Fifty Years In The Northwest by William H. C. Folsom

ASHLAND, BAYFIELD AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES. ASHLAND COUNTY. Ashland was originally a part of Crawford county, afterward of St. Croix and La Pointe, and was set off from the latter March 27, 1860. It is bounded on the north by Lake Superior and Montreal river, on the east by Oneida, on the south by Price and Chippewa, and on the west by Bayfield and Chippewa counties. It includes townships 41 to 47, ranges 1, 2, and 3 east of the fourth principal meridian, and townships 41 to 48 west of the same; the northern towns bordering on Montreal river and Lake Superior are fractional. The group of Apostle islands belongs to this county. The surface is generally level except where broken by the iron and copper ranges in the middle and southern part of the county. The Gogebic range, southeast of Ashland, is especially rich in iron. A railroad along this range connects Ashland with the Michigan roads. The soil is somewhat varied, ranging from sandy loam in the interior, to red clay on the lake shore. The county is drained by Bad, White and Montreal rivers and their tributaries, and the headwaters of the Chippewa. The timber is pine, fir, birch, etc. The Apostle islands, situated in Lake Superior at the mouth of Chequamegon bay, form a fine natural harbor. The group consists of twenty-two islands, the most considerable of which are Madeline, Oatez, Oak, Hemlock, Rice, Basswood, Presque, Bear, Sand, and Michigan. The islands range in area from a very few acres up to 14,804. They are heavily timbered with hardwood, have fertile soil, and are well adapted to farm and garden culture. The largest of these islands is Madeline, situated directly at the entrance to Chequamegon bay, and noted as containing the oldest settlement on the lake. Claude Allouez, a Jesuit missionary, landed at Madeline island Oct. 1, 1665, and erected a bark chapel at the place now known as La Pointe, and commenced instructing the Indians of the Algonquin and Huron tribes. Since that time the island has been held by missionaries and trading companies, with some pretty long intervals of abandonment. In 1800, M. Cadot, a French trader, came to La Pointe, erected fortified dwellings and lived here till his death, in 1837. At the commencement of the present century the American Fur Company made its headquarters on the southern part of the island, and occupied a post there until 1835, when they removed to La Pointe. Rev. Sherman Hall, of the Presbyterian church, established a mission here in 1830. In 1835 Rev. Father Baraga, a Catholic missionary, arrived, and built a church which he occupied until 1841, when he built a better one, which still stands in the inclosure of an ancient burying ground. This church contains a painting said to be over two hundred years old. Some of the graves are quite ancient, and have quaint inscriptions upon their tombstones. One that has often been copied and commented on by tourists is as follows: "ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM BEAULIEAU WHO WAS ACCIDENTALLY SHOT AS A MARK OF AFFECTION BY HIS BROTHER." These islands are becoming a fashionable resort for tourists, and many of them have been utilized as pleasant summer residences. Some of them are occupied by lighthouses of which there are five in all. The islands abound in brown stone, which is being quarried extensively for building purposes. The stone for the Milwaukee court house was taken from the quarries on Basswood island. LA POINTE COUNTY ELECTION.--In 1848 La Pointe county was set off from St. Croix county, and at an election held Nov. 10, 1848, John H. Wells and Leonard Wheeler were elected justices of the peace, and J. F. Hughes was elected clerk of the board of county commissioners. Returns of their election and that of members of the legislature were made to Hudson, county seat of St. Croix county. HON. JOHN W. BELL, born in New York City in 1805, in his eighth year went to Canada with his parents, learned to be a watchmaker, a ship builder and a cooper, and came to La Pointe in 1835, where he has since resided. He carried on the coopering business first, for the American Fur Company, and then for himself established a trading post, became interested in mining stocks, and filled various county offices, having served as county judge and register of deeds a great many years. In later life he was postmaster at La Pointe. He was married in 1837 to Miss Margaret Brahant, in the Catholic chapel, by Bishop Baraga. He died in 1888. ASHLAND Is situated on a plateau of about thirty feet elevation, on the south shore and near the head of Chequamegon bay. The first house, a cabin, was built in 1854. Other cabins were added the same year. In the cabin erected by Mr. Asaph Whittlesey, in the winter of 1854-55, was preached the first sermon in Ashland by Rev. L. H. Wheeler, of the Odanah mission. A post office was established in March, 1855, Mr. Whittlesey, postmaster. The first American child born was the second daughter of Asaph Whittlesey. The name of Ashland was conferred upon the town by Martin Beaser, an ardent admirer of Henry Clay, it being the name of Mr. Clay's homestead. The village and post office was first known as Whittlesey, but on the organization of the county in 1860, the name of Ashland was applied to both. The new town was not destined to immediate and continuous prosperity, and at one time, in 1863, had decreased so much in population that its post office was discontinued for a period of nine years. After that date it entered upon an era of prosperity. Julia Wheeler taught the first school in 1859. The Methodists organized the first Protestant society in 1872. The Catholics commenced a church building in 1873. In 1872 the first newspaper in Ashland, the _Press_, was established by Sam S. and Hank O. Fifield, under whose charge it remained until 1874, when S. S. Fifield bought his brother's interest in the paper and has since published it continuously, and in 1888 established a daily. In 1872 the Wisconsin Central railroad commenced work at the bay, and the outlay for improvements that year amounted to $244,800. The Wisconsin Central railroad built the Hotel Chequamegon in 1877. It is built in the form of an L, 120 feet front and 80 feet deep with 400 feet of veranda, and accommodations for 100 guests. There are numerous other hotels in the city, and several boarding houses receive guests during the summer season. Ashland has vast lumber interests. The Ashland Lumber Company built the first mill, in 1872, which had a capacity of about 15,000,000 feet per annum. The Union mill, built in 1878, has a capacity of about 18,000,000 feet. Mueller & Richie's mill, built in 1881, has a capacity of about 20,000,000 feet. There is also a planing mill belonging to Geo. White. Ashland has become a railroad centre. The Wisconsin Central, St. Paul & Omaha, Milwaukee & Lake Shore and Northern Pacific concentrate a heavy freight for their elevators and lake docks. The largest dock in the world was built in Ashland in 1887. It was built almost expressly for iron ore shipments from Penoka and Gogebic ranges. ASAPH WHITTLESEY selected the site of Ashland in 1854, and in conjunction with George Kilborn built the first dwelling. He was the first postmaster. He was appointed in 1855. He represented Ashland, Burnett, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk, and St. Croix in the Wisconsin assembly in 1860. J. P. T. HASKELL was the second settler in Ashland. He came with his wife, Nov. 2, 1854, but did not long remain. S. S. VAUGHN was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, Sept. 2, 1830. He came with his brother to La Pointe in 1852, and engaged in the fishing and fur trade until 1855, when he returned to Ohio. After taking a course in a commercial college, he returned to Wisconsin in 1856, took a claim of one hundred and sixty acres at Ashland and opened a store at Bayfield. In 1856 he surveyed and platted what is known as Vaughn's addition to Ashland. In 1871 he represented Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, and Polk counties in the Wisconsin assembly. At Ashland he built docks, warehouses and a store, and in later years dealt largely in iron mines and in lumber. He was married to Miss E. Patrick, of Ohio, in 1864. He died at Ashland, February, 1886. He induced the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company to make Ashland their lake terminus. He did more for that city than any other man. EDWIN ELLIS, M.D., was born in Oxford county, Maine; was educated in Farmington Academy, Colby University and Bowdoin College, where he graduated and afterward completed a medical course at the University of New York. He came West in 1854, and located first at St. Paul, but in 1855 removed to Ashland where he made a claim, which, in part, became in 1873 Ellis' addition to Ashland. He practiced his profession at Ashland and Ontonagon, Michigan. He was married in 1850 to Martha B. Baker, of Sharon, Maine. MARTIN BEASER, one of the pre-emptors of the site of Ashland, was born in Erie county, New York, Oct. 22, 1822. For many years he was a seafaring man. He spent seven years in whaling, at the close of which time he came to Ontonagon in a sailing vessel, and thence with three companions in a dog sledge to Ashland, arriving February, 1856. Here he pre-empted land, and assisted in laying out the village. He engaged in the mercantile business. He was drowned in November, 1866, while trying to cross Chequamegon bay in an open boat during a storm. Mr. Beaser was a public spirited man and freely used his wealth in attempting to build up Ashland. He never lost faith in the ultimate prosperity of his adopted home. HON. SAM S. FIFIELD was born in Corinna, Penobscot county, Maine, June 24, 1839. His early days were spent in Bangor, and he had but limited school privileges. He was early thrown upon his own resources and learned lessons in the rough school of life. He spent his time variously, as errand boy, hotel clerk, night watch on a steamboat, toll keeper; but finally, having served a brief apprenticeship in a printing office, he became the proprietor of the _Polk County Press_ in 1862. In 1872 he and his brother Hank O. established the Ashland _Press_, of which he is now sole editor and publisher. Mr. Fifield entered the political arena as a Republican and has been remarkably successful. His record from the Wisconsin blue book is as follows: 1868-69--Assembly proof-reader and assistant sergeant-at-arms. 1871-72--Assembly sergeant-at-arms. 1874-75-76--Member of assembly from Ashland, Barron, Burnett, Douglas, and Polk counties. 1876--Speaker of the assembly. 1877--Member of the senate. 1880-81--Member of the senate. 1882-86--Lieutenant governor. Mr. Fifield was married to Stella Grimes, at Prescott, 1863. Considering the disadvantageous circumstances of his youth, Mr. Fifield's career has been a notable one. BAYFIELD COUNTY. Bayfield county includes townships 43 to 52, except as affected by the irregular outline of its lake boundary on the north, and ranges 5 to