|
DUPONT This town, one of the northern tier, and west of Larrabee, was first settled
in 1857, by O. A. Quimby, it being organized in 1864, with the following
officers: M. Griffin, Chairman; O. A. Quimby, M. Farrell, Supervisors; J. P.
Quimby, Treasurer; O. A. Quimby, Justice. B. Quimby taught the first school in
1859, the first house for educational purposes being built in the next year.
Rev. Silas Miller preached the first sermon in 1859. There is no church building
in the town, G. W. Quimby owned the first store, built in 1866, the first
saw-mill being erected two years later by Dr. J. W. Perry. D. J. Quimby was the
first Postmaster, the office having been established in 1863. From Wisconsin County Histories, Waupaca County Edited by John M. Ware 1917
Transcribed and submitted to the Waupaca County
DUPONT TOWNSHIP
On the 17th of November, 1864, the county board set off township 25, range 13, from the Town of Union, to be a separate political body under the name of Dupont.
Settlement had commenced in 1857, when 0. A. Quimby and family located on the present site of Marion, although J. W. Perry & Son had erected a small sawmill there.
In 1859 L. Devaud and Phoebe A. Quimby were married by Isaac Ames, justice of the peace, and their son, F. M. Devaud, born in the following November, was the first white native of what is now Dupont Township. In the same year the first schoolhouse was built and R. Quimby opened it, while Rev. Silas Miller continued the higher order of things by preaching the first sermon.
In 1862 the settlement which had become known as Perry's Mills was made a station on the mail route from Waupaca to Shawano, and in the following year a regular postoffice was established there, with A. J. Quimby as postmaster. About 1874 the name was changed to Marion. In 1862 0. A. Quimby planted the first apple tree in the township, but raised no apples from it until 1875.
As stated, the year 1864 marks the organization of the town. Its first meeting for the election of officers was held April 1st of that year at the schoolhouse of District No. 1, and the following were chosen: chairman, M. Griffin; supervisors, M. Farrell, O. A. Quimby; clerk, J. C. Quimby; justices of the peace, 0. A. Quimby and M. Griffin. The North Branch of the Pigeon River furnishes Dupont Township with its main source of water supply and natural drainage. Its soil produces crops and forage in abundance, and make the raising of milch cattle and dairying most profitable industries. There are four factories for the manufacture of cheese and butter in the township, their main center being in the Marion neighborhood. The latest figures furnished by the assessor's office show that 2,730 neat cattle were owned by the farmers of Dupont, who valued them at $77,452, or an average of $28.37 per head. Its lands would bring $1,259,780 in the open market, and its entire real and personal property, $1,431,801.
The Town of Dupont makes a fine showing as to its young people. Its population of those between four and twenty, or its school population, numbers 417, and in that regard it is third among the townships of the county; only in Larrabee and Bear Creek are there more residents of school age. Three rural schools, and one graded school, are provided for their education.
Return to township map Return to homepage
|