The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-09-26

ate that great controversy which was to end in
the war Of the rebellion. The settlers Of
Wisconsin naturally could not stand aloof
from the great movements of mind Of the
century. Our local press, the TELEGRAPH,
especially, under the charge of c. Latham
Sholes and Col. Frank, gave the signal of
the coming storm, and pointed to the way of
safety. The school-houses of our county re-
sounded with the discussions pro and con the
slave issues, which were conducted by Sholes
and Webster and Head and Jilsun and
French and Kellogg and others. How the
hearts of our people were moved when the
struggle came Is evidenced by the vacant
places and mutilated forms in many of our
households and the numerous monuments
to young men in all our cemeteries. Keno
shs county probably furnished in Major Nc.
Vean the first enlisted soldier for that war
from Wisconsin.
There have been three great migrations of
our countrymen westward in our time, i'm.
PEELED by causes which we have not time here
to consider. Those were during the years
| 1S35-37, 1861. and from 1880 Keno
sha county derived its population princi-
| pally from the first immigration, receiving
some from the tides which followed.
The early settlers of this state, and we
claim of Kenosha county in particular, were
distinguished for love of freedom, love of
education. of temperance, of the equal rights
of all men. These ideas are impressed on
our early laws. 1t was their privilege to
| found state upon new coil unembarrassed
BIZ the remains of older institutions-a priv
ilege which by the rapid occupation of the
1 lie ha al 10 khoo
who are to follow us. They sought to pro-
hibit monopoly in land. II was the law OF
the settlers in territorial days that no person
should enter or hold more than one hundred
and sixty acres. They established one Of
the best school systems yet devised, and the
first public school in the state was establish.
ed at Kenosha, under the supervision oil
the chief author of the code on the sub
lject of education, who is present with US on
this occasion. The first Agricultural Society
in this state was formed in this county, and
the first formal address before an Agricul-
tural Society in Wisconsin was delivered by
Dr. Mcclellan in 1851 The most stringent
temperance law ever passed in this state
was enacted as early as l849. 1t inaugurated
or early adopted the principle that the liquor
seller is responsible for damages, and gave
to wives and children the right to prosecute
1t is delightful yet to trace the enthusiasm
with which so many of our citizens labored
to build society on this virgin soil, free
from the evils Of the past. They did not re
alize all their purpose, but they accomplished
much that was in advance of the old. They
have built commonwealth which, taking i
all in all, would have seemed 10 the men O.
former generations the realization of theil
fondest Dreams commonwealth second tt
none in our country. in which under wis.,
and Oenefcent laws the largest liberty il
enjoyed where labor meets its due reward
and all men have an equal chance for happi
ness.
may congratulate you to-day upon th'
work you have achieved. In place of thu
unfenced, unbroken prairie, you see around
you happy homesteads. with houses, barn
and surroundings equal, in many cases gu
perior, to those you left behind-homestead
in which many poor man has made homt
for the evening of his days, embellished will
every evidence of wealth and culture. NeaI
school houses and frequent churches tell OF
intellectual and religious progress, The i'm
proved implements on our farms assure III
of the easier conditions of labor and agrcul
tural advance. Our new homes forbid us Il
regret the old.
With many of us the work of life is done
Soon we shall commit to others the rich in
heritance we have helped to prepare. In
the words lately quoted by one of our early
settlers now residing in Milwaukee, in let
ter to his friend,
"We," I'll of US, " soon shall sit beside
the silent sea and wait the muf1ed oar,
thanking the good Lord for the ministration
of his blessed angel, which lifts us to
meadows famed by Heavens life.breathing
wind, and to larger movements of the un.
fettered mind"