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

deprlyatlOnS, their enlOymentS, their
hardships, the tolls they underwent and
the disappointments they endured to
secure for themselves and their posterity
the site of these ilourishing towns and
villages, these beautiful farms and dwell
ings which greet the eye on every hand,
adjoining the landscape with real pictures
of rural life. more charming and more
enchanting than ever graced the canvas
Oh painter or entered the mind OF poet
Many We're the pleasant homes OF the
early settlers which have entered, and
well DO | recollect the familiar faces
which once dWelt within them, and could
recall them with many pleasing trait
OF character to your mind. But Others
are present whose memories reach back
TO the time when Grant County was an
unsettled wood and open prairie, and 10
them | accord this more pleasing privi-
lege.. Already my friend, j. Allen Combs,
has pulled the latch-string, opened the
doors and given you an insight into the
life and ways. in some of the early cabins
of the Hurricane Others are present
who, no doubt, are anXiously waiting to
relate their experience of early life in
other parts Of the county, which will
equally please and entertain.
When we look back through the short
years of half century we can indeed
say in the language of another: The
same heavens are over our heads, the
same ocean rolls at our feet-but all else,
how changedn' When we confine our
retrospect to 4 briefer period, even one
| short year, we witness changes which
startle us with their CELEBRITY, more rapid,
more diversified than the pictures OF the
kaleidoscope. Yet more rapid than al
the works of man, and farther reaching
into his plans and purposes, are the
changes wrought by the great leveler-
| Death.
For the present, let it suffice to speak
| only of those who have gone out from
our own little circle, and who will meet
with us NO more in all the walks of life.
| One we all remember. William McGoni-
! gal, our own chosen Secretary, and the
late honored Probate Judge OF Grant
| County. One yeag ago he was with us
discharging his official duties, mingling
with the busy throng OF life and taking
a deep interest in the affairs of men.
Then his prospects for many years of
labor and usefulness were fair and un-
dimmed. Now he lies low in the cold
and silent grave. Then, he was looking
| forward to another term of labor in
| the discharge of the high and sacred
duties of his position, guarding the in
terests of the orphan and widow. Sit
ting in judgment upon the will and last
| requests of the dead, once his friends
and neighbors, nov he is numbered
with them. Another occupies the place
and performs for him. the same sacred
functions he performed for others.
Such is the endless chain of life, ever
rolling on, from the cradle to the grave
which unites the living and the dead in
one common destiny.
THE boast of heraldry the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour
The paths of glory lead but to the grave"
MAY that chain of which we form an
integral part, ever revolving, slowly but
surely, around the great axle of time,
which we have so often seen sundered
| and its brightest links removed, remain
at least through another changing year,
unbroken and unimpaired; and when
once more the Great Artlficer comes to
remove its worn and fragile links, be
it sooner or later, may he find them,
each and all, untarnished and unalloyed
| fit TO be again remolded aud woven
into that eternal chain of love and truth
which extends beyond the tomb and
| which can never be broken, neither cast
away.
1t was my privilege and good fortune
to become acquainted with Judge Me-
Gonigal some thirty years ago. As |
now remember, we met for the first
time on the open prairie. near Patch
Grove. Both were young and both
were candidates for county offices-the
Judge on the Wing ticket for Register
of Deeds, and | on the Democrat ticket
for some other lucrative position which
now escapes my memory. One thing.
however, do remember, well. Nearly
every man we met in the canvass knew
William McGonigal and was going to
vote for him. As the records now show
he was elected to the place, and after
ward promoted to Sheriff end lastly to
the office of County Judge. In this lat
ter position he was continuously re-
tained for the space of over q quarter
of century. performing its responsible
and arduous duties, faithfully, diligently
and intelligenily down to the last hour
of his worthily spent life.Y
The respect and friendship thus form
ed. years ago, under the disadvantage
Gus circumstances of rival candidates
of opposing political parties. was ever
afterward cherished and maintained.
Years of almost intimate acquaintance
only served to increase and deepen my
friendship for him. He was not learned;
he was not refined in speech and action
&c., 81, r,apnnr IS aHnnatoA la