I I if PUBLISHED QUARTERLY i JYTHE STATE HISTORICA1 SOCIETY OF WISCONSI i THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN is a state-aided corporation whose function is the cultiva- tion and encouragement of the historical interests of the State. To this end it invites your cooperation; member- ship is open to all, whether residents of Wisconsin or elsewhere. The dues of annual members are two dollars, payable in advance; of life members, twenty dollars, payable once only. Subject to certain exceptions, mem- bers receive the publications of the Society, the cost of producing which far exceeds the membership fee. This is rendered possible by reason of the aid accorded the Society by the State. Of the work and ideals of the Society this magazine affords, it is believed, a fair example. With limited means, much has already been accomplished; with ampler funds more might be achieved. So far as is known, not a penny entrusted to the Society has ever been lost or misapplied. Property may be willed to the Society in entire confidence that any tmst it assumes will be scrupulously executed. am >nc The WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY is published quarterly by the Society, at 450 Ahnaip Street, Menasha, Wisconsin, in September, December, March, and June, and is distributed to its members and exchanges; others who so desire may receive it for the annual subscription of two dollars, payable in advance; single numbers may be had for fifty cents. All correspondence concerning the magazine should be addressed to the office of the State Historical Society, Madison, Wis. Entered as second-class matter, December 17, 1917, at the post office at, Menasha, Wisconsin, under the act of March 3, 1879. GSijr CBnllfttlatr ?rra» GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY MENASHA, WISCONSIN VOL. VIII, No. 4 June, 1925 THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY PUBLICATIONS OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCON- SIN. JOSEPH SCHAFER, Superintendent and Editor CONTENTS OF VOLUME VIII LEADING ARTICLES: PAGE JOSEPH SCHAFER—Know-Nothingism in Wisconsin 3 SAMUEL M. PEDRICK—Early History of Ripon College. ... 22 MABEL V. HANSEN—The Swedish Settlement on Pine Lake. 38 W. A. TITUS—Historic Spots in Wisconsin 52,186 JOHNB. VLIET—The Story of a Wisconsin Surveyor 57 MRS. MARY J. ATWOOD—John Wilson, a Sauk County Pioneer 67 MRS. CHESTER A. SMITH—Sawmilling Days in Winneconne. 71 WILLIAM H. PEARSON—James Gates Percival 131 LOUISE PHELPS KELLOGG—Copper Mining in the Early Northwest 146 N. S. FISH—The History of the Silo in Wisconsin 160 JOHN G, GREGORY—Early Wisconsin Editors: Philo White. 171 CHARLES O. PAULLIN—Wisconsin Troops at the Defense of Washingtonin 1861. 181 JOSEPH SCHAFER—Letitia Wall, A Wisconsin Pioneer Type 193 FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER—The Significance of the Section in American History 255 JOSEPH SCHAFEB—Prohibition in Early Wisconsin 281 FLORENCE BASCOM—The University in 1874-1887 300 WILLARD N. PARKER—Warren Downes Parker 309 MRS. T. O. BENNETT—Mail Transportation in the Early Days: A Trip Overland from the Cliff Mine to Appleton 317 OSCAR H. BAUER—Annals of a Country Tradesman 321 JOSEPH SCHAFER—A Yankee Land Speculator in Wisconsin. 377 FERDINAND F. DOUBRAVA—Experiences of a Bohemian Emigrant Family 393 DAVID MCLAIN—The Story of Old Abe 407 ELIZABETH MOORE WALLACE—Early Farms in Exeter 415 DOCUMENTS: On the Presentation of the Mack Portrait to the State Historical Society; An Account of the Norwegian Settlers in North America 74 Recollections of Life in Early Wisconsin, by Amherst Willoughby Kellogg 88,221 Journal of a World War Veteran 199,328 A Trip through Wisconsin in 1838 423 Autobiography of Charles M. Baker 445 EDITORIAL COMMENT: "Roger and James" Ill Memorials of John H. Tweedy 349 A File of Old Newspapers 454 COMMUNICATIONS: Erratum; A Request 361 Woodrow Wilson's First Visit to Madison; John Bascom's Signature; A Freshman Volunteers 459 THE SOCIETY AND THE STATE 117,244,362,463 BOOK REVIEWS. 373,476 VOL. VIII, No. 4 June, 1925 THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY PUBLICATIONS OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCON- SIN. JOSEPH SCHAFER, Superintendent and Editor CONTENTS A YANKEE LAND SPECULATOR IN WISCONSIN Joseph Schafer 377 EXPERIENCES OF A BOHEMIAN EMIGRANT FAMILY Ferdinand F. Doubrava 393 THE STORY OF OLD ABE David McLain 407 EARLY FARMERS IN EXETER. Elizabeth Moore Wallace 415 DOCUMENTS: A Trip Through Wisconsin in 1838 423 Autobiography of Charles M. Baker 445 EDITORIAL COMMENT: A File of Old Newspapers 454 COMMUNICATIONS. 459 THE SOCIETY AND THE STATE 463 BOOK REVIEWS 476 The Society as a body is not responsible for statements or opinions advanced in the following pages by contributors. COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN Paid for out of the George B. Burrows Fund Income. MOSES M. STRONG From an Oil Portrait by James R. Stuart in Wisconsin Historical Library A YANKEE LAND SPECULATOR IN WISCONSIN JOSEPH SCHAFER The Milwaukee Advertiser for June 15, 1839, contained the following personal item: "Hon. Henry Hubbard, Senator in Congress from New Hampshire, left here on Wednesday morning having traveled over a considerable portion of our territory within the last two months. Mr. Hubbard is a warm friend of Wisconsin and her interests, and we may confidently count upon his assistance in obtaining appro- priations for harbors, roads &c in the Territory." Henry Hubbard lived in Charlestown, New Hampshire, where he was born in 1784 and where he was to die in 1857. He was a graduate of Dartmouth, a lawyer by training and a politician by choice. From 1812 to 1827 he was a member of the state legislature, and during the whole of the Jackson- Van Buren regime, twelve years, was in Congress, first as Representative, then as Senator. From 1842 to 1844 he was governor of his state and finally, under appointment from President Polk, was in charge of the United States sub- treasury in Boston from 1846 to 1849. He thus held political office almost continuously for a period of thirty-seven years, spending only the last eight years of his life in retirement. His political affiliations, during the active period indicated, were consistently with the Democratic party. It is thus seen that Hubbard was a man of importance at the East, and his career would doubtless repay study for the light it might throw on the political history of his period. However, in this paper it is our purpose to ignore all but a single one of his activities, namely, that of land speculator. And since our sources are restricted to Wisconsin specula- tions with which he was associated, and those again to trans- actions in which he was represented by a single one of several agents he is known to have employed, it will be necessary to 378 Joseph Schafer limit the scope of the paper far more sharply than we would wish to do were all sources available. Still, it is believed the story which can be written about Hubbard as a land specu- lator in Wisconsin during the decade 1836-46 ought to prove both interesting and instructive. Mr. Hubbard operated in part through the agency of Moses M. Strong, and it is through the Strong papers that we are enabled to see something of the course and issue of his speculations.1 In 1836 Strong was living at Rutland, Vermont, where for some years he had been engaged in the practice of law. His father, Moses Strong, a distinguished Vermont lawyer and judge, was at this period in Washington, associated intimately with Hubbard and other eastern poli- ticians. Accordingly, when Moses M. Strong decided to make a tour of inspection in the West, it was a relatively simple matter for him to interest capitalists in a plan he had to invest money in government lands. Mr. Hubbard eagerly took advantage of Strong's prop- osition, agreeing (with two partners, Horace Hall and George Olcott—both Charles,town men, like himself) to supply Strong with money for investment purposes. More- over, the business was to be a continuing one; lands which were entered today at Strong's discretion might be offered for sale tomorrow and the proceeds reinvested. By thus turning over investments from time to time it would have been possible to accomplish a very large business on an original capital of $30,000—the sum agreed upon—and both Strong and Hubbard faced the future with the confident expectation of getting rich. "I intend," wrote Hubbard shortly after his agent started west, "that you shall make me a fortune and at the same time secure to yourself a 1 A small addition to the Strong papers has recently come to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, in which are several documents bearing directly and in an important manner upon Hubbard's speculations. The papers of Moses M. Strong were presented to the Society by his granddaughter, Anna Strong Parkinson, a number of years ago. They are very voluminous and constitute a significant and valuable source for the study of Wis- consin history. A Yankee Land Speculator in Wisconsin 379 fortune. I can on a very short notice, give you all the means that any reasonable man could desire. Be faithful and continue in my employ and my belief is that we can both within three years make $100,000."2 In his original instructions Hubbard advised Strong to select lands near large navigable rivers, mentioning espe- cially the Mississippi and the Wisconsin in Iowa County.3 Lands well timbered with either pine or oak, and lying near those streams, he thought would sell promptly. Locations near points which would probably become county-seat towns were also desirable, and the agent was given a large measure of discretion with reference to other types of locations.