Name/Title
Histories, Incidents and Descriptions of Early WaupunDescription
Incidents and Descriptions of Early Waupun. Told by George Newton (Jud) Wilcox, son of Seymour Wilcox (one of the first settlers in Waupun). Upper right corner written in pencil reads "Bertsch." Written by Horatio H. Hoard. Page 4.
Early Waupun: No Date given (Subject: Railroads)
The Chicago and Northwestern R.R. was built from Fond du Lac to Chester (East Waupun) in 1854. The rails were made of hardwood 4x4 with a strip of iron on top. If one of the strips should get loose and the train coming in the right direction, the end or snake head would run up through the car. This railroad from Fond du Lac to Chester was built to haul logs from Fond du Lac to Chester to dump them in the river to float down to Horicon. The first excursion train from Fond du Lac to Chicago was in 1859. When they got to Watertown they ran over and ox and wrecked the train and killed several people. Just one year from that day they ran over the mate of that ox and at the same place.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul R.R. was built in 1856. No date: Subj. Weather
In June 1, 1845, we had four feet of snow. It began to rain and it all melted away. We had a dance in the City Hotel and we had one hundred couples. Our Barn was not large enough to hold the teams, as people came from Green Bay, Fond du Lac, Madison and Milwaukee. We took teams up to Ackerman's barn in the upper town and the swale by Althouse's shops was so full of water that we had to swim the horses across it.
No date given: (Wild Life)
The deer was on every hand. We saw thirty or forty in a drove. They frequently would mix with the cattle.
The game birds were abundant. Wild geese were so plentiful that we could count them by the thousands and every pond and open water was covered with duck, mallard, teal, bluebill. Each kind kept by themselves. Fish in every stream and the little people were espacially interested in Horndace (?) as they were only about six to seven inches long. They had no bones except the backbone and we could eat them without getting bones in our throats.