Kenosha News from Kenosha, Wisconsin • 31

Kenosha's 150th Anniversary Edition April I3S3 7 SOUTHPORT IN NOVEMBER 1842 Kut Bid Of Maii Looklnj) North No I Otis bnilding occupied by Torrey A Co for Move No 9 Office np stair No iq Log school bouse belonging to District No No 11 Small one-story building nsed for office of Erie and Michigan Telegraph Co No is Clement bntldtng No ij Dwelling nod boarding house of Epaphre Seymour No 14 Residence of David Crosit Mo Dwtjllinf bonne of Mrs Parson No a Isaac George's blarknnilth and inn shop No dwelling bouee No 4 Frank' dwelling tumao and office No Sanwl llolmea' rahiart hoi and A Davt mrpenter hop No KnoMa Trlegrapli priming oAec No Goorite Kimball's dwelling bonne Wvst Bide of Mtiin Street LooUir South No Bond's lew Dun'ap building 10 Kimball Scott A rtoft 11 Jared store Durkee building Southport and Grain Warehouse a John end Mark Noble' or Dane's meat in center of Market Square 13 Deacon Whttney'a log house 14 McCoy A House" 15 Dr Daniel Stryker's office end dwelling 16 Dr Wilker's ottee end dwelling Daniel Clarkson's dwelling and tailor ebop No 1 School house of District No 1 9 Dwelling house of Ira Wait 3 House of Samuel Holmes 4 House and tinshop of I Baldwin 9 Ire Wait a-carpenter shop 6 Ebcnexer Pomeroy store 7 Hutchinson Wheeler ft store 5 Store now occupied by Huck Sketched from memory by Hrande 1W0 (Continued tram page I) was first called Pike Creek from 1835 to 1837 afterwards Southport until 1850 and after that Kenosha Churches and temperance The early settlers were not lndif- ferent as to religious educatlonaland moral privileges Through the efforts of Rev Lothrop a school was opened in the winter of 1835 The few families who had located on the prairie back from the lake availed themselves of it and sent their children to this school A little later religious meetings began to be held in private houses Rev Abner Barlow a revolutionary war veteran delivered the first sermon in this part of the country The Inhabitants also during the same period organized a temperance society and nearly the entire adult population signed the pledge Before Southport (Kenosha) had two hundred inhabitants the subject of a village incorporation began to be agitated In the fall of 1838 at a meeting of citizens a committee was appointed to draft a village charter That being done the proposed charter was forwarded to Madison through Hon William Bullen then a resident of Southport and a member of the Territorial Council The act of incorporating the village of Southport was passed Feb 9 1841 with a proviso that it should first be submitted to the legal voters within the limits of the proposed corporation for approval before becoming a law An election was held in March 1841 at which time the question of acceptance of the charter was voted upon and 99 votes were given in favor and six against Asabel Farr 1874 IW Webster 1875 OG King 1876 JV Quarles 1877 Asabel Farr 1878 Asahel Farr 1879 Robinson 1880 AC Sinclair 1881 Williams 1882 Williams 1883 OS Newell 1884 ZG Simmons 1885 ZG Simmons 1886 EL Grant 1887 Fred Stemm 1888' Williams 1889 Williams 1890 JB Kupfer During the years 1842 43 real estate was unsettled in value in this place because a rival town bad been projected at what was then called Pike River one mile to the north Strong Influences were employed to locate the harbor and consequently the town at Pike River Warehouses stores machine shops and dwellings were constructed at that point Harbor site picked In August 1844 Col Abert then US government engineer was' advised to be here and decide on the harbor location It was a day of extreme anxiety since the value of homes would be determined by this decision Senator Durkee waited on Col Abert and handed him a papa which had been prepared by CoL Frank Col Abert having carefully read the paper said: Durkee can this be relied replied Mr Durkee whereupon Col Abert said: the harbor must be located at Great' rejoicing followed this announcement town lota at Southport had suddenly a new value the price of lots at Pike River fell flat and all the buildings that had been erected at that point in a short time disappeared The names of all those who voted on' the question of that election are found registered in the village record On the first Monday in April 1841 the first election for village officers was held The village was divided into two wards dividing it into North and South wards David Crossit Chancey Davis and FS Lovell were elected Trustees In the South ward and Bullen AD Northway and William Seymour Trustees in the North ward The following were the Presidents of the village of Southport in the order of their elections: 1840 Frank: 1841 William Bullen: 1842 John McCoy: 1843 John McCoy 1844 Sereno Fisk: 1845 Sereno Fisk: 1846 Theodore Newell 1847 John McCoy 1848 Michael Holmes 1849 William Strong Kenosha County formed At the session of the Legislature in 1850 the county of Kenosha was set off from Racine County the name of Southport changed to Kenosha and the place was incorporated as a city The first election for city officers was held on the first Monday in April 1850 The following are the names of those who held the office of mayor and the years in which they served: 1850 Frank 1851 DC Gaskell 1852 CC Sholes 1853 CC Sholes 1854 CC Sholes 1855 CC Sholes 1856 Volney Hughes 1857 GH Paul 1858 GH Paul 1859 Asabel Earr 1860 IW Webster 1861 MH Petit 1862 Robinson 1863 Robinson 1864 Asabel Farr 1865 MH Petitt 1866 Dennis Hines 1867 MH Petitt 1868 IW Webster 1889 Robinson 1870 MH Petitt 1871 Asahel Farr 1872 Asabel Farr 1873 Attention to education No county in the state has a better record for early attention to education than Kenosha President Whitford of Milton College and formerly State Superintendent of Schools in his History of Education says that In 1836 there were eight private schools in Wisconsin with an attendance of 75 scholars this gave an average of a little over nine scholars to each school 'The population of Wisconsin was then 9000 In the winter of 1835-36 Miss Laura Malthy collected about a half a dozen pupils and opened a school on the north side of the river within the corporate limits of the present city of Kenosha About the same time of the opening of Miss Mathy's school in Pike Rev Lathrop opened a school in the neighborhood known as Spring Brook In Pleasant Prairie The first school house built in the county was in the fall of 1837 it was constructed of logs hewn on the Inside and was twenty feet square It was located on the comer north of Head bank This building was used not only for school purposes but for religious meetings lyceums caucuses lectures traveling shows courts social gatherings etc About this time or a little later a few small schools were commenced in log cabins in some of the country towns where scholars could be collected from the scattered families in the prairies The first schools established were (ceotinued sa page 11) wttu.