From Wisconsin County Histories, Waupaca County Edited by John M. Ware 1917
Transcribed and submitted to the Waupaca County Website 
by Paula Vaughan January 2002

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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
"In the spring of 1855, " says F. M. Hyde in one of his contributions to the Clintonville Tribune, "Norman Clinton, with his family, moved here to what 
is now called the City of Clintonville, building a brush shanty out of hemlock boughs on the bank of Pigeon River near where the Mosling & Penndorf 
store now stands.' Moving here from Menasha, his family consisted of his wife and three sons, U. P. Clinton, Boardman and Norman. At that time
this whole territory was a wilderness, there being only two settlers between here and New London-Welcome Hyde having located on the banks of 
Bear Creek in the spring of 1854, and Jerry Merickle, who had located in Maple Creek a year or two previous."

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 
a sleigh with a little lumber, household goods and provisions, and, in the vernacular of Young America, 'skipped,' accompanied by his faithful wife
and a hired man, the latter to drive the team back to Menasha. The trip through the woods was made without accident, and one Friday afternoon, 
in the middle of March, the party arrived at its destination. There being no habitation here, they went on to Matthew Matteson's, between the 
Pigeon and Embarrass rivers, and stayed there until Monday, when they returned to the site of Clintonville, and constructed a house-such a 
house as ye Clintonvillians who barely manage to exist in substantial buildings with double doors and windows, warmed with coal fires, will shiver 
to think of. This first residence was made of very little lumber and a great deal of hemlock brush, and traditions vary as to whether it contained a 
window or not.

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 
store, in which he served as postmaster, besides lumbering heavily and farming considerably. He served many years as county supervisor, 
was the town's first stable hotel keeper, and was the first president of the village when it organized as such in 1879.

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.

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