Fifty Years In The Northwest Part 20

The first settlers were French colonists at Apple River Falls in 1851.

They built a school house and Catholic church upon the bluffs below the falls. The latter is a conspicuous object as seen from the St.

Croix river. The falls of Apple river, about one and a half miles above its junction with the St. Croix, is one of the finest of the Wisconsin waterfalls. Apple river traverses the county from northeast to southwest. The Wisconsin Central railroad crosses the southern part. The town of Somerset was organized Sept. 19, 1856, with Thomas J. Chappell as chairman of supervisors. Mr. Chappell was also appointed postmaster in 1854 at Apple River Falls.

SOMERSET VILLAGE,

Located about three miles above the Falls, has a good improved water power, a flour mill with a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels per day, and a saw mill, built and owned by Gen. Sam Harriman, the founder of the village. In 1856 a church and school house were erected at a cost of about $12,000.

SAMUEL HARRIMAN.--Gen. Harriman was born in Orland, Maine. He spent four years in California, engaged in mining and lumbering, and dug the second ca.n.a.l in the State for sluicing purposes. He came to Somerset in 1859, and has ever since made it his residence. He is one of the founders and platters of the village, and built most of the houses, including the hotel and two stores on the east side of Apple river, and all the dwelling houses on the west side. He has been remarkably successful in the various pursuits to which he has turned his attention, and may well be considered a man of remarkable executive ability. He has a farm of five hundred and fifty-five acres, and his agricultural and stock products are second to none. As a lumberman he has cut 3,000,000 feet per year. He has a rotary saw mill with a planing, lath and s.h.i.+ngle mill attached, and under the same roof he has a flouring mill and six run of stone; he has a large store in which he keeps a general stock of merchandise; he has also a cooper shop, where he makes his own barrels, a warehouse and a blacksmith shop. He has also an excellent stone quarry on his premises.

We look in vain for his name in the Wisconsin blue book, or among the list of office holders. He has been too busy to turn aside in quest of political preferment. We believe, however, that he was commissioned as notary public by Govs. Taylor and Smith. When men were needed for the defense of the country he left his interests to enlist as a private.

His military record is brilliant. He enlisted in Company A, Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, June 10, 1862, was made captain on the organization of the company, which position he held till Feb. 16, 1864, when he was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-seventh Wisconsin Infantry. This regiment was recruited by Col. Harriman, he having been commissioned for that purpose. Its services on many a hard fought field, and especially about Petersburg, is a matter of well known history. Its most memorable action occurred on the thirtieth of July, just after the explosion of the mine under the enemy's fort.

Col. Harriman, with the Thirty-seventh Wisconsin, was ordered to occupy the dismantled fort, which he did under a heavy fire, and the walls had been so leveled as to afford but slight protection from the enemy's batteries. While in possession they repelled all attempts to dislodge them until four o'clock the next morning, when, receiving no support, the Thirty-seventh Regiment,

"All that was left of them,"

fell back to the line. At roll call that evening, of two hundred and fifty men that answered to their names before the action, only ninety-five responded. The remnant of the regiment was attached to a new brigade, of which Col. Harriman was commissioned commander. On the tenth of September, the war having ended, the tattered flag of the Thirty-seventh was returned to the governor of the State and Brig.

Gen. Harriman returned to private life and his business enterprises.

The general is a genial, kind hearted man, fond of a good joke and story, even though they are at his own expense. He narrates of himself, that when mustered out of the service at Was.h.i.+ngton he was addressed as _General_ Harriman; on his way home he was saluted as _colonel_; when nearing Wisconsin, he was hailed as _major;_ in the State, as _captain_; in St. Croix county and at home as Mr. Harriman; when met by the boys, they greeted him with "_h.e.l.lo, Sam._"

ST. JOSEPH

Includes the three lower tiers of sections of towns.h.i.+p 30, range 19, fractions of range 20, and the six upper sections of towns.h.i.+p 29, range 19. Willow river traverses the southeast corner. The surface varies from undulating to hilly. In the eastern part of the town is Balsam lake, a picturesque body of water two miles in length. There are also two high elevations of land, or ridges, that serve as conspicuous landmarks. The earliest settlers came in 1850, and located on farms in different parts of the town. St. Joseph was organized in 1858. The North Wisconsin railroad pa.s.ses through the southeast corner of the town.

HOULTON.

Opposite Stillwater, on the sh.o.r.e of the lake, is a platted village known as Houlton, which has improved much during the last few years.

J. S. Anderson & Co. built a large saw mill at this place, which has changed owners.h.i.+p several times. The residences of the village are on the high bluffs overlooking the lake, and commanding from a point two hundred feet above the level of the water a most magnificent view, including Stillwater, Hudson and Lakeland.

BURKHARDT VILLAGE

Is situated upon Willow river, just above the Falls. Joseph Bowron and others built a mill here in 1851. The mill property changed hands many times, and finally pa.s.sed into the hands of Burkhardt. In March, 1887, the mill was consumed, with a loss to Mr. Burkhardt of $100,000, an immense loss, representing the earnings of a lifetime; but with tireless energy Mr. Burkhardt went to work rebuilding, and, it is to be hoped, will soon re-establish his thriving business. There is one church near Burkhardt.

SPRINGFIELD,

At its organization in 1860, embraced its own territory and that of Baldwin, set off in 1872. It now includes towns.h.i.+p 29, range 15. It was originally covered with pine and hardwood timber. Within the last few years it has been improved and much of the timber land is used for farming. It is drained by the headwaters and tributaries of Rush and Menomonie rivers. The West Wisconsin railroad pa.s.ses through the southern tier of sections, and a branch road, leading southward into a pine district, has a junction at Hersey. Most of the early settlers were Union soldiers. Among them were S. T. Adams, Thomas Ross, Isaac Burgitt and Capt. Rogers. Springfield was organized Nov. 15, 1860, with J. R. Ismon as chairman, and Perrin and Hall as supervisors.

HERSEY.

The village of Hersey, located on section 28, is a station on the West Wisconsin and branch railroad, has a lumber mill, and is a flouris.h.i.+ng village.

WILSON VILLAGE,

Section 35, is also a station on the West Wisconsin road, and an important manufacturing place. The village is owned and controlled by the Wilson Manufacturing Company, which has a capital stock of $150,000. There is one church in the village.

STANTON

Was set off from Star Prairie and organized Dec. 30, 1870, with Trueworthy Jewell as chairman of supervisors. It is a rich prairie town, well drained by the waters of Apple and Willow rivers, and well cultivated. The North Wisconsin railroad pa.s.ses southwest to northeast through this town. Star Prairie village lies partly in this town and partly in the town of Star Prairie. There are two church buildings in the town of Stanton.

STAR PRAIRIE,

Towns.h.i.+p 31, range 18, was organized Jan. 28, 1856. At its organization it included towns.h.i.+p 31, ranges 17 and 18, and north half of towns.h.i.+p 30, ranges 17 and 18. The first election was held at the house of B. C. B. Foster, in New Richmond. Apple river flows through the town from northeast to southwest. Cedar lake, in the northeast part, furnishes at its outlet a good water power. Among the first settlers were the Jewell brothers, Ridder and sons.

HUNTINGTON VILLAGE

Is located near the outlet of Cedar lake and on the stream by which the waters of the lake are borne to Apple river. It has a large flouring mill.

STAR PRAIRIE VILLAGE,

Lying partially in sections 1 and 12 and partially in Stanton, has a saw and flouring mill, a hotel, a school house and two churches, with some fine residences.

HON. R. K. FAY, born in 1822, came from New York to Wisconsin in 1849, locating at Princeton, where he resided for nine years, most of the time engaged as the princ.i.p.al of the high school at that place. He was a man of sterling character, who is remembered as an able teacher and public spirited citizen. He has been a.s.semblyman from Adams and St.

Croix counties, and a county superintendent of schools, and has taught school forty-nine terms. When a member from St. Croix county, he introduced the bill requiring the const.i.tutions of the United States and of Wisconsin to be taught in the common schools. He died at his home in Star Prairie, Jan 5, 1888. Five sons and five daughters survive him. His wife died about three years ago.

TROY,

Towns.h.i.+p 28, range 19, and fractional towns.h.i.+p 28, range 19, consisting of about three sections, lying along the sh.o.r.e of Lake St.

Croix, has a fine frontage of bluffs overlooking the lake, with rich, level prairie lands stretching away eastward. The Kinnikinic river flows through the southeast corner of the towns.h.i.+p. It was organized in 1851 as Malone, the name having been chosen by the Perrin brothers, who came from Malone, New York, in 1851. The name, some years later, was changed to Troy. The Hudson & Ellsworth railroad pa.s.ses diagonally through the towns.h.i.+p from northwest to southeast.

The village of Glenmont, section 25, towns.h.i.+p 28, range 20, lies on the sh.o.r.e of Lake St. Croix. It contains a large saw mill, built by the Lord brothers. It has since changed hands.

The village of East Troy, in section 36, has recently been annexed by legislative enactment to the city of River Falls.

JAMES CHINNOCK, the first settler in Troy, was born in Somersets.h.i.+re, England, in 1810. He officiated twelve years at Bristol Harbor, England, as superintendent of docks and vessels. He was married in England to Harriet Owens; came to America in 1841, lived in Ohio until 1850, when he came to Hudson and immediately located a claim within the present limits of Troy. He raised the first crop in the town, and built the first house, of stone, for greater protection from the Indians. Mr. Chinnock made his home upon this farm until his death in 1870. He left a widow and four sons, three of them farmers in Troy.

One son, James T., has been register of deeds for St. Croix county from 1885 to 1888.

WILLIAM LEWIS PERRIN was born in 1825, and with his brother came to Troy in 1851, where he has since lived. He has been a successful farmer and public spirited citizen, and has filled offices in the town organization. He was married in 1855 to Julia F. Loring. They have three sons and one daughter.

WARREN,

Towns.h.i.+p 29, range 18, is a rich prairie town, drained by the tributaries of Kinnikinic and Willow river. George Longworth and family, of Waukegan, Illinois, settled here in October, 1855. In the year following, Lyman and David Sanford, brothers, came from Ohio, and made their home here. Mr. Longworth, in 1856, broke the first ground on land now within the limits of Hudson. Henry M. Sanford came in the spring of 1857.

Warren was organized as a town in 1860, with the following supervisors: Beach Sanford, George Frissell and Seth Colbeth; L. J.

Sanford, clerk. A post office was established in 1860, and Mrs. Beach Sanford was appointed postmistress, at Warren village, now Roberts.

The village of Roberts is located on the West Wisconsin railroad, which traverses sections 19 to 24, inclusive, of this town. It contains one elevator, one storage house, one feed mill, one cheese factory, one machine shop, one syrup mill, several stores and shops, one hotel, one school house, one public hall, and one church building belonging to the Congregationalists.