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Clintonville At the village election on Wednesday, the excitement ran high. W. H. Stacey was on the "high License" ticket and was defeated by Dr. Finney, "Low License." "High License " Trustees, U P Clinton, W H Cook and Wm Paschen were defeated, also Police Justice W R Hunt and Justice of the Peace Joe Stevens. The ticket elected is as follows: For President-Dr. Jno. Finney. For Trustees-Robert Metzner, P. McGuire, E. Brix, C M Fisher, Chas. Spearbacker. Treasurer – T F Folkman, Clerk-F. M. Guersney. Supervisor-J F Meisner Police Justice – Mike Smith. Justice of the Peace-John Alft Marchal-A.J. Woods. Constable-Chas Hagen A fine little town with a good future Prospect A few days ago the Republican scribe rambled off for the first time, in the northeast corner of the county. To get there by rail over the Central to Medina or to Appleton and then on the Lake Shore and Western back into our own county to New London, Clintonville and Marion, the three important places on the east and north of Waupaca county, is rather circuitous and consumes valuable time and expense. After a visit to the locality above mentioned, and seeing the thrift displayed over there, it is plain to be seen that eventually some way will be devised to reach the county seat by rail. They are talking there about a road to Shawano to connect with the St. Paul Eastern Grand Trunk. Who knows but the Chicago and North Western or St. Paul may yet skip across and through this county and serve as feeder for a vast amount of business in this county. When it does, if Waupaca is wise it will see to it that it crosses here. Now is the time to commence to develop our resources at hand and urge manufactures. But Clintonville is the place we are visiting. The large number of new building having been erected the past year shows the town has been a new impetus given to it and every indication points to a steady advance in the future. The increase of settlements on the farms on every side and especially is the town of Matteson and the better facilities, (thanks to John Morgan) for getting highways and bridges in good shape, bringing the farmer nearer to market has helped Clintonville amazingly. The L. S. & Western railroad is THE one great promoter of ENTERPRISE in this little burg, without it Clintonville would be a lost community. We dropped in the village on that Saturday morning, at the new depot of the L. S. & W. Ry’s. The depot is a good one and the citizens of Clintonville feel that the L. S> & W. appreciate the business at this point in erecting to good a place for accommodation of the traveling public here. Chas. Spearbreaker was on hand with his "free bus to the Ward House" and soon we were at the said hotel, which is kept by Maruc and Frank Madel "Proof of the pudding is in the eating" and after partaking of meals at this hotel and enjoying a good night’s rest, we can recommend the "Ward House" with out fear of contradiction. A look around Clintonville reveals the fact that it grows. Frank Brady owns, edits and runs the Tribune. He is full of push and has increased the circulation of his paper form two to six hundred in the past year and a half. He has an able assistant on "type manipulation" in the person of this "better half". If honest hard work will win, Frank will get there. Clintonville has good churches and schools and her people are progressive and already a better class of buildings are taking the place of the temporary buildings erected at first. The post office block erected by Hon. F. M. Guernsey, the building is two stories high, the lower story containing the post office rooms on the east side, Mr. Guersney is P. M. and Willard Rice, deputy. Over the post office is Mr. Guernsey’s law office which is as fine a law office as there is anywhere. The furniture and book case is in keeping with other things. The west side of the building on the lower floor is the bank recently started by G. W. Jones one of THE busy and enterprising men of Clintonville. Mr. Jones has tried Washington Territory and the far west to his heart’s content and finally concluded that Waupaca County was good enough for him. Since Mr. Jones started the bank it has passed into a stock company with a capital of $15,000 or $20,000. The company it is reported will comprise the following gentlemen: G. W. Jones, R. G. Gibson, J. N. Palmer, G. S. Doty, Robt. Mezner, M. Way, C. Binder, W. H. Oviatt and D. Noble. A bank is what this village has needed for a long time and will help Clintonville’s growth and prosperity. A very fine large Deibold safe was just being placed in the vault when we were there. The vault is well made and has an ornamental iron door. Over the bank is the dental rooms of Dr. C. E. Willoughby is lately from Massachusetts and is a thorough graduate of Dental Surgery. He has a pleasant suite of rooms and his business is increasing steadily. Mr. C. J. Doty who had charge of the Waupaca brick yard last summer erected this block, and take it both in work and design it is a finished building. In manufacturers, W. H. Cook owns the Clintonville Iron Works. Mr. Cook is a fine machinist. We saw a miniature steam engine of his make in Sedgewick’s drug store, it was a beauty Mieklejohn & Hatten own a large stave factory and cut about 10,000 a day. This firm also owns a large stave, and heading factory of Manawa. F. J. Michall and P. V. Lawson run the Grist Mill. This mill is run by water and from the Pigeon River. H. W. Pickard runs a steam saw mill and deals in lumber. In churches, Clintonville has six. The Methodist, Rev. Joseph Anderson, pastor. Congregational, Rev. J. P. Chamberlain, pastor. Lutheran, H. J. Fuhrmann, pastor. Catholic, John Senbert, pastor. German Methodist, Geo. Harm, pastor. Baptist, no pastor at present. The Clintonville Union High School ranks first class, and is doing good work for the village. Jas. E. Abbott, principal. Miss Julia Torry, assistant. Miss Maggie Harrington, Intermediate Department Miss Mary Casey, Primary. There is also a Catholic school located here. Sister M. Gabriel and sister Cecilia are the teachers. In societies the Masons have a good chapter and Blue Lodge. There is also a Grand Army Republic Post in good working order, also a Son’s of Veterans lately started. There is also a Turners society. The school has a library of some 400 volumes, and they have lately held a series of lectures for the purpose of putting in a complete set of encyclopedia Britannica. Mrs. H. G. Lutsey, Miss E. Guernsey and Sister Cecilia are music teachers. M. C. Phillips and Chas. Forward have a very pleasant law office on Main Street. They are both rising young attorneys and have a good run of business. W. H. Oviatt and John Finney are the M.D.’s and surgeons of the village. L. Rohner & Son, manufacture Sash, Doors and Blinds and deal in lumber. Geo. P. Bennett is doing a good business making broom handles. E. Plopper is manufacturer of pumps and wagons. H. H. Thorn, Chas. Uttermark (?), Martin Ferschkete are the village blacksmiths. Among the merchants doing business here are: John F. Meisner & Co., groceries and merchandise. W. H. Stacy, prop., A. P. Knapp, salesman, general merchandise. J. Bents, general merchandise. Bock & Sons, groceries and clothiers. E. Brix, general merchandise. R. Jackson and Theo. Tolkman general merchandise. J. A. Stillman, bakery and confectionery. Henry Winter, hardware. G and Nelson, Uttermark, general hardware dealers. G. S. Doty, flour and feed merchant, occupies two stores and does an immense business. His sons are able assistants. Mr. Doty is a square dealer. F. A. Sedgewick has a fine drug store and does a good business. Mr. Henry G. Lutsey has a jewelry establishment in the same store. Henry was foreman of the Republican office years ago, but was wise in time and took to more of a "gilted go" business. Chas. Gensen also has a drug store. The boot and shoe makers of the village are A. Birkholz, I. M. Gregory, M. Bucholtz, L. Bucholtz, J. Brugger. Albrecht & Humm, meat market, south side. John Asel & Co., meat market on north side. The tailors are represented by Adolph Tersckie(?), William Dittberner, William Blohm. Harness makers; Adolph Schultz, Ed Nemoede. J. Besanson is wheelwright. O. G. Augustine is furniture dealer and undertaker. L. Kuester deals in agricultural machinery. N. A. Burnham, organs and pianos. C. A. Spicer, is the photographic artist and takes good pictures. G. W. Sutherland deals in lumber. Agt. For C. W. Wiley. E. l. Dermote and F. W. Pribnow are carpenters and builders. C. J. Doty is a mason and brick maker. Mrs. L. E. Clinton and Miss E. A. Kuesterer, each have millinery rooms. L D. Merrill is agent M. L. S/ & W. R. R. station and A. R. Fuller is operator. Mr. Jackson is the village barber and he is a good one. In the hurry of looking over the place perhaps some have been omitted; however, one cannot help but be impressed with the good number of people engaged in business and these is evidence of increasing prosperity. __________________________________________ From Wisconsin County Histories, Waupaca County Edited by John M. Ware 1917 Clintonville, a city of about 1,800 people, is the only municipality in the northern part of Waupaca County. Its natural location on the Pigeon River, a large western branch of the Embarrass River, is advantageous and healthful, and early marked the locality as a good lumbering point. That fact induced Norman C. Clinton, its first permanent settler and founder, to make it his home, at the suggestion and upon the advice of Capt. Welcome Hyde, of Bear Creek, a few miles to the south. U. P. Clinton, the son, shared the honors of a founder with his father. The Clintons were from Menasha, and Mrs. Lydia Clinton was worthy of as much prominence as any of them. Merritt Lyon, although he did not locate permanently on the site of Clintonville, threw up a bark hut in 1852, and was therefore the first house-builder. Chester Bennett-that rare character, "Chet "-improved the shack so that it could actually be identified as a hotel, and the Birchards and other settlers came on apace. But the Clintons held the right-of-way, so that when a postoffice was established in 1858, it was named Clintonville, and U. P. Clinton was its first postmaster. Although it was to be nearly a quarter of a century before the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western (now the Ashland division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway) was to reach Clintonville, its permanence was never in doubt-that it, in the minds of those who were first upon the ground and labored sturdily to make a village and a city. THE CLINTONS Another, and a more detailed account of the founders and the founding of Clintonville, is given by Frank H. Brady, then (1895) editor of the Tribune. His statements claim that Urial P. Clinton, the son of Norman C., should have the credit of definitely "discovering" the site of the future city. Quoting Mr. Brady's words: "The first settlement made at Clintonville was in the middle of March, 1855, by Norman and Lydia Clinton, of Menasha. "In 1855 Urial Clinton visited a lumber camp on the Embarrass River and noticed in passing this point the chance for a water power; also the magnificent bodies of timber, excellent soil, springs, of water, etc.; and upon his return to Menasha imparted his discoveries to his father. The land at that time belonged to the Government, and was easy to obtain, and the description so favorably struck the elder Clinton, who was desirous of acquiring more landed possessions and engaging in lumbering, that he and his youngest son Boardman made a pilgrimage to 'The Pigeon,' as this locality was at that time designated. After a thorough cruise along the river, the Clintons were captivated and returned home and consulted with the elder son Urial as to the feasibility of a removal thither, but no definite conclusion was arrived at. However, The Pigeon, with its wealth of pine, was in the mind of the old gentleman by day, and filled his dreams with promises by night. During the absence of Urial the father loaded
The door was a blanket. It was located near the Alexander Bucholtz residence. The spring that bubbles up in the rear of the lot where Madel's saloon now flourishes furnished to the first settlers their strongest beverage. Here they set up their household goods and were happy. The towering pines almost turned day into night; the deer dashed by the cabin unmolested, and the wolves woke the echoes with their mournful music. An occasional Indian, riding over the trail, stopped his pony and grunted as he surveyed these bold intruders who, although nearly three score years of age, were trying to crowd the wild man out and build a home upon his domains. Later, their son Urial learned of the hegira of his parents, and before the sleighing disappeared he hastened to their relief with a couple of loads of lumber and provisions. "No lumbering had yet been done on the Pigeon River. The country was a virgin wilderness, undisturbed by the hand of man, and the early settlers tell us that it was a very pretty locality. The river obtained its name from the fact of its timbered banks being the roosting place for myriads of pigeons. "The first land entered was by land warrant, April 15, 1856. The warrant was obtained from the Government by Rhoda Petree, the widow of one Joshua Whitehurst, who served as a private in Captain Harrison's company of Virginia militia in the War of 1812. The land was the N. E. 1/ of the S. W. 1/ of section 23, township 25 north, range 14 east. Norman Clinton and sons soon acquired title to twenty-nine forties of land lying near here. "Norman Clinton, soon after settlement, built a commodious log house, and by force of circumstances was soon a full-fledged landlord, and it is safe to say that no hotel in Clintonville was ever better patronized or the cause of so little complaint as this. Stopping places in those days were like oases in the desert. Sometimes the caravansary's supply of provisions gave out, and as the nearest store was at New London, and the nearest mill at Weyauwega, or Hortonville, the landlord and land-lady had to resort to curious shifts. On one occasion, after feeding a large crew of explorers and lumbermen, they discovered that all the flour and meal were gone, and still another party arrived clamoring for food. Here was a predicament, surely; but the host was equal to the occasion. An old coffee mill was hunted up, and corn enough ground for Johnnie cake to appease the appetites of the hungry guests. Mr. Clinton was a great bee hunter. After discovering many bee trees along the banks of the little stream that empties into the Pigeon, within the present limits of the city, he called it 'Honey Creek,' by which name it has since been known. From the most authentic facts available, it appears that U. P. Clinton, in company with his father, settled upon the present site of Clintonville in March, 1855. For the following year or more he remained at least a portion of the time-at their old home, Menasha, settling up various business affairs and otherwise preparing to transfer all their interests to the new town. The Clintons acquired title to thirty forties of land adjacent to the water power and soon erected a sawmill, which was burned in a few years, but rebuilt by U. P. Clinton. Much later, in company with W. H. Stacey, he built a grist mill, which was burned, and a new plant erected on the site of the present brick structure. Mr. Clinton opened the first general
The railroad reached the village during the year of its incorporation, and Mr. Clinton donated the land for the first depot, as well as ground for the public school. The railroad reached here in the fall of 1878. At the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Clinton volunteered for service, but was rejected for physical disability; later he was drafted and again rejected for the same reason. He was twice married, his first wife dying in June, 1857, her funeral being the first in the settlement. His second wife lived until December, 1894. During the last years of his life Mr. Clinton resided on the farm owned by his son Phillip, west of town, and his death occurred April 4, 1910. _________________________________________ Questions, suggestions or additions, please email me. Copyright © 2001-20114 Paula
Vaughan
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