Madison, Wisconsin

“ Many discriminating visitors frequently in their hours of first impressions, liken her to a staid New England college town; while others revert to some demure hill-town of Western New York for the type which best describes the social side of this city of the Wisconsin lakes.
The railroad facilities of Madison are undoubtedly remarkable for a town of its size; these are attracting wholesale houses and warehousemen, and new factories are talked of. The existing industries employ some fifteen hundred men. ”

“ There are now no longer Indians in Wisconsin: its white population is rapidly on the increase. Wisconsin has no hills, but on all sides uncultivated, and for the most part fertile land, abounding in lakes and rivers. It is a state for agriculture and the rearing of cattle; the land in many parts, however, and in particular around Madison, where it is appropriated by the Federal government to the supplying an income to the State's university, is already very dear. ”

“ One of his sons was Jared C. Gregory who died in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1891. He lived in Unadilla for many years, reading law with Judge Noble, and practising it here until 1858 when he removed to Wisconsin, having been two years before the Democratic candidate for Congress. In Wisconsin he had success as a lawyer, became a Regent of the University of the State and postmaster of Madison under President Cleveland. His wife was Charlotte Camp, a sister of Mrs. Charles C. Noble. She is still living in Madison. ”

“ THE STATE HOUSE, MADISON.
On the 4th of July the territorial officers of Wisconsin qualified at Mineral Point, with Henry Dodge, a Black Hawk War hero, as Governor. In October following, the first Legislature assembled within a two-story battlement-fronted house in the little lead-region hamlet of Belmont. The highway which it faced bristled with stumps, while miners' shafts [238] and prospectors' holes thickly dimpled the shanty neighborhood. A month was spent in selecting a capital for the infant Territory. There were seventeen applicants. ”

“ A race was to be held by the automobile Club of Wisconsin, over the roads of that state of which Madison is the capital. The route laid out formed an excellent track, about two hundred miles in length, starting from Prairie-du-chien on the western frontier, passing by Madison and ending a little above Milwaukee on the borders of Lake Michigan. Except for the Japanese road between Nikko and Namode, bordered by giant cypresses, there is no better track in the world than this of Wisconsin. It runs straight and level as an arrow for sometimes fifty miles at a stretch. ”

“ Of the seventy-six men who composed the second Constitutional Convention, one-third came from New York, one-third from New England, and the rest were a scattering.
During the decade which ended with the Federal Census of 1850, the growth of the State had been [Pg 179] nearly 900 per cent, a record rarely exceeded in America. This extraordinary surge was due largely to the sudden arrival of a foreign element which has ever since made Wisconsin a State apart from all the others. Even as early as 1850 one-third of the population was actually foreign-born. ”

“ I now write to you from a little log-house, in the midst of prairie-land, between Madison and Galena. The log-house belongs to a farm, and is, at the same time, post-house, and a sort of country inn. Mr. D., the son-in-law of my good hostess in Madison, had the kindness to drive me hither himself, in a little open carriage, by which means I made the journey much more comfortably than by the stage, which comes here in the night.
Blue Mound is one of the highest hills in Wisconsin, and derives its name from its fine dark blue colour when seen from afar. ”

“ I had to learn what it is to be, or at least to be considered, “a man of influence.” I thought it a duty of courtesy on my part to be present at Madison, the State capital of Wisconsin, at the inauguration of the new Governor and the opening of the Legislature, which had a Republican majority. No sooner had I arrived there than I was beset by a, to me, surprisingly large number of persons who wanted offices. Many of them told me that of all men I was the one whose aid would positively assure the success of their applications. ”

“ Meanwhile the flood of immigration was reaching the nearby States, and Wisconsin and Iowa were growing with tremendous spurts. The tide soon began to flow up to Minnesota, coming by four principal routes. Some of the invaders came from Milwaukee across Wisconsin by land. Others from Chicago by land through northern Illinois and south [Pg 196] western Wisconsin. Still others from Chicago to Galena, embarking there on the river steamers. Another group embarked at Saint Louis and came 800 miles up the Mississippi to Fort Snelling, the nucleus around which the Twin Cities began to develop. ”

“ Through its instruction at Madison, its extension department, experimental stations, and institutes held throughout the state, it shows this friendship; and the splendid economic conditions found in rural Wisconsin prove that this friendship is not wasted. The land in these townships is valued at $100 to $150 an acre, but upon inquiry at a dozen or more farms it was learned that no one knew of any farm land that was for sale.
About 2,500 people live in the three townships described. Sixty years ago nearly all the people were27 Americans, many of them having emigrated from New York State. ”

“ VIRGINIA, Mecklenburg County, Castle Heights vicinity, Elm Hill Archaeological Site, (03/14/85)
WISCONSIN, Dane County, Madison, Agricultural Heating Station, 1535 Observatory Dr., Univ. of WI (03/14/85)
WISCONSIN, Dane County, Madison, Agriculture Hall, 1450 Linden Dr., Univ. of WI (03/14/85)
WISCONSIN, Dane County, Madison, Commons, John R., House, 1645 Norman Way (03/14/85)
WISCONSIN, Dane County, Madison, Hiram Smith Hall and Annex, 1545 Observatory Dr., Univ. ”

“ In 1856 and 1857, at Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, took a regular course of study in book-keeping, penmanship and commercial law, and af- terwards held several important positions as principal book-keeper ;ind ac- countant. In the fall of 1857 he took a trip for his health, vi.siting St. Louis, New Orleans, Havana and Cuba and New York City, and returned west via Chicago and Madison to St. Paul, Minn., in February, IK.'X, and in the fall or winter of 1858 took entire charge at Sioux City, Iowa, of the business of the Little American Fur Company, of St. ”

“ When at Madison one of his favorite diversions is riding horseback, and no doubt in many of his geological trips horses have been his most dependable friends.
Needless to say, his interests are wide and varied. Nothing that affects the welfare of his country and its people is outside the field of his attention. Through his membership in many learned societies and his connection with various educational bodies and institutions he wields an influence for the spirit of truth and enlightenment second to almost none in the United States. ”

“ Port Madison, 400; Seattle, 399; Tacoma, 652; Walla Walla, 399. Wisconsin, 469, 493; suit for wom. suff., 624; 625; Eau Claire, 612; Evansville, 612; Grand Rapids, 612; Green Bay, 612; LaCrosse, 612; Madison, 315; A.'s sp. in St. House, 612; 929; Milwaukee, 315, 316, 380, 446, 519, 612; St. Conv., 655; Oshkosh, 612; Racine, 609, 611; Ripon, 612; Waukesha, 612. Wyoming, A.'s tribute to, 388; polit. record on woman suff., 407, 411; Repubs. and woman suff., 411; slanders on woman suff., 497; 676, 691; debate on admission, 698; women delegates to Natl. Repub. ”

“ The year 1786 witnessed perhaps the most virulent craze for paper money that has ever attacked the American people. In Virginia the masterly reasoning and the resolute attitude of a few great political leaders saved the state from yielding to the delusion, and among these leaders Mr. Madison was foremost. But his most important work in the Virginia legislature was that which led directly to the Annapolis convention, and thus ultimately to the framing of the constitution of the United States. ”

“ He came to America in 1852, and after three years' residence in Philadelphia, he settled in Watertown, in our own state. Though he was later a resident of Michigan, Missouri, and New York, and indeed represented the second-named state in the Senate of the United States, yet throughout his Reminiscences he frequently speaks of Wisconsin in a manner that shows he thought of it as his home.
His life as an American citizen was full of honor and responsibility. He was made Minister to Spain by President Lincoln, but soon resigned to come back home and serve in the Civil War. ”

“ The beautiful bluffs bordering the Mississippi; the charm and grace of the sweeping lines of Lake Pepin; the tumbling, rushing waters of the Wisconsin, with their thickly-wooded hills and their green slopes of prairie and their October sunsets, seen through crimson oak and maple leaves; or the numerous falls of the upper Fox,—all have stirred the hearts of the fortunate people privileged to live within their influence. Hence, at Stevens Point, La Crosse, Appleton, and a few other cities in the state with similar surroundings, we have a literature with charming local flavor. ”

“ Had it not been for the gold fever of 1849 that drew the wielders of pick and shovel to the Far West, Wisconsin would early have taken high rank among the mining regions of the country.
From a favorable point of vantage on Lake Michigan, the village of Milwaukee, a center for lumber and grain transport and a place of entry for Eastern goods, grew into a thriving city. It claimed twenty thousand inhabitants, when in 1848 Congress admitted Wisconsin to the union. Already the Germans, Irish, and Scandinavians had found their way into the territory. ”

“ In 1834 two land offices were opened, and by 1836, 878,014 acres of land had been sold to settlers and speculators. A special census showed a population of more than 11,000 in 1836. The new growth started a movement for a separate Territorial organization for that part of Michigan lying west of Lake Michigan, but this was not finally accomplished until 1836, when Michigan entered the Union. The new Territory of Wisconsin comprised not only the area included in the present state, but the present Iowa and Minnesota and a considerable portion of North and South Dakota. ”

“ Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe the great state of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found. ”

“ On the train to Madison (the line runs through a beautiful country) one might have fancied that he was on a local New England train: the same plain, good sort of people, and in abundance the well-looking, domestic sort of young women.
Madison is a great contrast to Milwaukee. Although it is the political and educational centre, has the Capitol and the State University, and a population of about 15,000, it is like a large village, with the village habits and friendliness. ”

“ The only important industry is that of flower culture, rose-growing being the most important specialty. Madison was settled before the Revolution, and was incorporated as a borough in 1889. The government is vested in a mayor, chosen biennially, and a council, elected on a general ticket. The borough owns and operates the water-works and electric light plant. ”

“ About 1882, however, a variety of causes led to the commencement of a stronger growth—chiefly the rapid development of the State University, the expansion of the State's administrative affairs, the bettering of railroad facilities, and an enlargement of local manufacturing interests. During the [245] past eighteen years there has been a steady gain, with every indication of permanency; the census of 1900 revealed the presence at the Wisconsin capital of 20,000 residents, while an additional 5000 dwell in closely abutting suburbs. ”

“ His father, old Hiram Bowers, was still alive and at work, a genial old choirmaster in Boston, full of enthusiasm at seventy. But Madison was of the colder stuff of his grandfathers, a long line of New Hampshire farmers; hard workers, close traders, with good minds, mean natures, and flinty eyes. As a boy Madison had a fine barytone voice, and his father made great sacrifices for him, sending him to Germany at an early age and keeping him abroad at his studies for years. Madison worked under the best teachers, and afterward sang in England in oratorio. ”

“ Consequently at that time the northern states were inclined to maintain that the slaves were population, while the south preferred to regard them as chattels. The question was settled by a compromise that was proposed by Mr. Madison; according to this arrangement the slaves were rated as population, but in such wise that five of them were counted as three persons.
In 1784 Mr. Madison was again elected to the Virginia legislature, an office then scarcely inferior in dignity, and superior in influence, to that of delegate to the Continental congress. ”

“ Madison is served by the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis railroad and by river steamboats. The city is picturesquely situated on bluffs above the river and has two public parks. In Madison are a King’s Daughters’ Hospital, a children’s home, and the Drusilla home for old ladies, and immediately north of the city are the buildings of the Indiana South-eastern Insane Hospital. Madison is a trading centre of the surrounding farming region, whose principal products are burley tobacco, grain and fruits (peaches, apples, pears, plums and small fruits) . ”