Town of Union

The Town of Union consists of Township 24, Range 13. It is bounded on the north by the Town of Dupont, on the east by Bear Creek, on the south by Little Wolf, and on the west by Helvetia. The first settlement was made by Isaac Ames, in the fall of 1855.

The town was organized in April, 1858. The first town meeting was held at the house of E. C. Scott on the north-east comer of Section 35, April 6, 1858. Ensign Sprague was chosen Chairman of the meeting, N. W. Baldwin, Clerk, and Isaac Ames and Samuel Norton, Inspectors of Election.

An adjournment was then had to a brush heap across the way, near the north-west comer of Section 36. A. W. Johnson, an early settler, says: '' That brush heap made a good fire, and when one side got cold, all they had to do was to turn around and warm the other side. They had a grand time." That was exercising the rights of freemen under difficulties. Mr. Johnson did not tell us what sort of a ballot box was used, but we presume it was as simple and primitive as their arrangements for keeping themselves warm. Those honest, sturdy voters required no modern appliances to prevent illegal voting, or ballot box stuffing.

Nine votes were cast and the following officers elected

In May, 1857, Benjamin Dean and A. W. Johnson settled on Section 12. They made a house by cutting baswood poles, from eight to ten inches in diameter, splitting them through the center, and then setting them up on end against a pole, making a shanty like the roof of a house, with a half pitch. For feather beds, they used hemlock boughs for about six weeks, sleeping on them much sounder than many do on their beds of softest down. They had no blankets or quilts. Mr. Johnson naively remarks, ''It was rather tough for a man who had been married only two months!"

Mrs. E. C. Scott baked their bread. They went after it twice a week, a round trip of ten miles through the woods without any road. The wolves would frequently follow them, pretty closely, too, sometimes. And Mr. Johnson is willing to swear that the mosquitoes were always ready for a lunch.

They paid one dollar a bushel for potatoes, and packed them six miles on their backs. They cleared and planted three acres that spring.

The wild beasts, especially the wolves, were very troublesome. One morning Mr. Dean shot a large wolf in their clearing. Mr. Johnson approached the wolf as he lay apparently dead. Getting his toe under the animal's nose, he tried to raise it from the ground. But the wolf was not dead, and the first Mr. Johnson knew his toe was in the brute's mouth. He was unable to wear his boot for two weeks. He says, "It was fun for Dean, but I couldn't see it in that light!" One thing he says he learned, never to trifle with a dead wolf.

The animal measured seven and a half feet from the end of his nose to the tip of his tail.

The last of June they went back to their families in Washington County. Dean returned in the fall. Johnson remained until May, 1859, when he returned with his family. He had one cow, and the enormous sum of twenty-five cents! He has now 165 acres of land, with sixty acres cleared, and a good family of eight children!

Nathan Johnson, father of A. W., moved into the town the last of May, 1859, from Washington County, this State. His family consisted of three boys (one of whom had moved in the year before) and three girls. He drove an ox team, and brought along two cows. They carried bread with them; and when they got hungry they would stop, let the oxen feed, milk the cows, get out the tins and spoons, and have some bread and milk; then they would go on until hungry again.

They would manage to stop over night at some settler's cabin on the way. They were eight days on the road. One night they staid at Hortonville, Outagamie County. Next day they drove to the edge of the marsh between New London and Northport, where they stopped, baited their team, and ate bread and milk. They had with them the two youngest boys, one seven, and the other ten years of age. The rest of the family had taken the boat at Fond du Lac.

Mr. Johnson says of the trip: "After resting on the edge of the marsh, we started out as happy as clams at high water, thinking we would soon be at our new home. It soon commenced to rain, and we got stuck fast in the mud. I had to hitch the team to the hind end of the wagon to pull it out of the hole. Then we traveled on foot to Northport. It was raining hard when we got there. At Northport I got a team and went back for the baggage. It took two days from Northport to reach our new home.

"We moved in with Mr. Dean, who lived in a 16 X 20-foot shanty, in which sixteen persons slept on the floor at night. In the day time we moved the beds out of doors, when it didn't rain. We lived in that way four or five weeks, until we could build another shanty.

"We never took more comfort than we did at that time. We were as happy as could be. I was fifty years old the day I started for our new home. Now I have a good house, and have been postmaster about twelve years."

The first child born in town was a daughter of E. C. and Betsy Scott, October 11, 1856.

The first marriage was Joel A. Taylor and Mary Jane Johnson, October 22, 1865. The ceremony was performed by W. Dresser, Justice of the Peace, from Royalton.

The first death was that of Ida Jane Laflin, August 31, 1863. She was a little over a year old.

The first school was taught by Amanda Sprague in 1859, on Section 36. The same spring one was taught by Sophia C. Johnson on Section 12. In the spring of 1859 school houses were built on the aforesaid sections.

The first sermon was preached in 1861, by Rev. Joseph Hammond, of Northport.

In 1873 Ogden & Scott built a saw mill at ''Union Bridge."

A post office was established in town in 1862, and J. K. Townsend was appointed postmaster. The first mail route was from Waupaca to Clintonville. The mail was carried on foot by Lewis Bleinkoph.

The first surveying was done in 1857, by Edwin C. Scott.

The first law suit was tried February 21, 1874, before J. K. Townsend, Justice of the Peace. The first store was started in 1873 by George Scovill.

The first apple tree was planted in 1858, near the center of Section 12, by Benjamin Dean.

The Town of Union did its share in the great work of putting down the late Rebellion. At the town meeting in the spring of 1865 only eight votes were cast, so many had volunteered or been drafted into the service.

Union is a good farming town, but heavily timbered. The soil is mostly a dark, deep loam. It is capable of producing fine crops. Considerable maple sugar is made in this town. There is still plenty of excellent land to be had at reasonable prices.

The Village of Symco, in Section 31, contains a saw mill, a hotel, several general stores, shops, etc., and churches and schools. It is on the Little Wolf River, which furnishes good water power.

Town officers for 1889

Waupaca County | Wisconsin AHGP