In April occurred the first fire in the county; the first case of cholera following in June, and that succeeded by an election of county officers in the course of the summer. The fire was the result of a defective flue-of late years the inevitable cause cited by experts in their efforts to solve the mystery of a conflagration when no other explanation could be framed-located in Mr. Levy's domicile, and extinguished by the help of those attracted to the scene, with water-buckets and pails, before the loss was irreparable. As it was, the roof was charred and the interior defaced; but these deficiencies were at once made up, and the hotel continued as attractive as it had been when alone in the wilderness. The first case of cholera occurred in June, Mr. John Collins being the victim. It was at the time of Mr. Levy's building his frame house adjoining the hotel he had put up in 1847, and where now stands the International. The weather was excessively warm and sickly, and no surprise was manifested when Mr. Collins was taken down, though it was not anticipated that his attack would result in cholera. Through the day Mr. and Mrs. Levy, who had seen some of the phases of the disease while it was epidemic in the United States four years previous, suspected the malady was gravitating in that direction, directed the treatment adminis tered so as to harmonize with that recommended when the cholera had been the result of medical diagnosis. Their patient, however, seemed not to rally, but rather to grow worse. "The medicine didn't seem to operate," remarked Mr. Levy, when detailing the symptoms and process employed to afford relief. "In other words, the attack was so violent as to be beyond the reach of medicaments appeared to us all." Nevertheless, stronger medicines were applied, and after a critical period, continuing until daylight of the morning after which he was taken, the patient perceptibly improved. About 2 o'clock in the morning, those having him in charge noticed that his shoulders and spinal column were very much discolored, and made up their minds that he was beyond the reach of mortal help. Notwithstanding which, he was cared for all the more solicitously with results both gratifying and permanent, as was evidenced when Mrs. Levy, who had retired late at night, resumed her watch. He ultimately recovered under careful nursing; but the effects of this terrible experience were visible during his life time, and he attributed his recovery, as do the surviving members of his family, to the treatment administered by and the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Levy. The case created some excitement among the inhabitants of the town, yet no panic followed as would be the case in thickly settled communities. But in those days men, and women. too, for that matter, were calloused to fear and insensible to circumstances that would to-day be regarded as critical. The type of men and women who flourished in the early history of the West were radically different from those who came after, in many instances; more of bone and muscle, and less of superfluous matter than possess types of succeeding generations; more of genuine gold and less of gilt; more common sense and less of sugar candy. As communities are built up and their influence is extended, they become wealthier and thereby educate an effeminacy which is expressed in the deterioration of the energies, capacities and endurance of those who are directly benefitted by these pecuniary accretions. The case of cholera was soon forgotten in the rush of events, to be remembered only by the beneficiary and his relatives, and the election came on, resulting in the choice of Timothy Burns as Judge of the County Court, William T. Price as Register of Deeds, Clerk of the Court and County Treasurer, and Robert Looney Clerk of the Board. The officials had scarcely qualified before the regular election, provided for by the act organizing the county, to be held in November, took place, with the following result: George Gale, Judge; A. Eldred, Sheriff; F. M. Rublee, Treasurer; C. A. Stevens, Register of Deeds, and Robert Looney, Clerk of the Court and Clerk of the Board. On the 11th of November, the first meeting of the Board of County Supervisors was convened, the Town Supervisors having met during the summer in the frame building then in progress of building by John M. Levy. At the latter meeting Wyram Knowlton was the Chair man. The meeting held in November was composed of Timothy Burns, of the town of La Crosse ; J. Spaulding, town of Albion; Charles Whipple, town of Pine Valley. Robert Looney acted as Clerk, and the proceedings were as follows: On motion of T Burns, Jacob Spaulding was nominated and appointed Chairman of the Board of Supervisors in and for said county of La Crosse. No. 1.-F. M. Rublee & Co.'s bill, for blank books allowed.. .$2.50 9 25 No. 2.-Thomas McDowall's bill for boarding transient pauper, and taking care of him No. 3.-S. C. Johnson's bill, for medical attendance on transient pauper presented for 5 00 Adjourned until 8 o'clock A. M. in the forenoon of November 12, 1851. Met persuant to adjournment. By order of the board hereby orders that there be levied on the assessment rolls of the several towns of La Crosse County, three mills on the dollar for a State tax on the dollar valuation, and two mills for school tax, and five mills for a county tax. Valuation of the assessment roll of the town of La Crosse...... .$23,969 71 90 07 Ordered by the Board of Supervisors that the Clerk of said board use one cent as stamp of said county. The board proceeded to select Grand Jurors. Names selected: E. W. Jenks, John Jones, A. M. Hill, C. R. Johnson, James Sikes, Joseph Clancy, Gilbert Congden, M. P. Bennett, E. Broadhead, B. F. Huston, Hugh Wedge, George Nichols, James O'Neal, Joseph Stickney, John Lewis, Philander Chandler, David M. West, William Douglass, Chester Frost, Hugh Douglass, Milton Barlow, William Gillinger, W. N. Hall, Thomas G. Patterson, A. D. La Due, John Adams, D. Reed, Cyrus Sharpless. Aaron Merrimion, William Humpstock, William E. McSpaddin, Charles V. Segar, John Dale, C. N. McKenzie, Robert Wilson, Wilson Bower, William Jones, Romeo Bostwick, R. A. Gridley, John C. Laird, James W. Pollic, J. T. Chapman, James Rogers, John Johnson, George Chester, John M. Levy, George Batchelder, J. B. Bean, Peter Burns and H. C. Grover. The board proceeded to select Petit Jurors. Names selected: Charles Whipple, Job Miller, William K. Lewis, Joshua Gledden, Joseph R. French, B. W. Reynolds, William F. Petit, F. W. Curtiss, Daniel Gorden, O. S. Holbrook, John M. Garlick, Thomas Paddock, John McLane, H. W. Hickocks, Luther L. Lewis, William H. Bingham, W. H. Kellow, John Campbell, Michael Traffs. Thomas Leonard, Gustavus Nicoli, N. B. Fish, Thomas McDonell, Byron Viets, E. R. Case, Nelson B. Gilbert, William Nicholls, James Garrett, W. Gladden, B. F. Johnson, Russell Hill, Thomas More, William Hood, Luther Wilson, Z. L. Chapman, John Meek, W. W. Bennett, G. W. Warren, C. B. Sinclair, Albert Tuttle, W. M. Hewett, Luther A. Jones, Mathias Richmond, Benjamin P. Wright, A. M. Weeks, William Moor, Robert Holmes, James Rose, Benjamin McCallister, Charles F. Garner, John Lee, William Dee, J. M. Marcon, Thomas Sturges, Thomas Hart, Samuel Cauley, E. W. Dexter, William T. Price, C. B. Kimball, E. Gordon, Abram Looney, Henry F. Wood, R. H. Bowen, J. Jackson, Joshua Ridgeley and C. W. Blake. The first official order is as follows, in the minutes of proceedings of the Commissioners. ORDER BOOK. November the 11th, A. D. 1851. F. M. Rublee, Presented A Bill For Two Blank Books which was allowed, (Two Dollars & Fifty cents).... .$2.50 Order No. 1 canceled Nov. 25, 1852. Ishued to F. M. Rublee & Co., $2 50. Received Nov. 17, 1851 County Order No. 1. F. M. RUBLEE & Co. The credit is thus given: From the foregoing it will be apparent that condensation rather than style was preferred; and with regard to the chirography, expedition rather than elegance was sought to be obtained. It is scarcely necessary to add that both desires were conserved to the wishes of those interested, and the record throughout bears evidence of the absence of superrogation and impromptu gush. The conception of La Crosse County, accomplished near a decade previous, was born in the early days of this year, and under the tutorship of men to whom the infant was intrusted, attained wonderful growth and strength before the falling leaves forced the pioneers from pursuits of enterprise, to seek comfort and arrange plans over the winter's log. In April of the year when the county was brought forth and introduced to an admiring constituency as an independent sovereignty, there was not to exceed five families, consisting of less than thirty persons. The mercantile interests, it is said, were represented by two small shops, neither of which appeared to be burdened with customers. The surrounding country was an uninhabited wilderness, from which the Indians had just been exiled, and in which beasts still predominated. Here and there perhaps was to be found a solitary settler, isolated, prey but ambitious of trying new fields. It was then a point of transition from barbarism to civilization, and in the village of La Crosse, the very foundation of all those moral, social, literary and religious institutions peculiar to Christian countries were yet to be laid. To new-comers, the situation appeared inversely as compared with its appearance to those who had conquered a success there after years of patient waiting; and to one who had been surrounded with social and educational advantages yet to be enjoyed in La Crosse, it was like making a home on islands of ice and amid polar snows. Yet to these agencies, acting in conjunction with the earlier pioneers, came the immediate prosperity which followed the wonderful advance made this year, and the pleasing and encouraging outlook for succeeding years, be directly traced. Through their influence and exertions, a rapid change was manifested in the entire aspect of things. The population steadily increased, improvements were made, a code of morals established by the religious and scholastic element took the place of right as the result of might, and produced effects differing from those caused by fear, as the sunshine of a day in June differs from a killing frost. THE COUNTY SEAT. The conditions under which the county seat was located at La Crosse were that suitable buildings be erected without delay. But the truth is there was no other point which could be so designated. Settlements were limited to the village save, as already indicated, on farms which had not yet become productive. Yet there was necessity for buildings to accommodate the growing population, to accommodate public meetings, to provide ways and means for religious observances and educational privileges. To supply all these wants and to conform to the provisions of the act of organization, it was decided this year to erect a court house, and a court house was erected that remained a monument to their ambitious and architectural ethics for nearly twenty years. It was constructed of lumber procured on Black River (all lumber was obtained from the lumber regions which then bordered and still line that stream of peculiar color and eccentricities, creeping its way at times sluggishly from the north, until it empties into the Mississippi at its confluence with the La Crosse), late in 1851. The design had been prepared though, and when the material was delivered, little delay was experienced in putting it into shape, raising the frame and having it safely covered before winter. Work was continued on it during the succeeding weeks with such advantageous results that a school was opened therein by Abner S. Goddard soon after the holidays. The court house was 26x36 in dimensions, two stories high, and became the scene of many an adventure and other experience that should have been preserved for posterity. It was proposed and completed by men who have not passed entirely beyond the memory of some who still survive, and who will be preserved in the history of that city on the banks of the inland sea, the waves of which glide onward to the ocean, as long as the city continues. Among the other improvements were houses and shanties put up by F. M. Rublee and Deacon Smith, on Front street; a hotel (the Black River House), by William McSpaddin; a shanty by Timothy Burns, on the present site of the Mills House; shanties by Howard Cramer. C. A. Stevens, Mr. Manville, Mr. Fuhr and Dr. White, all on the prairie; Elder Reynolds had a shanty near where the Third Ward School now is; Robert Looney where Deacon Smith now lives; D. C. Evans kept store on the present site of the Robinson House; J. M. Levy in a new building on a portion of the lot now occupied by the International; Deacon Smith and F. M Rublee on Front street, which comprised the stores; George Howard furnished medicines and filled prescriptions; the second story of Smith's store was sometimes used as a church; Dr White attended diseased humanity and carpenters fashioned the coffins of those beyond the reach of medical skill, after which they were interred in the churchyard where Hershheimer's foundry now is. The spring of 1851 witnessed the arrival of the first Norwegian colony who came to La Crosse. It was composed of H. N. Solberg, John Kios, B. Stern, Lars Olstad, Lors By, Hans Gunsderschwein, O. Nelson, Paul Tallifson, Ole Tallifson, Lars Straus, Christian Hulburg, G. Ourood and one or two others. They came by the way of St. Joseph's Ridge, and reaching here on the 10th of May settled, many of them in Bostwick's Valley, where they grew in prominence. Their medium of travel was by ox-teams, and the only way they were able to descend the bluffs was to unyoke the steers and let the wagons down with ropes. This incident impressed many of them with the peculiarities of a situation, which, to say the least, was inconvenient. Not more so, however, than that of H. N. Solberg, who soon after went down the river,. and upon his return boarded the Dr. Franklin, No. 2, Capt. George Loughton, subsequently a resident of Platteville, and was obliged to go without food until J. M. Levy, who was a passenger, ascertaining the fast to which Solberg had been subjected, insisted upon his being admitted to the cabin table, and obtaining what he wanted. Had it not been for this, Solberg to-day asserts, he would have starved, as he was a deck passenger, and unable to obtain any food or comforts. In this same year, Levy erected a house on Front street, south of Pearl, which has, metaphorically speaking, survived an experience in comparison with which that of Japhet in search of his father was tame. In this was held, it is claimed, the first Sabbath school ever assembled in La Crosse, and here the earnest but somewhat profane Deacon Johnson was wont to lead in "Hear us, O Lord, for the sake of the promises Thou hast made, hear us, we beseech Thee. Come right in upon us. He would continue, "Come straight down through the roof, and I will pay for the shingles ;" and so on. prayer. Upon one occasion, the workers in the vineyard gathered there were prone on their knees at the opposite end of the bench, and failed to connect when the conclusion was reached. As a result, the bench, yielding to an unexpected weight, tipped the prayerful occupants onto the floor very unceremoniously, causing unexpected hilarity and expression of pain from those who had Deen precipitated, mingled with expressions of what are represented to have been profanity both original and emphatic. Upon another occasion, Deacon Johnson was arrayed in faultless style, compatible with his Christian character on the Sabbath, prepared to attend divine service and lead in prayer to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. While putting the finishing touches on his irresistible oilet, he was suddenly interrupted by the announcement from his son that some coal pits he wned, and then being on the lot now occupied by the Commercial Hotel, were on fire, and could carcely be saved. Thereupon, say those who are familiar with the facts, he abandoned preachand began to swear so elaborately and, at the same time in a manner so finished, as to leave doubt in the minds of his hearers as to which he most excelled in, praying or profanity? -he would say this is the streak of luck I ever had. "Good Lord forgive e for my sins and wickedness in thus taking Thy Holy Name in vainI'll be -if I can heed it—but O Lord deliver me" and so on, to the amusement and curiosity of generous sized audience. In this house was given the first theatrical representation ever advertised to take place in a Crosse. The play was a domestic drama, it is said, of the most original type, and assumed y a company of actors of which C. T. Langrishe, an actor of prominence in those days, and rother-in-law of John Dillon, was the manager. The audience is said to have been critically elect, the performance fastidiously choice, and the equipments, mountings, etc., such as were ever before, if ever since, displayed in the cause of Melpomene or Comus. The old house still ands; once the resort of the elite, it has become the abiding place of depraved bacchanals, and here once the name of God was reverenced it is now taken in vain. This year a road was laid out from the river above the town running up the valley twentyeven miles to William Pettits, the present site of the village of Sparta; the mail was carried weekly om Prairie du Chien to St. Paul by Reed & Shanfur, and in December, a division of the Sons Temperance is said to have been instituted, consisting of ten members with W. W. Ustick, W. ; Corydon Boughton, W. A.; Joseph K. French, R. S.; J. G. McCatheron, the minor offices eing filled by James Galligher, Samuel D. Hastings, W. Sutcliff, O. Simpkins, B. S. Reppy ad R. H. Powell, respectively. On Christmas Day, 1851, the inhabitants of La Crosse and vicinity engaged in a turkey hoot on the Mississippi River opposite the village, which was universally participated in and the occasion of unlimited sport. Mr. Levy sustained the loss of all his turkeys, but who won the several prizes contested for, and what they consisted of, have been lost to memory. In the evening occurred the first grand ball that varied pioneer life in the present city. It, too, was a state occasion and generally attended. Among those who were present to pirouett. chassez and dance the "monnaie musk," were Misses Emily Carlton, Julia Beardsley, Margaret and Mary Burns, Susan De France, Mary and Alvira Kellogg, Mary Smith; Messrs. Robinson, Clark and Gear; Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Spaulding, on their bridal trip from Black River: Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Levy, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Lieut. Gov. Burns, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. George Carlton, among the ladies; and Joshua La due, Peter Burns, H. Cramer, Mark Kellogg, T. Clark, Dr. Cameron, Mr. Fales, Lewis Johnson, Hillarius Solberg, John C. Laird, John Crookston, H. E. Hubbard, Mr. Gear, a son of Judge Dunn and some others, among the gentlemen. The music consisted of a violin, which was played by Mr. Brisbois, of Prairie du Chienand those who were in attendance upon the "assembly," as similar gatherings were, in those days termed, recall it as one of the happiest experiences of their days of frontier life. The palm of beauty was awarded to Miss Emily Carlton, it is said, who was one of the rarest evidences of female perfection seen in this portion of Wisconsin, a State noted for the number of its beautiful women. The dance was continued until midnight, when an intermission was indulged to afford the guests an opportunity to partake of refreshments furnished by the ladies of La Crosse, and served by Simeon Kellogg, at that time landlord of the Western Enterprise Hotel, which had been vacated a short time previously by Mr. Levy to move into his house adjoining, when the dance was resumed and kept up until daylight. By 1852, the population of the present county was quoted at not far from seven hundred, the major portion of which was, of course, in the immediate vicinity of the present city. Front street, from the point at which Nathan Myrick made the first settlement of the place ten years before, to the present vicinity of the immense flouring-mills, which lines its way south of Pearl street, was tolerably well built up. Back toward Fifth street, which was then prairie, the cabins of settlers who have since become citizens of prominence and wealth, were laid out and some of them built. The navigation of the Mississippi had became regular, and the arrival and departure of steamers of frequent occurrence. Mail facilities had improved, and communication with distant points comparatively easy. Even at that day, a railroad was incubating, and only six years elapsed before the whistle of a locomotive was heard over the plains, which stretch off to an almost limitless extent to the East. Schools were coming to the front, churches were in progress of construction, and all the elements of times not entirely free from deficiencies, were invoked and improvised to complete an advance in civilization that had been begun a decade previous amid surroundings not altogether encouraging. This year, as also 1853, was prolific of improvements in a physical, moral, social, religious and material sense. Many permanent buildings were erected, among them, the first saw-mill in the vicinity, near the mouth of the La Crosse River, where it was put up by Timothy Burns. F. M. Rublee, S. T. Smith, Willis Gregory and J. M. Simonton. It was two and a half stories high, containing a forty horse-power engine, operating two saws, a lathe and grist-mill, with capacity for cutting 16,000 feet of lumber per day. On the 22d of January of this year, in the upper room of a two-story building, then situated on the west side of Front street, on the bank of the river between Main and State street, were organized the first Congregational and first Baptist Churches of La Crosse, by the Revs. William H. Cord and John C. Sherwin. Union services were conducted by these congregations, and also by the Methodist, until the summer of this year, when the Baptists built a church at the northwest corner of Fourth and State streets, and withdrew. The union services, however, were continued by the Congregationalists and Methodists until 1854, when the latter built their first church. and the former held services in the old Third Ward Schoolhouse. All of these churches now have commodious edifices, and cach sustains a large Sabbath school. |