 
 emigrated, but not to the southward ; the course taken by them was 
 to the west and southwest. It is certain the Foxes claimed for a 
 time the country now forming Fond du Lac county, as well as much 
 other circumjacent territory. Then came the Winnebagoes from 
 below, that is, from the head of Green Bay, moving up the Fox river
 
 302 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 by degrees, having outlying villages within the present limits of 
 Fond du Lac county and in the valley of Rock River. The Menom- 
 onees also occupied the Winnebago Lake country. This territory 
 was on the east side of the lake, but did not extend very far south. 
 The southeast portion of the present county of Fond du Lac lay 
 within territory claimed by the Pottowottomies, whose homes were 
 principally upon Lake Michigan. A small part of the county was 
 •ceded to the L^nited States by the Menomonees. A much larger 
 portion, however, was comprised in the land sold by the Winnebagoes 
 in 1832. The residue was included in the Pottowottomies cession of 
 1833. In 1828, the Winnebago nation occupied the country immedi- 
 ately in the vicinity of the present city of Fond du Lac, and along 
 the west shore of Lake Winnebago to what is now the city of 
 Menasha. They then had large villages on each branch of the Fond 
 du Lac river just above the forks. They also had a village at the 
 mouth of the creek on the side of the lake near Taycheedah. The 
 Menomonee village of Calumet ("Pipe Village") even as early as 
 1817, seemed to be anything but of recent origin. Its location was 
 not identical with the village of the same name in the present town 
 of Calumet. The exact time when these three villages were finally 
 vacated by these Indian occupants, is not known with certainty, 
 though in 1834, they were found by the government surveyors un- 
 occupied. 
 
 In the last years of the occupancy of this region by the Indians, 
 they wdre rovers. They seemed to have no fixed homes. Even the 
 Menomonees, the last of our Indians, roamed back and forth between 
 Milwaukee and Shawano county. What is now left of them have 
 their home on the reservation at Keshena. The Winnebagoes are 
 near Black River Falls. Only a few years more and there will be 
 none left to recite the legends or tell of their former national glory. 
 
 Black Hawk Lived Here. 
 
 For many years we have heard much about Black Hawk, without 
 knowing much about him, where he lived or when or what was his 
 career. It is probably known to few that Black Hawk once resided 
 in the town of Alto, Fond du Lac county. He was the last of the 
 great Indian warriors. About 1768, in a village of Sac Indians, on 
 the Mississippi, near Rock River, he was born October 3. In 1838, 
 Black Hawk died. In the war of 1812, Black Hawk, then a leading 
 chief of the Sacs and Foxes, took the English side. After the war he 
 resisted the encroachments of white settlers and provoked several 
 paltry conflicts, but was subdued and captured in 1832. The tribe 
 was removed, but Black Hawk and his sons and a few warriors were 
 kept awhile as hostages, and brought as a show to eastern cities. 
 Here it was that he made the reputation so well known to white 
 people. 
 
 Early French Traders. 
 
 Frenchmen from Canada trading with the Indians, were early 
 visitors to what is now Fond du Lac county. The name Fond du 
 Lac was applied by them as the remotest point in the lake from Green
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 303 
 
 Bay. There was a trading post established in 1787, at the forks of 
 the Fond dn Lac river by Jacob Franks, of Green Bay. It was 
 occupied by Jacques Daltier, Frank's clerk, for a brief period. 
 Franks, in 1791, sent his nephew, John Law, to this point. Augustin 
 Grignon subsequently had a trading post on the West Branch, the 
 spot where the shops of the Northwestern Railway, in the city of 
 Fond du Lac and near what was afterward the Fond du Lac house. 
 Peter B. Grignon, formerly a venerable resident of Green Bay, and a 
 nephew of Augustin Grignon, passed one winter on the West Branch, 
 just below First street, 1819. The cellar of his shanty, partially 
 overgrown by willows, could be seen when ''the village was finally 
 settled. It was situated not far from the Gurney Refrigerator plant, 
 between Forest avenue and West Division street. It seems also, 
 that at the Winnebago village near where Taycheedah now is located, 
 white men came for the purpose of trading with the Indians. At this 
 point the Menomonees, Pottowottomies and other tribes, came to 
 traffic with the Frenchmen. The Indians, whose trade was then 
 sought, were the Winnebagoes, who had a village where Taycheedah 
 now is, three miles east of Fond du Lac city and had other villages. 
 Mr. Law afterward spent several winters at different points among 
 the Indian hunting bands between Green Bay and the Mississippi 
 and up to the time when his uncle left the country and went back to 
 Canada, which was about the beginning of the war 1812, leaving Mr. 
 Law as his successor as a merchant and trader, and he continued 
 more or less, in the Indian trade as long as he lived. 
 
 Sometimes the traders carried their packs of merchandise upon 
 their backs from Green Bay. Solomon Juneau would occasionally 
 leave his home where the city of- Milwaukee now stands, with eighty 
 pounds weight upon his back, going to Sheboygon and thence to 
 Lake AMnnebago, returning by the way of the villages at the head of 
 the lake. This primitive mode of transportation has been improved 
 upon between those points since that time. 
 
 These French voygeurs or traders were of a remarkable hardy 
 race. Outdoor exposure and the rigors of winter were nothing to 
 them. In making their trips to the Indian villages and settlements, 
 they used boats if possible, but the Indian trail was their principal 
 highway. These were but paths and vehicles could not be used. 
 Sometimes ponies were brought into use and the packs were then 
 transferred from man to beast. The main article of frontier commerce 
 dsired was furs, and to secure these, penetrated the west in the 
 eighteenth century to the Missouri in our present North Dakota. 
 Among those who came to this region in the early thirties, were 
 Solomon Juneau, Joseph King, Louis Russell and others. 
 
 After disposing of the Lewis House, the home of Col. James 
 Ewen and family, was on the southwest corner of Forest avenue and 
 Harrison Place, at that time known as Ewen street. Here the five 
 boys, John, Milton, James, Frank and Edward, and his two daughters, 
 Alaria and Isabella, came to manhood and womanhood.
 
 304 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Indian Took His Dog. 
 
 Mark Little cannot tell you from observation about the Indian 
 taking his dog, for he was not present, but his brother, Egbert Little, 
 was there and saw it all. These men were boys then and lived in the 
 family of their father, W. C. Little, at the family home on Scott 
 street, near Brooke. Mark had a dog which he provided quarters for 
 in the back yard. James B. Clock, the afterwards well known rail- 
 road conductor and father of Mrs. H. F. Whitcomb, lived across the 
 street. One day a tall Indian came along and seeing the way clear, 
 sneaked into the back yard of the Little home and stole Mark's dog. 
 Mr. Clock, across the street, saw the Indian's sneak and big as he was, 
 went for him with vigorous kicks, which he kept up all the way to 
 the old float bridge, where the Indian had his canoe. Egbert says 
 the most laughable part of the afTair was the Indian trying to turn 
 while all the time talking Indian. Clock did not care so much for 
 the dog as he did to punish the Indian for a back yard sneak, and so 
 he got away with the dog. Egbert says he is not sure that the dog 
 really belonged to Mark, anyway. 
 
 Fond du Lac File Works. 
 
 This is a plant which has existed here many years, at the south- 
 west corner of Johnson and Doty streets. Though making little stir, 
 the concern does a large amount of work. Henry Scherer, the 
 proprietor, is a practical filemaker and turns out files of all the 
 varieties in general use, but mostly those used in shops and mills, and 
 the work done comes from neighboring places as well as Fond du 
 Lac. Few new files are ground here. Old files have the teeth ground 
 off, so that they are smooth, and then they are recut and tempered 
 for use again. It is a busy place. 
 
 Stone Cutting by Air Pressure. 
 
 The cutting of hard granite for cemetery work cannot be done 
 successfully with chisel and mallet, and as granite is now generally 
 used in place of marble, as of old, other processes must be used. 
 Robert Powrie opened here in 1867, and in his shop are the modern 
 appliances. The polishing process is interesting, but the air pressure 
 cutting is more so. Instead of thirty or forty blows a minute, it 
 strikes 3,000. The air pressure is applied by a compressor run by a 
 gasoline engine. In this way only can the hard granite be handled 
 successfully. 
 
 J. J. Driggs built the house still at the east corner of Western 
 avenue and Linden streets, at a time when residences of that size and 
 style were not numerous in Fond du Lac. Mr. and Mrs. Driggs both 
 died there. During his life here, "Squire" Driggs had many buildings 
 erected, including this one and the Cottage, now The Erving.
 
 THE MACHINE SHOPS 
 
 Foundries and Machine Shops Not Numerous, But Most of Them 
 Very Good Ones and Long Lived. 
 
 Manufacture of Machinery. 
 
 After the lake steamboat Manchester was overhauled and the 
 name changed to Oshkosh, it was found that the machinery was in- 
 adequate and improperly adjusted. The boat was taken from the 
 water at the foot of Arndt street, to be overhauled. At this time, 
 too, there was some demand for machine work in connection with 
 mills, and here it was that Truman Shepard, John B. Wilbor and T. 
 S. Henry started the first foundry and machine shop. This was in 
 1848. Tools and machinery were added from time to time, the most 
 of it second hand from different lake ports. In 1850, John Peacock 
 and Alex. White acquired the ownership of the shops and continued 
 it under the firm name of Peacock & White, until i860, when W. H. 
 Hiner became one of the proprietors and the name was changed to 
 Union Iron W^orks, which continued many years and until bought 
 by the Trowbridges and became a part of the Novelty Iron Works, 
 which have continued until the present, but under the ownership of 
 several firms. Col. C. H. DeGroat, George Giddings and O. F, Lewis 
 being longest in possession, under the firm name of DeGroat, Gid- 
 dings & Lewis. During their ownership of about thirty years, they 
 very largely increased the plant in every detail. The buildings were 
 doubled in size, and everything for the business supplied in great 
 variety. They gave special attention to sawmill machinery, which 
 found a market from Maine to Texas. To facilitate the handling of 
 the heavy material and machinery, railroad tracks run into the yards 
 and to the warehouses. 
 
 The illness of Col. DeGroat, which ended in his death in August, 
 1904, caused his withdrawal from the works and it was then incor- 
 porated under the name of Giddings & Lewis Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, a title it still bears, with C. E. Cleveland as President, and 
 Henry Rueping, Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 C. J. L. Meyer had a machine shop for some years which toward 
 the last, was a branch of the great Allis Works of Milwaukee. 
 During the half century, there have been a few small shops that did 
 not last long. 
 
 Abel Brothers had a shop for a number of years at the corner 
 of East First and Portland streets, now located on Third street. It 
 is mainly for small work and repairs and especially on automobiles, 
 bicycles, lawn mowers, etc. 
 
 L. H. Clark opened a machine shop for small work, in 1894, on 
 East Second street, under the name of Clark Manufacturing Com-
 
 306 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 pany, making metallic steam packings and a number of novelties 
 which have had an enormous sale. After a time a style of gasoline 
 engine designed at these shops, was perfected and made in large 
 numbers. In 1900, the shops were moved to Forest avenue near the 
 railroad tracks, and the facilities largely increased by the addition of 
 machinery for making gasoline engines, novelties and doing repair 
 work. 
 
 P. N. Quentin has a shop on West Second street, for doing re- 
 pairing, locksmith and small work. The Quentin shop was first 
 located on East Division street, in 1893. 
 
 A Good Pork Joke. 
 
 A joke is told by J. B. Tripp on the early days' habit of borrow- 
 ing meat. Settlers sometimes borrowed pieces of pork to be 
 returned at killing time. One of the settlers had borrowed so many 
 pieces that when he figured it up found he would not have enough 
 to pay his pork debts. A neighbor volunteered to tell him how to 
 settle it and possibl}^ have some pork left. "Let your meat creditors 
 know the day you will kill," said he, "and that night hang your pig 
 out to cool, and taking it in later, cut and pack it safely away from 
 sight and tell them next day that your pig had been stolen. In 
 sympathy for your loss, they will forgive the debt." The pig was 
 out but a short time when the neighbor captured it. He was the 
 first man to be informed next morning that the pig had been stolen. 
 "That's right," said he, "stick to it and make 'em believe it." "But 
 it has been stolen," he insisted. "That's right — that's the way to do 
 it." "Why, you darned fool, I tell you the pig is gone — has been 
 stolen." "Yes, I know it, but you must make the others believe it 
 too." No sympathy or satisfaction was possible and there was no 
 payment of the pork debts. On another occasion a settler had four 
 chickens which he said he was going to bestow upon neighboring 
 friends for Thanksgiving. When the time came around he visited 
 the coup of a neighbor, lifted and dressed the four chickens to save 
 his own. But next morning his were gone too. Some one else played 
 the same trick he had. The early settlers were not all this sort of 
 people, but there were some such. 
 
 A West Side Trail. 
 
 There used to be an Indian trail much used, on the west side of 
 Lake Winnebago. This trail branched from the east side, or main trail 
 and road near what is now Kaukauna and passing southwest came 
 to the upper Fox river at Butte des Morts, where it crossed the river. 
 Boats were used and the snubbing posts could be seen near the home 
 of Mr. Hull, until a very few years ago. This trail followed the river 
 much of the way to Fort Winnebago, at Portage. There was a cross 
 trail from the Military road at Fox Lake, to Buffalo Lake. There 
 were other Indian trails or paths, which were sometimes findable, 
 sometimes not.
 
 THE FOND DU LAC "HOME" 
 
 History of One of the Noble Charities of Fond du Lac, Founded in 
 1872. Has Been Ably Managed. 
 
 The Fond du Lac Home. 
 
 This noble charity now thirty-three years old, was' first known 
 as the "Home of the Friendless," but was changed and is now known 
 as "The Home." From its beginning it has been in charge of ladies 
 who knew how to give it the highest possible efficiency with the 
 means they had to work with, and they have never faltered, though 
 the future was sometimes rather dark and vigorous and determined 
 effort needed to properly carry on the work. Twice have these 
 noble ladies been confronted with fires in the buildings, but still they 
 did not falter, but kept up courage and met all troubles as well as to 
 provide for the general wants of the institution. They are entitled to 
 and it is certain that they will receive, the thanks of the entire com- 
 munity. Mrs. W. C. Hamilton and Mrs. W. H. Hiner are the only 
 ones of the first members of the trustees, who are still with us, and 
 to their honor be it said, they have all these years been active in 
 work. Of the early members, however, Mrs. G. W. Lusk, Mrs. Julia 
 Ruggles and Mrs. A. E. Walker are still living. 
 
 The Home, with its ample grounds and large, comfortable build- 
 ings, is an outgrowth and the exclusive property of the Fond du Lac 
 Relief Society, which was organized by the ladies of Fond du Lac, 
 during the great fires in Michigan and Wisconsin in 1871. Mrs. Julia 
 Tallmadge Ruggles was the leading spirit in organizing the Relief 
 Society. She was also mainly instrinnental in securing a charter for 
 the society, enabling it to hold property and in raising money to pur-
 
 308 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 chase the building now owned and occupied as the Home. Her 
 original idea was to have an industrial school connected with the 
 Home, so that needy people might be provided with employment for 
 wages. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Fennimore Beall, until her death in 1879, was also 
 an earnest worker in the Relief Society. The first annual report of 
 the society was in April, 1875. It contained the original articles of 
 association as required by law, showing that the following ladies 
 were the founders of the society: Mrs. Elizabeth F. Beall, Mary \Y . 
 Stow, E. B. Tallmadge, Mary L. Hamilton, Susan A. Perry, Mary 
 Branshaw, E. A. Walker, Julia T. Ruggles, C. L. Spears, C. F. 
 Townsend, E. A. Hurd, Mary L. Hiner, G. W. Lusk. A large number 
 of other ladies afterward became members, the life membership fee 
 being $25. In 1876, the state made an appropriation of $300, and until 
 1879 the county set aside $300 annually for the Home. At its session 
 in that year, the County Board refused to make an appropriation. 
 Mrs. William B. Brand, at her death in 1878, bequeathed some real 
 estate and $200 in cash to the Home, and the citizens of Fond du Lac 
 have given liberally to its support. George W. Peck delivered a 
 lecture for the benefit of the Home, and various fairs, concerts, 
 dramas and other entertainments have been given to replenish its 
 treasury. These have always been liberally patronized. The build- 
 ing occupied as the Home is situated on the corner of Amory and 
 Arndt streets, and was purchased by the Fond du Lac Relief Society 
 August 30, 1873, of R. M. Lewis, for $2,500. It is commodious and 
 well arranged for the use to which it has been put, and is surrounded 
 by a finely shaded yard and large garden. 
 
 The Home is the only non-sectarian benevolent institution in 
 the city and has accomplished great good, extending aid to persons 
 of all ages and shades of religious opinion. 
 
 In this year of 1905, the following named ladies are in charge of 
 the Home : 
 
 President— Mrs. G. N. Mihills. 
 
 Vice President— Mrs. M. B. Peck. 
 
 Recording Secretary — Mrs. J. T. Green. 
 
 Corresponding Secretary — Mrs. Martha Jacobs. 
 
 Treasurer — Mrs. George Perkins. 
 
 Trustees— Mrs. W. C. Hamilton, Mrs. W. H. Hiner, Mrs. E. R. 
 Herren, Mrs. Henry Boyle, Mrs. D. B. Wyatt, Mrs. John Hughes, 
 Mrs. J. M. Blish, Mrs. Alex. McDonald, Mrs. M. J. Peck, Mrs. J. C. 
 Wells, Mrs. M. M. Gillet. 
 
 Miss McNaughton is the present Matron and a most efficient one. 
 She is loved by the inmates and honored by all who have dealings 
 with the Home. 
 
 Many prominent ladies of the city have been connected with the 
 Home in years past, among them Mrs. J. M. Aldrich, Mrs. C. J. Petti- 
 bone, Mrs. G. W. Lusk, Mrs. J. C. Whittelsey, Mrs. J. C. Wedge. 
 
 Issued a Newspaper. 
 
 The ladies of the Home sought and obtained the privilege of 
 issuing the Daily Commonwealth for July 4, 1904. Coming from such
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 309 
 
 hands, of course the paper contained much interesting matter and 
 the following history is given : 
 
 In the year 1872, immediately after the great forest fires that 
 destroyed Peshtigo and Marinette, a meeting was called by Mrs. 
 Julia Ruggles and the "Fond du Lac Relief Society" was formed. 
 The first purpose of this society was to relieve the immediate needs 
 of the fire sufferers. Afterwards its work was among the poor of 
 this city. There was left of the "State Relief Fund" about a 
 thousand dollars, which was divided among three societies, Fond du 
 Lac receiving over three hundred dollars. This sum was set apart 
 and was the foundation stone of the "Home." 
 
 In 1873, it was decided by the society to build a "Home for the 
 Friendless." Mrs. Julia Ruggles, Mrs. Beall, Mrs. Stow and others, 
 solicited subscriptions from the business men, who responded 
 generously. 
 
 In the fall of 1873, a fair was given extending through the week. 
 From this entertainment twelve hundred dollars was cleared. At 
 last with about thirty-five hundred dollars, the former home of Mrs. 
 Ruggles, which had been parti}' destroyed by fire, was bought, re- 
 paired, paid for, and opened in January, 1874. The society started 
 out of debt, but with an empty treasury. However, the citizens were 
 generous, donations of furniture and food came in and the Home 
 prospered. 
 
 In 1880, the society decided to publish a Cook Book. This was 
 ably edited by Mrs. David Babcock, with the assistance of Mrs. Edw. 
 Colman. 
 
 The "Fountain City Cook Book" proved a great success, and ten 
 years later another edition was published which continues to sell, and 
 has gone into nearly every state of the Union. The book has been 
 of great assistance, and from its sale an addition was built in 1891, 
 costing nearly five hundred dollars. In 1899, this part of the building 
 was destroyed by fire. 
 
 The society, with the insurance received, and five hundred 
 dollars of the "Mark Harrison bequest," immediately rebuilt. A 
 large dining room, kitchen and laundry, with several bed rooms above, 
 soon covered the ruins. Furniture for the dining room was given, 
 and two of the bed rooms prettily furnished ; one by the "Neighborly 
 Club of Byron," the other by the Progressive Sisters of this city, and 
 the Home was soon in running order again. 
 
 In the past twenty-seven years, the Home has been a refuge for 
 many. Children, the middle-aged, but mostly the old and helpless, 
 have been there cared for. A number have been there for many years. 
 
 The founders of the Home, those "who bore the heat and burden 
 of the day," have nearly all passed to the "beyond," their places being 
 filled by a younger generation. Only two of the first Trustees are 
 now on the board of management. 
 
 As the Home has been so generously treated in the past, we 
 anticipate a prosperous futvire. "The poor ye have always with you," 
 and there will always be need of your help and sympathy. We know 
 that the doors of the Home will never be closed to the unfortunate
 
 310 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAO 
 
 from lack of your generous support, or for the need of willing workers, 
 helping to lessen the pain and misery falling to the lot of the poor, 
 the old and friendless. 
 
 An Exciting Trial. 
 
 In 1872, C. L. Pierce, then running a plow shop at the corner of 
 Macy and Court streets, met with a distressing accident by which 
 he lost an arm. It was caused by the bursting of a grindstone on 
 which he was polishing a plow. Dr. Gray was called and amputation 
 followed. This was held to be malpractice and suit was brought in 
 circuit court. Some of the most eminent lawyers in the state were 
 employed, including Harlow S. Orton, afterwards one of the judges 
 on the bench of the supreme court. Depositions were taken from 
 some of the most eminent surgeons in the United States. After a 
 long and exciting trial, the jury believed the amputation to be a 
 proper procedure and gave a verdict in favor of Dr. Gray. 
 
 Deer at Crofoot Bridge. 
 
 The Crofoot bridge is a small structure carrying the track of the 
 Northwestern railroad across the east branch of the Fond du Lac 
 river, in the town of Fond du Lac, about four miles south of the city. 
 Near this bridge is where the last deer was killed that the writer 
 remembers to have been shot within many miles of the city. It was 
 when the railroad was completed only to Minnesota Junction, and so 
 must have been about 1856 or 1857. Dick Beeson worked in the 
 printing office in the city and often on Satvirday afternoons went to 
 the home of his parents, in Oakfield. He was a remarkable marks- 
 man and seldom made the trip without his gun. On this occasion he 
 found a lone deer near the river and in the edge of the timber. He 
 secured the deer and it was put into the Crofoot barn until Sunday 
 morning, when Grandfather Crofoot brought it to the city, receiving 
 part of the carcass for his services. This is the last deer remembered 
 to have been shot within many miles of the city. Long after this 
 they were often secured in the timber and openings of Osceola, 
 Forest and Ashford. They were not numerous, but hunters were 
 not always unsuccessful. Bears were never numerous, but their 
 capture was occasionally heard of in the timbered parts of the 
 county. Lynx and wolves were often shot as late as 1858. There are 
 yet some wolves, but the other game has about all disappeared. 
 
 It is about twenty-five years since the writer talked with an 
 Oshkosh man about laundries. This man was just suited for that 
 sort of work, but he ridiculed it. At that time it was believed that 
 soft or rain water, was a necessity to laundry men's shirts, collars 
 and cuffs. Said he, "Where or how could the water supply be 
 obtained and the price of laundry work by washwomen, could not be 
 made to pay." Things are different now, but that man is dead and 
 cannot realize it.
 
 SOLOMON JUNEAU 
 
 A Frenchman of Wonderful Influence Among the Indians, 
 Especially the Menomonees. Milwaukee's First Mayor. 
 
 The first time the writer saw Solomon Juneau, was on the pay 
 ground at Lake Poygan in 1S51. After that he was in Fond du Lac 
 several times and Edward Pier, Edward Beeson, John A. Eastman, 
 Alonzo Raymond and a few others called on him at the Journal 
 office on one of these visits. In the talk the writer was impressed 
 that he was an honest and honorable man, and such he really was. 
 He and Edward Pier were warm friends. 
 
 Solomon Juneau, the first settler at Milwaukee, died at the 
 Menomonee Pay Ground on Wolf river in Shawano county, Wiscon- 
 sin, November 14, 1856, aged about sixty-six years. Mr. Juneau 
 came to Milwaukee in June. 1818, as an employe of the American 
 Fur Company, accompanied by his father-in-law, Mr. Jacques Vieau ; 
 having selected this location, then an Indian village, for a convenient 
 trading post, with no white settler in Wisconsin nearer than Green 
 Bay and Prairie du Chien. He built here, in 1822, the first log house, 
 and in 1824, the first frame building, erected in Milwaukee. Here he 
 continued to reside, rearing up a family of fourteen children, thirteen 
 of whom were born in the city. He was at one time the proprietor 
 of a large portion of its territory. When, in 1835, a postoffice was 
 established, Mr. Juneau was by common consent, appointed post- 
 master, which office he filled for nine years. In 1846, when Mil- 
 waukee became a city, he was chosen the first mayor. Shortly after, 
 he removed to Dodge county. 
 
 Mr. Juneau was a man of excellent sense, of generous impulses, 
 of a kindly and affectionate disposition, and of a lofty and honorable 
 nature. He successfully maintained his reputation as an honest, up- 
 right, straightforward man. The Indians regarded him as a true 
 friend and trusty counsellor. He died without enemies, and left 
 thousands of friends to mourn the loss of a good citizen and a true 
 man. His remains were carried to Milwaukee for interment. 
 
 Beeson House on Third Street. 
 
 The first house occupied in Fond du Lac by the family of Edward 
 Beeson, was on Third street, near Main, on the ground now covered 
 by the shops of Mr. Guse. The house itself disappeared in 1902 by 
 the building of the present brick shops located there. It will be re- 
 membered that the house was not large, but it served the purpose of 
 a home for the family of Mr. Beeson many years. Next west is the 
 residence of the late Mrs. Lyman Bishop, which was occupied by 
 her more than fifty years.
 
 312 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Threshing Machines and Tables. 
 
 What has of late years been known as the Table Factory, on 
 West Scott street, was established in 1881, by Geo. P. Lee for the 
 manufacture of the "Pride of the West" threshing machines, but not 
 proving successful, was sold to the McDonald Manufacturing Com- 
 pany for the building of threshing machines, but of another kind. 
 When the western booms began about 1887, John McDonald was 
 offered inducements which took the works to Minneapolis. The 
 plant on Scott street now stood idle for some years, but in 1893, 
 Edward Blasius came here from Juneau and organized the Fond du 
 Lac Table Company, a concern that has since manufactured a great 
 variety of tables besides doing much other work. It has not all the 
 time been under the same management, but ha''s been successful. 
 The plant is now incorporated under the name of Fond du Lac Table 
 Manufacturing Company, and is in charge of Louis Rueping, Presi- 
 dent, and C. E. Carstens, Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 B. F. & H. L. Sweet Shops. 
 
 The shops of B. F. & H. L. Sweet were started here in 1850, on 
 Arndt street, near where they are now. At first it was a blacksmith 
 shop for general work in that line, but after a time they began the 
 making of the "Common Sense Sleigh," of which large numbers 
 were made and sold. The works were very prosperous, and after they 
 took the shops vacated by the Union Iron Works, they began the 
 manufacture of wagons also, with much success. Their output was 
 far superior to that of factories generally and was in large demand. 
 And so for more than half a century, these works have lived and 
 prospered. Both of the original proprietors have passed away, leav- 
 ing the shops to the sons of both, but F. }*i. Sweet having also died, 
 they are now in charge of Mr. Waldo Sweet, one of the most energetic 
 and popular business men of the city. 
 
 B. F. Sweet, one of the original proprietors, was a very popular 
 man in the community, and besides serving his fellow citizens in 
 various other positions, was three times elected mayor of the city. 
 
 Once a Chiccory Factory. 
 
 How many people of Fond du Lac know that there was once a 
 factory in their midst for the preparation of chiccory as a substitute 
 and adulterant for coffee. Such was the fact, however, but it lasted 
 but a very few years. The enterprise was started by Morritz Krembs 
 about the year 1850. The chiccory was grown here, but our soil 
 seemed to produce a poor quality of the root and the demand for it 
 became so small that the business did not pay and was abandoned. 
 It is said to require a peculiar soil to produce chiccory, and that our 
 northern soil was not adapted to it.
 
 OCCURRED SOME TIME AGO 
 
 Talks About Things That Happened a Long Time Ago, but are 
 
 Interesting and Amusing, Especially to the 
 
 Old People and the Pioneers. 
 
 Cheese Factories and Grangers. 
 
 The Patrons of Husbandry, known as the Grangers, and the 
 cheese factories, came into Fond du Lac county about the same time, 
 Sheboygan county had made considerable stir in cheese making be- 
 fore Fond du Lac started in it, but this county preceded Sheboygan 
 in the grange work. In 1877 and 1878, the cheese factories appeared 
 one after another until the county was well dotted with them. The 
 foreign demand for American cheese caused them to increase and 
 dairy boards to profitably handle the product, were organized, and 
 among them the Fond du Lac board. But the foreign demand 
 slackened and there being less demand for cheese, more attention 
 was given to butter and the creameries appeared, often displacing the 
 cheese factories. The result has been that the creameries have dis- 
 placed at least one-half the cheese factories. So much has the pro- 
 duct of the latter decreased that many prominent dealers have gone 
 out of the cheese business. And so with the Grangers. Very few of 
 them remain. Some neighborhoods still have them but they are 
 scarce. The cause of this is believed to be due mainly to the extreme 
 to which the grange work was carried, and especially with reference 
 to the purchase of goods by grange members. The cards presented to 
 dealers to secure discounts, was regarded in the nature of a hold up 
 and would not be tolerated. Not only this, but the whole grange 
 movement came to be regarded in a bad light. Members as well as 
 dealers and outsiders felt the objectionable features and disintegration 
 followed. The Patrons of Husbandry was an organization based 
 upon sentiment and personal interest, cheese factories and creameries 
 are based upon public interest in manufactures and must continue 
 as long as the national industry of dairying continues. 
 
 The first cheese factory in this county is believed to have been 
 that of Chester Hazen, in Springvale. He made cheese there as early 
 as 1872, but it was about 1876 when he adopted the cheese factory 
 mode of taking in the milk of his neighbors. His cheese had a fine 
 reputation and he sold all of his product readily to local dealers in 
 Fond du Lac, Ripon and Waupun. There was a demand for it in 
 Milwaukee which he could not supply. Then came the Jennings 
 and Parsons cheese factories in Rosendale, with a demand for more 
 than they could supply, and the factories multiplied until nearly 
 every four corners had one. Before and during the war our cheese 
 came mainlv from the east, the best grades from eastern Ohio and
 
 314 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 western New York, known as Western Reserve cheese. We also 
 had domestic cheese, made by farmers, but it was of low grade gen- 
 erally. Dairying in butter was a matter of supply by farmers to 
 families and grocers who retailed it to customers. At that time the 
 customer carried his plate to the grocery and took his butter home on 
 it, provided he could get any worthy the. honor of being thus carried. 
 Farmers who made good butter had no difficulty in disposing of it 
 and it was the constant effort of the grocer to get it in large quantities. 
 The butter trade has changed vastly. 
 
 Where They Have Lived. 
 
 The Fond du Lac Commonwealth was born in the second story 
 of the north one-third of the old Darling block, in 1854. 
 1865 J. A. Smith fitted up the old Darling Hall for living 
 rooms and printing office. In 1868, he began the erection of a brick 
 building next west of the First National Bank, and moved the office 
 into it before completed, and here it remained imtil the office was 
 bought by the Commonwealth Printing Company, when it was 
 moved to the rooms over the American Express office, corner of 
 Forest avenue and Macy street. In 1890, Mr. Haber erected his 
 building, on the completion of which the Commonwealth was moved 
 there and still remains. In 1869, ]\lr. Smith started the daily, using 
 a patent inside from the office of a Chicago daily. Watrous & 
 Kutchin made it into a full fledged daily in 1872. 
 
 The birth place of the Reporter was the second story of the 
 Kalt building, corner of Main and East Second streets, then known 
 as the Ward & Windecker hall. In 1863, it was moved to Warner 
 block over what is uoav the Schleyer-Ordway drug store. In 1866, 
 it journeyed to the south side of Division street, between Main and 
 Macy. In 1873, it was moved to the basement of the postoffice, but 
 being drowned out the following spring, took quarters over Cough- 
 lin's meat market. 1876 found it in the postoffice block, where it 
 remained just twenty years and until Mr. Lange had the present 
 beautiful block erected and where it has now been nearly ten years. 
 These have been the homes of the Reporter during the forty-three 
 years of its existence, and it is quite fitting that it should round out 
 this long period of time in a building erected for it and so well 
 adapted to its uses. 
 
 In early times a small wooden building stood on the ground now 
 occupied by the Mason crockery store, and in it was born the old 
 Fond du Lac Journel, our first newspaper. It went to a wooden build- 
 ing that in 1851 stood on the south half of the lot now occupied by the 
 Fond du Lac National Bank, and the name changed to Fond du Lac 
 Union. The Journal, revived in i860 by T. F. Strong, Jr., was located 
 over premises near where the G. Scherzinger jewelry store is now. 
 Thence to Division street and finally to the rooms over Murphy & 
 Murphy's plumbing shop, on Forest avenue, where J. R. Bloom closed 
 out the business to the Reporter. 
 
 The Nordwestlicher Courier has had but two homes. Carl 
 De Hass & Son put it into the south end of the postoffice block and
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 315 
 
 Mr. W. F. Weber took it to its present location, northwest corner of 
 Forest avenue and Macy street, about twenty-five years ago. 
 
 The Bulletin still occupies the rooms in which it was born less 
 than a year ago. We have had many other newspapers which have 
 occupied many premises, but where they lived and also where they 
 died, is of little general interest now. 
 
 Money Not Reliable. 
 
 About the year 1849, Alexander Mitchell started a bank at Mil- 
 waukee under the name of Wisconsin Fire and Marine Insurance 
 Company Bank. This money circulated well in Wisconsin, but else- 
 where one could hardly buy a dinner with a $5 bill. The bank issues 
 of the Illinois, Indiana and Michigan banks were equally poor here. 
 Much of it was also counterfeited and every business man had a 
 book called a detector, but- they got the counterfeits just the same. 
 This was the sort of money struggled with until the issues of the 
 greenbacks in 1862 and the national bank currency in 1863. These 
 issues were strongly criticised at first, but it has proven the only 
 reliable currency we ever had. True, the Wisconsin State banks in 
 the fifties was much of an improvement, but still much of it was poor, 
 or at least unreliable. "United States Banks" was a political issue 
 in the Polk and Clay campaign of 1844. and such a bank or the issue 
 of paper money by the general government, was strongly opposed 
 by the democratic party. We have since learned something and have 
 found that such money is the only means of saving the tribulations 
 of early days. 
 
 Chief Oshkosh, of the Menomonees. 
 
 Except Black Hawk, Oshkosh was the most noted of the 
 Indians who have had a home in Wisconsin, but the character^ of 
 these two red men were quite different. Black Hawk was a great 
 w'arrior, Oshkosh was a lover of peace and a genuine diplomat in the 
 settlement of troubles, whether tribal or personal. He never quar- 
 reled with any one. The writer remembers him as a man of moderate 
 size, really below the average of his tribe, was rather slow of motion 
 and slow in speech. \A'hen from home, which was not often, he 
 always appeared in silk hat and eagle feather, but never in paint. His 
 home for a long time was on the east bank of the Wolf river, near 
 the village of Fremont, but his permanent home was further north. 
 AMien he visited the city of Oshkosh, it was his delight to stroll 
 along the river as if to note the changes since his early life. He did 
 not acquire the use of the English language so as to use it much, but 
 his son, who followed him as chief of the Menomonees. not only 
 speaks the language, but is a quite fluent public speaker. The tribe 
 is rapidly growing less in numbers, and in a few years more all will 
 be eone. 
 
 Henry C. Moore was a city carrier for the Commonwealth at a 
 time when the city edition was handled by one boy. Some city sub- 
 scribers got their papers at the post office, and Henry took the 
 balance.
 
 316 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Sylvan Grove Cemetery. 
 
 Fond du Lac's first cemetery, known as "Sylvan Grove," was 
 located west of town and was used for a number of years, but in 
 1852 the agitation began which resulted in the establishment of 
 Rienzi. Gov. Tallmadge had made a generous offer of what was 
 then deemed sufficient land, but it required some time and much 
 argument to bring about an acceptance of the offer. The principal 
 objection was the distance from the city, which would make funerals 
 expensive and render it impossible for people to properly care for the 
 last resting places of their dead. These objections had much force 
 and the matter was for a long time under discussion. And there 
 was another consideration which had much weight. Those who had 
 friends buried in the old cemetery realized that it would be neces- 
 sary to remove them if the new cemetery proposition was adopted. 
 But that which outweighed these objections and was chiefly instru- 
 mental finally in bringing about the change, was the fact that the 
 old cemetery ground was so wet that newly-dug graves would partly 
 fill with water, which had to be dipped out and fresh grass put in the 
 bottom of the grave just before the arrival of the funeral party to 
 avoid seeming heartlessness. This had been a not unusual experience 
 and the better class of citizens favored a cemetery where the ground 
 was high and dry. And so it came about that beautiful Rienzi was 
 made the cemetery of the city and has been two or three times en- 
 larged by the purchase of more land. The trouble of distance still 
 holds and the cost to the people in caring for their lots in consider- 
 able, but it is hoped that the time is not far distant when there will 
 be a street railroad to Rienzi. Most of the bodies in the old cemetery 
 were moved to the new one, but some remain entirely lost to memory 
 or to any record in existence. It was mainly because of objections 
 to the old burying ground that what is known as the Pier cemetery 
 south of the city, was started. The oldest established cemeteries 
 were in Taycheedah, Empire and Byron, and many old settlers were 
 buried in them before Sylvan Grove was thought of more than as a 
 country burying ground. The latter was never incorporated under 
 state law, but the others were. Taycheedah and Byron cemeteries 
 are sometimes used even to the present. Estabrooks cemetery, es- 
 tablished some later, is still extensively used for burials from the 
 city. Calvary, the cemetery consecrated to the use of Catholics, is 
 becoming more beautiful every year, and it is located near enough 
 to the city for people to look to their lots without much trouble. 
 This cemetery is but about half the distance from the city as Rienzi 
 and it is well cared for. 
 
 "Deacon" Fuller built a nice residence near the river on the 
 south side of Forest avenue, opposite the Gurney plant. To make 
 place for his dry house, B. F. Moore moved it to where the Kuicks' 
 grocery store is now, and it was called the La Belle House. After 
 C. R. Harrison bought the property, he turned it around on Harrison 
 Place and made it into the residence next south of the present Forest 
 Avenue Hotel.
 
 PROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 317 
 
 Kutchin and Finney Discussion. 
 
 It was in 1862 that the exciting discussion on the doctrines of 
 spiritualism occurred here between the Rev. T. G. Kutchin, father 
 of H. M. Kutchin, formerly of the Commonwealth, and E. R. Finney, 
 of Milwaukee. Mr. Finney was one of the leading advocates of 
 spiritualism and as a lecturer had few equals. Mr. Kutchin was a 
 Methodist preacher and a man of powerful mind. The discussion 
 took place in Amory hall afternoons and evenings and lasted three 
 days. I. S. Sherwood, the well known hardware dealer, was the 
 backer, financial and otherwise, of Mr. Kutchin, and J. H. Spencer 
 backed Mr. Finney. Toward the last of the sessions the feeling ran 
 high and each side charged the other with unfairness and both vig- 
 orously denied the charge. Delays of one kind and another caused 
 Mr. Finney to leave town before the discussion was completed, to 
 fill lecture engagements, and it was arranged that he would return 
 on a certain date, but the discussion was never completed and of 
 course each side charged the other with a sneak. As a whole this 
 discussion resulted as all such debates do, that is, in much bitter 
 feeling and no good result to any one. 
 
 Mr. Kutchin was a man of powerful intellect, but very odd in 
 his ways. He was sent to Fond du Lac by the Methodist conference, 
 but failing to accept the religious thought of the time was in disfavor 
 with the denomination at the end of the first year. He was in ac- 
 cord, however, with the liberal thought of Fond du Lac and a society 
 was formed for him which held its services in Amory hall. Crowds 
 of people flocked there to hear him preach and listen to singing by 
 a choir under direction of Dr. Patchen. But in another year Mr. 
 Kutchin became a Baptist and retired to his farm near Dartford, 
 He entered the Baptist ministry, but his religious ideas being still un- 
 settled, he went back to his farm to stay, burned all his sermons and 
 religious writings and died there in 1871 at an advanced age. He 
 left three sons, Horace, Howard and Victor, all of them men of great 
 power and influence, Horace a Baptist minister, Howard for many 
 years one of the strongest editors the Fond du Lac Commonwealth 
 ever had, and Victor, a Baptist minister and physician. 
 
 The First School House. 
 
 The first school house in Fond du Lac, located on the ground 
 next north of Henry Brothers' flour and feed store, where Dahlem's 
 bakery was so many years, and where Shaw & Grube's grocery store 
 is now, was also the first court room. It was afterward moved to 
 the south side of Fifth street, half a block east of Main, where it 
 continued to be used for court sessions until destroyed by fire a 
 short time before the old court house was completed. 
 
 Those who were not here in war times, can have little idea of the 
 anxiety of the people. Many would tremble as they opened the daily 
 paper and were afraid to raise their eyes to flagstafifs for fear of half 
 mast flags, indicating disaster.
 
 318 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 The Landing Warehouses. 
 
 What was for so many years known as the Bannister warehouse 
 and dock for the landing of steamboats, was the pioneer landing at 
 Fond du Lac. John Bannister was the owner and he did considerable 
 business until the railroads came. The warehouse and dock were 
 commenced in 1847 ^^^^ completed in 1848. Another warehouse and 
 dock, immediately north of this, owned by J. H. Clum, were built in 
 1849, ^rid still another, owned by Judge C. M. Tompkins, was built 
 the same year. The business done was forwarding and commission 
 and the sale of coarse articles, like salt, lime, cement, etc. In 1866 
 this property was all destroyed by fire and for a long time nothing 
 was done there except that the landing from boats was into the street 
 upon a few planks. About 1874 Hugh Campbell improved the land- 
 ing a little and put up a small building which still remains. Since 
 that time it has been known as Campbell's dock. There is little use 
 now for a landing there of any sort. 
 
 The Lower Town Hotels. 
 
 But another feature of the landing locality in the pioneer days 
 was the hotels. The American house on the corner of Scott and 
 Brooke streets, opposite the Bannister warehouse, built and kept 
 many years by Sam Hale, did a large business, especially during the 
 immigration days of the fifties, when the Sheboygan road was almost 
 kept warm by stages, 'buses and teaming. Next north and almost 
 adjoining the American, Mr Joubert had a small hotel, and farther 
 north still there was another hotel kept by Mr. Foster — three hotels 
 in a row. When the railroads came and navigation practically 
 ceased, the Joubert hotel was moved to another locality, the Foster 
 hotel took a journey to the corner of Main and Merrill streets, where 
 it became the starter for the well known Serwe house, and the Amer- 
 ican house was burned. At this time the once busy corners at the 
 landing were without buildings, except a few small dwellings. Since 
 then the American house corner has been occupied by a store. The 
 coming of North Fond du Lac and Lakeside park have given more 
 life to that part of the city and there has been considerable improve- 
 ment on Scott and other streets in its vicinity, but the good days of 
 the landing are gone forever. 
 
 Concrete for Building. 
 
 The first use of concrete for building purposes, was by John 
 Marshall in 1854. His first efforts was for the building on the south 
 side of East Second street, which property he owned. The same 
 year he built the structure on the southwest corner of Main and West 
 First streets, now owned by John Waters and occupied by the 
 Treleven store. His next effort was the corner of Main and West 
 Second streets, where Wagner's store is now. Marshall was a 
 Methodist preacher with plenty of means. The buildings stand the 
 weather strain very well.
 
 CONVENT AND HOSPITAL 
 
 Educational, Benevolent and Hospital Work of the Sisters of 
 
 St. Agnes Since 1871. 
 
 St. Agnes' Hospital. 
 
 The Sisters of St. Agnes began their work in Fond du Lac in 1871, 
 in charge of Mother Mary Agnes as Mother Superior. Success 
 marked the efforts from the beginning. A small building was used 
 at first, but in 1874 there was an enlargement and in 1877, a building 
 was added, one hundred and twenty by forty-eight feet in size, four 
 stories high and basement. The Sisters continued their work with 
 these facilities, until in 1896, the hospital demands on them became so 
 great that the present large and well arranged hospital was built. 
 Since then, many things have been added to facilitate the handling 
 and care of patients, until now it is regarded b}- physicians as one of 
 the best in the state. People are not afraid to go there for treatment, 
 or to send friends there, knowing as they do, that everything that 
 science can suggest is provided at reasonable cost. The educational 
 and benevolent work is continued as in former years. 
 
 Two of as fine ambulances as are made may be ordered at any 
 moment. The first one was bought by the city on recommendation of
 
 320 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Mayor Hoskins, in 1901, and has until very recently, been quartered 
 at the First Street Livery of J. K. Wilkins. The second one was pur- 
 chased with the proceeds of baseball games between the lawyers, 
 doctors and others, and has been kept at the Hastings Livery. In June, 
 1905, the care of both was transferred to the Forest Avenue Livery 
 of John Gormican, who makes the run for each. These runs 
 must be made at a moment's notice, on the order of any physician, 
 druggist, policeman, railroad man or manufacturer in the city. Before 
 the coming of the ambulances, Mr. Hastings and other liverymen had 
 rigs arranged that could be used, and before that hacks were used 
 because of necessity. 
 
 The baths given at this hospital extend to almost everything in 
 that line, known to modern bathing, and are scientifically applied. 
 
 The Sisters of St. Agnes is an American Sisterhood of the 
 Catholic Church, and exists mainly .in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan 
 and Wisconsin, the Convent here being the Mother House of the order, 
 and from which are sent out the workers in other fields. 
 
 Dr. Patchen Lost in the Woods. 
 
 As showing the difficulties that old timers sometimes had to 
 meet, it is interesting to note an incident in the medical practice of 
 Dr. Patchen. He had been out to the neighborhood of what is now 
 Marblehead, and seeking to return by a short route got lost in the 
 Lake deNeveu woods, and he was not only out nearly all night, but 
 a hard rain came on and he was drenched to the skin. Returning 
 next day to look for something he had lost during the night, he 
 found that he had crossed trails that would have taken him out of 
 the woods and that before he tied his horse to a tree and had set 
 down and leaned against another tree to wait for daylight, he had 
 been wandering up and down and had neared the lake without seeing 
 the water. This was long before there were any cottages there, and 
 roads or trails through the woods were difficult to find, and if struck 
 were not easy to keep. Passing over this region now, one has little 
 idea of the difficulties encountered in getting about in early times. 
 
 The Gillet Store. 
 
 Among the early stores in Fond du Lac was that of George, T. 
 L. and Jabe Gillet, under the name of Gillet Brothers. It was in a 
 wood building located where the hardware stores of the Wilkie Hard- 
 ware Company and Geo. P. Dana are now. Up stairs were the law 
 offices of Gillet, Truesdell & Tyler. T. L. Gillet met a most horrible 
 death in the great railroad accident near Johnson's Creek, in 1858. 
 He was a man generally known and his death was greatly deplored. 
 
 Only old timers remember that B. F. Moore resided for a 
 number of years at the northeast corner of Main and Scott streets, 
 and moved up town after selling his steamboats. It was a big sale, 
 as he owned nearly all the boats.
 
 SUDDEN AND STARTLING 
 
 Death of Frank B. Hoskins, on September i8, 1905, One of the Most 
 Startling in the City's History, Wholly Unexpected. 
 
 It was on Tuesday morning that the people were shocked to 
 learn of his death. 
 
 The news of Mr. Hoskins' death, which was passed quickly 
 around town that morning, came as a surprise and saddening shock 
 to almost every citizen, for perhaps no man in the city was better 
 known, but it was not generally known that he was even ill. He was 
 m his office and attending to l)usiness as usual on Saturday, and 
 but very few of his friends had been informed of his illness up to 
 Monday night, and to the many who knew nothing of his serious 
 condition, the news that he had passed away during the night seemed 
 an utter impossibility. 
 
 On Saturday Mr. Hoskins put in a hard day's work at business. 
 He was in his office in the Harrison Postal Bag Rack Company build- 
 mg during the forenoon, and iy the afternoon he went to Oshkosh, 
 where the work of constructing an interurban line into the city over
 
 322 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 the Eastern Wisconsin Railway & Light Company's private right of 
 way had been commenced. As president of the company, Mr. 
 Hoskins was very much interested in this work and had been giving 
 it much of his attention. 
 
 He returned to his office in this city at the close of the afternoon, 
 and remarked to L. F. McLean that he was ill. He went to his home, 
 ate a very light supper and retired soon after. He spent a very bad 
 night, and Dr. L. A. Bishop, the family physician, was summoned. 
 Later in the day he seemed somewhat improved, but Monday after- 
 noon he began to fail rapidly and F. S. Wiley was called in consulta- 
 tion. It was then decided to send for a Chicago specialist, Dr. Sears, 
 who arrived in the city at ii 154 o'clock Monday night and was on his 
 way to the Hoskins residence with Dr. L. A. Bishop when Mr. Hos- 
 kins' death occurred. 
 
 Autopsy is Held. 
 
 Tuesday morning an autopsy was held, and the cause of Mr. 
 Hoskins' death definitely determined. The autopsy was conducted 
 by Drs. Sears, Bishop, Wiley, McKnight, Mears and Bowe. It re- 
 vealed a condition of acute appendicitis, with a rupture of the appen- 
 dix as the immediate cause. An obstruction was found in the organ, 
 resulting in inflammation and bloating. The organ was also afifected 
 w^ith gangrene. 
 
 Serious Condition Unrealized. 
 
 The seriousness of Mr. Hoskins' condition was not realized by 
 the family or his closest friends until Monday afternoon. He had not 
 been in robust health for several years, and two years ago he had a 
 serious illness but had recovered from that and apparently was in his 
 usual health up to Saturday afternoon. But he was a man who bore 
 up under a great deal and it is probable that he was really ill before 
 he admitted it to himself. 
 
 During the first part of his illness he was in considerable pain, 
 and Monday he was delirious at times, but Monday evening he lost 
 consciousness and the end was a peaceful one. 
 
 No resident of this city has been more closely identified with the 
 history of Fond du Lac for a quarter of a century than has Mr. 
 Hoskins. Born in Chenango county. New York, August 25, 1850, he 
 came with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. D. Everett Hoskins, to Fond du 
 Lac in December of that year. He attended the public schools here 
 and after finishing his school work entered the First National Bank 
 as a clerk. He left that institution to become secretary of the 
 La Belle Wagon Works, which position he held during 1869 and 1870. 
 For five years thereafter he was engaged in the hardware business 
 with the late Chapin Hall, as a member of the firm of Hall & Hoskins. 
 He was elected register of deeds of Fond du Lac county on the demo- 
 cratic ticket in 1878. For a number of years thereafter he served as 
 a member of the board of education and a member of the common
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 323 
 
 council. In 1898 he was elected mayor of Fond du Lac and was re- 
 elected in 1899. 
 
 As president of the library board of the city of Fond du Lac for 
 many years, Mr. Hoskins had done a great work, and the present 
 efficiency of that public institution is largely due to his labors. 
 
 Probably no other citizen had more business interests in the city 
 than Mr. Hoskins. He was president of the Eastern Wisconsin 
 Railway & Light Company, an office he had held for two years ; he 
 was president of the Harrison Postal Bag Rack Company and had 
 been connected with that concern for about twenty years as secretary 
 and president ; he was secretary of the Fond du Lac Canning Com- 
 pany ; vice-president of the Fond du Lac Improvement Company; 
 secretary and treasurer of the Citizens' Building Company; a director 
 in the Commercial National Bank ; a stockholder in the Fond du Lac 
 Land- Company and the Nehrbrass Casket Company. 
 
 As an officer of the Harrison Postal Bag Rack Company, Mr. 
 Hoskins became know^n all over the United States, having a large 
 acquaintance with postoffice officials and railway clerks. 
 
 But Mr. Hoskins" chief prominence outside of Fond du Lac came 
 from his conspicuous position in the order of the Knights of Pythias. 
 He had been a member of Fidelity Lodge No. 19, almost since its 
 organization and from the time he identified himself with the order 
 took great interest in the work. He was made chancellor commander 
 of his home lodge and afterwards was elected grand chancellor of 
 Wisconsin. After that honor he was elected as supreme representa- 
 tive to the state supreme lodge. At the time of his death and for 
 several years previous he was a member of the board of control of the 
 Endowment Rank. The Frank B. Hoskins company, Uniform Rank, 
 of this city, was so named in his honor. 
 
 Perhaps no man in the United States stood higher in Pythian 
 circles than did Mr. Hoskins. He was looked upon throughout the 
 country as a leader in Pythian lodge matters. He was in direct line 
 of promotion to the office of supreme chancellor, it being generally 
 presumed that at the next election or at the one following, he would 
 be tendered the office, the only obstacle in the way of the honor not 
 coming sooner being that the office had but recently gone to a Wis- 
 consin man, Ogden H. Fethers, of Janesville, who, by the way, was 
 one of Mr. Hoskins' closest friends. 
 
 Mr. Hoskins was also a Mason of the thirty-second degree, and a 
 member of the order of Elks. 
 
 In addition to the large circle of friends within and without these 
 orders who will mourn his death, Mr. Hoskins leaves a number of 
 relatives. The immediate family consists of a widow and the two 
 sons. 
 
 A mark of the esteem in which the ex-mayor was held in his home 
 city was shown by the flying of flags at half mast from public build- 
 ings and business houses. 
 
 Business men and long personal friends of j\Ir. Hoskins were
 
 324 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 ready to pay him the highest tributes as a man of sterling character 
 and a public spirited citizen. 
 
 The Funeral. 
 
 The funeral was held at 10:30 o'clock Thursday morning from 
 the residence, 293 Fourth street. It was in charge of Fidelity Lodge 
 No. 19, Knights of Pythias, with Past Grand Chancellor M. M. Gillett 
 of this city, acting as prelate. Interment was at Rienzi cemetery. 
 
 It is doubtful that if in the whole history of the city, there has 
 been a funeral as largely attended as that of Mr. Hoskins, on Thursday 
 following his death. In addition to the large attendance from this 
 city, many prominent people from other places were in attendance. 
 In short, the funeral of Frank B. Hoskins was a marked event in the 
 city's history. 
 
 Always Wanted Bread. 
 
 In 1851, when the last of the Alenomonee Indians were taken to 
 Keshena by the general government, the people of Fond du Lac had 
 immunity from the clamorous demand of the squaws and children 
 for bread. They were always as desirous for bread as the men were 
 for whiskey. They were persistent beggars for bread, which they 
 would eat without butter or grease of any sort, and it made little 
 difference about the age of the bread or how dry it was. Mrs. Beeson 
 once tried to teach the squaw of Big Soldier how to make bread and 
 bake it in a skillet, but after four or five lessons gave it up in disgust. 
 Her last baking was as bad as her first. At the last lesson Mrs. 
 Beeson started a fire out of doors to make coals as the squaw would 
 have to do it at her camp. But it was of no effect, as she could not 
 learn, or did not want to. Many of the Brothertown and Stockbridge 
 women were good bread makers, but these wild Indian women 
 seemed to be ignorant of everything necessary and could not learn it. 
 
 Death of Mrs. C. T. Tracy. 
 
 One of the noted ladies of Fond du Lac county, and especially 
 notable in the annals of Ripon College, Mrs. C. T. Tracy, A. M., 
 passed away at the college on November 12, 1905, at the age of 87 
 years. She was with the institution forty-three years, coming to it 
 as instructor in mathematics and botany, but soon became the matron 
 and has ever since been venerated by the students as "Mother Tracy." 
 For some years she held a regular professorship and had received the 
 degree of A. M. Her specialty in educational work was botany and 
 she did a vast amount of work upon the native plants in this state and 
 especially in the region of Ripon. Brockway College was the name 
 of the institution when she came to it, and it was under the presidency 
 of Wm. E. Merryman. It was at that time little more than a pre- 
 paratory school, but it rapidly advanced to take rank with the best in 
 the state.
 
 THE HONORED DEAD 
 
 Obituaries of Members of the Old Settlers' Club, Read at the 
 Meeting Held August 30, 1905. 
 
 It is a rule of the Old Settlers" Club, that on the death of a 
 member, the President of the Club appoints some one to prepare an 
 obituary notice to be read at the next meeting, and preserved in the 
 records, to the end that at least the members of the club shall not be 
 forgotten. The following memoirs were read at the meeting August 
 30, 1905. A few have died since this meeting, including Frank B. 
 Hoskins, but their club memoirs have not yet been prepared. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin Moore. 
 
 The late B. F. Moore was not a member of this club, but ex- 
 pressed himself to the writer as ready to do his full share to support 
 it, financially or otherwise, but sickness, deaths and absence from the 
 city caused the neglect. 
 
 He was born in Maine in 1819, of English Puritan stock, and 
 came to Wisconsin in 1841, landing at Green Bay. He brought a 
 stock of goods for the Indian trade, which he loaded on a flat boat 
 and was eighteen days making the trip to Taycheedah, from which 
 place he conducted the Indian trade on Wolf river. John Beeson 
 worked with him, receiving large amounts of furs and maple sugar 
 from the Indians. He had a store for the goods at Fond du Lac, 
 where the Indians came in large numbers to trade. During this time 
 he operated a farm two years quite successfully. For five years he 
 handled lumber extensively and in 1846 entered the business in com- 
 pany with Curt Lewis. In 1846 he moved to Fond du Lac from Tay- 
 cheedah, closed his Indian trade and began buying and selling real 
 estate, in addition to lumber. In 185 1 he bought the steamboats 
 running on Lake Winnebago and AVolf river, and at one time owned 
 wholly or in part seven steamboats, which he continued to run until 
 their work was not remunerative, when he sold out to Capt. Fitz- 
 gerald, of Oshkosh, taking in the trade the well known Colvin dock 
 property, below the Main street bridge in that city, which he con- 
 tinued to own until a few years ago. From this time he dealt in real 
 estate until 1874, when he and A. G. Ruggles bought the LaBelle 
 Wagon Works, but a year later Mr. Moore became the sole owner. 
 In 1887, the year of the great booms, Mr. Moore sold the wagon works 
 to a ]\Iinneapolis syndicate for $180,000, for removal to Superior. 
 The real estate of the great plant was bought by the Gurney Refrig- 
 erator Co., who still own it. The old factory buildings were burned 
 in 1898 and rebuilt. Mr. Moore and his son, Herbert, aided by James 
 H. Farnsworth, made this factory one of the greatest of Fond du 
 Lac's business enterprises. 
 
 He was elected a member of the Wisconsin legislature in 1852,
 
 326 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 but could not be prevailed upon to enter politics again. Two or 
 three times he was sought for mayor of the city, but each time posi- 
 tively declined, as he did also for county treasurer. In politics he was 
 always a staunch republican and in religion an agnostic. His kind- 
 ness of heart is shown by the fact that during the war he relieved the 
 pressing wants of families of men at the front. 
 
 On the 24th of October, 1843, i^ ^^^s log cabin of Henry Conklin, 
 in the town of Empire, occurred the marriage of B. F. Moore and 
 Maria Mary Conklin, and nine children were born to them. Mr. 
 Moore died at his home in this city, February 18, 1904, Mrs. Moore 
 preceding her husband by only a few months through the silent 
 shadows. — A. T. Glaze. 
 
 Charles Rodney Harrison. 
 
 Another highly honored member of this club has passed over the 
 dark river of death since our last meeting. C. R. Harrison was a 
 native of Connecticut and came west in 1849, landing at Sheboygan 
 and thence came to Fond du Lac, where he spent the balance of his 
 life. Mrs. Harrison came the following year, coming around the 
 lakes in the steamer Niagara, the boat from which John B. Macy 
 afterwards lost his life. Mrs. Harrison landed at Milwaukee and 
 came to Fond du Lac in a mud-wagon over corduroy roads. 
 
 He was a mechanic of more than ordinary ingenuity and his 
 presence was of great value among the early manufacturers of 
 lumber. If a new sawmill or shinglemill was to be built, or an old 
 one overhauled or altered, Mr. Harrison was sure to be consulted. 
 Of the early day mills probably not one was without machinery ar- 
 ranged after his plans. If a mill failed to work properly, he was called 
 in to make it run right, and he seldom failed. In his general character 
 Mr. Harrison was a man of remarkable force and tenacity. He never 
 gave up anything he believed to be right. He was so earnest in what 
 he undertook, so determined in his work, that some called him stub- 
 born, but this is hardly the proper word — he was simply earnest in his 
 efiforts to accomplish an end. 
 
 When Mr. Harrison entered the postal service as route agent or 
 mail clerk on the Wisconsin division of the Northwestern railroad, he 
 was not long in making the discovery that there was need of great 
 improvement in the distribution of the mails. At that time postal 
 cars and offices had huge piles of lumber made into boxes in which 
 mail was thrown, and when necessary to lock out, a pouch or sack 
 was taken to the box and it was emptied into it, being a slow and 
 bungling process. The plan of Mr. Harrison was to hang the pouches 
 on a rack and distribute mail into them direct. In locking out it was 
 only necessary to take the pouch from the rack and lock it, thus 
 saving much time and space in the car or office, for the racks were 
 also used in postoffices. Of course the old lumber piles of boxes were 
 displaced. The Postal Bag Rack Co. soon began the manufacture 
 of the racks in Fond du Lac, and Mr. Harrison died in the full con- 
 sciousness that he had been the means of establishing here, one of
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 327 
 
 our most successful industries. As the means came into his hands, 
 Mr. Harrison early began the improvement of real estate and the 
 erection of houses, and it is doubtful if any other man in the city did 
 as much in this direction. And he seldom failed to put money into 
 the manufacturing enterprises as they appeared. In his early days 
 here he lived on Arndt street and at lowertown, but for many years 
 past the family has occupied the gem of a house on Union street, 
 v^here Mr. Harrison died on the 19th of May, 1905. He had not been 
 well for two or three years, but his last serious illness began in the 
 fall of 1904, and he was seldom out of his house after it. He leaves 
 a widow and one daughter, Mrs. L. F. McLean. — A. T. Glaze. 
 
 Robert Kennedy Satterfield. 
 
 Robert Kennedy Satterfield was born in Berkley county, West 
 Virginia, June, 1830. He died November 4th, 1904, at the home of 
 his daughter, Mrs. Lillian Reinhart, in the town of Byron, Fond du 
 Lac county, Wisconsin. 
 
 At the age of fifteen he went from West Virginia to the home 
 of two maiden aunts, Jane and Sally Robenson, in Urbena, Ohio, 
 where he remained until coming to Wisconsin in the spring of 1850. 
 The first work he did in Wisconsin was grubbing in the town of 
 Fond du Lac for Lewis Crofoot, receiving fifty cents a day. In the 
 fall of that year he engaged in the logging business with his brother- 
 in-law, John Austin, at the place where Manawa is now located. 
 They were offered one hundred and sixty acres of land where the 
 town now stands, for one horse. They banked the logs in the Wolf 
 river, running them down to Fond du Lac where they had them 
 sawed, and disposed of the lumber which was used in erecting some 
 of the first barns built near Fond du Lac. One on the asylum farm, 
 then owned by Mr. Todd, was the largest in the vicinity. 
 
 The following summer they worked the land now known as the 
 McNeal farm south of the city, and in the fall ran a threshing machine 
 in the town of Byron. The next year, in addition to this farm, he 
 worked eighteen acres of the farm belonging to the estate of Henry 
 Roblee. He afterward married Mrs. Roblee. Many years of his re- 
 markably strong manhood were spent in clearing and improving the 
 one hundred and sixty acres of the Roblee homestead. 
 
 In 1873 he purchased a farm in the town of Waupun. His kindly 
 genial nature won him many friends in his new home, and when in 
 1902 he sold his land and purchased a residence in the city of Waupun, 
 his going was regretted by all. 
 
 The remaining years of his life were spent with his son, K. L. 
 Satterfield, of Waupun, and his daughter, Mrs. Lillian Reinhart. of 
 Byron. 
 
 He had suffered much for many years, but the end came pain- 
 lessly and one of the pioneers of Fond du Lac county went peacefully 
 to sleep.— William Stearns. 
 
 Lyman F. Stow. 
 
 In the death of Lyman F. Stow, this club lost one of its most 
 earnest and active members. He had sufifered about two years from
 
 328 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 disease of the kidneys, but his familiar face was seen among the 
 people upon the streets until within a few weeks of his death. He 
 was a son of Joseph and Priscilla Stow, well known Fond du Lac 
 pioneers, and was born in New Hampshire in 1825, came to Wiscon- 
 sin when eighteen years of age, landing at Milwaukee in 1843, where 
 he engaged in a pail factory and in the manufacture of barrels and 
 cooperage generally. In 1846 he came to Fond du Lac, worked on a 
 farm near Waupun, and with his father, in the handling of flagging 
 and other stone work. In 185 1 he took up carpenter work and 
 followed it a number of years. In 1861 he began the erection of 
 elevators at points along various railroads in Wisconsin and Michigan, 
 a work which he followed many years. 
 
 Lyman F. Stow was one of the most active and efficient members 
 of the old Fond du Lac fire department. He was one of the organizers 
 of the department and stayed with it as a member of Washington 
 Volunteer Fire Company, No. i, until disorganized in 1878. He 
 served as a fireman more than twenty years. He was for a time 
 treasurer of the State Firemen's Association. During nearly all of 
 his life here he was a resident at or near the corner of Marr and Sixth 
 streets. He was married at Milwaukee in 1847, to Miss Martha Lee, 
 and besides the widow, he leaves one daughter. Miss Ella Josephine. 
 His brother William, so well known here when a young man, was a 
 prominent Methodist minister in the Wisconsin conference, and died 
 a few years ago while presiding elder of the Oshkosh district, and 
 had been presiding elder of the Milwaukee district. He leaves three 
 brothers still living. Lyman assisted his father in building one of 
 the first respectable residences in Fond du Lac, a two story house 
 still standing at the northwest corner of Marr and Third streets. 
 
 This club honors the memory of Mr. Stow as being one of its 
 most active and efficient members. He fully appreciated the desirable 
 character of the work it has in hand and was ready at any time to 
 work for its growth and promote its prosperity. The death of Mr. 
 Stow took place at his home on Marr street. — A. T. Glaze. 
 
 Charles Henry DeGroat. 
 
 Col. DeGroat was not a member of this club, yet is entitled to 
 some notice here. He was born in the state of New York in 1839, 
 and came to Fond du Lac in 1852. In 1856 he began the bookbinders 
 trade with his brother-in-law, Edward Sickles. In 1861, he was one 
 of the young men to enlist in Co. K, First Wisconsin Infantry. 
 After one year he was promoted to captain of Co. A, Thirty-second 
 Wisconsin, going to the war with that grand regiment, of which he 
 became -colonel. He was through all the campaigns of the Twenty- 
 third, ending in the streets of Washington at the close of the war in 
 1865. After his return home he was twice elected county clerk of this 
 county, and then was engaged in the foundry and machine shop 
 business many years. He was married in 1862 to Josephine Allen, 
 daughter of Capt. Allen, and four children were born to them. Col: 
 DeGroat had long been a sufiferer with kidney troubles and died ,at 
 his home in this city, August 14, 1904. When once formed. Col.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 329 
 
 De Groat's opinions were not likely to change. They were rock- 
 rooted and stayed with him. He could always give good reasons for 
 his faith and did not hesitate to do so. He was a good friend, a good 
 neighbor, a good citizen. — A. T, Glaze. 
 
 William Adams. 
 
 William Adams was the son of Abram and Louisa Adams, 
 natives of Connecticut, who after their marriage moved to Rutland 
 county, Vermont, where William was born in 1819. 
 
 He had a common school education and spent his early life in his 
 native county at farming. In 1847 he came west to the county of Fond 
 du Lac, where he selected a farm and after a period of time returned 
 to Vermont, where he was married to Miss Martha Peck, of his 
 native place. In 1849 he came with his bride and settled in the town 
 of Forest, where they lived seventeen years. He was surrounded at 
 first on all sides by Indians, whose camps were not far from his 
 pioneer home. They often came to trade their venison for corn and 
 other desired articles. 
 
 In those early days, before any apples were raised in this county, 
 when a company were assembled for an evening's visit, the good wife 
 would pass around for a treat cracked butternuts, hickory nuts and 
 hazel nuts, and sometimes a plate of nicely peeled, snowy white 
 turnips, which they laughingly called Wisconsin apples. 
 
 Mr. Adams sold his Forest farm in 1865 and bought the James 
 H. Haight farm in Empire, where he lived continuously until he sold 
 the farm about two years before his death, March 11, 1905, in the 
 eighty-sixth year of his age. 
 
 Mr. Adams was a successful farmer, a keen, shrewd business man, 
 honorable and straight forward in his dealings. He had amassed a 
 large property ; he was selected for many positions of honor and trust, 
 being elected to several town offices at different times. He was presi- 
 dent of the Fond du Lac Insurance Company for many years, he 
 was a prominent and active member of our County Agricultural 
 Association and always did his best to make our Fond du Lac county 
 fairs a success. In politics he was a republican ; he was strictly 
 temperate in his habits, never drinking spirituous liquors or using 
 tobacco in any form. 
 
 Mr. Adams was all his life a man of remarkable vigor and activity. 
 When he was about sixty, the boys and younger men of the neigh- 
 borhood used to meet and play ball on Saturday afternoons in summer 
 and Mr. Adams played quite as well as the best of them. 
 
 Mr. Adams was a worthy descendent of those hardy New Eng- 
 land pioneers, who overcame the obstacles of a bleak and rigorous 
 climate, a rocky and sterile soil, savage and treacherous Indian foes; 
 a protracted struggle with the mother country for very existence, 
 those pioneers of New England and New York, active, energetic and 
 resourceful, with their descendants, notwithstanding the difficulties 
 encountered, have produced the greatest number of useful inventions,
 
 330 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 the finest sheep and cattle, the fastest horses, and, last but not least, 
 the finest race of men and women the world has ever seen. 
 
 Mr. Adams was one of the earliest settlers of this county. Nearly- 
 all of them are gone — soon they will live with us in memory only. — 
 Franklin Swett. 
 
 J. J. Lurvey, of Oakfield. 
 
 J. J. Lurvey, a member of the Old Settlers' Club of Fond du Lac 
 county, whose death occurred August 21, 1904, was a son of Jacob 
 and Susan (McKnight) Lurvey, natives of Connecticut. After their 
 marriage they went to Livingston county, N. Y., where they remained 
 until 1845, when they came west and settled in Waukesha county, 
 where the subject of this sketch was born March 20, 1846. A year 
 later the family moved to Oakfield and pre-empted 160 acres of land 
 in section 34. 
 
 Mr. Lurvey's education was received in the common schools of 
 Oakfield. He remained with his parents until twenty-one years of 
 age, when he began life for himself. He was married in 1867 to Jane 
 Newton, of Lomira, Dodge county, Wis. The young people began 
 their domestic life in a log house on the old homestead, where four 
 children were born to them, three of whom are still living. Ada, the 
 eldest, is the wife of C. A. Worthing, the present clerk of the courts 
 of Fond du Lac county; Myrtie, now Mrs. George Hansen, of the 
 Consolidated Highland Creamery Company, and Eugene, who lives 
 on the homestead. Mrs. Lurvey died in June, 1874, and a year later 
 Mr. Lurvey was wedded to his first wife's sister. Miss Julia Newton, 
 of Lomira. 
 
 The immediate family consists of Mrs. J. J. Lurvey, Lawson-E. 
 Lurvey, a rising young attorney who has recently located in Fond 
 du Lac; E. J. Lurvey, a promising young business man, who is 
 largeh' interested in the Consolidated Highland Creamery Company, 
 and Miss Vida Lurvey, a recent graduate of the village High school, 
 and a popular young lady. 
 
 Mr. Lurvey was a warm friend of higher education, and at the 
 time of his death was a prominent member of the board of education. 
 He was also president of the village board, a director of the bank of 
 Oakfield and president of the Oakfield Telephone Company. 
 
 Mr. Lurvey was a very successful farmer and business man. He 
 left a property estimated at $75,000, consisting of a beautiful home 
 in the village, besides nearly 600 acres of land in Fond du Lac and 
 Dodge counties, and large interests in three skimming stations and 
 three creameries. He had always taken a prominent part in the 
 progress and advancement of the best interests of the town and 
 village, and was known as one of Oakfield's solid and substantial 
 business men. It is safe to say that no man in the village was more 
 respected and esteemed than the deceased. 
 
 Such men as Mr. Lurvey have done much to develop Fond du 
 Lac county and make it what it is today, the best known and most 
 prosperous in Wisconsin. — Dr. J. W. Burns.
 
 . FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 331 
 
 William Merrill, of Oakfield. 
 
 William Merrill, one of the oldest members of the Old Settlers' 
 Club of Fond du Lac county, died at his residence in the village of 
 Oakfield, February 5, 1905, after a short illness, of pneumonia. 
 
 Mr. Merrill was born in Seneca, N. Y., in 1836, where he re- 
 mained until young manhood, attending the common schools of his 
 native town during the winter months, and working on the farm and 
 on the Erie canal during the remaining months of the year. He was 
 married to Miss Martha Avery of the same town, in 1854, and a year 
 later the family moved to Illinois, where they remained two years 
 and then came to Fond du Lac county and located on a farm a short 
 distance west of the present village of Oakfield. Here they remained 
 until 1865, when the farm was sold and a larger one purchased in the 
 western part of the town, near Rock River. The family resided there 
 until six years ago, when Mr. Merrill became tired of active life, 
 rented his farm to one of his sons and moved to the village, where 
 Mrs. Merrill and her daughter reside. 
 
 The deceased is survived by a wife and daughter, Sedate, of the 
 village of Oakfield ; Clarence, of Spokane, Wash. ; E. D., of Waupun, 
 and J. W., who resides on the old homestead. 
 
 Mr. Merrill was widely known in Fond du Lac county as a 
 successful farmer and a prominent member of the M. E. Church, 
 with which he had been affiliated for many years. He was honest 
 and industrious, and a man highly respected by all who knew him. 
 He was a very large man, standing six feet five inches in his shoes, 
 and was known for many years as the "Prairie Giant." Besides being 
 large of stature, he was big hearted, and was ever ready to contribute 
 freely to those in distress. 
 
 In the death of Mr. Merrill, the community has lost a valuable 
 citizen and this society a worthy member. — Dr. J. W. Burns. 
 
 Pete Rupp and the Rats. 
 
 Peter Rupp, afterwards sheriff of this county, with his brother, 
 Louis Rupp, in an early day had a liquor store next north of where 
 G. Scherzinger has had his jewelry store many years. After a time 
 Peter got into the habit of putting down more booze than was pleas- 
 ing to his friends and they resolved to try an experiment. In the 
 conspiracy was his brother, Louis, Tommy Heil, Jo. Wolf and Mr. 
 Fromm. Tommy Heil, the mechanical genius, made a lot of wooden 
 rats, painted them the right color, attached strings to a few of them, 
 and when all was ready, took them into the store and placed them 
 on the floor and on the barrel where Pete went for his morning drink. 
 Louie was on the watch for him, hid in the store. Three or four of 
 the rats moved a little but all the rest stood their ground. Pete was 
 frightened and left in a hurry and Louis gathered up the rats. When 
 Louie told him he saw no rats there, Pete was sure he had delirium 
 tremens and quit drinking then and there and not long after sold out 
 the liquor store and went into grain and politics. Tommy Heil told 
 the writer about it and declared it to be a good job.
 
 332 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 An Early Picture Maker. 
 
 The best picture gallery in Fond du Lac in 1857 was that of Geo. 
 B. Green, and the best pictures made were called Ambrotypes and 
 Pearltypes. Up to this time we had various changes upon the old 
 Daguerreotypes. O. E. Wilkins, J. W. Taylor and one or two others 
 made these sun pictures, and the photograph did not get its start 
 until i860, and then in crude form. The photograph as we have it 
 now, has been a growth. A vast number of changes have come and 
 gone, as well as of operators in the business. 
 
 Early Day Waterworks. 
 
 Our present waterworks dating from 1885, were not the first pro- 
 posed for the cit}^ of Fond du Lac. As early as 1850 a company was 
 formed to lay a pipe line from the spring on the then Phillips farm, 
 to the city, but it was found that the line would be useless in winter 
 from freezing, or the pipe would have to be laid so deep as to be ex- 
 pensive, and nothing further came of it. And about that time the 
 discovery of the artesian wells was made, by which abundance of 
 clean water could be had at 80 to 120 feet and there was need of 
 nothiner more. 
 
 When Judge David Taylor was on the bench of the circuit court 
 for this county, he had a peculiar abhorrence of trivial cases, and 
 many a time prevailed upon parties to settle them without trial. The 
 attorneys were sometimes displeased, but he cared little for that. 
 
 The names of Reuben Simmons, F. D. McCarty and his father, 
 Francis McCarty, Joseph Stow and some others, were often linked 
 together in early day building operations. Many early day structures 
 as far back as 1841, were erected by them, here and in Taycheedah. 
 The remains of a few may yet be seen, but they are becoming very 
 scarce. In a little while none will remain. 
 
 Edward Pier used to say at the time our money was very poor 
 and bank discounts very high, that no business man could pay twelve 
 to twenty per cent for money. When asked how those with money 
 and the banks could secure interest, his reply was, they can better 
 afford to go without it than the business man can afiford to go to the 
 wall. Who will say that Edward Pier's head was not level?
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 333 
 
 Armory E. 
 
 Located on north side of East Second street, near Main. Built 
 in 1888 and 1900. 
 
 Full Roster of Company E. 
 
 After Company E was ordered into service, it was recruited up 
 to the maximum and left the state with full ranks. The service of the 
 Company in the Spanish-American war may be found elsewhere in 
 this work, but the following is the complete roster of the Company 
 when it left the state : 
 
 Edwin T. Markle, Captain. 
 Emil C. Plonslvy, First Lieut. 
 Adolph E. Kliemchen, Second Lieut. 
 Egelhoff, August C, First Sergt. 
 Brugger, Carl H., Q. M. Sergt. 
 Seeve, William J. H., Sergt. 
 Jaffke, Herman C, Sergt. 
 Bruett, William F., Sergt. 
 Lubitz, Frank J., Sergt. 
 Trier, Adolph M., Corp. 
 Lee, Jay L., Corp. 
 DeSombre, William E., Corp. 
 Dittmar, James W., Corp. 
 
 Wheeler, Frank J., Corp. 
 Cleveland, Charles C, Corp. 
 Langlois, Noah V., Corp. 
 Crippen, George A., Corp. 
 Skinner, Frank L., Corp. 
 Krebs, Fred C, Corp. 
 Hass, Albert, Corp. 
 Bechaud, Rudolph A., Corp. 
 Zinke, Carl R., Mus. 
 Zinke, Alfred R., Mus. 
 Clark, Edwin W., Art. 
 Vandervort, Frank, Wag.
 
 334 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Abel, Louis A. 
 Allen, Ellsworth H. 
 Arnold, Oscar. 
 Arthur, George A. 
 Babcock, Benjamin F. 
 Ballanz, William H. 
 Bettac, William. 
 Birr, Paul. 
 Bodle, George. 
 Born, George. 
 Born, Jacob. 
 Breitzman, Arthur W. 
 Brunet, Adelbert R. 
 Brunkhorst, Albert G. 
 Burnton, Carroll R. 
 Cady, Arthur Bertine. 
 Calvert, Frederick W. 
 Canniff, Ralph E. 
 Carney, J. Edward. 
 Carney, John F. 
 Caselton, William C. 
 Cavanagh, Lawrence P. 
 Christenson, Henry. 
 Clark, Peter. 
 Conway, William R. 
 Derusha, Edward. 
 Dircks, John. 
 Eiteneuer, Peter. 
 
 Estarbrook, Robert C. 
 Floody, Edward. 
 Galvin, Joseph F. 
 Groesbeck, Garrett. 
 Groesbeck, John W. 
 Guhl, Ferdinand. 
 Haberkorn, Albert H. 
 Heath, George W, 
 Hornig, Frank W. 
 Huelsmann, Oscar A. 
 Hughes, Robert L. 
 Jaeger, Charles W. 
 Jesmier, Frank. 
 Keilberg, Ernst. 
 Kempf, Frank H. 
 Kreger, Charles L. 
 Kroll, Gustav. 
 Kuhlmann, Louis. 
 La Rose, Charles. 
 Lubitz, Christ. F. 
 Markow, Frank H. 
 McCourt, Arthur. 
 Mead, Richard. 
 Mentch, William. 
 Miller, John A. 
 Molitor, John M. 
 Monahan, Michael J. 
 Pagel, Albert. 
 
 Panger, Alfred. 
 Quambush, William. 
 Raidy, Michael K. 
 Riese, August. 
 Roberts, Berrez A. 
 Rodgers, Arthur. 
 Rouse, Albert M. 
 Ryan, Patrick. 
 Sampson, Avery. 
 Scherzinger, Henry. 
 Schwartz, Abraham. 
 Simcosky, Frank. 
 Small, Adam H. 
 Small, Robert B. 
 Smith, Edward J. 
 Taylor, Frank C. 
 Tiffany, Claude A. 
 Van Dorsten, Paris R. 
 Van Scooter, Lester. 
 Voell, Frank. 
 Werner, Edwin. 
 Wetzel, Ferdinand. 
 Wheeler, Oscar N. 
 Wickert, Jake H. 
 Wilbert, Joseph. 
 Williams, Robert S. 
 Wirtz, Robert H. 
 
 Fond du Lac High School. 
 
 Located on Amory and Merrill streets. Built in 1875.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 335 
 
 Henry D. Hitt. 
 
 Entered his farm in Oakfield in 1847, and has lived on it ever 
 since. 
 
 Madame de Neveu. 
 
 Came to Wisconsin in 1838 and has lived at her Empire home 
 continuously to the present.
 
 336 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Masonic Temple. 
 
 Located at the northwest corner of Sheboygan and Marr streets, 
 Fond du Lac, Wis. 
 
 Fond du Lac Postoffice. 
 
 Located at the northeast corner of West First and Macy streets. 
 Erected in 1905 at a cost of $65,000.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 337 
 
 ^«;^HITTELSEY'S 
 
 The Pioneer Store ^ An Attractive Place for Veterans 
 
 Prices Always Satisfactory 
 
 This business was established by John Sharpe in 1856 and Mr. Whittelsey 
 came from New Yorii and joined Mr. Sharpe in 1861. Pioneers of city and 
 county are pleased to call at this Pioneer Dry Goods Store. 
 
 la the not distant future this business will be transferred to the corner of 
 Main and Forest Avenue and into the finest building the city has ever had. 
 
 0"*Brien T>ry Goods Co. 
 
 Main Street, = Opposite Palmer House 
 FOND DU L^C, WISCONSIN 
 
 Latest Styles and Great Variety in Dry Goods, Latest 
 
 Novelties known to the Trade. Almost Endless 
 
 List of Notions, JFiirs, JRugs^ JEtc. 
 
 When shopping, do not fail to call at O'Brien's and save money. 
 
 THE BIG WHITE STORE 
 
 THE PEOPLE'S FAVORITE SHOPPING PLACE 
 
 For Dry Goods, Cloaks, Suits, Millinery, Carpets, Crockery, Etc. 
 
 Fine Dress Making to Order. 
 
 Best Treatment and Lowest Prices has made this the 
 Popular Store. 
 
 J. F. GRUENHECK
 
 338 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Elks' Club House 
 
 Located Northeast Corner Sheboygan and Portland Streets. 
 Erected in 1903 and 1904. 
 
 ARMORY E HALL 
 
 Largest ana test Hall m Fona du Lac for 
 Conventions, Parties ana all Large Assem- 
 blies. Located on East Second Street, less 
 than a block from Main Street. 
 
 IN EVERY RESPECT FIRST-CLASS 
 
 -Apply to CAPT. W. J. SEEVE,,Manager
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 339 
 
 L. A. WiUiams W. E. Griswold 
 
 F. W. Ctadbourne 
 
 WILLIAMS, GRISWOLD 
 ^ CHADBOURNE 
 
 ATTORNEYS 
 
 Fond du Lac National Bank Building 
 Telephone 122 
 
 FOND DU LAC JS WISCONSIN 
 
 Maurice McKenna 
 
 ATTORNEY AT LAW 
 
 153 S. MAIX STREET 
 
 FOND DU LAC •WISCONSIN 
 
 MORSE & JOMNSON 
 
 ATTORNEYS AT LAW 
 
 Telephone 786-2 
 
 136 S. /nAlN STREET 
 EOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN 
 
 Roy L. /*Aorse 
 David E. Johnson 
 
 M. K. RHILLY 
 H. M. FELLENZ 
 J. P. RBIL.LY 
 
 REILLY 
 FELLENZ & 
 REILLY 
 
 LAWYERS 
 
 Corner First and Main Streets 
 Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 
 
 Herbert E. S^^^ett 
 
 Collections German Spoken 
 
 
 O. H, ECKE 
 
 LAWYER 
 
 
 
 Attorney at LaW 
 
 Business Transacted in National. 
 
 
 State, District, Circuit, County 
 
 Office Hours 
 
 and Local Courts 
 
 9 to 12, 2 to 5 
 
 
 Phone 8563 
 
 Main Street 
 
 92 South Main Street 
 
 Fond du Lac, Wis. 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WIS.
 
 340 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 ylmory "Block and Hall 
 
 Located at the head of Sheboygan Street. Built after the prevailing style of architecture of the 
 time in New York. Originally the floors were five steps abov»" the sidewalk. In 1869 the floors 
 were lowered to their present position. The Hall was opened In 1857 by the Peak Family of Bell 
 Ringers with the largest crowd present that ever was in it. 
 
 The Savings Bank of W. E. Cole occupies the south one-third. 
 
 The Holland Dutch Remedy 
 
 A prescription by Dr. Haltemann, a Holland physician and unques- 
 tionably the Best Remedy Known for all Troubles of the Bowels, Liver 
 and Kidneys. 
 
 Wholly Vegetable and Harmless 
 
 Prepared by A. T. GLAZE 
 
 ^:^zzzzs'»— FOR SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 341 
 
 COLE SAVINGS BANK 
 
 INCORPORATED 
 
 Deposits of $1.00 and upward received 
 Interest Paid Semi-annually 
 
 Wm. E. cole. President VVm. I. COLE, Cashibr 
 
 ESTABLISHED 1875- 
 
 The Anderson Vehicle Company 
 
 Dealers in all kinds of Vehicles, Automobiles, Fur Coats and Robes, 
 Cutters and Sleighs, Binders, Mowers, and Hay Rakes, and any- 
 thing else required on a farm. Give us a call. 
 
 West Second Street ^=-- Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 
 
 W. J. CHEGWIN 
 
 Furniture and Picture Framing 
 
 No. 20 East Second Street Fond au Lac, \Visconsin 
 
 HENRY 'BROS. 
 
 FLOUR, FEED, GRAIN, SALT 
 CEMENT AND BUILDING MATERIALS 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN 
 
 For a Stylish Suit or Overcoat go to 
 
 TRELEVEN BROTHERS 
 
 102 SOUTH MAIN STREET FOND DU LAQ WIS. 
 
 BSTABLiISHEO 1883 
 
 CLARK MANUFACTURING COMPANY 
 
 L. H. CLARK 
 
 Finest machinery in the city for building Gasoline Engines 
 and the manufacture of Novelties and Models. Repairing 
 done neatly and promptly. 
 
 Shops on Forest Avenue near the Wisconsin Central Station 
 FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN
 
 342 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF POND DU LAC
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 343 
 
 DR. H. T. SACKETT 
 
 DENTIST 
 
 Established 25 years 
 
 OFFICES 59-61 MAIN STREET 
 (Opposite Forest Ave.) 
 
 EQUIPPED WITH ALL MODERN 
 APPLIANCES 
 
 COMPETENT ASSISTANTS ARE 
 CONSTANTLY IN ATTENDANCE 
 
 FOR ARTIFICIAL TEETH AND THE 
 ARTISTIC RESTORATION OF FACIAL 
 CONTOUR, GO TO . . . 
 
 Dr. G. A. Hildreth 
 
 Whose improvements in the methods 
 employed in restoring contour, youth, 
 tone and expression to the face are 
 such that it is possible to ward off 
 the appearance of age by ten to 
 fifteen years. 
 
 Tie HildretK Dental Parlors 
 
 134 S. MAIN, CORNER SECOND 
 
 MODERN DENTISTRY 
 
 Dr. C. C. Trowbridge 
 
 DENTIST 
 
 150 SOUTH MAIN STREET 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN 
 
 Ji Word of Instruction 
 
 There is no time after birth that a 
 child should not be under the watch of a 
 competent dentist. Many ot the so-callea 
 disturbances of teething are not the re- 
 sult of teething at all, but of improper 
 and unsanitary feeding. Just so are 
 many of the inflammations of the soft 
 tissues, and if a proper diagnosis were 
 made and proper Instructions given, they 
 would speedily disappear. It is possible 
 for any person to reach adult and even 
 pass through their entire life without 
 decay of the teeth. If only the advice ot 
 a competent dental physician were 
 heeded. 
 
 A PRACTITIONER 
 
 J. K. WILKINS 
 First Street Livery 
 
 ¥ ¥ ¥ 
 
 The equipment of this barn unsurpassed 
 by any in the city. Everything first-class 
 and prices reasonable 
 
 HACKS RUN TO ALL TRAINS 
 
 L. A. BISHOP 
 
 HOMEOPATHIC 
 PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON 
 
 MARR S":"REET 
 Between First and Second Streets 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WIS. 
 
 Office Hours 
 
 7:30 to 10 a. m. 
 1:00 to 3:00 
 7:00 to 8:30 p. m.
 
 344 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Sheriff's "R^esidence and County Jail 
 
 Located on Linden Street, South of the Court House. 
 Built in 1870 and Improved at Various Times. 
 
 ALBERT HAUER 
 
 DEALER IN 
 
 «i^ 
 
 Paints, Oils, AiVall Paper 
 Glass ana \V^inao\v Snades 
 
 173 SOUTH MAIN STREET
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 345 
 
 Wheeler & Wilson 
 New Home 
 and Other Standard 
 Makes of 
 Sewing Machines 
 
 Pianos Tuned 
 Pianos Repaired 
 Pianos for Rent 
 and Sold on Easy 
 Payments 
 
 Foe// Music House 
 
 Wholesale and Retail 
 
 104 South Main Street Fond du Lac, Wis. 
 
 Telephone 306 
 
 C. A. FURSTNOW 
 
 Is the Largest 
 Dealer in 
 
 Watches, Clocks, Jewelry, Diamonds 
 Silverware, Fine Cut Glass, Umbrellas 
 Edison, Victor and Columbia Talking 
 Machines and l^ecords, also All Kinds of 
 Musical Instruments at Lowest Prices 
 
 77 SOUTH MAIN STREET 
 
 When you want Hard 
 Coal free from dust and 
 dirt, place your order with 
 the 
 
 A. TAIT 
 FUEL CO. 
 
 M. Fitzsimons 
 fe? Sons = — — 
 
 MAIN AND FIRST STREETS 
 
 BOOTS and SHOES 
 
 Best Work at Reasonable Prices 
 
 
 JACOB BRENNER 
 
 MANTJFAOTORER OF 
 
 Galvanized Iron 
 
 Sheet Iron and Tin 
 
 Thos. H. Hastings 
 
 Liver y and 
 Undertaking 
 
 Livery Phone 92 
 
 SHOP ON THIRD 8TREET 
 POND DU LAC. WIS. 
 
 16 Sheboygan Street 
 
 Undertaking Phone 86 
 139 S. Main Street 
 
 Roofing and House Trimmings a 
 Specialty 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WIS.
 
 346 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 "Bishop's K^esidence and Mother House 
 
 Located on East Division Street, Corner of Amory. 
 Mother House Built in 1905 at a Cost of $60,000. 
 
 TRANKLIN SWETT 
 
 ARChlTECT 
 
 Plans and Estimates Prepared 
 on Short Notice . . . 
 
 Rooms rirst house East of Armory E 
 
 . . . rOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN
 
 PROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 347 
 
 Established 1873 
 
 JOHN HUGHES 
 
 DEALER IN 
 
 Shelf and Heavy Hardware 
 
 Iron in Great Variety 
 
 Heating and Cooking Stoves 
 
 Tinware, Nails 
 
 Blacksmiths' Supplies 
 
 Wagon Stock, Cordage, etc. 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN 
 
 Monarchy Malleable 
 
 Iron and Steel Ranges 
 
 TKusch & Hirth 
 
 Hardware 
 
 142 S. Main St. Fond du Lac. fVis. 
 
 J. F. Wegncp & Co. 
 
 Wilkie 
 
 'Wholesale and Retail Dealers in 
 
 Hardware 
 
 Hardware 
 
 Stoves and 
 
 Co. 
 
 Tin^ware 
 
 
 Nails, Saws, Axes, Tools, Milk Cans 
 Rope, Chain, Iron, Steel, Etc., Etc. 
 
 SHELF AND HEAVY 
 
 ¥ ¥ ¥ 
 
 HARDWARE 
 
 Good Goods ! 
 
 Small Profits ! 
 
 BUILDERS' HARDWARE 
 A SPECIALTY 
 
 Quick Sales ! 
 
 
 ¥ ¥ ¥ 
 
 108 South Main Street 
 
 
 Fond du Lac, Wis. 
 
 'Phone, Red 925 
 
 
 Main Street 

 
 348 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 Landing at Winnebago Parii, 
 
 Located Eight Miles North of the City on East Shore 
 of Lake Winnebago. 
 
 JOHN P. HESS 
 
 UP 
 
 -TO-DATE 
 
 JEWELER 
 
 AND 
 
 OPTICIAN 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 88 SOUTH MAIN STREET 
 FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 349 
 
 KSTABLTSHED 1870 
 
 Bowe & Van Blarcom 
 
 The Oldest Established 
 Real Estate Agency in 
 Fond du Lac County 
 
 If you wish to Buy, Sell or Ex- 
 changee Real Estate, call on us 
 
 Auction Sales of all sorts of 
 Property a Specialty 
 
 SEE 
 
 Anderson & Watson 
 
 FOR 
 
 real estate 
 insurance ' 
 and loans 
 
 136 SOUTH MAIN STREET 
 
 Oldest Music House in the City 
 
 B. H. Anaerson 
 
 DEALER IN 
 
 Pianos and Organs 
 
 Violins, Guitars, Manaolins 
 Small Instruments 
 Sneet Music 
 
 and all sorts or 
 
 Musical Mercnandise 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN 
 
 Old Settlers 
 Young Settlers 
 
 In fact every one can be 
 suited with Furniture 
 at 
 
 Kremer 'Bros. 
 
 The New Furniture Store 
 
 36=38 No. Main Street 
 Reinig "Blocfi 
 
 S. H. CHENEY 
 
 MANUFACTURER OV 
 
 Galvanized Iron, Tin and Sheet 
 Iron Work of All Kinds 
 
 Roofing and House Trimming 
 a Specialty 
 
 East First Street, near Main 
 Fond du Lac "Wis. 
 
 Spencer Palmer 
 
 JOB PRINTER 
 
 Main Street, near Second Fond du Lac, Wis. 
 
 ¥ ¥ ¥ 
 
 Business Established More Than 
 Thirty Years -i- Work Always 
 First-class and at Fair Prices
 
 350 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
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 ©. 5cl?erztnger 
 
 /T 
 
 Has been continuously in business for fifty 
 years. This is the best proof of honest 
 dealing, good work and reasonable prices. 
 
 \6 Soni\:i ViXain Street 
 
 ^onti bu i.ac, Wisconsin
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 351 
 
 Wagner Dry Goods Compant; 
 
 122=124 JStain Street, corner Second 
 
 Dry Goods, Notions, Carpets 
 
 Cloaks, Rugs, Lace Curtains, etc. 
 
 SATISFACTION GUARANTEED ^ 
 
 ^-^r^AOOri 'O 90-92 MAIN STREET 
 
 ^D I llAA^D^DE^L ^D Opp. Commercial National Bank 
 
 Always Something Neiv 
 
 Dry Goods, Notions, Suits, Cloaks and Furs 
 The Store that Keeps the Prices Down 
 
 RICHARD HAAS GRAND CENTRAL fred wagner 
 
 DRY GOODS, CARPETS, RUGS AND LINOLEUM 
 
 NO. 22 FOREST AVENUE 
 FOND DU LAC, WIS. 
 
 T. E. AHERN CO. 
 
 CLOTHIERS 
 
 51-53 Soutk Main Street
 
 352 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 West Front of Grafton Hall 
 
 On Sophia Street North of The Cathedral. 
 Built in 1900. 
 
 N. W. SALLADE' 
 
 ATTORNEY AT LAW 
 
 FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING 
 
 FOND DU LAC. WISCONSIN
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 353 
 
 GRAFTOJW HALL 
 
 School and College 
 for Young Ladies 
 
 College of Music M School of Decora^ 
 tion M Designing M Domestic Science 
 and Library Courses 
 
 Rev. B. T. Rogers, Warden 
 
 Established 1864 -»».■» 
 
 The RUBER BROTHERS 
 Largest Stock of Drugs and Medicines in the City 
 
 Books and Stationery in a Great Variety. Notions, Paints 
 and Oils. Mixed Paints, Wall Papers. Curtains and Ev- 
 erything in the line of Druggists' Sundries ^ ^ 
 
 -PRESCRIPTIONS A SPECIALTY 
 
 R. POWRIE 
 
 Manufacturer of and Dealer in 
 
 FINE MONUMENTS 
 AND STATUARY 
 
 MARBLE. GRANITE AND STONE 
 
 Pneumatic Tools for Carving and Lettering 
 30 EAST FIRST STREET 
 
 Cut shown 13 of Monument Designed and Executed 
 for Ihe Iron Brigade by R. Powrie. Erected in 
 Arlington Cemetery, \Va8liington, D. C.
 
 354 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAG 
 
 Lakeside Park and Fountain 
 
 Located on Lake Shore, One Mile North 
 of the Court House. 
 
 GIFFIN ^ SUTHERLAND 
 
 jittorneys 
 
 ^ 
 
 FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 355 
 
 E. G 
 
 r. HEATH. Managek 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fo 
 
 nd 
 
 du 
 
 Lac 
 
 Steam 
 
 Laun 
 
 dry 
 
 
 34 
 
 EAST 
 
 FIRST STREET 
 
 M M 
 
 TELEPHONE 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 Eqi 
 
 lipped 
 
 with 
 
 Very latest 
 
 machinery 
 
 
 
 
 
 Do 
 
 the m 
 
 ost stylish and up'to=date Work 
 
 
 
 RE/niNGTON DRUG CO. 
 
 L. cJ RE/niNG I ON 
 
 cJAS. T. UANA 
 
 Our Drug Experience of over a quarter 
 of a century at your service =^ 
 
 72 S. MAIN STREET 
 
 ^ 
 
 rOND DU LAC. WIS. 
 
 Dr. Reed's Cushion Sole Shoes for Ladies and Men 
 
 THE EASIEST SHOE ON EARTH 
 
 We make shoes to order. We take your measure and 
 guarantee a perfect fit. Up-to-date shoes at popular 
 prices. 
 
 GEORG, THE SHOE MAN 
 
 70 S. MAIN STREET 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WIS. 
 
 Martin Herbert 
 
 PRACTICAL 
 SHOEMAKER 
 
 Shoes made to order on Short Notice. 
 Repairing done while you wait. 
 Prices Low and Work Up-to-date. 
 Hand-sewed Work a Specialty, 
 Give me a call. 
 
 JO East Second St. 
 
 Fond du Lac, Wis.
 
 356 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 Taylor "Park 
 
 Located on the West Side of the City 
 and Near Forest Avenue. 
 
 FRANK O. PRINSLOW 
 
 DEALER IN 
 
 Farm Implements, ^A^agons, Carriages 
 
 DouMe Disc Drills and Seeders, Gasoline Engines 
 and Tkreshers, Wind-mills, Sewing Mackines, 
 
 X-wine, Grass Seed, etc. 
 
 TELEPHONE 702 
 
 19-21-23 E. First Street FOND DU LAC, WIS.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 357 
 
 President, L. A. WILLIAMS 
 Treasurer, W. E. GRISWOLD 
 Secretary. F. W. CHADBOURNE 
 
 FOND DU LAC COUNTY 
 ABSTRACT COMPANY 
 
 incorporated 
 
 Owners of the Original Abstract Books and Records of Fond du Lac County 
 supplemented by a Complete New System of its o^wn. ..... 
 
 <»«— ~ OFFICE IN FOND DU LAC NATIONAL BANK BUILDING 
 
 Wai. McDERMOTT J. P. McDERMOTT G. L. McDERMOTT 
 
 Wm. McDermott Sr Sons 
 
 INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE 
 LOANS AND COLLECTIONS 
 
 LOCAL LAND AGENTS OF CHICAGO & PROPERTY OF NON- 
 
 NORTH-WESTERN R. R. CO.'S LAND S IN RESIDENTS RECEIVES 
 
 NORTHERN WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN PROMPT ATTENTION 
 
 . . . COHRESPOXDEXCE SOLICITED . . . 
 
 24 SOUTH MAIN STREET j^ FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN 
 
 S^l^e (Eommonipcaltt; 
 
 Is intimately associated with the history and progress of Fond du Lac. The 
 Weekly Commonwealth, being now in its fifty-third year, enjoys the distinction 
 of being the oldest paper, not only in the city, but in the Sixth congressional 
 district. The Daily Commonwealth is in its thirty-sixth year. 
 
 There are certain distinctive features about The Commonwealth. Unlike 
 many newspapers of the present time, it does not strain after sensationalism. 
 The policy is to get the facts and print such of the news as is decent to print. 
 It is a paper that can be and is read in the family circle — not one that the 
 parent should seek to keep from the children. 
 
 In addition to giving a complete city and county news service. The Com- 
 monwealth maintains special service at Madison, Milwaukee and Oshkosh. 
 From the former, the doings of the state legislature and other matters pertaining 
 to the state government are reported; from Milwaukee, the metropolis and news 
 center of Wisconsin, comes a great deal of special news of the state; and from 
 Oshkosh, Fond du Lac's closest neighbor, comes much news that is of particular 
 interest to the residents of Fond du Lac. 
 
 The United States and foreign news service is furnished by the Scripps- 
 McRae Press Association, of which The Commonwealth is a member. This 
 association, co-operating with the Publishers' Press Association, covers all 
 parts of the civilized world. 
 
 The P. B. Haber Printing Company, publishers of the paper, operate in 
 connection a modern show and job priming establishment, where practically 
 anything from a label the size of a postage stamp to the largest theatrical bill is 
 printed.
 
 358 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 
 ■ • ■ ' ^'-fr^^r '^^:^^ ■■■'■■ % 
 
 lliiii^ 
 
 
 HHH 
 
 i^3a>g^2ai«t-aa:^aii.aaMBMiiii8iffiiiMl^^^^^^Bi 
 
 Lakeside Park 
 
 Located One Mile North of the Court House 
 on Shore of Lake Winnebago 
 
 d. THO/nSGN 
 
 d. h ThO/nSEN 
 
 eJ. TMO/nSEN & SON 
 ^^^Decorating and Painting 
 
 Wall Paper, Painting /Materials, Etc . 
 
 18 SOUTH AAAIN STREET 
 rOND DU LAC . . . WISCONSIN
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 359 
 
 The ErVing Hotel 
 
 AMERICAN AND 
 EUROPEAN PLAN 
 
 EXCELLENT CAFE 
 IN CONNECTION 
 
 Fond du Lac 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Ike Pal 
 
 mer 
 
 H 
 
 ouse 
 
 E A. CAREY. Owner 
 
 G. A. ALEXANDER. Manager 
 
 FIRST-CLASS HOTEL 
 
 REASONABLE PRICES 
 
 FINE EQUIPMENT 
 
 Everything desired in Modern Improvements, in- 
 cluding Elevators, Gas and Electric Lights, Bath- 
 rooms, Closets, Billiard Rooms, Sample Rooms, 
 Barber Shop, Telegraph and Telephone Service, 
 Buffet, etc 
 
 First-Class in All Respects 
 
 COR. MAIN AND SHEBOYGAN STS. 
 
 FOND DU LAC J* WISCONSIN 
 
 rOND DU LAC . . . 
 NATIONAL BANK 
 
 or rOND DU LAC. WISCONSIN 
 
 Capital $200,000 
 Surplus b^,^^^ 
 
 DIRRCTORS 
 
 0. A. GALLOWAY, Of Moore & Galloway Lumber Co 
 
 FRED'K RUEPING, Of Fred Ruepinq Leather Co. 
 
 J. A. MERRYMAN, Merchant 
 
 JOHN HUGHES, merchant 
 
 CHAS. SCHRIBER, V-Pres. Old National Bank of 
 Oshkosh, Wis. 
 
 E. P. SAWYER, Capitalist 
 
 G. A. KNAPP, Cashier C. A. GALLOWAY, Pres. 
 
 Established 1870 
 
 COMMERCIAL 
 
 NATIONAL BANK 
 
 OF FOND DU LAC, WIS. 
 
 H. R. POTTER, President 
 
 HENRY BOYLE, Vice-President 
 
 A G. BECHAUD, 2d Vice-President 
 M. T. SIMMONS, Cashier 
 
 DIRECTORS 
 
 John T. Boyle George Giddings 
 
 F. E. HOYT D. D. Sutherland 
 
 H. P. PHEI/PS 
 
 J. 'W. WATSON 
 
 Phelps & Watson 
 
 ATTORNEXS AT L,Aw 
 
 DEALEHS IX 
 
 REAL ESTATE 
 
 Fond du Lac ^ Wisconsin 
 
 In Biishiess Over Fifty Years 
 
 ©f ^onb bu ^ac ' 
 
 J. B. PERRY, Pres. ERNEST J. PERRY, Cashier 
 
 Pircctors 
 
 H. D. HITT E. R. HERREN A. G.RUGGLES 
 G. W. EARLE J. C. FUHRMAN
 
 360 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OP FOND DU LAC 
 
 The Henri; 3ot;le Home for Aged Catholics 
 
 Located on Park Avenue. Erected in 1903 by Henry Boyle 
 at a Cost of 1^75,000 for Building and Endowment. 
 
 W. A. MEIKLEJOHN 
 
 E. C. MARTIN 
 
 MEIKLEJOHJW & MARTIN 
 
 FINANCIAL, AGENTS INVESTMENT BROKERS 
 
 REAL, ESTATE COMMERCIAL, PAPER 
 
 MORTGAGES, STOCKS AND BONDS 
 
 SECURITIES OF AL.L, KINDS BOUGHT AND SOLD 
 MONEY TO LOAN ON LONG AND SHORT TIME 
 
 First National 'Bank Building 
 
 Jff Fond du Lac, Wis.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 361 
 
 M-Oore vk? Cjallo^vay Lumber Co. 
 
 LUMBER, SHINGLES, LATH 
 
 SASH AND DOORS 
 
 M M 
 
 Artistic Glass a Specialty 
 
 
 Interior Woodwork in choicest Domestic and Im- 
 ported Woods at lowest prices consistent withclnar- 
 acter and style of workmanship. 
 
 DO NOT FAIL TO SEE OUR WORK AND GET ESTIMATES 
 
 Telepkone No. 4 J- 
 
 FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN 
 
 NTOENTAL 
 OrfflNGlIOUSE 
 
 ^g Largest C lotking Estab- 
 lisnment in tne Nortn^vest... 
 
 f^ ^^HE store that always saves you money. 
 I V^ If you want the very latest in Men's 
 I and Boys' Clothing, Hats, Caps or Fur- 
 nishing Goods, you'll find it here. 
 
 The finest Custom Tailored, Ready-to- 
 Wear Clothing our Specialty. 
 
 The CONTINENTAL 
 CLOTHING HOUSE 
 
 KUH NATHAN & nscHER CO 42-44 S. Main St., Fond du Lac, Wis.
 
 362 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 St. Agnes' Sanitarium 
 
 Located Three Miles East of the City on What was in Early Days, 
 
 the Lyman PhiUips Farm. On the Premises is Located 
 
 One of the Finest Springs in the County. 
 
 HELMER MILLING CO. 
 
 . . One of the Oldest . . 
 
 Flour J Feed J Grain Salt and Seed 
 
 . . Firms in the City . . 
 
 Retail Department, 14-16-18 Fourth Street 
 ' Mill and Elevator, 183-185-187 Western Avenue 
 
 ^^aaa^^-FOND DU LAC, WIS.
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 363 
 
 ±ke Daily and The Saturday Reporter 
 
 Rank with the leading newspapers in Wisconsin. The Daily Reporter 
 is nearly twenty-four years old and The Saturday Reporter is nearing 
 its forty-seventh anniversary. These papers are published by The 
 Reporter Printing Company, of Fond du Lac, Wis., and support the 
 principles of the Democratic party. The Reporter has always been 
 aggressive and progressive. The first linotype machine ever used in 
 Fond du Lac County was purchased by The Reporter Printing Com- 
 pany. The Daily Reporter was the first paper to secure a telegraph 
 service in Fond du Lac. It was the first to publish an eight page, seven 
 column paper and has always taken pride in leading in all improve- 
 ■ ments until today it has a state-wide reputation. The Saturday Re- 
 porter is one of the strongest weekly papers in Wisconsin. It has the 
 stability of age and the progressive spirit of youth, and with this 
 combination, it has proved itself the equal of any weekly paper pub- 
 lished in Wisconsin and the superior of most of them. The officers 
 of The Reporter Printing Company are L. A. Lange, President and 
 Manager; A. H. Tuttle, Vice President and Superintendent of the Job 
 Department; Emery Martin, Secretary and Advertising Manager, and 
 W. H. Parsons, Treasurer and Managing Editor. The Reporter Print- 
 ing Company, besides publishing these papers, has one of the finest 
 job rooms in the northwest. A specialty is made of fine book and 
 catalogue work and high grade commercial work. 
 
 The Fond du Lac 
 Dailp 'Bulletin 
 
 Only Morning Paper in Fond du Lac, 
 
 Only Paper in Fond du Lac holding an Associated 
 Press Franchise. Only Paper in Fond du Lac 
 that dares to be independent or dares to tell the 
 truth about public affairs. 
 
 Ten Cents a Week Only— Delivered hy Carrier 
 
 ON FREE RURAL DELIVERY ROUTES 
 The Bulletin is delivered on the morning of publi- 
 cation, thus giving farmers the newspaper 
 advantages of city residents. 
 
 Send your name to The Balletin and 
 get the Best Paper in the County
 
 36 4 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 GENERi I. E. .S. BRAGG. 
 U. S. Consul General to Hongkong, China. 
 
 JUDGE NORMAN S. GILSON 
 President of State Tax Commission. 
 
 CH.ART.ES R. HARRISON 
 Died May 19, 1905. 
 
 CAPT. M. MANGAN 
 Died Sept. 26, 1901.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Military History 5 
 
 Fond du Lac National Guard 5 
 
 Hibernian Guards • 6 
 
 Fond du Lac in the War 7 
 
 Fond du Lac Guards— Co. E 10 
 
 Fountains and Water Works 15 
 
 Caskets in Use Few Years 17 
 
 Foolish Forms of Speech 18 
 
 Ben Gilbert and His Cap IS 
 
 Passenger Steamboats on the Lake... IS 
 
 Lumber and Lumbermen 19 
 
 Sawmills 22 
 
 Shinglemills 23 
 
 Meyer Factory 25 
 
 Steenberg Factory 26 
 
 McDonald & Stewart Factory 26 
 
 To Teach English to Indians 26 
 
 Fond du Lac Railroads 27 
 
 Dealers in Dry Goods 29 
 
 Dry Goods in Ripon 32 
 
 First County History 33 
 
 Curious Relics and Records 33 
 
 Furniture Manufacture 33 
 
 Scripture or Not Scripture 34 
 
 Disliked Scandal Cases 34 
 
 XDld Time Postofflce Clerk 34 
 
 County Seat Contest 34 
 
 The Indian Scare 35 
 
 Pencils Forty Years Ago 36 
 
 Methods of Preserving Fruits 36 
 
 The Hardware Trade 37 
 
 Relics of the Past 39 
 
 Fountain City Herald 39 
 
 The Old Giltner Place 40 
 
 Peat Fifty Years Ago 40 
 
 Laundry Not Thought Of 40 
 
 Fire Department 41 
 
 Death of Ira Schoolcraft 44 
 
 Water "Was Let Out 44 
 
 Gen. Hamilton a Veteran 44 
 
 Boot and Shoe Trade 45 
 
 Where Tinware Was Made 47 
 
 Early Days' Fishing 48 
 
 Queer But Not a Fool 48 
 
 Bullis Was a Practical Joker 48 
 
 The Earliest Settler 49 
 
 Banks and Bankers 51 
 
 Savings Banks 54 
 
 Ripon Banks 55 
 
 Waupun Banks 56 
 
 Crooked Channel 57 
 
 Free Will Baptist Church 58 
 
 Early Day Shingle Machines 58 
 
 Railroad Open to Chester 58 
 
 Fond du Lac PostofHce 59 
 
 Patent Right Sharpers 61 
 
 Capt. Mapes and His Text 61 
 
 Sails on Lake Winnebago 62 
 
 Paradise for Hoboes 62 
 
 Printing and Printers 63 
 
 Contents of the Newspapers 66 
 
 New Style of Type Stickers 67 
 
 The Point System 67 
 
 Use of Plate Matter 67 
 
 Other Innovations 67 
 
 Tommy Heil, the Mechanic 68 
 
 Gibson Blacksmith Shbp 68 
 
 From Church to Opera House 68 
 
 Home of A. H. Clark 68 
 
 Musical Instruments 69 
 
 Dr. Darling Homestead 70 
 
 Was a Talented Artist 71 
 
 A Candle Factory 73 
 
 First Circus Here 73 
 
 Henry Bush Lost Chickens 74 
 
 W'ar Shinplasters 74 
 
 First Cedar Blocks Used 74 
 
 Genuine Missionary Spirit 75 
 
 Preceded the Lange Block 76 ^ 
 
 Hotel Brought From Taycheedah 76 
 
 A Few of the Firsts 77 
 
 Metzgar in the Procession 80 
 
 Koehne and the Dutch Gap 80 
 
 First House in Fond du Lac 81 
 
 Threshing and Fanning Mills 82 
 
 Was Not Many Years Ago 83 
 
 History of Elections 85 
 
 Village of Fond du Lac 85 
 
 City of Fond du Lac 86 
 
 Ofhcers of County 87 to 92 
 
 School Superintendents 93 
 
 Fond du Lac Legislators 94 
 
 Members of Assembly 94 
 
 Governors of Wisconsin 95 
 
 Members of Congress 96 
 
 U. S. Senators 97 
 
 Presidential Candidates 97 
 
 Two Remarkable Events 99 
 
 Coming of Salvation Army 101 
 
 Frost Everv Month in the Year 101 
 
 Big Fountain 101 
 
 One of the Railroad Engineers 102 
 
 Old Home of Mrs. Arnold 102 
 
 Street Railways and Lighting 103 
 
 Electric Lighting 104 
 
 Noisy Preachers 104 
 
 Great Work of Bishop Grafton 105 
 
 Bakery Bread Here 108 
 
 Pioneer Farmers and Settlers 109 
 
 First City Directory 116 
 
 Early Day Flouring Mills 117 
 
 Forgot His Wife 120 
 
 Wanted Circus Tickets 120 
 
 An Albino Barber 120 
 
 Drugs and Medicines 121 
 
 Here Since 1846 122 
 
 Those Here Now 123 
 
 City of Ripon 124 
 
 City of Waupun 125 
 
 Stone Yard Experiment 126 
 
 Amory Hall and the Peak Family 126 
 
 Indians and Indian Payments 127 
 
 First Harness Made Here 129 
 
 Early Theatre Methods 130 
 
 Holland Dutch Windmill 130 
 
 Physicians and Surgeons 131 
 
 Physicians of Fifty Years Ago 132 
 
 Resident Physicians in 1850 132 
 
 From 1848 to the Present 133 
 
 Now in Practice Here 133 
 
 Ripon Physicians 136 
 
 Physicians in the County 137-139 
 
 Medical Organizations 139 
 
 First National Hotel 140 
 
 Dentists and Dentistry 141 
 
 In Practice Here Now 142 
 
 City of Ripon 142 
 
 City of "^^aupun 143 
 
 Francisco on a Slab 143 
 
 First Job Press Here 144 
 
 Making Sheet Iron Stoves 144 
 
 Wide Awakes of 1860 144 
 
 The Bench and Bar 145 
 
 Four Veteran Survivors 145 
 
 Lawyers of 1850 146 
 
 Strong and Able Bar 146 
 
 Comers Since 1850 146 
 
 Came Since 1900 148 
 
 Pioneer Court 148 
 
 First Supreme Court 148
 
 366 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 CONTENTS- Continued I 
 
 Military Records 148 
 
 Circuit Court Judges 149 
 
 Succession of County Judges 150 
 
 Marsliall and His Liniment 150 
 
 About Some Old Houses 150 
 
 Gas Works and Gas Men 151 
 
 First Yacht Here 153 
 
 Weather of January 1, 1854 153 
 
 Western Avenue Bridge 153 
 
 A Cat Ready to Fight 154 
 
 Dry Hop Yeast Business 155 
 
 Clothing, Jewelry, Groceries, etc 157 
 
 Clothing Trade 157 
 
 Jewelry Trade 157 
 
 Grocery Trade 157 
 
 Milliners and Dressmakers 158 
 
 Florists and Gardeners 158 
 
 Tobacco and Cigar Trade 158 
 
 Draying and Parcel Delivery 159 
 
 Passenger Transportation 1*30 
 
 A Cow That Walked In 16 ) 
 
 Free Public Library 161 
 
 A Few Remarkable Years 163 
 
 Billy Ford, the Stage Man 164 
 
 First Jobs Printed 164 
 
 Old Marr Street Cottage 161 
 
 Astor Hall as a Saloon 164 
 
 Pioneers in 1874 and 1904 165 
 
 Wheel and Seeder Company 166 
 
 E. A. Brown Post G. A. R 167 
 
 Woman's Relief Corps 168 
 
 Railroad Was Extended 170 
 
 A Few Murders 171 
 
 Success in Politics 173 
 
 Trouble About Type 174 
 
 Not Anxious for Office 174 
 
 Edward Beeson as an Editor 174 
 
 The Literary Field 175 
 
 Peculiar Political Contest 177 
 
 Freedom from Storms 177 
 
 Greenbackerg and Grangers 178 
 
 Water for a Horn Blower 178 
 
 Very Exciting Day 179 
 
 Founder of the Commonwealth 180 
 
 Birth of the Republican Party 181 
 
 Sole Survivor at Ripon 182 
 
 Michigan's Claim 182 
 
 Watrous and Kutchin as Writers ....184 
 
 Navigation on the Lake 185 
 
 Sails on Lake Winnebago 186 
 
 Transportation on Wheels ..186 
 
 Crook in Main Street 187 
 
 Annual M. E. Conference 187 
 
 Teachers in High School 187 
 
 A Country . Grindstone 188 
 
 He Had a Peculiar Habit 188 
 
 A Low Down Whiskey Shop 188 
 
 Fay Brown, of Tjamartine 188 
 
 Some Queer Descriptions 188 
 
 Memories of the Past 189 
 
 Great Fire of 1852 189 
 
 They Were Strong Men 190 
 
 They Were Disappointed 190 
 
 Beet Sugar Factory 191 
 
 Ton Cold to Work 191 
 
 A Popular Family 192 
 
 First Wood Yard 192 
 
 All Gone Now 193 
 
 Clown and Trunk Maker 193 
 
 Elected by One Vote 193 
 
 Big Pair of Boots 194 
 
 Reaper and Mower Trial 1 94 
 
 Could Not Be Changed 194 
 
 Great Wrestler 1 95 
 
 Was Not a Favorite 195 
 
 Not Fast Boats 195 
 
 Favored Seward 195 
 
 Once a Lively Place 195 
 
 Soon Abandoned 196 
 
 Was a Popular Man 196 
 
 Sometimes Abrupt 196 
 
 First Gunsmith Shop 196 
 
 Much Cheaper Than Now 196 
 
 Has Been Changed 196 
 
 A Useful Building 197 
 
 Presbyterian Church Steeple 197 
 
 Brewery at the Spring 197 
 
 Sam Ryan Was Here 197 
 
 War Shinplasters 198 
 
 No Residences There 198 
 
 What Was Said and Done 199' 
 
 A Fond du Lac Cannon 199 
 
 Old Time Joke 199^ 
 
 Got Drunk There 2001 
 
 Pigeon Hunter 20» 
 
 Got Stung 201 
 
 Trouble Among Clerks 201 
 
 He Presided Well 202 
 
 Bony Always There 202 
 
 A Crude Affair 202 
 
 A Great' Whittler 203 
 
 The Davis Tribe 203 
 
 Some Heavy Moving 203 
 
 Mutual Barber Shop 203 
 
 Won the Silver Trumpet 204 
 
 There Were Lively Times 204 
 
 A Crooked Stream 204 
 
 Need of a Light House 204 
 
 Signs Were Out 205 
 
 Largest Lodge in State 205 
 
 Old Time Theatre 205 
 
 First 'Bus Line 205 
 
 Could Not Defeat Him 205 
 
 Came in Flying 206 
 
 Occupied For Church Purposes 206 
 
 Stage Lines in 1849 206 
 
 Happenings Here and There 207 
 
 Ice Business 207 
 
 Disobedience of Orders 207 
 
 We Forget About It 208 
 
 Distressing Event 209 
 
 Deliverv of Goods 209 
 
 Old Time Fourth of July 209 
 
 Storm in Printing Office 210 
 
 Cruelly Shot Down 210 
 
 Quicklv Taken Up 211 
 
 Oats in Church 211 
 
 Died in His Chair 211 
 
 Early Lecture Course 212 
 
 Forgot Himself 212 
 
 Captive Bird 212 
 
 Was a Surprise 213 
 
 Darling's Gap 213 
 
 White Indians 213 
 
 Lawsuit for a Calf 213 
 
 Some of the Railroad Men 214 
 
 Thinking. Talking, Acting 215 
 
 Franklin Insurance Co 215 
 
 Fooled Away His Money 215 
 
 R. R. V. U. Railroad 216 
 
 Earlv Days of Spiritualism 217 
 
 Well Known Pioneer 217 
 
 Brought a Bear to Market 218 
 
 A Prominent Farmer 218 
 
 Elder Rogers and Contrabands 219 
 
 High Ceilings a Mistake 219 
 
 Capt. Knapp and Badger State 219 
 
 Tedious Trip 220 
 
 Quick Answer to Call 220 
 
 Foil Into the River 220 
 
 First Concrete Cellars 221 
 
 Dangerous Cannon 221 
 
 Early Day Skating Trip 221 
 
 Bad Egg Dealer 221 
 
 Another Old Settlers' Club 222 
 
 Manley Fell Into the River 222 
 
 A Long Time Ago 223 
 
 Did Not Like Politics 223 
 
 First Methodist Church 223
 
 FROM EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT 
 
 367 
 
 CONTENTS- Continued 
 
 Had a Blister to Fight 223 
 
 Attempted Street Improvement 224 
 
 Hazen Martial Band 224 
 
 A Successful Doctor 225 
 
 Strong Union Man 225 
 
 A Spaniard 225 
 
 Fastest Steamboats 225 
 
 Popular Pioneers 226 
 
 Disappearance of Five Pies 226 
 
 Kept Pies and Pop Beer 226 
 
 Hit with a Beer Glass 226 
 
 Prominent Men at Ripon 227 
 
 All Sold Liquor 227 
 
 Slow Workmen 228 
 
 Telegraph Operator 22S 
 
 Instructor at Gymnasium 228 
 
 "Would Not Pay Dog Tax 228 
 
 Channel at Lakeside 229 
 
 New Judicial Circuit 229 
 
 Ripon Convention Men 229 
 
 Early Days Hashery 230 
 
 First Bicycles 230 
 
 Building by Bonesteel 230 
 
 Experiences in Pioneer Days 231 
 
 Dr. Miller Came 231 
 
 On the Milwaukee Road 231 
 
 Trip of Hazen Family 232 
 
 A Shopping Party's Trials 233 
 
 Riding Behind Oxen 233 
 
 Kitchen Experiences 283 
 
 Mail for Phalanx 234 
 
 Privation of Mills 234 
 
 Rich and Poor 235 
 
 Settlers and Indians 235 
 
 Editor in Hen's Nest 236 
 
 Sickness and Death Came 236 
 
 Education Not Neglected 237 
 
 Primitive Vehicles 237 
 
 U. S. Senator Howe 238 
 
 To and From Oakfield 239 
 
 Oil Mill Once Here 239 
 
 Grand Masquerade 240 
 
 Mr. Beeson as a Musician 240 
 
 Old Fashioned Democrats 240 
 
 Address by H. E. Swett 241 
 
 Some Straightening Done 242 
 
 Tales of Pioneer Days by Madame 
 
 de Neveu 243 
 
 Scout's Lost Dauphin Story !.243 
 
 Scorned the Tomahawk 244 
 
 A Song of Long Ago 247 
 
 Some of the Ripon Pioneers 248 
 
 Winnebago Furniture Company 248 
 
 Quaker Abolitionists 249 
 
 A Nephew of Gen. Longstreet 251 
 
 House of Alonzo Raymond 251 
 
 Imitation Stone Made Here 251 
 
 Lathrop Ellis House 252 
 
 Banks in the County 252 
 
 First Book Bindery 252 
 
 Early Door Factory 252 
 
 The Printer Editor 253 
 
 Helped to Make Histors' 255 
 
 Was a Close Contest . .\ 255 
 
 Made Wood Type 256 
 
 Oldest Continuous Business 257 
 
 An 1S4S Tin Shop 257 
 
 Old Time Singing School 258 
 
 An Old Time Quarrel 258 
 
 First County Surveyor 258 
 
 Vote on Negro Suffrage 258 
 
 A Mistake in Survey 259 
 
 Anniversary of a Printer "259 
 
 Reporter Established 259 
 
 Struck by Epidemics '.'260 
 
 Large Number of Deeds 260 
 
 E. R. Ferris and Sheep's Gray 262 
 
 Old Time Records 261 
 
 An Early Days' Worker 26? 
 
 Lake de Neveu Outlet 263 
 
 An Early Planing Mill 263 
 
 Period of Hoop Skirts 264 
 
 Simple Matter of Sense 264 
 
 Macy Street Changes 264 
 
 Successful Effort 265 
 
 An Honest Grocerj'man 269 
 
 An Unfortunate Shoemaker 269 
 
 Dr. H. B. Dale Once Here 270 
 
 Former Fond du Lac People 270 
 
 Fred May and Homing Pigeons 270 
 
 An Old School Darkev 270 
 
 Court House Talk . . . ' 271 
 
 The Old and the New 271 
 
 Old Court House Yard 273 
 
 Court House and Countv Fairs 273 
 
 Old Court House Offlce.s' 274 
 
 Saved the Court House 274 
 
 About the Roads 274 
 
 Improvement Company 275 
 
 Born a Mathematician 276 
 
 Police Department 277 
 
 Well Known and Wealthy 279 
 
 Experiences of Early Dealers 279 
 
 Wild Bakery and Confectionery 280 
 
 Rueping Tannery 280 
 
 All is Not Possible 280 
 
 Now Almost Unknown 281 
 
 Ashf ord Bear Story 283 
 
 Refrigerator Business 283 
 
 Wisconsin Phalanx at Ripon 284 
 
 The Drug Mill 284 
 
 Paper Money Smells Bad 285 
 
 Few Now in Existence 286 
 
 Matches Not in Use 286 
 
 Level of Dr. Bishop's House 286 
 
 Old Settlers in 1905 287 
 
 Old Settlers' Program 288 
 
 Fourth of July Fire 289 
 
 Coming of Stephen A. Douglas 290 
 
 Seemed Like a Long Job 290 
 
 Tallmadge and Mitchell 290 
 
 To Be Tried Again 291 
 
 Assisting Dame Nature 291 
 
 Nature Solves the Problem 291 
 
 Development of Peat 291 
 
 Another Indian Scare 292 
 
 "Was a Grand Bird 293 
 
 Early Days' Hotels 294 
 
 Black Hawk Lived Here 294 
 
 Put Into the Box 295 
 
 Comer Stone Laid 296 
 
 County Organization 297 
 
 Old Timers on County Board 299 
 
 Abstracts and Land Titles 300 
 
 Not Made Here Since 300 
 
 Aborigines from 1764 301 
 
 Early French Traders 302 
 
 Indian Took His Dog 304 
 
 Fond du Lac File Works 304 
 
 Stone Cutting by Air Pressure 304 
 
 The Machine Shops 305 
 
 Good Pork Joke 306 
 
 West Side Trail 306 
 
 Fond du Lac "Home" 307 
 
 An Exciting Trial 310 
 
 Deer at Crofoot Bridge 310 
 
 Solomon Juneau 311 
 
 Beeson House on Third Street 311 
 
 Thre.'shing Machines and Tables 312 
 
 B. F. & H. L. Sweet Shops 312 
 
 Once a Chiccory Factory 312 
 
 Occurred Some Time Ago 313 
 
 Where They Have Lived 314 
 
 Money Not Reliable 315 
 
 Chief Oshkosh 315 
 
 Sylvan Grove Cemetery 316 
 
 Kutchin and Finney Discussion 317
 
 368 
 
 BUSINESS HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC 
 
 CONTENTS— Continued 
 
 First School House 317 
 
 Landing Warehouses 318 
 
 Lower Town Hotels 318 
 
 Concrete for Building 318 
 
 Convent and Hospital 319 
 
 Dr. Patchen Lost in Woods 320 
 
 The Gillet Store 320 
 
 Sudden and Startling- 321 
 
 Death of P. B. Hoskins 321 
 
 Always Wanted Bread 324 
 
 Death of Mrs. C. T. Tracy 324 
 
 The Honored Dead 325 
 
 Benjamin Franklin Moore 325 
 
 Charles Rodney Harrison 326 
 
 Robert Kennedy Satterfleld 327 
 
 Lyman F. Stow 327 
 
 Charles Henry DeGroat 328 
 
 William Adams 329 
 
 J. J. Lurvey 330 
 
 William Merrill 331 
 
 Pete Rupp and the Rats 331 
 
 An Early Picture Maker 332 
 
 Early Days' Water Works 332 
 
 Armory E 333 
 
 Roster of Co. E in War 333 
 
 Fond du Lac High School 334 
 
 Henry D. Hitt 335 
 
 Madame de Neveu 335 
 
 Masonic Temple 336 
 
 Fond du Lac PostofRce 336 
 
 ^ 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Portrait of Author 2 
 
 First House in Fond du Lac 81 
 
 Public Library 161 
 
 Court House 271 
 
 Fond du Lac Home 307 
 
 St. Agnes Hospital 319 
 
 Portrait of F. B. Hoskins 321 
 
 Armory B 333 
 
 Fond du Lac High School 334 
 
 Hon. Henry D. Hitt 335 
 
 Madame de Neveu 335 
 
 Masonic Temple 336 
 
 Postofflce Building 336 
 
 Elks' Club House 338 
 
 Amory Block and Hall 340 
 
 County Insane Hospital 342 
 
 Sheriff's Residence and Jail 344 
 
 Bishop's Home and Mother House 346 
 
 Landing at Winnebago Park 348 
 
 Sheboygan Street, Looking East 350 
 
 West Front of Grafton Hall 352 
 
 Lakeside Park and Fountain 354 
 
 Taylor Park 356 
 
 The Henry Boyle Home for Aged 
 
 Catholics 360 
 
 St. Agnes' Sanitarium 362 
 
 Portrait of Gen. E. S. Bragg 364 
 
 Portrait of Judge N. S. Gilson 364 
 
 Portrait of Charles R. Harrison 364 
 
 Portrait of Capt. M. Mangan 364 
 
 ^ 
 
 BUSINESS CARDS 
 
 Anderson & Watson 349 
 
 Anderson, B. H 349 
 
 Anderson Vehicle Co 341 
 
 Ahern Co. T. E 351 
 
 Abstract Office 361 
 
 Armory E Hall 338 
 
 Bowe & Van Blarcom 349 
 
 Brenner, Jacob 345 
 
 Bulletin, Daily 363 
 
 Bishop. Dr. L. A 343 
 
 Clark, L. H 341 
 
 Commonwealth, Daily 357 
 
 Cole Savings Bank .341 
 
 Chegwin, W. J 341 
 
 Children's Teeth 343 
 
 Commercial National Bank 359 
 
 Cheney, S. H 349 
 
 Continental Clothing House 361 
 
 Ecke. O. H 339 
 
 Erving Hotel 359 
 
 Furstnow, C. A 345 
 
 Fitzsimons, M 345 
 
 Fond du Lac County Abstract Co 357 
 
 Fond du Lac Steam Laundry 355 
 
 First National Bank 359 
 
 Fond du Lac National Bank 359 
 
 Grafton Hall 353 
 
 Gruenheck, J. F 337 
 
 Georg. W. F 355 
 
 Giffln & Sutherland 354 
 
 Hutaer Bros 353 
 
 Hess. John P 348 
 
 Hughes, John 347 
 
 Henry Brothers 341 
 
 Hildreth, G. A 343 
 
 Hastings, T. H 345 
 
 Hauer. Albert 344 
 
 Helmer Milling Co 362 
 
 Haas & Wagner 351 
 
 Herbert, Martin 355 
 
 Holland Dutch Remedy 340 
 
 Kremer Bros 349 
 
 Laundry, Steam 357 
 
 Maurice McKenna 339 
 
 Morse & Johnson 339 
 
 McDermott & Sons, Wm 357 
 
 Meiklejohn & Martin 360 
 
 Moore & Galloway 361 
 
 O'Brien Dry Goods Co 3i57 
 
 Prinslow, Frank 356 
 
 Powrie, R 353 
 
 Palmer House 359 
 
 Phelps & Watson 359 
 
 Palmer, Spencer 349 
 
 Reporter, Daily 363 
 
 Reilly, Fellenz & Reilly 339 
 
 Remington Drug Co 355 
 
 Rusch & Hirth 347 
 
 Swett, Herbert E 339 
 
 Sackett, H. T 343 
 
 Scherzinger, G 350 
 
 Strassel & Co 351 
 
 Sallade, N. W 352 
 
 Swett, Franklin 346 
 
 Treleven Bros 341 
 
 Trowbridge, C. C 343 
 
 Tait Fuel Co 345 
 
 Thomsen & Son 358 
 
 Voell Music House 345 
 
 Whittelsey Dry Goods Co 337 
 
 Williams, Grlswold & Chadbourne 339 
 
 Wilkins, J. K 343 
 
 ^Vegner, J. F 347 
 
 Wilkie Hardware Co 347 
 
 Wagner Dry Goods Co 351
 
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