Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-06-26
The Old Settlers Meeting.

The meeting of the Old Settlers So
ciety of Jefferson county was held here
Thursday last, June Goth, pursuant to
notice, which also embraced the Old
Settlers of Dodge county. On account
of the unfavorable weather in the fore
noon the place of the meeting and pic
mic was changed from Concordia Island
to the Turner Opera house, and not
withstanding the success of the gather
ing general regret was expressed that
the original plan Of holding the meeting
on Concordia Island could not have
been carried out.
The meeting was called to order by
President Milo Jones and in the absence
of the regular secretary, Mark Curtis,
VIM. L. Norris was selected as secretary
pro tenn. The proceedings were open
ed by prayer by Rev. ]. M. Campbell !,
of the Congregational church. Upon
the platform by invitation were seated
a number of representative Of the old
settlers from different portions of JEFF
ferson and Dodge counties. Mrs. j. A.
Chadwick, Mrs. John w. Cole, Mrs.
Andrew Willard and Mrs. P. Rogan
took seats among them as the only ones
left in Watertown of the old women
settlers.
Coy. Hoard, Hon. L. B. Caswell, Hon.
E. D. Coe, Judge E. w. Keyes and
others invited to speak, were prevented
by one cause or another from appearing
and volunteer speakers had consequent
" to be relied upon to relate their ex-
periences of ''long, long, ago" Hon.
Daniel Hall started the ball in motion
in the opening speech and he was fol-
lowed by Hon. John Hustis, of Hustis-
ford, who spoke on behalf of the old
settlers of Dodge county Short
speeches followed by Milo Jones, P.
Rogan, Daniel Jones, G.. w. Griffith
and H. A. Porter.
Mrs. j. A. Chadwick read paper on
the first settlement of Watertown from
observances made by herself as the
daughter of the late Timothy Johnson,
the first white man to settle in this re-
gion Of Wisconsin. A paper by Mrs.
John w. Cole, read by the secretary,
gave interesting "reminiscences OF early
DAYS at Johnson's Rapids and Water
town, followed by paper read by Mrs.
Helen Whipple, former resident OF
Jefferson, in which experiences OF ear
ly days inJ efferson county were related.
John w. Cole read the closing paper
going over the ground Of settlement
here since 1886 to the present time.
Letters of regret were read from Edwin
D. Coe, of Whitewater, the only native
of Jefferson county heard from at the
meeting, E. G. Fiefeld, of GAINESVILLE,
and ]. W. Ostrander, of Jefferson.
At intervals during the proceedings
the Glee club, organized for the meet
ing under the auspices of Louis Char
boneau, rendered choice selections.
This choir of singers consisted of L..
Charboneau, Jos. Terbrueggen, } Stahl,
J. B. May, Miss L. Ruesch, Miss &,
Lewis, Mrs. S. r. Sleeper, Miss Bertha
Miller; Mrs. G.. w. Green accompany
ing the singing on the piano. Music by
the brass band under theadirectorship
of A. Heymann, performed its full share
to enliven the occasion with soul-stir-
ring strains. The ladies of Watertown
did the handsome thing for their guests
by spreading in the lower hall one OF
| the finest collations imaginable. All
were seated at the tables and were
served in abundance with both substan-
tials and delicacies in the eating line.
The praise of the spread and the kind
| consideration and attention rendered
to the guests were on every lip, the la
dies of WATERFOWL again demonstrating
the superior fitness and ability that
| they possess as entertainers.
The election of officers Of the society
resulted in the choice of the following
President, Milo Jones, Fort Atkinson;
Secretary, Mark Curtis, Hebron; Treas
urer, John w. Cole, Watertown.