Histories: Trempealeau Co. Historical Accounts:
"History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin, 1917":
Chapter 9:
Pre-Bellum Boards and Their Doings
-As transcribed from pages 106 - 109
Gale
township having been created and a chairman elected, the new board of
county supervisors, consisting of George Batchelder, chairman of
Montoville and B. F. Heuston, chairman of Gale, met at Montoville May
1, 1854. George Batchelder was chosen chairman and William M.
Young clerk. Charles Utter was appointed county treasurer.
Mr. Utter was also appointed to act with the commissioner from Jackson
County to lay out roads from Montoville to Black River Falls by way of
Trempealeau Valley and Beaver Creek, and one to Douglass Mills, now
North Bend, in Jackson County. May 29, 1854, the boundary between
Montoville and Gale was slightly readjusted. November 14, 1854, a
meeting was held at the home of B. F. Heuston in Gale, but at once
adjourned to Montoville. November 20, 1854, John Nicholls was
appointed clerk in place of William M. Young, resigned. It would
appear that George Batchelder was then looking after the criminal
interest of the county, as on November 27, 1854, he was voted $16.50
for the prosecution, guarding and deposition of "Geo. the Murderer."
In the spring of 1855 B. F. Heuston was re-elected chairman of Gale
Township and was accordingly continued as a member of the county
board. William A. Cram took his seat as the member from
Montoville. John Nicholls continued as clerk, being appointed in
place of Charles Utter, who did not qualify. During the first two
years of county government the board met sometimes at Montoville and
sometimes in Gale Township or in Galesville. The county officials
maintained their offices in their residences or their places of
business. June 26, 1856, the clerk of the board was authorized to
have his office at his residence in Montoville, and the sheriff, clerk
of court, registrar and treasurer were ordered to file with the clerk a
statement of where their headquarters were to be found. The need
of a courthouse, however, was apparent, and on June 11, 1855, the
board, meeting at the home of William A. Cram, decided that a
courthouse should be built at Galesville as soon as possible, and
ordered the clerk to prepare plans for the inspection of the public,
and to advertise for bids for a building 28 by 36 feet, two stories
high. June 28, 1855, Isaac Noyes and Amassa P. Webb, of
Montoville, were awarded the contract at $1,000, and the county
appropriated $250 for the purchase of material. The work was to
be finished on April 28, 1856, but when that date approached it was
found that the building would not be completed within the time
limit. Lumber had been hard to obtain, and some that had been
carted to the site had been stolen. Accordingly, the contractors
were awarded damages of $25 and the time extended to July 28.
The first meeting of the board in the new courthouse was held July 23,
1856. B. F. Heuston of Gale was still a member of the
board. William Adams succeeded William A. Cram of
Trempealeau. In the meantime the town of Preston had been
created, November 21, 1855, consisting of all of the county north of
the line between Townships 19 and 20, except that part in what is now
Ettrick, west of the range line between Ranges 9 and 10; and the first
town meeting had been held at the home of Ed. Reynolds, April 1,
1856. The first representative of the town on the county board
was Simon S. Rice. John Nicholls continued to serve as clerk of
the board. November 11, 1856, the board voted to allow the people
of Galesville to use the courtroom as a schoolroom.
In the spring of 1857 the new board consisted of B. F. Heuston of Gale,
Simon S. Rice of Preston and William Adams of Trempealeau. The
previous board, on November 20, 1856, had created two new townships,
Arcadia and Sumner. Sumner consisted of all of Township 24,
Ranges 7, 8 and 9. The first town meeting was ordered held at
Beef River Station April 7, 1857. Arcadia consisted of all the
present town of Arcadia, except the strip in Township 20, range 8, and
everything north of the present township to the south line of Township
24. The first town meeting was to be held at home of David
Bishop, April 7, 1857. The meeting at David Bishop's was
conducted as ordered, but the one at Beef River Station was not held,
and the board ordered a meeting for April, 1858. In the fall of
1857 the board consisted of J. R. Penney of Arcadia, A. R. Wyman of
Gale, J. B. Dunning of Preston and Sam D. Hastings of
Trempealeau. This board created the town of Caledonia, November
11, 1857, and ordered the first town meeting to be held at the home of
Alexander McGilvray in April, 1858. The town consisted of all of
the present town of Caledonia except the tier of sections in Township
18, Range 9. This action was rescinded March 2, 1858.
November 9, 1858, the board consisted of James M. Barrett of
Trempealeau, A. R. Wyman of Gale, J. H. Chase of Sumner, in place of
William Harmon; A. L. Sherwood of Preston and James Broughton of
Arcadia. The board was informed by District Attorney Romanzo Bunn
that the action of the board in rescinding the creation of Caledonia
was illegal. But the town having failed to organize, a new date,
the first Tuesday in March 1859, was set as the time for the first town
meeting. As early as November 13, 1858, the need of an almshouse
was felt, and a committee consisting of James M. Barrett, A. L.
Sherwood and John Nicholls was appointed to correspond with officials
of various counties of the state in regard to methods of caring for the
needy in a proper and economical manner. At the February meeting
in 1859 W. H. Thomas sat as the member from Sumner. The board
authorized the board of trustees of Galesville University to use the
upper story of the courthouse for classroom purposes for the summer
term of 1859 in case the seminary building should not be completed.
At this meeting the people of Trempealeau Village were reprimanded by
the board for petitioning the legislature to submit to the voters the
question of removing the county seat to that hamlet. The
supervisors expressed the opinion that if the county seat were to be
removed at all, it should be to some point near the geographical center
of the county, and further stated that the agitation of the question at
that time would create a great deal of needless trouble, expense
and ill feeling.
Six townships being in existence in the fall of 1859, the board
consisted of six members: J. T. Holmes of Caledonia, Ben. B.
Healy of Trempealeau, Collins Bishop of Arcadia, A. A. Arnold of Gale,
Ebenezer Thurston of Preston and W. H. Thomas of Sumner. November
15, 1859, A. P. Ford was appointed county drainage commissioner under
the provisions of the general laws of 1858. This board did not
authorize any new townships, and the board for 1860 therefore consisted
of six members: George D. Dewey of Arcadia, J. T. Holmes of
Caledonia, Henry French of Gale, Chester Bostwick of Preston, William
Silkworth of Sumner and James M. Barrett of Trempealeau. November
13, 1860, Chase and Lincoln Townships were created. Chase was to
consist of all the present town of Albion and the west half of
Unity. The first town meeting was to be held at the home of David
Chase in April, 1861. Lincoln was to consist of Townships 22 and
23, Range 8, and Township 23, Range 9. This embraced nearly all
of what is now Lincoln, all of what is now Chimney Rock, a small strip
of Burnside and the western part of Hale. The first town meeting
was to be held at the home of Alvah Wood, the first Tuesday in April.
These townships being duly organized and the election held, the board
for 1861 consisted of eight members: George R. Davey, Chase; M.
D. Ingalls, Lincoln; D. C. Dewey, Arcadia; Eben Batchelder, Caledonia;
A. A. Arnold, Gale; E. M. Reynolds, Preston; R. C. Fields, Sumner, and
Delavan Bunn, Trempealeau.