Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1921-12-28


Grove and after a couple OF years
returned to British Hollow, and with
the exception of a few years in the
gold fields of California, he made
British Hollow his home up to the
time of his death III 1896. He was
married to Miss Elizabeth U'ren, the
daughter of Thos. B. U'ren, at British
Hollow, in 1S4S. He went to Callfor-
MIA in 1852, and after a few years
there, returned to British Hollow to
follow mining In later years he pur-
chased land in Buena Vista near
British Hollow and opened up a farm.
Uncle Jimmie, as he was famlllarly
known. was a man of noble charac-
ter and universally liked for his be-
nevolent and sympathetic disposition
He was, | believe, one of the last OIL
the old pioneers of the town of Po-
tosi, to pass to the shores beyond.
One son, Edward Clement Thomas,
better known as "Clem," succeeded
his father on the farm and in later
years removed to Potosi where he
now resides.
In the very early days of British
Hollow, an Englishman named Jones
built the first brewery in this section
of the country 1t was located near
a large spring near where the school
house now stands. The storage cell
lar was tunnelled in a slope on the
Potosi and British Ho-~oW road. The
brewery was not very extensive but
large enough to supply the needs OF
the genuine beer loving public. 1t
continued in operation for number
of years, or until another brewery
cfsIN Oh cd NV TOcQnh
up the hollow west OF the business
center of the village. Mr. Udelhofen
after several years in business, sold
the brewery to William Mohrenberg.
Samuel Stephens Jr. afterwards
bought on interest and some years
later sold his interest to Henry Mac
ke The old frame brewery was de-
stroyed by fire in 1878 or 10. A new
structure of stone was built on the
old site, together with a large two
story stone dwelling house. Henry
Macke subsequently became sole
owner of the property. He conduc-
ted the business for Some years, then
sold the brewing interest to Joseph
Vogelsberg, who conducted it for
years, and at the end of that time,
owing to strong competition the old
brewery was closed. Some few years
thereafter the property was sold and
a cheese factory was established in
the building, but it did not prove
profitable venture and soon ceased to
exist
There lived in the early days =.
British Hollow, two men, William
Shipley and Robert Langstaff, who
were known to possess the science Of
self defense. They were old friends
from England, but some parties who
wanted to see these pugilistic cronies
meet i'll ring, told Bob that Bill said
he was better man than he. This,
Bob, could not let go by withouS re-
sentiment Meeting together in sal
con one day, Bob says to Bill, will
liam, am told that thee said that
thee were a better man than |" mo,
Robert, never did say So someone
has told thee a falsehoOd. | know
thee is a better man than l." How
ever, after few drinks were taken,
they concluded to Lave a ring fight,
and stripping themselves to the
waist. went out and took positions o..
the old bridge that spanned the
creek in British Hollow, and with
bare fists, fought according to the
Marquis of Queensbury rules, and they
knew how to do it. After several
rounds had been fought, William gave
ND the battle and said, Robert, thee
is better man than l." They shook
hands and enter ed the saloon to don
their clothes and presumably take
few more drinks. The fight being the
first of the kind in this section, IL
created lot of excitement and plea
sure to the inha of British Hol-
low
William T. Ennor Joseph Petty
and others back in the early fifties
were bent on founding another viii
lage and to that end, had tract of
land in the hill, between British Ho:-
low and Potosi, surveyed and plated
into lots and was called Middleton"
It was such a nice location for viii
Iage but it never materialiZed and
died bOrning.
Many large and we'll paying min
eral discoveries were made in these
mines, chiefly among them were two
made by Captain Craig One OF the
Craig ranges was a famous one and
yielded an immense quantity OF min
eral. The dump Of the old range can
vet been seen just north OF Buena
Vista and when going from Potosl to
Lancaster you must drive over this
old undermined crevice Other good
ranges were discovered by James
Thomas, John Nichols, William Webb,
William Tyrack, John Webb, Joseph
Thomas, Alexander Polkenhorn and
others. Many thousands of dollars in
ore was brought to the surface and
sold to the smelters.
The Adney Patch, as it was gen
orally known, no doubt yielded more
ore than any other discovery made.
It was a claim of mineral bearing
crevices that ran in different courses.
The last work of Importance on this
mine was done in 1872 when James
Anderson, Joseph Lesser and five
otherr formed a partnership to fur
Their work the mine. Nothing Of con-
sequence could be done on account
Of water Necessary machinery was
required to pump the water. James
A If