Wisconsin Gazetteer ~ C ~

Wisconsin Gazetteer, Containing the names, location, and advantages, of the Counties, Cities, Towns, Villages, Post Offices, and Settlements, together with a description of the Lakes, Water Courses, Prairies, and Public Localities, in the State of Wisconsin. Alphabetically arranged.

Notice. Names and descriptions prepared too late for their proper place, will be found in the Appendix.

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Cadiz, P. V., in town of same name, Greene County; being on section 14, in town 1 K., of range 6 E.

Cadiz, Town, in the county of Green, being town 1 N., of range 6 E; centrally located, 8 miles southwest from Monroe. The population in 1850 was 459. It has 5 school districts.

Cadwell, P. O., in county of Racine.

Calamus, Town, in the county of Dodge, being town 11 K., of range 13 E.; centrally located, 12 miles west from Juneau, the county seat. It has 6 school districts.

Caledonia, P. O., in town of same name, in county of Racine; being town 4 N., of range 22 E.

Caledonia, Town, in the county of Racine, being town 4 N., of range 22 E.; centrally located, 6 miles northwest from Racine. The population in 1850 was 1,065. It has 11 school districts.

Caledonia, Town, in the county of Columbia. It has 6 school districts.

Caledonia, Town, in the county of Portage.

Calumet, County, is bounded on the north by Brown and Outagamie, on the east by Manitowoc, on the south by Sheboygan and Fond du Lac, and on the west by Winnebago. It was set off from Brown, December 7, 1836, and organized for county purposes, January 6, 1840. On the 18th of August, 1840, it was disorganized, and its territory attached to Brown.

It was again reorganized February 18, 1842, remaining in judicial connection with Brown until the organization of Fond du Lac, January 22, 1844, to which it was attached for judicial purposes. It was fully organized February 5, 1840. The seat of justice is at Chilton Centre, in the town of Charlestown, being in town 18 N., of range 20 E. It is well watered by tributaries of the Manitowoc River, and by small streams entering Lake "Winnebago. The Brothertown and Stockbridge Indians have fine settlements, schools, and churches, in this county, and their farms and buildings compare favorably with others in the State. They are entitled to all the privileges of citizenship, and are frequently represented by some of their own number in the State legislature. This county contains much good land, which is for sale at low rates; the soil is good, and covered with a heavy growth of hard timber. It forms a portion of the fourth judicial circuit, of the third congressional, and of the first senate district, and sends one member to the assembly. The population in 1840 was 275; 1842, 407; 1846, 836; 1847, 1,060; 1850, 1,746 Farms, 243; manufactories, 5; dwellings, 381. The county officers for 1853 and 1854 are: County Judge, Moody Mann; Sheriff, J. S. Hammer; Clerk of Court, Charles Growing; Register, L. P. Fowler.

Calumet, P. V. 9 in town of same name, Fond du Lac County.

Calumet, Town, in the county of Fond du Lac, being the south fractional half of township 17 N., of range 18 and 19 E., and north fractional half of town 16 N., of range 19 E.; centrally located, 10 miles northeast from Fond du Lac. The population in 1850, as then organized, 1,704.

Calvin's, Creek, in Manitowoc County, a small stream, entering Lake Michigan about 5 miles southwest from the mouth of the Manitowoc River.

Cambridge, P. V. in northern part of town of Christiana, Dane County, on stage route from Madison to Whitewater.

Camp, Creek, rises in the north west corner of Richland county, and runs westerly into Otter creek, of Bad Ax County.

Camp, Lake, in Kenosha County, is a long and narrow lake near the center of the town of Salem.

Carma, Island, near the western shore of Lake Michigan, in Door County.

Cascade, P. V., Sheboygan County, in town of same name, on section 29, town 14 N., of range 21 E.; 18 miles southwest from Sheboygan, and 110 miles northeast from Madison, on the most direct route between the same. It is situated on the east branch of the Milwaukee River, and has a good water-power; in the midst of a good, though new, farming country, mostly of timbered lands. It has 300 inhabitants, 25 families, 2 stores, 2 hotels, 1 saw, and 1 grist mill; 3 organized denominations, Baptist, Congregational, and Methodist. It has a good charter for an academy.

Cassville, P. V. in town of same name, Grant County, being in town 3 K., of range 5 W., on the Mississippi River, and was formerly a place of considerable importance.

Cassville, Town, in county of Grant, being all of the same embraced in towns 3 and 4 N., of ranges 5 and 6 W.; centrally located, 15 miles southwest from Lancaster, the county seat. It has 7 school districts.

Castle Rock, on the west bank of the Wisconsin River, in town 15 N., of range 5 E, in Adams County.

Catfish, River, rises in the Fourth Lake, and connecting the four lakes in Dane County, runs southeast, emptying into the Rock River in the town of Fulton, Rock County.

Cedarburg, P. V., in town of same name, Ozaukee County, being on section 34, town 10 K, of range 21 E.; located 10 miles southwest from Ozaukee.

Cedarburg, Town, in county of Washington, being town 10 M., of range 21 E., excepting the easterly range of sections belonging to the town of Grafton; centrally located, 8 miles southwest from Ozaukee, the county seat. The population in 1850 was 1,134. It has 7 school districts.

Cedar Creek, P. V., in town of Polk, Washington County, being on section 10, in town 10 N., of range 19 E.

Cedar Grove, P. V., in Sheboygan County, in section 30, town 13 N., of range 23 E.; located 15 miles southerly from Sheboygan, and 75 miles east northeast from Madison. It has 6 dwellings, 1 hotel, and 2 stores.

Cedar, Lake, is a small lake on the line between the towns of Polk and West Bend, in Washington County.

Cedar, Lake, in the town of Rhine, Sheboygan County, on sections 31 and 32, town 16 N, of range 21 E.

Cedar, Rapids, of Fox River, about half way between Grand and Little Chute.

Cedar, River, rises in Cedar Lake and running southeasterly enters Milwaukee River in the southwest corner of the town of Grafton, Washington County.

Centre, P. O., in town of same name, Rock County.

Centre, Town, in county of Rock, being town 3 N., range 9 E.; centrally located 10 miles west of Janesville. The population in 1850 was 625. It has 7 school districts.

Centre, Lake, a small lake in the centre of the town of Trenton, Washington County.

Centres, River, is a small tributary entering Manitowoc River about 10 miles from its mouth, having its source in Brown County.

Centreville, P. O., in town of Randolph, Columbia County.

Centreville, Town, in county of Waupacca, being the northwest portion of the same.

Ceresco, Town, in county of Fond du Lac, being town 16 N., of range 14 E.; located 19 miles northwest from Fond du Lao city. It has 6 school districts.

Ceresco, P. O., in town of same name, Fond du Lac county, on sections 16, 17, 20 and 21.

Chagwamigon, or Che-goi-me-gon, Bay, see Shagwamigon.

Chagwamigon, Point, in La Pointe County, east of bay of same name.

Chamber's, Island, near the eastern shore of Green Bay, in towns 32 and 33 N., of range 27 R, in Door County.

Chamber's, Lake, is about a mile in length, on an island of same name in Green Bay.

Chappeau, Rapids, of the Menomonee River, are above Menomonee Rapids.

Charleston, P. V., in town of same name, Calumet County, on section 6.

Charlestown, Town, in county of Calumet, being in the east part thereof. It has 6 school districts.

Charlotte, P. O., in town of Cassville, Grant County, being town 4 N., of range 5 W.

Cherry Hill, P. O., in Washington County.

Chester, P. O., in town of same name, Dodge County, on section 28.

Chester, Town, in county of Dodge, being town 13 N., of range 15 E.; centrally located, 13 miles northwest from Juneau. Population in 1850 was 829. It has 4 school districts.

Chilton Centre, P. V., and C. H., in town of Charleston, Calumet County, town 18 N, of range 20 E. The county seat was located at this place by a vote of the county, in 1852.

Chippewa Falls, P. V., and C. H., at falls of Chippewa River, in county of same name, at which place the river has a descent of 24 feet in half a mile. Population 250. Good hotel and severed mills.

Chippewa, County, is bounded on the N. by St. Croix and La Pointe, on the E. by Marathon, on the S. by La Crosse, on the S. W. by the Mississippi River, and on the W. by St. Croix. The southern boundary is rather indefinitely defined. It was established from Crawford, February 3, 1835, but has never been organized. Since the organization of La Crosse County, March 1, 1851, the county and judicial connection has been changed from Crawford to La Crosse. The boundaries were somewhat changed January 14, 1846. Population in 1850 was 615. The soil in the western portion is good, in the northeastern less valuable, and covered with forests of excellent pine timber. It is watered by Chippewa River and its branches, and tributaries of Buffalo and Mississippi rivers. The tributaries of the Chippewa River are numerous, and pass through large portions of the county, watering lands as valuable as any in the State. There are now in successful operation 11 saw mills, capable of cutting 30,000,000 feet of lumber annually. The largest of these mills is owned by Allen, at Chippewa Falls; Menomonee, owned by Knapp, Williams & Taintor; and Carson & Eaton, at the mouth of the Eau Galla, which average about 5,000,000 of feet each, per annum, and furnish employment for about 200 hands each. The county seat was established by an act of the legislature, at the January session 1853, at Chippewa Falls, on Chippewa River.

Chippewa Rapids, in county of same name. This name has been given to two rapids in Chippewa River, one in town 29 N., of range 8 W., and the other in town 30 N., of range 7 W.

Chippewa (Ojibwa), River, the largest tributary in Wisconsin of the Mississippi, into which it empties in town 22 N ., of range 14 W. It rises near the head waters of Bad River of Lake Superior, and runs southerly, to its mouth, where it is 500 yards wide.

Christiana, Town, in county of Dane, being town 6 N., of range 12 E.; centrally located 17 miles southeast from Madison. The population in 1850 was 785. It has 10 school districts.

Christiana, P. V., in town of same name, Dane County, on section 23, town 6 N., of range 12 E., being 23 miles southeast from Madison. It is situated on Koskonong creek, possesses good water power, with good lime stone and excellent quarries of sand stone. Population 200, dwellings 30, stores 2, hotels 1, mills 2, a stone school house, and 1 carding machine.

Chrystal Lake, Town, in county of Marquette, being town 17 N., of range 10.

Clairville, P. O., in Winnebago County.

Clarence, P. O., in the county of Greene.

Clarno, Town, in county of Green, being town 1 N., of range 7; centrally located, 7 miles south from Monroe. The population in 1850 was 714. It has 5 school districts.

Clayton, Town, in county of Winnebago, being town 20 N., range of 16 E.; centrally located, 13 miles from Oshkosh. The population in 1850 was 402. It has 4 school districts.

Clearwater, P. V., in Chippewa County, in town 27 N, of range 9 W., at the mouth of L'eau Claire River. Population, 200; 2 mills, 1 store, and 1 hotel.

Clearwater, River, see L'eau Claire, Chippewa County.

Clifton, Town, in county of Grant, being town 5 N., of range 1 W.; centrally located, 12 miles west from Lancaster. It has 5 school districts.

Clifton, Village, in the town of Roxbury, Dane County, immediately opposite Prairie du Sac, on the Wisconsin River. The location is a beautiful one, possessing good shores and other facilities for unloading rafts and boats. As yet, but few improvements have been made. There is 1 store, 1 tannery, 2 lumber yards, and about 50 inhabitants. A large portion of the lumber used in Madison and the interior of Dane county, is brought from this place, to which it is floated from the immense pineries on the Upper Wisconsin River. Its prospects for being an important lumbering and trading point are, at present, very flattering.

Clinton, P. V., in town of same name, Rock County.

Clinton, Town, in county of Rock, being town 1 N., of range 14 E.; centrally located, 14 miles southeast from Janesville. The population in 1850 was 1,176. It has 8 school districts.

Clyde, Town, in county of Iowa, being part of townships 7 and 8 N., of ranges 2 and 3 E.; centrally located, 18 miles north of Mineral Point, the county seat. It has 3 school districts. It is on the Wisconsin River, on both sides of Otter creek. It is an agricultural town, well timbered and watered, and has one grist mill.

Clyman, P. O., in town of same name, Dodge County.

Clyman, Town, in county of Dodge, being town 10 N., of range 15 E.; centrally located, 6 miles south from Juneau. The population in 1850 was 735. It has 9 school districts.

Colamer, P. O. y in town of Kingston, Sauk County.

Cold Spring, Lake, a small lake in the town of Fredonia, Washington County.

Cold Spring, P. V., in town of same name, in the county of Jefferson; 8 miles southeast from Jefferson.

Cold Spring, Race Course, situated 2 miles west from Milwaukee, the property of E. B. Walcott, M.D., of Milwaukee.

Cold Spring, Town, in county of Jefferson, being town IN, of range 15 E.; centrally located, 9 miles southeast from Jefferson. The population in 1850 was 568. It has 5 school districts.

Columbus, P. V., in town of same name, on section 12 Columbia County, on the Crawfish River. It is considerable of a village.

Columbus, Town, in county of Columbia, being town 10 N., of range 12; centrally located, 24 miles southeast from Portage. The population in 1850 was 960. It has 7 school districts.

Columbia, County, is bounded on the north by Adams and Marquette, on the east by Dodge, on the south by Dane, and on the west by Sauk; and is located mostly in the vicinity of the Portage of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. It was set off from Portage and organized February 3, 1846. The boundaries were somewhat changed March 6, 1849. The streams of this county are: the Fox, (Neenah), Wisconsin, and Crawfish Rivers, and Rocky Run, Ockie, Spring and Duck creeks. For fertility of soil and feasibility of lands, the most of which are openings and prairie, this county is unsurpassed by any other in the State. It is connected with the third judicial circuit and with the third congressional district, and constitutes the twenty-fifth senate district; sends two members to the assembly, being divided into the north and south assembly districts nearly of the same size. The towns of Winnebago, Port Hope, Marcellon, Scott, Randolph, Portage, Prairie, Spring Yale, and Wyocena, forming the first; and the towns of Columbus, Fountain Prairie, Hampden, Otsego, Leeds, Lowville, Lodi, Dekorra, Westpoint and Caledonia, the second district. The vote of the Electors at the annual town meeting in April, 1851, permanently located the seat of justice at Fort Winnebago, in accordance with an act approved March 15, 1851. The population in 1846 was 1,969; 1847, 3,791; 1850, 9,565. Farms, 998; manufactories, 25; dwellings, 1,855. County officers for 1853 and 1854: County Judge, Joshua J. Gruppy; Sheriff, Perry Lee; Clerk of Court, James Delany, Register of Deeds, William Owen; Clerk of Board of Supervisors, Alvin Alden; County Treasurer, H. Hascall; County Surveyor, John Thomas; Coroner, Isaac Smith.

Como, Lake in the south part of the town of Geneva, in Walworth County. It is about three miles long, and half a mile broad.

Concord, P. O., in town of same name, Jefferson County, on section 15, known as "Kelloggs," formerly Union Centre.

Concord, Town, in county of Jefferson, being town 7 K, of range 16 E.; centrally located, 10 miles northeast from Jefferson. The population in 1850 was 725. It has 9 school districts.

Cooksville, P. V., (Waucoma village), in Rock County, being on section 6, town 4 N., of range 11 E. It is 16 miles northwest from Janesville, and 18 miles southeast from Madison, on the edge of a broad and gently sloping prairie of two miles in width. It is on the Badfish, with three good millsites within one and a half miles. Population, 250; dwellings, 35; stores, 3; hotels, 1; mills, 3. 1 Presbyterian church, 1 sash and door, 1 wagon, 1 harness, 1 shoe, 1 blacksmith, 1 cabinet, and 1 tailor shop.

Coon, Prairie, in Bad Ax County, on section 5, town 18 N., of range 4 W.

Cooperstown, P. V., in Brown County, on section 1, town 21 N., of range 22 E.

Copper, Creek, empties into the Mississippi, in town 6, Crawford County.

Copper, Creek, is a small stream entering Baraboo River from the N., about 5 miles below Reedsburg.

Cottage Grove, P. O., in town of same name, Dane County, on section 23.

Cottage Grove, Town, in county of Dane, being town 7, range 11 E.; centrally located, 10 miles east from Madison. The population in 1850 was 1,022. It has 12 school districts, and 3 hotels; the settlers are principally Irish and German.

Court-Eoreille, Lake, (Lac Court-eoreille, Agasowi Lake), a considerable lake in the southern part of La Pointe County, discharging its waters through a river of the same name, into the Chippewa River.

Court-Eoreille, River, rises in lake of same name, runs southeast into the Chippewa.

Courtland, Town, in county of Columbia.

Cranberry, Creek, in Adams County, is a northern branch of the Yellow River.

Granberry, Lakes, several small lakes in the town of Concord, Jefferson County; have been so named on account of the great quantities of that fruit formerly found in their vicinity.

Crawfish, River, rises in the town of Hampden, Columbia County, and running southeasterly, uniting with Beaver Dam creek, in Dodge County, enters Rock River, at Jefferson. It is about the same size as Rock River.

Crawfish, County, is located at the junction between the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, and is bounded on the north by Bad Ax, on the east by Richland, on the southeast by Grant, and on the west by the Mississippi, which separates it from the State of Iowa. It was established October 16, 1818, when it embraced all of the territory between the Mississippi and a line drawn due north from the northern line of the State of Illinois, through the centre of the Portage between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers to the Michilimacinac," and derived its name from Hon. Wm. H. Crawford, formerly Secretary of War, and afterwards Secretary of the Treasury. Its limits have now been so far reduced that it is one of the smallest counties in the State. The seat of justice is at Prairie du Chien, one of the oldest settlements in the State, on the Mississippi river, about three miles above the mouth of the Wisconsin, and is one of the most beautiful locations in the west. The surface of the country is broken by a ridge running between the two great rivers. The soil, for the most part, is good, producing wheat, oats, and most other grains, which find a ready home market, in supplying the lumber traders, military posts, and the great tide of emigration which is now turned to this and the neighboring counties of La Crosse and Bad Ax. It is watered by the Kickapoo River and its branches, and small streams emptying into the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. Between the Kickapoo River and Richland County, is one of the finest tracts of country in the State. It is well supplied with pure water; and good timber is found along the banks of the small streams, and in groves, scattered at convenient distances, to be useful for the rapidly increasing population. A fine village has been regularly laid out midway between the mouth of the Kickapoo and the Richland county line, on the Wisconsin River, called Boyd's town. It has a good landing. There is much pine timber in this county, on and near the banks of the Kickapoo, from which large quantities of lumber are manufactured, finding an outlet to a market by said river, and the Wisconsin and Mississippi. Copper has been found in the northern part of the county, in such quantities and appearance as to indicate the near presence of a vast body of that mineral. Near the west bank of the Kickapoo, in town 8, has been found considerable quantities of lead, and there is no doubt that if a geological survey was made, that lead, rivaling in quantity and purity that raised in the counties of Iowa, Grant and Lafayette, would be discovered. It is connected with the sixth judicial circuit, and the nineteenth senate district, and with Bad Ax, is entitled to one member of the assembly. The estimated population of Crawford County in 1825, including most of the present State and a portion of Minnesota, was 492. The population in 1830 was 692; 1836, 854; 1838, 1,220; 1840, 1,502; 1842, 1,409; 1846, 1,444; 1847, 1,409; 1850, (including Bad Ax and La Crosse,) 2,399; 1850, within its present limits, 1,407. Farms, 81; manufactories, 14; dwellings, 665. The above will give but little information in regard to the increase of population, as new counties were set off between nearly every taking of the census. The present population of the county is upwards of 3,000. County Officers for 1853 and 1854: County Judge, Hiram A. Wright; Sheriff, Leander LeClerc; Clerk of Court, Ira B. Branson; District Attorney, Samuel Cowden; Register of Deeds, Ira B. Branson; Clerk of Board of Supervisors, Heman Baldwin; County Treasurer, I. P. Perrett Gentil; County Surveyor, Ira B. Branson; Coroner, Henry H. Bailey.

Crocodile, River, or Rice River, see Fond du Lac River.

Crooked, Lake, a small body of water near the Wisconsin, in the town of Fennimore, Grant County.

Crooked, Lake, an expansion of Bark River, in the south part of the town of Summit, Waukesha County, a short distance below the Nebahmin lakes.

Crooked, Lake, near the centre of the town of Auburn, Fond du Lac County.

Cross Plains, P. O., in town of same name, Dane County.

Cross Plains, Town, in the county of Dane, being town 7 N., of ranges 6 and 7 E.; centrally located, 17 miles W. from Madison. It has 7 school districts.

Crystal, Lake, in Marquette County, in town 17 N., on a line between ranges 9 and 10 east, discharging its waters south-easterly, into the Neenah, near the line between towns 15 and 16 north.

Cyaon, Creek, empties into the Kickapoo from the west, in town 9 north, in Crawford County.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y

Source: Wisconsin Gazetteer,  By John Warren Hunt. Madison: Beriah Brown, Printer, 1853

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