Histories: Trempealeau Co. Historical Accounts:
"History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin, 1917":
Chapter 8:
Galesville
-As transcribed from pages 83 - 86
Galesville was founded by Judge George Gale, jurist, educator and
author. Unable to enthuse the people of La Crosse with the idea of
securing for that place an institution of higher learning, he
determined to establish somewhere in the vicinity a university city.
After looking about for a while, he selected a beautiful spot in the
Beaver Creek most admirably suited to his purpose. Here, amid a
picturesque stretch of hill and dale, lay two tables or plateaus,
separated by a wide depression or flat, and watered by the meandering
course of the creek, whose gorge-like bed seemed especially designed
for the building of a dam and the creation of an artificial lake. The
land was unsettled and cheap, and Judge Gale had no difficulty in
securing 2,000 acres in the vicinity of his chosen site.
His duties at La Crosse prevented his moving at once to his new
possessions, so in 1854 he sent Augustus H. Armstrong to start
operations in inaugurating the future village. Mr. Armstrong erected a
residence on what is now known as the lower or courthouse table, and as
soon as the weather of the late spring permitted, superintended the
construction of a mill and dam, the stone and the timber being obtained
from the gorge itself.
Dr. William M. Young, a brother of Mrs. Gale, arrived a short time
later, followed by Michael Cullity, who erected a shanty on the lower
table on the south side of what is now Allen street, between Ridge and
Main streets. An interesting example of conditions in those days is
seen in the fact that Dr. Young and Mr. Cullity started out at sunrise
to obtain the material for this shanty, and before night had it ready
for occupancy by the Cullity family. Ryland Parker opened a small store
east of the south. east corner of the public square on the present site
of the Bank of Galesville. He started a hotel on the corner of Main and
Allen streets, lot 2, block 3, original plat. Captain Finch started a
home northeast of the northeast corner of the public square, but later
sold out to Captain Alexander A. Arnold. Work on the mill progressed
slowly. The dam proved, inadequate and the harnessed waters soon broke
their bonds. Judge Gale therefore secured the services of William O.
Clark as builder and Ebenezer Batchelder as millwright, and under their
auspices the dam was repaired and sawing started. The grist mill,
obtaining power from the same dam, was not put into operation until
later.
While the lower table, now the business district, was thus the scene of
pioneer activity in 1854, the upper table, now the residence district,
was receiving its first settlers. Isaac Clark established his home near
the west end of what is now the north side of Clark street, and John
French located on the west side of what is now French street. A Mr.
Crawford came in about the same time, accompanied by his sister, and
lived here a while in their pioneer wagon. The sister was a
strong-minded woman, a follower of Lucy Stone, and wore a bloomer suit
instead of the conventional feminine attire, thus provoking much
satirical and sometimes cruel comment on the part of the other
settlers. A. R. Wyman erected a house on the upper table, but later
moved onto a farm, leaving his original home to be used for many years
as a boarding. house 'for university students. The village was platted.
on both tables April 22, 1854.
The population of both tables probably did not number thirty people on
New Year's Day, 1855. A few settlers arrived during that year. Early in
1856 J. W. Armstrong, then registrar of deeds, occupied a house on
Ridge street; Ryland Parker was a merchant on the corner of Allen
street and the square; Daniel McKeith had a primitive home; William P.
Clark was engaged with Judge George Gale and Ebenezer Batchelder in
building a grist mill and operating a sawmill; Franklin Gilbert resided
down on the flats upon what afterward became Mill street; A. R. Wyman
resided on Ridge street; Isaac Clark on Clark street, and J. C. French
on French street. The hotel, of which Ellsworth was landlord, corner of
Allen and Main streets, was finished; and in the full flush of success.
The improvements completed included among others the courthouse and a
schoolhouse. The schoolhouse was on the site of the present high
school. The courthouse was still standing as a west part of the
building north of the west corner of the public square.
Later in the year the village saw a considerable growth. J. W.
Canterbury opened the first blacksmith shop. C. E. Perkins, afterward a
prominent county officer, erected a residence on Free street; W. H.
Wyman on Elizabeth street; George W. Swift on Clark street; R. B.
Cooper on Ridge street, and G. H. Burnham on Allen street. C. C.
Averill, Nathaniel Stearns, who had been to Galesville in 1855, and
George W. Stearns located here, and the latter two moved into the
Armstrong house on Allen street. The Rev. D. D. Van Slyke, organizer of
the Methodist church in the village, also built a house. Captain
Bartlet completed a house in which the postoffice was this year opened,
with Dr. William M. Young as postmaster. Several of the pioneer
shanties were replaced with frame houses.
With this beginning, the village experienced a quick growth, enjoying a
heyday of prosperity until the close of the Civil War. The panic of
1857 apparently did not retard the progress. In 1859 an attempt was
made to transfer some of the business from the lower to the upper
table. J. M. Dodge built a store on Ridge street and soon sold to R. A.
Odell, who conducted it for several years. This was the only store ever
started on the upper table.
Work on Gale College, on the upper table, was started in 1858, the
preparatory department opened in the courthouse in the summer of 1859
and the collegiate department opened in the fall of 1861. The first
county fair was held in the fall of 1859. The Galesville Transcript was
established in 1860.
During this period of prosperity many houses were erected, several
church societies perfected their organizations, and the Rev. John
Frothingham, first Presbyterian minister to be settled in the county,
took charge of his work.
On June 2, 1866, the dam went out, and destruction and desolation
marked the rush of waters. The hotel on the flat, put up in 1857; the
saw and grist mills and other improvements were swept away in an hour,
entailing a loss of not less than $10,000. The next spring Webster
Davis purchased the water power privileges and the debris left by the
flood, and began the construction of a new dam and mill on the present
site several rods above the old location.
Of Galesville, in the fall of 1870, Stephen Richmond has said:
"It was a beautiful, thriving and famed little city, nestling in the
shade of the mighty cliff, which then as now, forms the east bank of
Beaver Creek, under the shadow of which towered the granite walls of
the Davis Flouring Mill, the whir and busy trundle of which bespoke an
active industry. Galesville University stood near the western boundary
or outskirts of the village after the fashion of southern colleges and
was then a flourishing school under the presidency of Professor
Gilliland and a corps of strong, active teachers. The public square in
the center of the business part of the village on the lower table was
also a reminder of southern cities and villages, on the north side of
which stood the courthouse, the remainder of the square being built
about by business places, all active with bustle and an air of
successful local commerce, presenting a scene and fixing in my memory a
very pleasant remembrance of that day, then bespeaking the
intelligence, business ability and financial foresight of a community
of people able to cope successfully with all municipal problems. It was
a sight not to be in all the years since effaced from my memory.
"On the day of which I try to sketch my mental picture, the public
square, the streets, and along the bank of the creek were many teams
from the country, and many of the active, hardy, intelligent farmers,
their wives and children, who were tributary to Galesville, as their
market place, were present. Good order was manifest everywhere, and the
democracy of which so many have spoken and written was surely there.
Away to the north spread in a sheen of golden ripple lay the Davis mill
pond looking in all respects like a lake formed by the handiwork of
Providence, while to the southwest could be seen the mighty bluffs and
rugged hills in Minnesota ranged along the western side of the
Mississippi River. Every line of local municipal activity now present
in, and the boast of modern days, appeared to be actively and
intelligently represented. The ragged edge of the frontier town and the
far-western outpost were absent, and there was an air of permanency,
tradition and stability usually lacking in new towns."