Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-07-18

| family
log house. leaning against the butt ends of the
logs, scratching first one shoulder and then the
other. reaching points that they could not east
ly touch with their hands. One miilhand whom
we had at work for US, had this thing lay hold
of him most savagely. He said he never was so
happy. never felt SO we'll in his lite, as he did
when he stood before rousng fire at night time
and could scratch.
In those early days dogs were reasonably plen-
ty and cats corresponding scarce. A good cat
was worth five-dollar bill. 1t is true, there
were not many mice in the country at that time;
perhaps none, except few that had found
quiet corner in some box of goods, and thus been
brought from the east. Still, the women could
not be perfectly happy unless they had cat !
remember the great interest which centered
around the first one we possessed, which was
beautiful animal, and there was great strife be-
tween the members CT the household TO see who
should have the Cat for a sleeping companion.
In the cold weather the fur of the cat was very
comfortable.
In the winter of 1889, a young topog phical
engineer, who surveyed the road from Madison
to Milwaukee by way OF Lake Mills, was mem
Der of our family, and while there he spent
good deal of his time making maps of his sur
veys of the road. He became very much attach
ed to this cat. and he would catch it in his arms
in the early evening and go up the ladder to bed
among the first. SO that re could monop lie the
cat. This man afterwards as years rolled on, be-
came well known throughout the country. He
was general in the army of the Union during
the war OF the rebellion. and afterwards prom
inent federal official in Chicago. l allude to
Ger. j. ID. Webster.
AS have said, the utmost good feeling pre-
vailed among all of the early settlers. Any note
of trouble, any sound of alarm, any call for as
sistance. no matter what 1t might be, was re-
sponded to with alacrity. | remember on one
cold winter night, when the dogs were barking.
there sounded from the openings loud halloo!
My father dressed himself and going to the door
answered it. Very soon a man appeared, TO
arouse our household, He said that old Uncle
John Atwood was lost; it was feared that he
might have been frozen to death, and he must
be found and cared for. He was the oldest man
in the neighborhood. He had gone out in the
daytime and had wandered too far and could
not retrace his steps. general search was IN
stituted, and after while he was found and re-
turned to his iog-cabin home. He had the as
cretiOn, on finding q hay-stack mile or more
away. to stick to it until he heard the calls OF
| those in search. l know it created quite an ex,
element at that time, tor fear he was lost and
frozen to death
The Winnebagoes under the treaty had no
right in Jefferson county and this portion OF the
state but still they fingered. They hated to
leave the land of their fathers. They refused TO
go. In 1S41 company of United States Dragons,
about hundred strong, passed through JeHer-
, son county, camping over night on the lake near
| the mills, gathering up all the Indians they
could find. | had never before seen SUCH an or
gained army They appeared very formidable
Their mission was accomplished aud a large
number of Indians were removed, although
stragglers continued to return.
| cannot forbear to mention class OF noble
men who followed the pioneers in their first set
Element of Jefferson county have reference to
the men known as Methodist circuit riders.
Where they came from no one knew; but they
were earnest m IN OF God, determined to carry
the gospel into the wilderness, and our log house
was hardly ready for occupancy before one OF
them appeared at our door asking shelter and
the privilege of holding services therein which
was granted. | remember One Elder H0lllster
by name, who came there tired and hungry, ana
asked for something to eat. My mother had
nothing in the house but enough buckwheat
flour to NAL Ike one batch of cakes, which was
made for him and which he ate. shall never
cease to have respect for that class OF men, ana
shall always cherish their memory. The quar-
terly meetings were frequently held in our log
house. and IN due time Methodist church So
ciety was organized, and 1t was long time BE-
fore any ether denomination put in an appear
| ance. The Methodist minister of those early
days went at his work in a direct forclble way.
He struck from the shoulder. He preached the
gospel and that alone. There were no side is
sues. The Bible was his textbook, his guide
and his friend.
For several years after the first settlements, all
| that heads of families thought of was to make
provision for the support of their families. me
idea of getting rich hardly entered their mlhds;
and | never knew of any old pioneer VINO ever
became very rich. 1t is fact, so far as l nave
observed, that the later crop OF pioneers reap the
/ golden harvest. The first ones SOW and the ones
that come later reap.
1t is greatly to be regretted that so little inter
est is main tanned in the old pioneers by the gen
! eral public. 1t seems to me as though they are
looked upon as a set of old togies, whose day and
| generation have passed away, while they are OF
no further use to mankind They are not rever-
| ed as they should be, by those who have come
after them 1t is true that there is very little re-
| spect shown for old thiHgs-old methods. The
world has gone forward with such mighty rlSll
since the first settlement of this country; such
wonderful changes have taken place: such great
! progress has been made III almost everything
that perhaps it is natural that the present gener
alton should look with more or less contempt
upon everything that is old. even including OLD
pioneers.
/ AT that time, all told there were only few
thousand settlers within the limits of Wisconsin
Territory, ana they very much scattered, with
! very poor means Of communication. When we
came to this country the screech of the locomo
/ tive was unkuow here. The telegraph had moi
been invented; and many other kindred things
| which have been brought to light for the bene
! fit of mankind, were sleeping in the brains OF
their inventors at that period. Then. few org nz
! ed communities were to be found within the Dor.
! ders of what is now Wisconsin. Now, over thous
and towns exercise, according to a well-ordered
| SYSTEM the functions of local government. Then
only few settlers could band together for de-
Tense against Indian depredations. To-day, WIS
cOnSln could, at the call of her cpuntry.-at the
! first alarm of public danger-draw from heI
| fields, her workshops and halls of learning, and
! put into the field larger army than the com
! blned forces that contended at Waterloo. To-
! day, Wisconsin as a state has military history
| in which is written the deeds of valOr of an hun
| dred thousand men whose bravery on hundred
| bloody fields sheds imperishable luster on the
|
rude mission houses testified that the faithful
disciple was doing his Masters work. To-day
there is scarcely prairie or hillside where the
! church cannot be seen. Then. scarcely a school
house could be found in the state. To-day, over
six thousand dot our landscapes, costing nearly
| five million dollars ami the cost has scarcely
! been felt by the builders. Nearly half million
+! happy school children Ire acquiring knowledge
to fit them for the duties of citizenship In these
! few years we have built up an educational sys
| tenn second to none IN the Union.
The growth of Wisconsin, thus briefly alluded
| to, is simply that CT our whole country. The
| state mas grown, i'll this period from a mere
| handful of resolute pioneers to over million
and half of people; from few cabins to stately
cities, where the roar of commerce is never still
! from few trails through forest and prairie, to
! thousands of miles of highways, where the vast
| procession of industry. with increasing tread
gives no rest to the ground and four thousand
| miles os railway. along which the gigantic cur
| rents Of trade and commerce continuously pour;
! from here and there corn field planted by the
hardy settler to over five million acres of arabic
| land, divided into thousands upon thousands OF
| FARMS enclosed and titled with every appliance
| of skill. Our commerce has grown from the in
significant traffic in furs. and the product Of
| few lead mines, to many millions of dollars per
| annum. Our manufactures have grown from
perhaps dozen rude saw-mills, by the side OF
our streams, to nine thousand factories and
mills, producing manufactured articles worth
| over thirty millions of dollars.
This retrospect of fifty years OF life in Wiscon-
sin, as 1 glance back on memory's pages, pre-
sents to my mind most wonderful view. Lam