DIRECTORY OP THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE, FOR THE YEARS • 1 848-49, WITH A SKETCH OF THE CITY, m ITS ORIGIN, PROGRESS, BUSINESS, POPULATION; A LIST OF ITS CITIZENS AND PUBLIC OFFICERS, AND OTHER INTERESTING INFORMATION SECOND YEAR. MILWAUKEE : PUBLISHED BY RUFUS KING, 1848. PREFACE. IT is not claimed that tho present work is by any means a perfect one of ita kind. No doubt many omissions and frequent errors will b« noticed. The publisher has endeavored to make it as accurate and full as possible; but the extraordinary growth of the city ; tho rapid in­ crease of its population, the constant influx of new comers, the open­ ing of new establishments, the erection of new buildings and the com­ mencement of new enterprises, have interposed constant and increas­ ing obstacles to the attempt and forbid the expectation that the Direc­ tory is all that could be wished. It is, however, a beginning, and will pave the way for a more com­ plete and reliable volume next year. In preparing it for the press, the plan of the former Directory of Mr. McCaba has been generally followed, some of the errore in that work corrected and some omis­ sions supplied. With this brief explanation the Directory is submitted to the judgement of the public. If it shall prove useful to our own cit­ izens, and contribute, in any degree, to make Milwaukee better known abroad, the publisher will be entirely satisfied. SKETCH OF MILWAUKEE. The City of Milwaukee is advantageously located upon the Milwaukee and Menomonee Rivers, on the West shore of Lake Michigan, about 90 miles north of Chicago. A flat of considerable extent, bordering the two rivers, affords ample space for the business portion of the town, while the high bluffs overhanging the lake upon the north, and sweeping round towards the south, furnish beautiful sites for private dwellings and public edifices. The soil is of a gravelly character, con- • stituting an excellent material for the carriage way of the streets, while the brick manufactured from the peculiar clay found in great abundance in tho neighborhood, make excellent side-walks, and the best building material in the West. Milwaukee cannot lay claim to any great antiquity. It is, on the contrary, of very recent origin. The city, as such, is but two years old ; the settlement only commenced here in 1834, and previous to 1818, not a white man lived on the site, or within a hundred miles, of the now rapidly growing city. On the 14th of oeptember, 1818, MR. SOLOMON JUNEAU, and his father-in-law JACQUES VIEAU, two French Canadian traders, entered the Milwaukee River in a Mackinac Bateau, and es­ tablished a Trading Post at this point. It had previously been visited by several traders, butthis was the first actual settlement made here ; and Mr Juneau was not only the first white set­ tler at Milwaukee, but the first white resident in Wisconsin, with the exception of the settlers at Green Bay, and Prairie du Chien. Mr Juneau built several log cabins for the accom­ modation of his family, and the convenience of his business, and in May 1834 put up tho first frame building erected in Milwaukee. In May 1834, Byron Kilbourn, Esq., came to Wisconsin as a Government Surveyor, and during that year, visited Milwau­ kee, enjoying the hospitality of Mr. Juneau, then the only white man residing between Chicago and Green Bay. He made a location on the West side of the river, with a view to purchase when the land should come into market. Mr. GEO. 11.. WALKER, also visited Milwaukee,in the early partof 1834, opening a trading establishment here, and making a claim up­ on the tract since known as "Walker's Point." At the land sale at Green Bay, in July and August, 1835, Mr. JUNEAU, A* SKETCH OF MILWAUKEE. purchased the N. E. Quarter of Section 29, in Town 7, and Range 52, on which he resided, and Mr. KILBOURN purchased the S. E. Quarter of the same section. These two tracts ex­ tending along the Milwaukee River about a mile and a half in width, constitute the nucleus of the present city of Milwaukee, The proprietorship was subsequently modified by an arrange­ ment between the two purchasers in accordance with which Mr. KILBOURN conveyed to Mr. JUNEAU, that part of the S. E. Quarter of Section 29, lying East of the river, and Mr. JUNEAU conveyed to Mr. KILBOURN that part of the N. E. Quarter, of the same section, lying West of the River. Mr. Juneau snbsequently added to the original tract by purchases extending eastwardly and southerly towards the Lake, and Mr. KILBOURN by purchases extending westwardly and northerly towards the interior; the entire purchase em­ bracing in the aggregate about six hundred acres. Messrs. MORGAN L. MARTIN of Green Bay, and MICHAEL DOUSMAN of Mackinac, became associated by purchase with Mr. JUNEAU in the proprietorship of the east side, and Mr. M. T. WILLIAMS of Cincinnati, and JAMES M. MCCARTY of Leesburgh, Virginia, became associated with Mr. KILBOURN, in the proprietorship of the West side. In the early part of 1835, Mr. Juneau laid off so much of the City plot, on the East side of the river, as is embraced in tho blocks numbered from 1 to 30, and in the latter part of the same year, extended the survey to the whole plot. Mr. Kil­ bourn about the same time, laid off the plot on the west side. In the year 1843, Mr. WALKER obtained from Congress an act recognizing his right to pre-emption for the tract on which he located in 1834, being the north-east quarter of Section 32. These several tracts, with sundry "additions," are now em­ braced in the corporate limits of the city of Milwaukee, and from being "three little villages," have become united in one city, destined ere long, to rank as Queen of the Lakes. The first vessel launched at Milwaukee was the schooner Solomon Juneau, in the summer of 1836. The first news­ paper, issued here was the Milwaukee Advertiser, in July 1836. And the first election held here was October 10th, 18 56. There was but one poll for the counties of Milwaukee, Wau­ kesha, Jefferson, Dane, Washington and Dodge, and that was held in this city. About three hundred votes were cast. The first stage, between Chicago and Milwaukee, commenced run- ning once a week, in March 1846. It was a two horse coach and carried a weekly mail. The first District Court held here was in June, 1837, Hon. W. C. FRAZER, presiding. In 1835, a Post office was established in Milwaukee, and SOLOMON JU­ NEAU appointed Post Master. Milwaukee was incorporated as a city, by act of the Terri­ torial Legislature, in January 1846, and the first City election was held in April of that year. By the provisions of the Charter, the City is divided into five wards, each of which elects 3 Aldermen, 3 Assessors, 1 Street Commissioner, annu­ ally, and 1 Justice of the Peace every two years. From among the 5 Justices thus chosen, tho Common Council selects the Police Justice. The City likewise elects a Mayor, Mar­ shall, Treasurer and Attorney, at the same time an I place of choosing Aldermen: viz: on the first Tuesday of April in each year. Of the five Wards into which the City is divided, two, the first and third are on the East side of the Milwau­ kee River; two, the second and fourth, on the West side, and one, the Fifth, South of the Milwaukee and Menomonee Riv­ ers. The following table shows the votes cast for Mayor at each of the three elections held in this city : April 1846. Solomon Juneau, (Dcm.) 749. " John II. Tweedy, (Whig,) 404. April 1847. H. N. Wells, (Anti-Constitution,) 974. " Goo. H. Walker, (Constitution,) 651. April 1848. Byron Kilbourn, (Dem.) 1079. " Rufus King, (Whig,) 881. Tho names of the present City Officers, and the population of Milwaukee at different periods, from 1838 up to last year, will be found in another part of this volume. An approximate idea of the amount of business done in the city of Milwaukee may be formed by looking over the follow­ ing table of the leading articles of Exports for the last two years. 1846. 1847. Wheat. 213,448 bush. 598,011 bush. Flour. 15,756 bbls. 34,840 bbls. Hides. 5,513 12,960 Ashes. 16,250 lbs. 127,435 lbs. Wool. 10,562 " 42,215 it Lead. 1,770,650 " 1.210,649 tl SKETCH OF MILWAUKEE. The Imports for the last season 1847, were as follows : Merchandize, 15,231,540 lbs. Salt, 28,811 bbls. Sundries, 29,162 " bulk. Lumber, 18,111,352 feet. Shingles, 8,616,100 In 1845 the first shipments of wheat, to any considerable extent, were made from Milwaukee. The following table shows how rapidly the export has increased since that period. Wheat. Flour. 1845. 95,510 bu. 7,550 bbls. 1846. 213,448 " 15,756.. " 1847. 598,011 " 34,840 " The population of the City, by Wards, according to the census in 1846, and 1847, has increased as follows, from June 1st. 1846, to December 1st. 1847, a period of eighteen months : 1845 1846 Increase. First Ward, 2,845 4,401 1556 Second " 2,291 3,869 1578 Third " 3,118 2,973 755 Fourth " 1,059 1,452 393 Fifth " 1,095 1,366 271 9,508 14,061 4,553 It will be seen from the above that the increase of popula­ tion during the 18 months preceding December 1st.