Name/Title
Growth of Waupun early settler's account.Scope and Content
First person assessment of the first setttlers and growth and developement of the Waupun area by 1857. The local surpluses are noted for 1853 and 1854 boasts of business growth in Waupun with a population of 1600.
"WAUPUN'S first settlers were iron-souled and true-hearted men. They came to the banks of the west branch of Rock River determined to cut their way through the wilderness and make
unto themselves pleasant homes - and they succeeded. They had a mission, and they nobly performed it. They did their work roughly, yet they did it for all time. There is a sort of romance in their history that fascinates; tnereis a kind of rustic simplicity connected with them that is truly poetic. Behind them were the homes they had left, the waterfalls that danced to their childish music, and the hills that echoed back their playful shouts. Before them was the wilderness, dark and gloomy, standing in all its solemnity."
"Look at the little village now," continues the writer, "and see what a contrast it presents It is set off with beautiful dwellings, cultivated gardens and shaded streets. True to the progressive spirit of the age, its people have devoted themselves to the decoration of their homes. There are five dry-goods stores, fifteen grocery stores, three clothing stores, four hotels, three drug stores, five physicians, two layyers, two hardware and tinning establishments, two grist-mills, one planing-mill, one pump-factory, two printing houses, three wagon-shops, several lumber merchants, cabinet-makers, stonemasons and painters. There are two banks -the Waupun and the Exchange - two schoolhouses and four churches.
A few years ago produce was drawn to Milwaukee, a distance of seventy-five miles, and disposed of for a trifle as compared with present prices. Now the Milwaukee & Horicon Railroad runs through the village. It is already completed to Berlin, a distance of forty-two miles, where it connects with the navigation of the Fox and Wolf Rivers. It is soon to extend to Stevens Point, on the Wisconsin. It was opened to Waupun on the 15th of February, 1856, to Brandon on the 15th of October and to Ripon November 15th of the same year"
"Up to the 1st of January, 1857, the passengers going east were over 13,000; going west, over 14,000. The freight east was over 11,000 tons; west, over 14,000 tons. There is in Waupun a depot building, a water-station and a turn-table. The wheat shipped from Waupun from February 18, 1856 to January 1st, 1857 was 275,692,bushels."
Written by one of Waupun's early settlers in 1857.
WAUPUN in 1854. "Four (dry-goods) stores, five grocery and provision stores; one stove and tinware store; two hotels, one large schoolhouse - in which three teachers are employed by the year. Three churches; one sawmill, one extensive flouring mill; about 1600 people; four physicians; one lawyer. Depot about to be built.
1853 - wheat surplus 100,000 bushels; pork, beef, barley, grass seed and oats a large amount."
Hand written notes at the bottom of the page:
"See pg. 708 for 1857 Summary"
Pop. 1868 - 3000+
Hand written notes on the back of the page:
Ira Wilcox b April 17, 1841
Marian A. Ackerman - Oct. 1843
2nd Marriage - October 11, 1842
John N. Ackerman
Hannah A. Ford - Oshkosh.
Wedding trip on 2 Indian ponies riding over a rough Indian trail back to Waupun.Acquisition
Accession
2016.0083Source or Donor
Waupun Historical SocietyAcquisition Method
Collected by Staff
