Green Lake is the largest town in the county. It lies on the eastern border, and is bounded on the north by Brooklyn, on the east by Fond du Lac County, on the south by Mackford and Manchester, and on the west by Marquette. This is regarded as the best agricultural town in the county, and it is doubtful if there is a better one in the state. A large portion of the town is prairie, and the soil is of unsurpassed richness. The farm residences are large and tasty, and the barns and outbuildings are such as to be seen in a prosperous farming community. Groves of timber, planted by the settlers, do the prairies in every direction. Green Lake skirts the northern boundary.
The Dell
Mr. Gillespy, in 1859, thus described the dell-a unique and interesting natural feature of this town: "The dell, in what is now called the Powell Place, one mile south, one half-mile west from the residence of Mr. Dakin, is a dried up waterfall. It has become quite celebrated as a place of resort to hold picnics as well as to gratify the curiosity so common in man to explore and admire the works of nature. How long ago the waters ceased to pass through the gorge made through the sandstone of which the hill is composed is hard to tell-there must have been quite a large stream passing between its banks, for it can hardly be supposed that the little water now passing over it in the spring and fall could ever have made so wide and extensive a cavern in the face of the stone even supposing the material world to be as old as geologists are determined to have it….(p. 274) section omitted due to non-genealogical content--- continued on page 275
Settlement.
James Powell was undoubtedly the fist settler in this town. He had 160 acres of land fenced in and part of it under cultivation as early as 1835, or 1836. A part of this property was afterward owned by A. Long. Mr. Dart and two sons came next. They located at the outlet of Twin Lake in 1840, and in 1841 built a small grist-mill. Theirs was the first frame house. They came by the way of the Fox River from Green Bay, in row-boats; entered the mouth of the Puckyan, passed up the creek to the lake, and up the latter to their point of seetlement (sic.) They had a fatiguing voyage of eleven days, and probably were the first, and doubtless the last white men to navigate the Puckyan. Lieut.-Gov. Beal came next the same year,, and broke up the first land. Mr. Bazeley and a Stockbridge Indian named Pyer, dong the work in the fall of 1840. S.R. Lathrop came in January, 1847. At that time S. Burdick and E. Cable occupied a room in Beals' house as a land office, locating land for settlers, and Mr. Bazeley had taken to himself some of the comforts and conveniences of life, and his house was a recognized stopping place for traders and intending settlers. The house of Satterlee (Hon. Sat. Clark) besides being the first location of the post-office, was the general intelligence office for the whole section. Later, the post-office was removed to the store of E. Smith, a mile north of the "Center House". This was, doubtless, the second store in the county. The county at that time was in three electoral divisions, or voting precincts, the center of one of which was "Big Green," when there was a store, a post-office, and a blacksmith shop. A Mr. Pomeroy, a relative of J. Fennimore Cooper, the novelist, a man of worth and wealth, was an early resident here, but he returned to Cooperstown, N.Y. S.H. Palmer was the first to make a settlement on the open prairie, locating half a mile east of the meeting house, and southeast from the Centre House he built a comfortable fame(sic.) house, which was a popular stopping-place. (p. 276). Mr. Jewell, of Algoma built a frame house at Little Green, and had a store and post-office. His house was a place of rest and refreshment before entering upon the broad land for Ceresco or Green bay. Little Green became a place of note in the county's settlement. The first settlers there were Henry Pratt, J. Burt, William Seymour, R. Day, "Squire" Akins, from Boston, and others. J.L. Millard opened a small store. M.B. Swift, with a large family, came in 1848. N. Gleason, J.S. Gardner, G. Rector, N. Pool and others came about the same time or earlier. Jacob Cook was also an early comer.
Early Events
The first school was taught by Miss Ellen Lyman, in Mr. Bazeley's log house. The first schoolhouse in the town was that built in School District No. 1, in 1846 or 1847. Oliver Dart was the first Justice of the Peace in the county, and at this house was held the first religious service in the town. Rev. Mr. Kasson held meetings at this place and at Mr. Palmer's occasionally. The Methodist Episcopal circuit preachers held meetings once in two weeks at S. Burdick's, on the Beal's place. The Congregationalists organized a society in August, 1851, with Rev. E. Bradford as Moderator and Rev. J.M. Kissam as Clerk, with ten members. They built a church near the center of the town in 1854. A very respectable society of Protestant Methodists met early, at the red school-house, on the Marquette road, near the town line. Rev. John E. Fridd was their pastor. The Methodist Episcopal adherents also organized a society, and met early at the sone school-house, east of the Centre House. The first birth was that of Alice Bazeley, daughter of William Bazeley.
Town Organization
Green Lake was organized in January, 1849, then a part of Brown county. The number of votes cast at the first town meeting was seven. The first supervisor was Moses B. Swift. Before the establishment of the local postoffice, the nearest postoffice was at Fox Lake. Milwaukee was the nearest market town. The nearest grist mill until 1847 was at Watertown or Columbus. Ten days or two weeks time was often consumed in a trip to mill.
Green Lake Postoffice.
Green Lake is a post town in this town ten miles south of Darkford (sic) and eight miles south-west of Ripon, the nearest railway station and banking point. It contains a church, a school and about 100 inhabitants. Among its prominent citizens are James Welch, postmaster; W.T. Burdick and George Day and Albert Long, justices of the peace; George Russell, constable; A.S. King and T.S. Pickett, merchants. Evidences of thrift abound here.
Utley, on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul branch to Markesan, is eleven and one-half miles south of Dartford. J.D. Sherwood is the postmaster and merchant at this point. Here are the crushing works of the Green Lake Granite Company. Fine granite for monumental and pavement work is shipped from here in large quantities. The quarry was opened by James Densmore, and John Loper in 1883 and during that year Loper's part of the bluff passed into the control of W.C. and J.D. Sherwood, who further developed the quarry during 1884. In 1885 the Sherwoods merged their property with that of Hon. J.D. Caton; of Chicago, who had an extensive crusher plant there, and organized the Green Lake Granite Company, which purchased the Densmore property and afterward the O.P. Reed ledge, thus acquiring the entire control of all the Pine Bluff granite property. The working capacity of the quarry is about eight carloads of paving blocks and about an equal output of crushed stone per day. The officers of the company are J.D. Canton, president; A.J. Canton, vice-president; C.E. Town, treasurer; J.D. Sherwood, secretary. The works are supervised by C.C. Benin.
back to main Green Lake County page.