From a historical address delivered by Judge Charles E. Dyer at Burlington, Wis., Feb. 22, 1871

I have the word of Mr. Elam Beardsley for saying that he was the first actual white settler in Caledonia. It has been said that John Davis preceded him, but though Mr. Davis may have first asserted a claim in the town, I think that Mr. Beardsley established the first actual settlement, and that Mrs. Beardsley was the first white woman who came into the county for a permanent home. He came from Michigan, bringing with him his family, and on the third night after he set out on his perilous journey he and his household jewels slept in a shanty on his claim in Caledonia.

In February, 1835, Levi Blake and his three sons, C. H. Blake, E. S. Blake and Lucius S. Blake, set out from their home near Niles, Michigan, for some place, they scarcely knew where. They arrived in Chicago on the 10th of February, where they provided themselves with supplies and a Mackinac blanket. They left Chicago, and at night arrived at Grose Point, eighteen miles north, and were hospitably entertained by the French traders. The next morning they set out for the next point of prominence, which was Skunk Grove. It was a cold winter's day. The snow obscured the trail on which they were traveling, and they had a long, long, weary day, with apprehensions of a still more dreary night. Night found them in a grove about three miles west of the present site of Waukegan. The cold was intense; they kindled a fire with the last match that was left them. They spent the night standing around the fire and constructing a sled. In the morning. leaving behind them their wagon, they proceeded on their journey. At noon their eyes were delighted with the sight of a human being leading a pony.

On his approach he informed them that he and that pony were the United States Route Agents on the way from Chicago to Green Bay with the mail. He gave them directions and informed them of the landmarks that would guide them to Skunk Grove, which they reached after the darkness of night had fallen upon them, and after much suffering from the severity of the weather. Arrived at a trading post at Skunk Grove, they were the recipients of the hospitality of Jok Jambeau and his squaw, and remained over night. On the next morning they began explorations for a place to locate. At a point on the river three miles northwesterly from Jambeau's they found John Davis, who had entered a claim and was residing upon it. They remained with him several days, and looked over the country. The representations of the country which they had heard from others proved truthful. They took exception only to the climate, but Mr. L. S. Blake thinks the winter of 1835-36 the coldest he ever experienced in Wisconsin.

On the 15th day of February they made their claim. They staked out, as they supposed, enough land for four; but when the survey was made it was found that they had only secured a sufficient quantity of land for two claims. They then visited the Rapids, and found there Mr. See, who was building his mill. Upon returning to their claim they built a log shanty without a window in it. They soon returned to Michigan and removed to Chicago, where the family lived two years. Meanwhile Lucius S. Blake and his brother A. H. Blake came back to the claim and resided in their cabin two seasons. They ploughed a portion of the land, made some fencing and held the claim by actual occupancy until Mr. Levi Blake removed to it with his family in the fall of 1837. Captain Blake's capacious log house, which he built on his premised, was a landmark in the country. It was always open to the settlers, and the hospitality of its proprietor gave it the appropriate name of "Our House." The farm now owned by James Wilson constituted part of the Blake claim. Early in 1835 Edward Bradley and his brother made claims in Caledonia, and during the summer of 1835 and spring of '36 others settlers arrived with their families; among them were Simeon Butler, Isaac Butler, Thomas Butler, Joseph Adams and Shintafer, whom Mr. Blake describes as a daring specimen of a borderer. I think at about the same time Ezra Beardsley, the father of Elam Beardsley, and Ira Hurlbut, also, settled in the town. Ezra Beardsley was known as a sturdy pioneer of great heart and noble hospitality.

About the 22nd of September, 1835, Walter Cooley and his family came to Caledonia, accompanied by Eldad Smith and Mr. Elisha Raymond, Sr., and family. Mr. Cooley came first to Racine alone, in May 1835. He settled on a claim southwest of the Rapids, but afterward located about one mile north, on or near a line of blazed trees which at that point marked the route from Chicago to Milwaukee. In the spring of 1836 Mr. Cooley removed to the premises which until a late day he continued to own as his homestead, and as his country resort after he became a resident of Racine. His removal in 1836 was occasioned by the fact that he one day discovered that he had located on the southeast corner of another man's claim.

Eldad Smith was one of the early settlers in Caledonia. He arrived in Racine on the 22nd day of September, 1835, and, remaining there a short time, went into Caledonia and purchased the claim of John Davis. It was a claim covering 240 acres. He built a log house and went there to live, on the 1st day of November, 1835, remaining until the winter of 1841, when he removed to Racine. He says that in the fall of 1835, in addition to those already named, Trystam Davis, Mr. Fowler, Mr. Stillman, Hugh Bennett and Hiram Bennett were settled in Caledonia.

Mr. Smith built his house by rolling up logs and putting on a roof made of shingles of about the size of staves, split out of white oak logs. He and his family did not suffer for want of provisions in their new home. He had in the fall of 1835 bought two barrels of flour at Chicago, and enough other supplies to last them through the winter. In January or February, 1836, James Kinzie brought in a drove of hogs called "prairie racers," and the settlers supplied themselves with pork.

Prairie wolves and Pottawotomie Indians were equally abundant. During the winter there were three encampments of Indians uncomfortably near Mr. Smith's house. In 1837 or '38 the Indians were removed west of the Mississippi.

Mr. Smith says that in those days they had neither rats, beggars nor thieves!

As early as December, 1835, Sheridan Kimball settled in Caledonia. During the summer of that year Mr. Kimball, while living in Chicago, heard of a settlement on Root river in Wisconsin, and in the month of December, in company with Sandford Blake, Stephen Sanford and a man whose name he cannot now recall, he set out for the Root river settlement. In the evening of their first day's journey the party arrived at Patterson's tavern, about eight miles from Chicago, where they spent the night. On the next morning they resumed their journey upon a new wagon road through the woods, which had been previously an Indian trail, one of the evidences of which was a dead Indian child, deposited in a rude coffin and lodged in a tree which stood by the wayside. On the second night of their journey they arrived at Sunderland's tavern. In the evening of their third day's journey Mr. Kimball and his comrades arrived at a log tavern in the edge of the woods, and were rejoiced to learn that they had reach the Root River country. Some of the settlers called at the cabin that night and talked cheeringly of the richness of the land, the future prospects of the town of Racine, and the general development of the country.

The proprietor of the tavern was a Mr. Strong who died long ago, and was buried near his cabin, two miles north of Mygatt's corners, and the crumbling walls of which yet stand. Leaving Mr. Strong's cabin Mr. Kimball and his companions traveled on until they reached the cabin of John Davis, where they breakfasted.

At the crossing of Skunk creek, where Mr. Hood now resides, men were building the first bridge across the stream. Among them was Symmes Butler, who had located near what is now called Caledonia Center. Resuming their travels, Mr. Kimball and party soon reached the house of C. H. Blake, who was living in a log cabin on the claim which was afterward the home of Captain Levi Blake. Resting there until toward evening, they continued their tramp until, at night, they arrived at the residence of Symmes Butler. He was living on what was called Hoosier creek. Several families were living in the neighborhood, among them Mr. Janes, the founder of Janesville. They were cordially welcomed. The next morning as they were preparing to depart, Mrs. Butler remarked: "When you get out in the woods, you will know the reason why my husband is so ragged, he has been running through the woods so much he has left a rag on every bush." With Mr. Butler as their guide, they rambled through groves of timber and openings, and crossed beautiful prairies and meadows, with only here and there a claim, and greatly exhilarated by the thought that all this goodly land could be bought for one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre! Mr. Kimball made a claim at that time, and settled on it. In the latter part of February, 1836, he returned to Chicago, and immediately made preparations for removing to Root river, with his aged parents. His brother, Leonard Kimball, preceded them to make preparations for their arrival. About the middle of March they started with three yoke of oxen and a wagon, and were two weeks making their journey. Arrived at their destination, they found an unfinished cabin on the premises, which was soon completed with its shake roof, rude stone chimney and elm bark floors.

During the first four or five years of his adventurous life in his new home Mr. Kimball was compelled to struggle against hardships and destitution. He had in store a small quantity of provisions and nine dollars in money. Bereavement soon followed in the death of his brother, which occurred about the 16th of May, 1836.

In the beginning of '36 Mr. Kimball went to Chicago, and delivered stone for Chicago harbor, continuing through the summer and part of the fall. In the summer of 1837 Mr. Kimball conceived the idea, also, of getting wheat from a brother, who lived west of Chicago, and taking it to a mill on Fox river to be ground into flour and then hauling it to Wisconsin to be sold for twelve dollars a barrel. He began hauling soon after harvest, and made three trips, oftentimes supplying, on his journeys, the necessities of settlers whom he met and who were without bread or money.

At the land sale in 1839 Mr. Kimball secured the land which he had claimed, and continued to reside upon it until he removed to Racine, which has since been his home.

In 1836, William Sears, Luther R. Sears, James Bussey, Joel Horner, Emanuel Horner, Daniel Wooster and his sons, and Alexander Logan and Thomas Spencer made their settlements.

Daniel Wooster and his son Adney, on the 1st day of January, 1835, started from the town of Derby, Conn., with his team for the West in search of a location where he could settle and make a home for himself and family. Traveling through the States of New York, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, he reached Wisconsin in the month of March of the same year, and located in the town of Caledonia. The spring following Mr. Daniel Wooster's son, Julius Wooster, with the family, came to Caledonia, by way of Buffalo, around the lakes. Mr. Wooster remained on the farm where he first located until his death, which occurred about four years since. John Wheeler and Joseph Cannon were also among the early settlers, but the years of their arrival are unknown to me. Esek Sears came in 1838.

1836 is remembered as the year in Caledonia, and even elsewhere, when the settlers received from Michigan an importation of flour which nearly cost some of them their lives. It was called in those days "sick flour," and nobody but Shintafer could eat it.

Samuel Hood located in Caledonia, May 24th, 1838; George F. Roberts and Henry B. Roberts in 1837, and John Trumbull in August, 1839. Timothy D. Morris came in October, 1838, and made a claim, which he sold in 1840. In 1839 he and his brother, who owned land adjoining, broke up twenty acres, which was the first land plowed on the north side of the prairie. During the following winter and spring Mr. Morris made rails and fenced the breaking. He procured his timber for rails on the adjoining section, belonging to the government. Isaac Place thought he would make rails from the same timber. Each tried to get in advance of the other by claim - - marking Uncle Sam's best trees with all the speed of men running a foot race. A few years later Mr. Morris sold his original eighty acres and bought the tract where he and Isaac Place had cut the timber without leave of Uncle Sam, and now owns and resides upon it.

Daniel B. Rork settled where he now lies, in Caledonia, in June, 1837. He bought the claim of Jok Jambeau. Jambeau asked him $2,000 for it but finally sold it for $525. It was fenced in 1834, and was probably the first claim fenced east of Rock river. Mr. Rork came to the county in 1835, and in that year made a claim at Burlington. Other parties jumped it, but he succeeded in maintaining it, and afterward sold it to Silas Peck for $200. Mr. Rork knew all the settlers east of Rock river, and assisted in the erection of the first frame house built in Milwaukee.

Rev. Cyrus Nichols settled in Caledonia in the fall of 1836. He bought a claim and built a log house, about forty rods from his present residence. He was a missionary, and traversed the country preaching to the settlers. On one occasion, when he held religious services at the trading post at Skunk Grove, the settlers attended -- among them Mr. Lucius S. Blake - - armed with guns, and he administered to them a sharp rebuke for carrying firearms to church.

Mr. Nichols and family were victims to the "sick flour" that came from Michigan, although it cost him $22 barrel. He says that, although the settlers had but one apartment in their houses, there was always room for all who came. He had previously lived in Missouri, and there had but one room in his house and that the kitchen. On coming to Wisconsin he resolved he would have a parlor. He kept his resolution, and had a parlor, and lived in it; but that was the only room in the house!

The first white child born in Caledonia was Mrs. Maria Bacon, daughter of the late Joseph Adams. She was born on the 2d day of September, 1835, and it is an unsettled question whether she, or Helen Mars, daughter of Samuel Mars, who was also born in 1835, in Mt. Pleasant, was the first white person born in the county.

CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP -1916

The Town of Caledonia is situated in the northeast corner of the county. On the north it is bounded by Milwaukee County; on the east by Lake Michigan; on the south by the Town of Mount Pleasant, and on the west by the Town of Raymond. It includes all of Congressional Township No. 4, Range 22, and fractional Township No. 4, Range 23, having an area of about fifty square miles. The Root River flows in a southeastwardly direction through Caledonia, and with its tributaries affords good natural drainage to the township.

Elam Beardsley always claimed to have been the first settler in the town, though it is quite probable that John Davis was the first to "stake out" a claim. Mr. Beardsley came to the county in January, 1835, and his wife was the first white woman to become a resident of the county. He and John Davis both settled in Caledonia early in that year. Not far behind them came Levi Blake and his three sons -- C. H., E. S. and Lucius S. Blake. Judge Dyer relates the following adventures of the Blakes in looking for a home in Wisconsin:
They set out from their home near Niles, Michigan, for -- some place, they scarcely knew where. They arrived at Chicago on the 10th of February, where they provided themselves with supplies, and a Mackinac blanket. They left Chicago and at night arrived at Grosse Point, eighteen miles north, and were hospitably entertained by the French traders. The next morning they set out for the next point of prominence, which was Skunk Grove. It was a cold winter's day. The snow obscured the trail on which they were traveling, and they had a long, long, weary day, with apprehensions of a still more dreary night. Night found them in a grove about three miles west of the present City of Waukegan. The cold was intense; they kindled a fire with the last match that was left them. They spent the night standing around the fire and constructing a sled. In the morning, leaving behind them their wagon, they proceeded on their journey.

At noon their eyes were delighted with the sight of a human being leading a pony. On his approach, he informed them that he and the pony were the United States route agents, on the way from Chicago to Green Bay with the mail. He gave them directions and informed of the landmarks that would guide them to Skunk Grove, which they reached after the darkness of night had fallen on them, and after much suffering from the severity of the weather.

Arriving at the trading post at Skunk Grove, they were the recipients of the hospitality of Jacques Jambeau and his squaw, and remained over night. On the next morning they began explorations for a place to locate. At a point on the river, three miles northwesterly from Jambeau's, they found John Davis, who had entered a claim and was residing upon it. They remained with him several days and looked over the country. The representations of the country which they had heard from others proved truthful. They took exceptions only to the climate, but Mr. L. S. Blake thinks the winter of 1835-36 the coldest he ever experienced in Wisconsin.

On the 15th day of February they made their claim. They staked out, as they supposed, enough land for four; but when the survey was made, it was found that they had only secured a sufficient quantity of land for two claims. They then visited the Rapids and found there Mr. See, who was building his mill. Upon returning to their claim, they built a log shanty without a window in it. They soon returned to Michigan and removed to Chicago, where the family lived for two years. Meanwhile, Lucius S. Blake and his brother, A. H. Blake, came back to the claim and resided in their cabin two seasons. They plowed a portion of the land, made some fencing, and held the claim by actual occupancy until Levi Blake removed to it with his family in the fall of 1837. Captain Blake's capacious log house, which he built on his premises, was a landmark in the country. It was always open to the settlers and the hospitality of its proprietor gave it the appropriate name of 'Our House.' The farm now owned by James Wilson constituted a part of the Blake claim.

Early in 1835 Edward Bradley and his brother located claims in Caledonia. Walter Cooley came to Racine in May, 1835, and the following September located in Caledonia, accompanied by Eldad Smith and Elisha Raymond, Sr., and his family. Early in 1836 Mr. Cooley discovered that he had located on another man's claim and removed to another tract, which he occupied for a number of years and after removing to the city of Racine called it his country home.

Eldad Smith built a peculiar looking house by rolling some logs together and putting on a roof made of white oak boards. While it was not an architectural masterpiece, it served to protect the inmates from the cold winds that came from Lake Michigan. Mr. Smith brought two barrels of flour from Chicago that fall, and enough others provisions to last the family through the winter. He occupied this house for the first time on November 1, 1835, and lived there until 1841, when he removed to the Village of Racine. During the winter of 1835-36, three bands of Potawatomi Indians encamped near his house and the wolves caused him some annoyance. But to offset these undesirable neighbors, Mr. Smith said that in those days they had neither rats, beggars nor thieves in the new settlement.

Other settlers who came to Caledonia in 1835, or early in the year 1836, were: Hugh and Hiram Bennett, Tristam Davis, Simeon, Isaac and Thomas Butler, Sheridan Kimball, Daniel Wooster and his son Adney, Joseph Adams, John Wheeler, Joseph Cannon, Ezra Beardsley (father of Elam), Ira Hurlbut, the Fowler and Stillman families, and a few others.

In the summer of 1835, Sheridan Kimball, then living in Chicago, heard of a settlement on the Root River that offered splendid opportunities to those seeking homes in Wisconsin. The following December, accompanied by Stephen Sandford, Sanford Blake and another man, he set out for the Root River country. The first night out from Chicago they stayed at Petterson's tavern, having made only about eight miles, and the next morning resumed their journey upon a new wagon road through the woods. This road had previously been an Indian trail, and as they journeyed along they noted the coffin of a dead Indian child among the branches of a tree by the roadside. That night they reached Sunderland's tavern and late on the afternoon of the next day arrived in the Root River settlement. Taking breakfast the next morning with John Davis, they went on to the house of C. H. Blake, where they rested awhile, and then pushed on to the house of Symmes (or Simeon) Butler, on a small stream called Hoosier Creek. There they passed the night and when they were preparing to leave the next morning Mrs. Butler said: "When you get out in the woods, you will know the reason why my husband is so ragged; he has been running through the woods so much he has left a rag on every bush." Mr. Butler may have been ragged, but he was hospitable, and that morning guided the party to a district where they could locate claims.

Mr. Kimball selected a claim and in February, 1836 went to Chicago to bring his parents to the Root River. Leonard Kimball, a brother of Sheridan, came in advance to make preparations. About the middle of March the family left Chicago with a wagon drawn by three yoke of oxen and were two weeks on the road. Mr. Kimball's first house in Racine County was a rude cabin, with shake roof, stone chimney and a floor of elm bark. At the land sale in 1839 he acquired a perfect title to his land, built a better house and lived there for several years, when he removed to the City of Racine.

Daniel Wooster and his son, previously mentioned, left the Town of Derby, Connecticut, on New Year's Day, 1835, to seek a location somewhere in the West, where he could make a home for himself and family. Traveling with a team and wagon through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, he reached the Root River settlement in March and located in what is now the Town of Caledonia. A little later his son Julius and the other members of the family came via Buffalo and around the lakes. Daniel Wooster lived in Caledonia until his death, which occurred in 1867.

Among those who settled in Caledonia in 1836 were: William and Luther R. Sears, James Bussey, Joel and Emanuel Horner, Alexander Logan, Thomas Spencer and Rev. Cyrus Nichols. Judge Dyer says that Mr. Nichols, had previously lived in Missouri, and there had but one room in his house and that the kitchen. On coming to Wisconsin he resolved to have a parlor. He kept his resolution and had a parlor, and lived in it; but that was the only room in the house. Once, while conducting religious services at Skunk Grove, he rebuked a number of the pioneers, who brought their rifles with them to church, but the settlers felt that it was always well to be prepared for emergencies in a country where the Indians were likely to give trouble at any time and accepted the rebuke of the minister in a friendly spirit.

In June, 1837, Daniel B. Rork came to Caledonia and bought the claim of Jacques Jambeau, the trader. Jambeau asked $2,000 for it, but finally accepted $525. Mr. Rork had come to the Town of Burlington about a year before and made a claim, where the City of Burlington now stands. Other parties "jumped his claim," but he succeeded in holding it and before removing to Caledonia sold it to Silas Peck for $200. Jambeau had fenced his claim in 1834 -- the first claim, so it is believed, to be fenced east of the Rock River.

The first white child born in this township was Maria, a daughter of Joseph Adams, her birth occurring on September 2, 1835. She grew to womanhood in the county and married a man named Bacon. William See's saw-mill at the Rapids was the first saw-mill in Racine County. The first drove of hogs brought to the town was brought by James Kinzie in January or February, 1836. They were of the species known as "prairie racers, but they afforded the settlers an opportunity to supply themselves with pork.

Section 5 of an act approved by Governor James D. Doty on February 7, 1842, provided: "That all that part of the Towns of Racine and Mount Pleasant comprised in Town 4, in Range 22 East, shall be and is hereby set off into a separate town by the name of Caledonia." The act also ordered that the first election should be held at the house of Levi Blake.

Two lines of railroad pass through Caledonia - - the Chicago & Northwestern, in the eastern part, and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, about five miles farther west. These lines connect Chicago and Milwaukee and afford excellent transportation facilities to the people of the town. The Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway also passes through Caledonia and its frequent trains give the people ample opportunity for visiting Racine, Milwaukee or Chicago. The population of Caledonia in 1910 was 3,073, and the property was valued for taxation in 1915 at $5,409,081, exclusive of that lying within the limits of the incorporated Village of Corliss, which is on the line between Caledonia and Mount Pleasant.

LITTLE VILLAGE of CALEDONIA-1916

A few miles north of Racine, on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, is the little Village of Caledonia, in the township of the same name. It was never officially platted and was formerly known as "Stern's Crossing." Polk's Gazetteer of Wisconsin for 1915 gives the principal business interest of Caledonia as two general stores, a coal yard, a harness shop and the express office. The postoffice has three rural routes, which supply the surrounding country with mail daily.

KILBOURNVILLE-1916

In Section 18, near the west line of Caledonia Township, is the little hamlet of Kilbournville, where a postoffice under that name was established in early days. The office was discontinued some years ago and mail is now delivered by rural carrier from Caledonia, a mile and a half east, which is the nearest railroad station. A church, a public school and a general store, with a few scattering dwellings, are about all that is left of Kilbournville.

LAMBERTON-1916

In the north east corner of Caledonia Township, near the county line and on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, is the rural postoffice of Lamberton, so named from one of the early settlers in that part of the county, William E. Lamberton, who was for many years one of the prominent citizens of Racine County. As a village, Lamberton is insignificant and about its only importance is the postoffice.

HUSHER-1916

On the line between Sections 9 and 10, Township 4, Range 22, in Caledonia Township, is the unofficial Village of Husher. It is one of those neighborhood trading posts and rallying centers that grow up in nearly every county of the Union and has no special history.

LINWOOD-1916


LINWOOD SCHOOL

On the Root River, in Section 23, Township 4, Range 22, is a thickly settled neighborhood upon which has been conferred the name of "Linwood." It has never been platted as a village and a public school near the line between Sections 23 and 26 is the only institution worthy of mention.

TABOR-1916

When the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad was built between Chicago and Milwaukee, a station was established in Caledonia Township, about five miles north of Racine, and given the name of "Tabor." For some time it was a trading and shipping point of some importance, but was gradually outstripped by the adjacent and all that is left is the name on the map and recollections of its former prestige.

THOMPSONVILLE-1916

On the line between Caledonia and Raymond Townships, about ten miles northwest of Racine, is the old Village of Thompsonville, so named after one of the early settlers in that locality. Located at the junction of three highways, it is easy of access and in early days was the chief trading point for the farmers in that section of the county. Then came the railroads, which diverted business to other points and Thompsonville began to decline. The postoffice there was discontinued and mail is now brought daily by carrier from the postoffice at Franksville. A general store, a blacksmith shop and a creamery are now the principal business enterprises.

WILLOW CREEK-1916

Modern maps of Racine County show a settlement in Caledonia Township, a short distance southeast of Tabor, as "Willow Creek." It is merely a thickly settled neighborhood, with a public school in the midst, and was never platted as a village.

IVES STATION-1916

Ives Station, or "Ives," as it is commonly called, is on the line of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, three miles north of Racine, in Caledonia Township. On November 23, 1896, the village was surveyed and platted by Harry I. Orwig for W. K. Cook, George Baldwin, John O'Laughlin and Benjamin Barrett, and the plat was filed with the register of deeds on December 5, 1896. At that time and for some years afterward a large stone crushing business was conducted here, but in recent years Ives has found a formidable competitor in that line in Horlicksville, with the result that it has lost some of its former activity.

FRANKSVILLE-1916

Located in the southwest quarter of Section 33, Township 4, Range 22, is the little Village of Franksville, a station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, seven miles from Racine. It was surveyed by S. G. Knight in April, 1874, for Daniel B. Rork and H. B. Roberts, and the plat was filed with the register of deeds on the 25th of May following. Franksville has a postoffice, express and telegraph offices, a telephone exchange, a hotel, a blacksmith and wagon repair shop, and manufactures cement blocks, sauer kraut and drain tile. There are also two general stores and some smaller business establishments. The Wisconsin Gazetteer for 1915 gives the population as 180.

NORTH RACINE-1916

The Town of North Racine was surveyed and platted by Edward F. Leidel on September 21, 1905, for the Great Northern Realty Company and the plat was filed the same day it was completed -- September 21, 1905. It shows a town of some pretensions, consisting of twenty-three blocks and a total of 839 lots, located in Sections 15, 16, 21 and 22, in Caledonia Township, but as the basis of its establishment was speculation it has not come up to the expectations of its founders.

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Mt. Pleasant Early Settlers

From a historical address delivered by Judge Charles E. Dyer at Burlington, Wis., Feb. 22, 1871

William See and Edmund Weed settled in Mount Pleasant in January, 1835. Mr. See located at the Rapids, and Mr. Weed on a claim which now comprises the farm of Mr. Fratt. At the time of their arrival two men, one by the name of Carpenter and the other Harrison K. Fay, were at the Rapids. In the fall of 1835, Carpenter left the Rapids and settled within the limits of Captain Knapp's claim, on the north side of Root river. After his death his widow, who was the first white woman who came to Mt. Pleasant or Racine, removed further north, and continued to occupy what was long known among the old settlers as "the Widow Carpenter's claim."

In January, 1835, William Smith, now of Pike Grove, made a trip from Chicago to Milwaukee. George Smith, in later years the eminent banker, accompanied him, and they came through to Milwaukee upon an Indian trail via Grose Point, Skunk Grove and the Rapids. Mr. Smith tells me that at that time See was the only white man living between Grose Point and Milwaukee on the route which they traveled. In this connection it may not be uninteresting to mention that on the 13th of May, 1836 Mr. William Smith sold eighty acres of land which he owned or claimed in Milwaukee for ten thousand dollars, and re-purchased it in 1838 for one thousand dollars.

In April, 1835, James Walker came to Racine on a vessel with Captain Knapp. He was just starting in life, made a claim in Mr. Pleasant, built a cabin, purchased at the land sales in '39 the lands to which he had previously made a claim and has ever since resided on the same. After Mr. Walker's arrival Carpenter, whose cabin was on the north side of the river, died, and was buried on the bank of Duck creek in the depths of the forest. Mr. Walker made the coffin in which Carpenter was buried, and this was the first burial of a white man within the limits of Mr. Pleasant or Racine.

During the same year William See built a sawmill at the Rapids, and Mr. Walker established a turning lathe at the same place. Mr. Walker also laid the original foundation for the dam, in the river at the Rapids.

The Pottawotomie Indians were then abundant in the neighborhood. The principal Indian trading post was at Skunk Grove, on what is now the farm of Benjamin Reynolds. --Another saw mill was also erected at the Rapids, and a stock of goods brought in by James Kinzie. James Walker was a member of the jury convened at the first term of court held by Judge Frazier in Racine county.

In July, 1835, Thomas Place settled in Mt. Pleasant. He was accompanied by his father, Andrew Place, and by Alva and Zadock Newman. They came with ox-teams from Chicago to Skunk Grove, overtaking Daniel B. Rorke at Grose Point, who became their companion the remainder of the journey. Andrew Place, Alva and Zadock Newman had been here in June before, and made their claims, upon which they now permanently located, and which comprise the farms ever since respectively occupied by the families.

During the first season Mr. Andrew Place and the Newmans had to go to St. Joseph, Mich., for flour. They went in the winter, with ox-teams, and were gone two months. In 1836 they were obliged to go to mill at a point sixty miles distant, on Fox River, and in subsequent years they had their grinding done at Geneva.

Mr. Thomas Place lived six months with Jambeau and was employed as his clerk. Twice a year the Indians had their great corn dance, when prayers were vehemently offered for a good crop of corn.

Mound Cemetery was an Indian burying-ground, and filled with large mounds. Mr. Place remembers the burial of an Indian chief. A pen was constructed large enough for the reception of the body, and chinked up with moistened earth and other material; the Indians then placed their dead chief within it, in a sitting posture, surrounded by some of the relics of his race. For a considerable time thereafter the survivors habitually visited the grave, where they moaned and wept, pouring whisky on the body of the dead as their offering to the Great Spirit.

In November, 1835, Mr. Alanson Filer made a claim in Mt. Pleasant of a fractional half-section, and subsequently purchased at the land sales. His premises were the same now known as the homestead of Judge Doolittle. Mr. Filer came first to the West in the spring of 1833, and settled in Chicago. It was also in the year 1835 that Samuel N. Basye, Mr. Hague, Silas Lloyd, Orville W. Barnes and Mr. Cleveland settled in Mt. Pleasant.

In September, 1837, William Bull and Daniel Slauson came together by their own conveyance from Detroit. They had previously met Jonathan M. Snow, at Grand Haven, who had there told them of the "promised land" on the west side of lake Michigan. Upon their arrival here they stopped at a log tavern kept by Lewis G. Dole, where now Orville W. Barnes resides. They then learned that Mr. Snow held a claim near Dole's tavern, upon which there was a frame house. Mr. Bull immediately located in Caledonia, and Mr. Slauson purchased a claim from a sister of the wife of Samuel Mars, upon which he planted fruit trees, in '37, and which ultimately became the noble farm upon which he lived to a ripe old age, and where he died after a career of usefulness and prosperity unexcelled by that of any of the early settlers who preceded or follow him, in the jouney to their last home.

In the spring of 1839 Mr. Bull removed from Caledonia, and having purchased the claim of Jonathan M. Snow settled in Mt. Pleasant and has ever since occupied the farm upon which, nearly thirty years ago, he began his career as a successful Racine county farmer.

E. D. Filer, June 27th, 1837, bought a claim in Mt. Pleasant, upon which there was a poorly constructed log house. Mr. Filer could not buy a cook stove at that time in Racine, and the cooking had to be done in the yard by the side of a log. Mr. Filer assisted Morris and Waterman in building the courthouse at Racine, and was also for a considerable period engaged in the construction of Racine harbor. One cold, blustering Sunday Mr. Filer, with his rifle on his shoulder, while in pursuit of a wolf, encountered an elder of the church, and after considerable discussion permission to pursue the hunt was granted, on condition that he proved himself a good shot, and gave the elder a good dinner.

Nathan Joy was one of the early settlers in Mr. Pleasant. He came in June, 1836, by the lakes, from Buffalo to Chicago. He sailed in the first three-master that made a voyage around the lakes. At Chicago he took passage on a little schooner called the "Llewellyn," for Racine. He bought the claim which in later years was the farm of Albert DeGroat. Wallace Mygatt was then at the corners named for him. Mygatt had a little square frame house on the heights at the corners, which on a clear day could be seen miles away, and which the settlers called the lighthouse. Soon after his arrival Mr. Joy and his brother Orsamus made a trip on foot to Fox river.

They took with them a piece of pork for food and a compass for their guidance. They followed Indian trails, going by the way of Rochester. Returning, they traveled by night as well as by day. As the shadows of evening began to fall, and they on a wild, untrodden prairie, they set their compass by the stars. and far into the night they journeyed on alone, until they were worn and weary. Pausing to rest for a moment, they heard in the distance the murmuring tinkle of a cowbell -- indicative, surely, of a human habitation. They listened again, then turned their course in the direction from which the sound of the bell seemed to come. Pushing on in the same direction, dismissing compass and stars from their thoughts, they soon found themselves in Alva Newman's house, where, thanks to the music of a cowbell on that lonely prairie, they rested until morning.

In 1838, as the expected land sales were approaching, the settlers found themselves without means to make their purchases. It was a critical time. Many had made valuable improvements, and there was danger, in consequence of the expected sales in November of that year, that many would lose all, which, through many hardships, struggles and privations, they had hoped to secure. A plan was, therefore, inaugurated to raise money at the East. A public meeting was held and it was determined that the settlers of the county should execute their agreement to mortgage all their lands after getting title at the land sale, and that Nathan Joy and Michael Myers should go as their delegates to Eastern cities to make a loan of $50,000. The bond was executed, giving Messrs. Joy and Myers full authority, and promising to make their mortgages as mentioned. Schedules of the names of the subscribers to the bond, and of the lands claimed by each, with the improvements they had made upon the lands, and stating the amount of money each settler required, were also prepared. Messrs. Joy and Myers proceeded to the East upon their great enterprise, and after months of absence returned and made the disheartening report that not a dollar could be borrowed upon any or all the lands in the county of Racine. Fortunately, however, the postponement of the land sales until the spring of 1839, relieved the settlers of the extremity apprehended and banished the cloud that appeared to be darkening their fortunes.

Among the other early settlers in Mr. Pleasant whose names I now recall, are two who are members of your society, Augustus B. Crane who came into the town May 15, 1839, and Seth P. Phelps who arrived during the same year. Joseph Nixon and John R. Bassett should also be numbered among the earliest settlers.

MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP-1916

When the first civil townships in Racine County were created by the act of January 2, 1838, all that part of the county in fractional Range 23 and two miles of Range 22, extending across the entire county from north to south, were included in a township known as Racine. By the same act the boundaries of the Town of Mount Pleasant were defined as follows:

"Commencing at the southwest corner of the Town of Racine; thence due west to the southwest corner of Township 3 North, of Range 21 East; thence north to the north line of Township 4; thence east to the northwest corner of the Town of Racine, and thence south to the place of beginning."

The act also provided that the first election should be held at the house of George F. Robinson, in the Village of Mount Pleasant. The boundaries as above described were re-enacted on March 3, 1839. They included all the present Towns of Raymond and Yorkville, and a strip four miles wide across the western part of the Town of Caledonia. By the act of February 7, 1842, that part of the Town of Racine lying in Township 3 North, Ranges 22 and 23 East, was added to Mount Pleasant and the northern part of the Town of Racine was added to Caledonia, which was then erected with its boundaries as they are at present. At the same time the Town of Yorkville was cut off from Mount Pleasant.

If the present boundaries be taken into consideration, the first settlers in Mount Pleasant were Captain Gilbert Knapp, the Luce brothers and the man, Welch, who came to the mouth of the Root River in November, 1834. Harrison K. Fay and a man named Carpenter settled at the Rapids soon afterward, where they were joined in January, 1835, by William See and Edmund Weed. Mr. See located at the Rapids, but Mr. Weed selected a tract of land that afterward became known as the Fratt farm. Carpenter soon afterward went to Captain Knapp's claim and settled on the north side of the Root River, within the present corporate limits of the City of Racine, where he died a few months later. Judge Dyer says: "After his death, his widow removed further north and continued to occupy what was long known among the old settlers as 'the Widow Carpenter's claim'."

James Walker came to Racine on a vessel with Captain Knapp in April, 1835, and made a claim in Mount Pleasant, where he built a cabin, purchased the land at the sale in the spring of 1839 and lived upon his farm for many years. He made the coffin for Mr. Carpenter, who was the first white man to die within the limits of Mount Pleasant or Racine, and who was buried "on the bank of Duck Creek, in the depths of the forest." Mr. Walker established a turning lathe at the Rapids, where William See erected a saw-mill and also laid the original foundation for the dam at that place. Mr. Walker was likewise a member of the first jury ever convened in Racine County.

Early in 1836 Andrew Place and his son Thomas, with Alva and Zadock Newman, left Chicago with ox teams for Racine County, where Andrew Place and the Newmans had selected claims about a month before. At Grosse Point they fell in with Daniel B. Rork and the whole company traveled together to Skunk Grove, where Thomas Place found employment with Jacques Jambeau as a clerk at the trading post. The following winter the elder Place and the Newmans went to St. Joseph, Michigan, for a supply of flour. Their oxen were slow travelers and they were gone for two months. In 1836 they went to a mill on the Fox River, a distance of sixty miles. Mr. Place used to describe the burial of an Indian chief which he witnessed. First, a pen was constructed large enough for the body and chinked up with moistened clay and other material. Then the dead chief was place therein, in a sitting posture, surrounded by some of the weapons and ornaments of his race. The pen was left open and for some time afterward the followers of the chief would visit the place, where they moaned and wept, pouring whiskey upon the head of the deceased as an offering to the Great Spirit. There were a large number of Potawatomi Indians then living in the neighborhood and they frequently visited the trading post. Twice a year they had their great corn dance, when fervent prayers were made to the Great Manitou for a good crop of corn. Near the present Mound Cemetery was an old Indian burying ground.

In November, 1835, Alanson Filer, Samuel N. Basey, Silas Lloyd, Orville W. Barnes and one or two others settled in Mount Pleasant. About the same time James Kinzie came to the Rapids and became a partner of Mr. See in the saw-mill. Knapp, Hubbard and Barker, who made the first claim at the county in 1834, also erected a saw-mill at the Rapids and brought a stock of goods to that place. The mill and store were both in "full blast" before the close of the year 1835.

Wallace Mygatt settled at the place afterward known as "Mygatt's Corners" in the early part of 1836. He built a small frame house on an elevation, and on a clear day his residence could be seen for several miles, which led the other settlers to call it the light house. Philip R. and Henry Mygatt also came to the "Corners" not long after Wallace. In June, 1836, Nathan Joy came from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago in the first three-master that made a voyage around the lakes. From Chicago he came to Racine on a little schooner called the Llewellyn, and bought a claim in what is now Mount Pleasant. Another settler of 1836 was Lewis G. Dole, who built a log house and conducted a tavern on the farm afterward owned by Orville W. Barnes.

Among the settlers of 1837 were William Bull, Daniel Slauson, Jonathan M. Snow and E. D. Filer. Mr. Snow had visited the country the preceding year and selected a claim near Dole's tavern, upon which he had built a frame house, or shanty. Mr. Bull remained but a short time in Mount Pleasant, when he removed to the Town of Caledonia. In the spring of 1839 he bought the claim of Mr. Snow, above mentioned, and became a resident of Mount Pleasant. Daniel Slauson purchased a claim from a sister-in-law of Samuel Mars and planted some fruit trees -- probably the first orchard in the township, if not in Racine County. Mr. Filer also bought a claim on which was a poorly constructed log house. As he could not find a cook-stove in Racine, he did his cooking over a fire kindled against the side of a log near his cabin. He afterward assisted in building the first court-house at Racine and in the construction of the harbor. One Sunday morning, in the dead of winter, Mr. Filer took his rifle and started out to overtake a wolf that had been causing him some annoyance, but had not gone far when he met an elder of the church, who remonstrated with him for going hunting on Sunday. After Mr. Filer had explained the situation, the elder agreed that he might go on in pursuit of the wolf, on condition that he proved himself a good marksman and gave the elder a good dinner. He used to tell the story and laugh over how he bribed a good church member to permit him to "desecrate the Sabbath."

The Town of Mount Pleasant occupies the southeast corner of the county. On the north it is bounded by the Town of Caledonia; on the east by Lake Michigan; on the south by Kenosha County and on the west by the Town of Yorkville. Its area is approximately fifty square miles. The Root River flows in a southeasterly direction across the northeast corner, and the headwaters of Pike River are in the southern part. The City of Racine is located in this township and about six miles west of Racine is the incorporated Village of Corliss, at the crossing of two divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. The populations in 1910 was 4,219 (exclusive of Racine and Corliss) and the taxable property was valued in 1915 at $7,479,335, with the same exceptions.

CORLISS-1916

The incorporated Village of Corliss is situated in the western part of Mount Pleasant Township, seven miles west of Racine, at the crossing of two divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. It was formerly known as "Western Union Junction." The village was surveyed by Samuel D. Austin on August 13, 1901, for the Brown Corliss Engine Company of Milwaukee, of which Julius Wechselberg was president and W. S. Whiting was secretary. Three days later the plat was filed in the office of the register of deeds under the name of "Corliss." The company built a large factory for the manufacture of Corliss engines, but after a time reverses came and the works were closed.

On July 20, 1907, a new survey of the village was made by T. H. Knight, county surveyor, and on September 14, 1907, a petition was filed in the circuit court asking for the incorporation of Corliss. An election was ordered for October 28, 1907, at which 182 voters expressed themselves in favor of the incorporation and only three votes were cast in the negative. The court then issued the order declaring Corliss to be an incorporated village, according to the laws of the state.

Corliss has gas, electric light, a good system of waterworks, a bank, two hotels, two physicians, several general stores and small shops, a public school and a nursery. Being located at the junction of two lines of one of the country's great railway systems, the shipping facilities are unsurpassed by any village of its size. In 1910 the population was 525, and in 1915 the property was valued for taxes at $683,630.

WESTERN UNION JUNCTION-1876

Is situated at the junction of the Western Union and Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroads, on sec 21, Town 3, Range 22, East. Seven miles west of Racine, twenty-three miles south of Milwaukee and sixty one miles from Chicago, was commenced as a business place in the year 1872. The grounds upon which the depot is built were purchased from Mr. H. Johnson, who, settled in the country when it was comparatively new, coming from Schuyler, Herkimer Co., N. Y. in 1844. Shortly after the depot and other Railroad buildings were erected, Mr. Johnson commenced the building of the "Johnson House," neat, substantial and commodius Hotel, in close proximity to the two railways, completing the same in 1873. Mr. H. M. Fitzgerald, an accommodating and courteous landlord, is the present proprietor of the Hotel, having leased it for a term of years. In 1874, Mr. S. Parker, platted twenty-five acres of his lands laying adjacent to the junction, naming the plat "Parkersville," and putting them into the market, readily disposed of several lots, upon which are now erected tasty and comfortable cottages and several business buildings. In the fall of 1874, Mr. S. A. Sage, in partnership with Wm. I. Carpenter, built a large and well constructed building and engaged in the business of pressing hay. Subsequently, Mr. Sage purchased the interest of Mr. Carpenter, and alone continues the business. Twelve hundred tons of hay was put up at this press the first season, and nearly three times that amount the season following. The Post office is named Johnson, though a change of name to Western Union Junction is early expected, a petition having been forwarded to Washington for that purpose. The Depot is under the immediate charge of Mr. Phillip R. Frey, an old and experienced railroad man, than whom a more honest, capable and accommodating railroad official cannot be found. The present population of the village is upwards of one hundred, the majority of whom are railroad employees. To those seeking a place of business, or a quiet home, no better opportunities are afforded than at Western Union Junction.

GATLIFF-1916

This place can hardly be called a village. It is a small station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad about three and a half miles west of Racine, established there for the accommodation of persons visiting the Racine County Insane Asylum, which is located a short distance south of the station.

HORLICKSVILLE-1916

About two miles northwest of the City of Racine, in Mount Pleasant Township and on the line of the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway, is the little hamlet of Horlicksville. It was never regularly surveyed and platted, but has grown up near the Rapids of the Root River, where one of the earliest settlements in Racine County was established. The place takes its name from the Horlick family, several members of which live in the vicinity. The well known Horlick malted milk is made here. There is a general store and few minor concerns, but the principal business is the operating of the stone crushers in the quarries along the Root River.

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