|
CALEDONIA This town, situated south of Mukwa, north of Fremont and west of Outagamie
County, is less than six miles square, a portion of the land having been taken
from it when Fremont was formed. It was organized in 1854, the first officers
being Thomas Gore, Chairman; John Fife and Jacob Whittaker, Supervisors; John
Littlefield, Town Treasurer. James McHugh was the first settler, locating in
1849. He built the first house. In 1854 the first schoolhouse was built, the
first school being taught by Miss Phoebe Littlefield. The first sermon is in the
town was preached by Elder Mitchell, the first church being erected in 1867, by
the Lutheran denomination. Readfield was the first post office, established in
1854, with John Littlefield as Postmaster. The first saw-mill was built in 1870,
by C. Ruggles, he also erecting the first grist-mill in the same year. From Wisconsin County Histories, Waupaca County Edited by John M. Ware 1917
Transcribed and submitted to the Waupaca County
CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP
At the annual meeting of the county board held at Mukwa, on November 15, 1853, township 21, range 14, was separated from the original Town of Mukwa and called Caledonia. It was ordered that the first town meeting should be held at the house of James McHugh, who, in 1849, had made the first settlement in the township on section 24. At the meeting named, held in 1854, Thomas Gore was elected chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and John Fife and Jacob Whitaker, the other members. John Littlefield was chosen town treasurer.
In the same year was built the first schoolhouse in town, the teacher being Miss Phoebe Littlefield (afterward Mrs. Lyman Otis), and the first couple to be married consisted of F. M. Fowler and Sarah J. Littlefield, who were united by Squire A. B. Kinnear on June 22, 1854. In 1854 the first postoffice was established and called Readfield, with John Littlefield as postmaster. It was on the mail route from Menasha to Waupaca. Readfield is still a postoffice.
The first child born in town was a boy of James McHugh, and the first death was that of a boy of John Littlefield, August 25, 1856. The first lawsuit brought in town was entitled Frank Houghton v. Harvey Jewell, in 1854, before Thomas Bishop, justice of the peace. At the formation of the Town of Fremont in 1865, sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31 and 32 were taken from Caledonia and attached to the former; and, even then, Fremont comprised only twenty sections. The first house of worship built in the Town of Caledonia was the Lutheran, completed in 1867, although Elder Mitchell, a Baptist, had preached as early as.1855.
Caledonia stands high in the valuation of its lands, which is placed at $1,315,400; total, real and personal, $1,464,939. The aggregate value of its 1,932 cattle was $58,203, and of its 540 horses $45,725. As to its schools, there were four rural establishments for a school population of 292.
Return to township map Return to homepage
|