Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-08-30

lOE+ We meet tO-uAl III remembrance
of those who have passed away. To do
honor to those who remain among us,
and to brighten and strengthen the
bonds which unite the new generation
to the old.
This association was formed for the
purpose of bringing together the first
settlers of the county IN annual re~un-
ion. or late years the attendance of
earliest settlers is rapidly diminishing.
Death has thinned their ranks, and de-
crepit with their weight of years many
others are unable to attend. Soon, all
too soon in the nature of things, this
will have become a memorial day of
the old settlers of Grant County. II
will be left to their children to remem-
Der their services in developing and civ
! liking wildernessSnto one of the rich
est portions of our commonwealth.
We sing the praises of the soldier
who fights the battles of his country
and, since war is necessary, it is well.
We rear marble monuments To his men,
DRY, and art and literature vie with
each other to do him honor and to per-
petuate the glory of his achievements.
We strew flowers over his last resting
place and speak proudly of his deeds
He was the savior of his country"
| do not speak irreverently when say
that les pioneers were its creators. The
dust of gathered years has not yet OBJ
scured the record of the men who step
by step have conquered the wilderness
and built up one of the grandest nations
of the earth. From the landing of the
Pilgrims on the the then desolate shores
of New England down to the present
time, there has always been an adj
vance corps which has gone forward
to prepare the way for the coming Re-
public. Whittier says:
l hear the tread OF pioneers,
| OF nations yet to be-
| The first low wash of waves where
| Shall roll human sea.
These, in their day and generation,
have formed the vanguard of the Repub-
lie. Aye. of the Grand Army of the Re-
public! They have gone before, prepar-
ing the way for the civilization which
was to follow and which the valor of
their sons has established on broader
and more comprehensive basis.
As sweetly dies the blooming May, we
weave garlands for the dead warrior
1t would not be uniting in some way to
render a permanent tribute to the de-
parted pioneers of Grant County. They,
too, We're warriors; they fought the battle
of life in the wilderness, relying on their
own strength and courage-not shoulder
to..shoulder, trusting in each other valor,
but grandly self-reliant, each IN his own
way, they faced the toll and dangers be-
fore them. Their only monuments are
the fruitful fields they cleared and the
orchards and roof-trees they planted.
Their memory should exist in the hearts
of all future generations who follow
them.
Gathered here with us are men and
women who cast their lots in Grant
County in their youth. and have marked
its progress for more than half a century.
What changes what wonderful i'm
provements they have beheld! 1t is said
that the first message ever flashed over
a telegraph line was the wondering.
awe-inspired question ''What hath God
wrought?n Well may these early pio-
neers eXclaim: ''What hath man wrought
with His helpr'
The mines of Grant County brought
verdant prairies and fertile valleys were
overlooked by those who eagerly scanned
its rugged hillsides and its deepest
gulches for the ore which was supposed
to abound. Deep beneath those rock
bound hills the miner CROPPED for wealth.
In his cabin and haunts was heard only
talk of .'crevices, ranges and sopen-
ings. Soon there came change. Pa
tent, far-seeing men turned their atten-
ton to the soil, and the wealth of their
harvests proclaimed the true and mex
haustible resources of the region lay not
in its mines but in the productive power
of the soil above them. The lucky miner
of those days was inclined to look with
disdain upon the life of the farmer. The
excitement of the miners occupation
made his labor light, and his life was
filled with dreams OF fabulous wealth
soon to be his. To many came the frui-
ton of all their hopes, but TO others
came only disappointment. To him who
took on the occupation of the farmer
came no dreams of sudden wealth.
Sweeter dreams were his dreams of a
home and independence created by his
own patient exertions; Il home where he
could sit down under his own vine and
fig tree, and enjoy the rewards of life
spent not alone for himself, but which
+. left to others broad acres made to bios
/, som as the rose and redeemed by his
strong and resolute arm from Gods
primeval forest.
Many of the miners of an early day
became successful farmers. To nearly
all the earliest settlers the mines fur.
nished an occupation and subsistence for
a ,o,tio,, nf tha vaar. and the indu RIOS