Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1905-01-28
SCOTCH DREAMER'S PALACE.
All That Remains of Munkfttrfcks
Colonization Scheme.

All That Remains of Munkittrick's
Colonization Scheme.
To few passing an old building not
many miles from Hayton would 1t ap'
peal as romantic. Fifty years ago,
nevertheless, it had for its occupants
people of high birth, says Haydn
(Wis) correspondent Of the Milwau-
kee Sentinel, people Of wealth and
refinement. Inside 1t was veritable
palace. Rare works Of art, costly fur
niture, everything that the finest taste
could dictate or wealth procure
adorned it.
In 1853 a Scottish laird named Nun
kittrick, owning vast estates in Perth
shirc, conceived the idea Of emigrating
to America and founding a colony OF
his countrymen in the west.
He disposed of his property in Scot
land and, through New York land
agency, purchased an immense tract
of land in what is now Manitowoc
county, about ten miles east of this
village. He was assured that, though
timbered, the land was wonderfully
fertile, and could be made to yield a
competency for 1000 people.
The laird, possessing the confidence
and esteem of his former tenants, cas-
ily induced numbers of them to make
the voyage across the Atlantic with
him, Lured by tales Of the wonderful
fertility Of the land and their faith I'M
bounded in the man who led them,
their bitter disappointment to find the
elysium of their dreams dreary waste
of swamp and marsh may well be
imagined. In all the 5000 acres pur-
chased by Munkittrick but few hun
dred gave even slight promise Of pro-
ductiveness. True, the land was re-
markably fertile, but to clear the
swamps and drain the marshes meant
the expenditure Of thousands Of dol
lars and half century of time.
Dismay at the ruin staring him In the
face, but still mindful Of the plight of
those he had induced to wander so far
from their homes, Munkittrick further
depleted his waning fortune by sending
the company home with the exception
of few families who voluntarily cast
their lot with his.
The laird proposed to erect palace
in the wilderness and furnish 1t In o
style the like Of which the country had
never seen.
The household furnishings were
brought by boat to Manitowoc and
there stored until the dwelling could
be completed. With undated energy
the laird erected a rude cabin Of tam
arack logs.
1t was not until the end Of the third
year that the dwelling was completed,
owing to the difficulty Of transporting
material. With the driving Of the last
nail the whole Of the lairds fortune
had taken wings. Fifty acres Of the
best land had been cleared and sown
to wheat and oats, but 1t produced
barely enough to provide the merest
necessities Of life, and by the time the
house was ready for occupancy they
were in sore straits indeed.
Shortly after the mansion had been
fitted up with its sumptuous furnish
ings the laird's wife died, succumbing
to the change of climate. The sickeu-
ing emanations from the dank expanse
of marsh and swamp, the wet and the
cold, all conduced to produce that dis
ease so fatal in its effect and so in
sidious in its approach. One by one
the three children sickened and died OF
the same malady until only the laird
himself remained, broken hearted,
shattered in mind and body. Finally
he, too, succumbed and was laid to
rest in a grave beside the four other
members of his family.