New Lisbon History 1916 Juneau Co., WI

Early History of New Lisbon
By H. J. Kohr, Student of Journalism, U.W.

Juneau County Argus dated Thursday, March 30, 1916

New Lisbon was organized as a town April 13, 1853 by the board of supervisors of Adams county.  The first town meeting was held in the house of J. H. FINDLEY, and A. P. AYERS was elected chairman.  In 1853 a post office called Mill Haven was established about a mile south of the present city.  Ephraim KINGSBURY was appointed postmaster.

In 1855, Amasa WILSON platted the village of New Lisbon.  The addition of J. A. CHASE was platted a short time later. Next year the post office was moved to the village, but retained for a long time the original name of Mill Haven.  L. Van SLYKE was postmaster after the removal.

The village of New Lisbon was incorporated by act of the legislature in March, 1870, and organized the following April.  At the first election under the charter, E. C. SAGE was chosen president of the village.

The first settlement was made in the town by Abijah AYERS in 1844.  In 1844, Mr. Wilson built the first frame house, blacksmith shop, and barn erected at New Lisbon.

The reason for naming of the town of New Lisbon, Wis., is a mystery, or ate least in the early histories of the town no reason is advanced for its being so named.

John T. KINGSTON and Samuel PILKINGTON were probably the first white men to explore the Lemonweir valley, and, according to the account of Mr. Kingston,they camped at the present site of the town of New Lisbon in the winter of 1837.  These two men started from the settlement of Racine in search for are extensive pine forest which was supposed to be in the locality of the Lemonweir valley, but because they failed to find the timber for which they were searching, they returned at once to Racine.  In 1843 Wilson and Smith logged in the vicinity of New Lisbon, and they made the first permanent settlement in the Lemonweir valley.  After this time many settlers were drawn to this valley on account of its good farm lands.  A little later the original village was platted by Amasa WILSON, but the size of the settlement did not increase until 1852.  In 1869 New Lisbon was incorporated, and E. C. SAGE was elected president of the village.

EXTRACT FROM HISTORY OF JUNEAU COUNTY.

In the fall of 1837, John T. KINGSTON and Samuel B. PILKINTON explored the Lemonweir valley.  They started from Racine with an outfit packed on an Indian pony. Going north and west from Racine, on the morning of the seventh day they ate their breakfast at the present site of New Lisbon, and on Dec. 29th they started on their return journey having found that a supposed extensive pine forest was only a myth.

The first settlement of New Lisbon, was made in 1843 by Messrs. SMITH and WILSON.  They logged on the Lemonweir river in the winter of 1842-43; driving their logs down the river and boomed them at the present site of New Lisbon.  Here they made a permanent location and commenced the erection of a saw mill and other necessary improvements for the lumber business.  They completed the mill and put it in operation the same season.  In the spring of 1846 J. H. FINDLEY and William ARMSTRONG came up from Portage and bought the mill agreeing to pay for it in annual payments but because they failed to make the payments as they became due, the property reverted to the original proprietors.  Then Mr. Wilson acquired the property and conducted teh business alone.

In 1852 S. D. MACOMBER, H. M. MACOMBER, M. C. KENYON, J. A. CHASE, and G. & W HERNIMAN also located in the town.  From this time on the Lemonweir valley began to attract considerable attention for agricultural purposes, particularly the county south and west of the river.

Up to this time there had been no organized government in the valley, built April 13, 1853, supervisors of Adams county issued an order saying that all of the Townships Sixteen and Seventeen and the north half of Township Fifteen, Ranges Two and Three and all that part of Township Fifteen, Range Four, lying north of the south line of Section Eighteen, and west and east of the Lemonweir river should constitute an organized town under the name of New Lisbon.  Under this organization a town meeting was held at the home of J. H. FINDLEY, and A. P. AYERS was elected chairman.  In the same year a post office was established about one mile south of the village.  Ephriam KINGSBURY was appointed postmaster, and the post office was called Mill Haven. In the same year a Baptist church and Sabbath school was organized by Rev. Mr. KNAPP.  A short time after this a public school was established with George P. KENYON as teacher.  In 1856the Mill Haven post office was moved to New Lisbon but for a long time it retained the name of Mill Haven.  L. VAN SLYKE was postmaster after the removal.

The original village of New Lisbon was laid out by Amasa WILSON who had build the saw mill at the same place.  Later subsequent additions were platted, the most important being the addition laid out by J. A. CHASE.  In 1856 the New Lisbon Republican was established by R. B. RICE.  This paper continued under different editors, Mr. BRIGHT and Mr. WELLS, until finally it became the Juneau County Argus.

In the same year a Methodist church and Sabbath school were organized with the Rev. John BEAN as pastor.  In the succeeding year (1857) a district school was organized with H. TYLER as the first teacher.

The Village of New Lisbon was incorporated by the act of the legislature in 1869.  The first, election under the new charter was held in the spring of 1870, at which election E. C. SAGE was elected president of the village.  The towns of Clearfield and Fountain were originally a part of the town of New Lisbon, since changed to Lisbon, the latter was organized into a new town under the name of Fountain Nov. 16, 1855.  The first settlement made in the town of Fountain was by Abijah AYERS in 1844.  In 1849 Clark's Tavern was founded in Fountain by R. J. CLARK.


contributed by Jackie Hufschmid

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