The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1903-02-12
Mrs. R. S. Whitaker Reads an Inter-
esting Paper Before Members of
Woman's Club Wednesday.
TRIALS OF THE EARLY PIONEERS
Mrs. Whitaker Gives Graphic Description
of the Early Settlers and Their
Pioneer Life at Southport.

a most enjoyable event to the people
who are interested in the early history
Of Kenosha and Kenosha county. The
old days of Southport and the Incl
dents in the life Of the pioneer settlers
formed the topic for the afternoon and
in many ways the meeting was filled
with good things for the members.
The essayist was Mrs. Abbie Whitaker
and her subject was "a Century of
Kenosha."
In prefacing her remarks Mrs.
Whitaker told the oft repeated story
of James Russell Lowell and the
wood man who lived at the base of
"The Old Man of the Mountain and
vet had never seen it, and of the poet
who had dwe1t almost in the shadow
of Bunker Hill without going out to
take a view of the historic battle
ground. From this she brought out
the fact that we who have lived in
Kenosha have often failed to note the
charm of the little city at the bend of
the lake.
"Fifty years ago last SUMNER" she
said, Southport put away her swad-
ding clothes and with the assistance
of an act of the legislature became the
city of Kenosha.'' She spoke of the
early buildings in Kenosha, of the
Long Home and other historic land
marks which are even now being torn
away to make way for the growth of
the city She spoke of the home of
Senator Quarles and recalled tender
memories which cluster round those
early buildings.
She spoke of the early settlement of
Pike Greek and the changing OF the
name to Southport on account OF the
fact that the government officials did
not favor the former name. Thereason
for giving the name Southport was
found in the fact that it was then the
point farthest south with the exception
of Fort Dearborn. She referred to the
story of the early settlement of the
county and reto1d the story of the
gathering of the colony of settlers at
Hannibal, N. Y, of the famous dinner
party at which the original plan for
the settlement of Southport was made.
of the meeting in Hannibal when
many people gathered at the call of the
chairman, Peter Wordin, and John
Bu1len, Jr.. and formed the constitu-
ton of the original company which
settled here.
She told of the work of the explorers
in the western country and of the final
start from Hannibal in 1885. She told
of the trip and of the first landing of
Gilbert Knapp and his party at the
foot of Root river. But this bargain
for lands as made with the Indians
was never fulfilled and the company
came on to the southwark and on Jan.
8, 1885, the explorers touched Pike
Greek. The first claims were made by
John Bu1len, Jr., Hudson Bacon and
J. G. Wilson on the north side of the
creek, while the land on the south side
was taken up by David Crossett.
Mrs. Whitaker read from the journal
of one of the pioneers an interesting
account of the first settlement, bring
ing out the beauties which Southport
presented to the settlers on their ar
rival. She recalled many of the
familiar names known and loved by
the pioneers and told of the important
work each had done IN assisting to
bear the burdens of the pioneer and in
building up on the shore of the lake
this new city of the west. She spoke
of the difficulties that had been expert
enced in securing food for the early
settlers and the greatdangers that were
often encountered in bringing provis-
ions by land or water. The pioneer
homes of the settlers also formed an
interesting topic and in connection
with this Mrs. Whitaker brought out
the fear of the Indians, which had
been the legacy of the pioneers. The
settlers, she showed, often suffered
serious loss from prairie fires and
many times all of them had been called
out to fight the flames with wet b1an-
kets in order to save their rude huts
from destruction.
She spoke of the lack of books and
papers in the pioneer days, and letters
to the dear ones at home were expen-
sive as it required SIS to carry them to
their destination. She spoke of the
early social pleasures of the pioneers
and the manner in which the entire
town turned out in 1888, and the long
remembered Grafton which was de-
hvered by the Rev. Jason Lothrop.
The speaker told Of the waving wheat
fields Of the pioneers which have long
since been forgotten; of the building
of the first frame building in the
town; of the election of Col. Frank as
the first Mayor; of the cholera scourge
and wheat riots aud the coming of the
state infantry to the village to restore
order.
Mrs. Whitaker spoke especially of
the intelligence of the pioneers of the
city and the effect this intelligence
had had on the educational interests
of the city in later years. She also
spoke of the~many private schools in
the city and the work of Col. Frank,
Reuben Deming, Charles Durkee, J. B.