Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15
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Library of Congress Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 Cutting Marsh (From photograph loaned by John N. Davidson.) Wisconsin State historical society. COLLECTIONS OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. OF WISCONSIN EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY REUBEN GOLD THWAITES Secretary and Superintendent of the Society VOL. XV Published by Authority of Law MADISON DEMOCRAT PRINTING COMPANY, STATE PRINTER 1900 LC F576 .W81 2d set The Editor, both for the Society and for himself, disclaims responsibility for any statement made either in the historical documents published herein, or in articles contributed to this volume. 1036011 18 N43 LC CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SERIAL RECORD NOV 22 1943 Copy 2 Page. Cutting Marsh Frontispiece. Officers of the Society, 1900 v Preface vii Some Wisconsin Indian Conveyances, 1793–1836. Introduction The Editor 1 Illustrative Documents: Land Cessions—To Dominique Ducharme, 1; to Jacob Franks, 3; to Stockbridge and Brothertown Indians, 6; to Charles Grignon, 19. Milling Sites—At Wisconsin River Rapids, 9; at Little Chute, 11; at Doty's Island, 14; on west shore of Green Bay, 16; on Waubunkeesippe River, 18. Miscellaneous—Contract to build a house, 4; treaty with Oneidas, 20. Illustrations: Totems—Accompanying Indian signatures, 2, 3, 4. Sketch of Cutting Marsh. John E. Chapin, D. D. 25 Documents Relating to the Stockbridge Mission, 1825–48. Notes by William Ward Wight and The Editor. 39 Illustrative Documents: Grant—Of Statesburg mission site, 39. Letters — Jesse Miner to Stockbridges, 41; Jeremiah Evarts to Miner, 43; [Augustus T. Ambler] [to Evarts], 45; Cutting Marsh to John Tawse, 103; Tawse to Marsh, 155; John Codman to Marsh, 162. Reports— Of Marsh to Society in Scotland, 48, 65, 75, 94, 104, 156, 163, 166, 170, 174, 178, 183, 191, 196, 200, 202. Journal— Of Marsh during Black Hawk War, 60. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress Illustrations: View—Mission house at Stockbridge, 44. Hieroglyph—Of human life, 152. iv Reminicences of Life in Territorial Wisconsin. Elizabeth Thérèse Baird. 205 Illustrations: Views—John Lawe's house, 206; Surgeons' quarters, Fort Howard, 206; James Duane Doty's house, on Doty's Island, 210; Doty's house, at Shantytown, 210; Jaques Porlier's house, 221; Daniel Whitney's house, 221; Capt. John Cotton's house (1842), 236; Morgan L. Martin's house, 236; Governor Doty's residence, at Madison, 256; the Old Capitol, 256. Methodist Circuit Rider's Horseback Tour from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, 1835. Alfred Brunson, D.D. 264 Diary of one of the Original Colonists of New Glarus, 1845. Mathias Duerst; translated into English by John Luchsinger. 292 Illustration: Portrait—Fridolin Streiff, a New Glarus pioneer, 334. Pioneering in the Wisconsin Lead Region. Theodore Rodolf. 338 Surveying in Wisconsin, in 1837. Franklin Hatheway. 390 Illustration: Portrait—Franklin Hatheway, 390. Report on the Quality and Condition of Wisconsin Territory, 1831. Samuel C. Stambaugh. 399 Narrative of Louis B. Porlier. In an interview with The Editor. 439 Osawgenong— A Sac Tradition, George Johnston. 448 Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress Narrative of Alexis Clermont. In an interview with The Editor. 452 Narrative of Peter J. Vieau. In an interview with The Editor. 458 Illustration: View— Solomon Juneau's trading post at Milwaukee (1825–33), 460. INDEX 471 OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY, 1900. PRESIDENT HON. JOHN JOHNSTON Milwaukee VICE-PRESIDENTS HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND Janesville HON. ROBERT L. McCORMICK Hayward WILLIAM W. WIGHT, LL. D. Milwaukee HON. JOHN B. CASSODAY Madison HON. WILLIAM F. VILAS Madison SECRETARY AND SUPERINTENDENT REUBEN G. THWAITES Madison TREASURER LUCIEN S. HANKS Madison Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress LIBRARIAN AND ASST. SUPERINTENDENT ISAAC S. BRADLEY Madison CURATORS, EX-OFFICIO HON. EDWARD SCOFIELD Governor HON. WILLIAM H. FROEHLICH Secretary of State HON. JAMES O. DAVIDSON State Treasurer CURATORS, ELECTIVE Term expires at annual meeting in December, 1900 HON. ROMANZO BUNN PROF. CHARLES N. GREGORY HON. LUCIEN S. HANKS HON. JOHN JOHNSTON REV. PATRICK B. KNOX HON. ROBERT L. McCORMICK HON. GEORGE RAYMER ARTHUR L. SANBORN, LL. B. HON. HALLE STEENSLAND HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress HON. WILLIAM F. VILAS WILLIAM W. WIGHT, LL. D. vi Terra expires at annual meeting in December, 1901 HON. ROBERT M. BASHFORD GEN. EDWIN E. BRYANT HON. JOHN B. CASSODAY JAIRUS H. CARPENTER, LL. D. MAJ. M. RANSOM DOYON WILLIAM A. P. MORRIS, A. B. FRANK F. PROUDFIT, ESQ PROF. WM.H. ROSENSTENGEL* * Died November 12, 1900. HON. ROBERT G. SIEBECKER HON. BREESE J. STEVENS FREDERICK J. TURNER, PH. D. Term expires at annual meeting in December, 1902 CHARLES K. ADAMS, LL. D. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL. D. HON. EMIL BAENSCH HON. GEORGE B; BURROWS FREDERIC K. CONOVER, LL. B. JOHN C. FREEMAN, LL. D. HON. BUELL E HUTCHINSON HON. JOHN A. JOHNSON HON. BURR W. JONES J. HOWARD PALMER, Esq. PROF. JOHN B. PARKINSON HON. N. B. VAN SLYKE PREFACE. The documents with which this volume opens, illustrate a prominent phase of the relations of our pre-Territorial pioneers with the aborigines of the district around Green Bay, particularly as to the manner of acquiring land grants and mill-site privileges. In previous volumes of this series, there have been published documents setting forth facts attending the establishment in Wisconsin of the Catholic and Episcopalian denominations. In this volume, we devote much space to valuable documentary material bearing upon the formation of the Presbyterian and Methodist churches in Wisconsin. Jesse Miner and Cutting Marsh were the pioneer Presbyterian missionaries. Concerning Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress Miner's brief work here, we have but few documents. Marsh's career is outlined for us by Dr. John E. Chapin; following this sketch, are presented Marsh's exhaustive annual reports to the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, and other papers by him, which throw light upon his remarkable missoin to the Stockbridges at Statesburg (Kaukauna). Alfred Brunson, “the first Methodist minister who set foot on the soil north of the Wisconsin River,” tells us of his curious experiences upon a “Horseback tour from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin,” in 1835, and describes pioneer life in southwest Wisconsin the year previous to the organization of the Territory. Readers of Vol. XIV of our series will remember with pleasure Mrs. Elizabeth Thérèse Baird's recollections of her life upon Mackinac Island during the second and third decades of this century. We now publish her “Reminiscences of Life in Territorial Wisconsin,” from 1824 to 1842. These memoirs possess much of the charm which characterizes viii Mrs. Kinzie's famous Bun; they bring before us vivid pictures of the men and manners of the olden time, and will prove of lasting value to students of Western history. In Vol. XII of the Collections , John Luchsinger told us the romantic story of the planting of the Swiss colony at New Glarus, in Green County, Wisconsin. In the course of his narrative he referred frequently to the remarkable diary kept by Mathias Duerst, one of the leaders of the colony. This document we now present in full, Mr. Luchsinger having translated it for us from the original German. Although of narrow experience and limited education, Duerst was a man of vigorous and observing mind, and capable of terse expression. His journal is a keenly interesting contribution to the literature of foreign immigration. Theodore Rodolf tells us of “Pioneering in the Wisconsin Lead Region,” from 1834 to 1848. The author, a well-known Swiss, took a prominent part in the development of the lead district, being intimately associated with such men as the Gratiots and Washburns. His observations are of high value to the history of Wisconsin Territory. Franklin Hatheway's “Surveying in Wisconsin in 1837” is necessarily a briefer sketch, but of kindred character. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume 15 http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689d Library of Congress The “Report on the Quality and Condition of Wisconsin Territory,” made in 1831 by Samuel Stambaugh, United States Indian Agent at Green Bay, is a valuable document, conveying a clear description of Wisconsin as it appeared to an intelligent official observer five years before the actual organization of the Territory. We have in the published annals of Wisconsin too few Indian legends, such as lend a poetic glamour to the history of many other States. It is a pleasure, therefore, to present in “Osawgenong” a well-authenticated Sac legend transmitted through George Johnston, an educated Chippewa half-breed, who was related to Henry R. Schoolcraft. Our volume concludes with three narratives obtained through editorial interviews — from Louis B. Porlier, a son-in-law of the famous Augustin Grignon, and himself a fur-trader ix of importance; is Clermont, a man of varied experiences in early Wisconsin, as overland mail-carrier, pilot on Durham boats, woodman, and steamboat pilot; and Peter J. Vieau, brother of Andrew J. Vieau (whose valuable reminiscences were published in Vol. XI of our series), and the friend and colleague of John V. Suydam, Solomon Juneau, and other pioneer notables.