Chapter 248: of the laws of 1864, published April 15, 1864, (1)

repealed chapter 215 of the laws of 1863, but provided in
part as follows:

“The state flag to be of the design, plan and material as
adopted by the legislature of this state by joint resolution
No. 44, senate, at the session of 1863, and one of said
flags shall be inscribed with the names of the battles in
which such regiment or battery shall have taken an honorable
part.”

Joint Resolution No. 6, approved March 3, 1863, read as
follows:

“Resolved, that the superintendent of public property be and
he is hereby authorized to purchase two national flags and
two state flags, one each of which he shall place over the
president’s chair in the senate chamber, and one each over
the speaker’s chair in the assembly chamber, where they
shall remain during each session of the legislature.”

I do not find any other laws or resolutions relating to this
flag until the adoption of the revised statutes of 1878,
section 4978 of which provides in part that

“The following acts of the legislature, passed in the
several years hereinafter enumerated, shall be repealed,
that is to say:”

Then follows a table of the laws thus repealed and among
them I find chapter 248 of the laws of 1864. I believe that
this ends the legislation in relation to a state flag and
that the State of Wisconsin no longer has such a flag.

In the pamphlet published by Doctor Thwaites entitled
_Wisconsin’s Emblems and Sobriquet_ he refers to chapter 167
of the laws of Wisconsin of 1907 (section 633m of the
Wisconsin statutes), which provides:

“The organization, armament and discipline of the Wisconsin
national guard shall be the same as that which is now, or
may hereafter be prescribed for the regular and volunteer
armies of the United States.”

He seems to think that the state flag is now as provided in paragraph 222 of the United States army regulations for 1904--the colors to be of silk, five feet, six inches fly, and four feet, four inches on the pike, which shall be nine feet long, including spear head and ferrule. From this article I should assume that he considers that chapter 167 of the laws of 1907 is the law that repealed the prior law providing for a state flag. As will be seen from the references herein given, this law was repealed upon the adoption of the revised statutes of 1878.

This may not be of any particular importance, except that as a matter of historical accuracy, it should be noted that Wisconsin, in fact, did for several years have a State Flag.

Very truly yours,
WINFIELD W. GILMAN.
Madison, October 24, 1917.

[127] See WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY for December, 1917,
196.

SURVEY OF HISTORICAL ACTIVITIES

THE SOCIETY AND THE STATE

During the quarter ending December 31, 1917, five new life and twenty-four annual members were added to the State Historical Society. The new life members are: Henry F. De Puy, of New York City; Walter S. Lacher, of La Grange, Illinois; Thomas E. Lyons, of Madison; Chester H. Thordarson, of Chicago; and J. Russell Wheeler, of Columbus, Wisconsin. The list of new annual members is as follows: Rev. A. S. Badger, Waukesha; George Banta, Menasha; George Banta, Jr., Menasha; Dr. Robert C. Brown, Milwaukee; Arthur J. Dopp, Waukesha; Emerson Ela, Madison; Judge Oscar M. Fritz, Milwaukee; Professor J. L. Gillen, Madison; L. H. Gingles, Waukesha; George Bird Grinnell, New York City; William G. Hanson, Milwaukee; George C. Holmes, Madison; John T. Kenney, Madison; Professor A. C. Kingsford, Baraboo; Gilbert L. Lacher, Chicago; Judge David W. Maloney, Ladysmith; Dean Lois K. Mathews, Madison; Carl E. Nord, Sioux City; Cyril A. Peerenboom, Appleton; A. L. Saltzstein, Milwaukee; Judge James E. Thomas, Waukesha; Frank J. Wilder, Boston; Edwin E. Witte, Madison; and Henry M. Youmans, Waukesha.

Dr. James W. Vance of Madison died October 31, 1917. Dr. Vance had been a member of the State Historical Society for thirty years. Mr. Walter P. Bishop, vice president of the E. P. Bacon Company of Milwaukee and since 1909 a member of the State Historical Society, died October 10, 1917. Mr. Michael A. Hurley of Wausau, a member of the Society since 1906, died September 25, 1917. Mr. Archie E. Wood, of Whitehall, died October 8, 1917.

Rev. Eugene G. Updike, of Madison, whose completion of a twenty-seven-year pastorate of the First Congregational Church was noted in a recent number of this magazine, died at the Madison General Hospital December 24, 1917. Dr. Updike was a life member of the State Historical Society, and throughout his long pastorate at Madison had taken an active part in civic and educational affairs generally.

Hon. Thomas E. Nash, of Grand Rapids, for sixteen years a life member of the State Historical Society, died at his home December 13, 1917. Mr. Nash was brought to Wisconsin in infancy by his parents. He had been engaged in railroad work for many years when in 1882 he was appointed by Postmaster General Vilas chief clerk of the post office department and the following year general superintendent of the railway mail service. In 1888 Mr. Nash organized the Nekoosa Pulp and Paper Company with which he continued to be prominently associated until ill health forced his retirement from active work a few years ago.

Volume XXIV of the Society’s _Collections_, entitled _Frontier Retreat on the Upper Ohio, 1779-1781_, copy for which was sent to the state printer in December, 1916, at length came from the press in December, 1917, and was distributed the first of the year to the Society’s members and exchanges. The reading of galley proof on Volume XXV of the _Collections_ was completed early in December. The contents of this volume, entitled _An English Settler in Pioneer Wisconsin: the Letters of Edwin Bottomley, 1842-1850_, differ markedly from those of any preceding volume of the _Collections_. The papers printed present a rarely intimate picture of the life and problems of the pioneer Wisconsin farmer and constitute, it is believed, a valuable contribution of source material to the history of the territorial period of Wisconsin’s development.

With the establishment of the WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY it is no longer necessary, as it has been for upwards of a generation, to print historical contributions and discussions in the annual volume known as the _Proceedings_ of the Society. Shorn of this supplementary historical matter, the official report of the activities of the Society and its auxiliaries for 1917 shrinks to a document of less than 100 pages. Copy for this was sent to the state printer in January. Should the MAGAZINE prove, on sufficient trial, to justify the continuance of its existence, the scope and character of the contents of the _Proceedings_ for 1917 will set the standard, presumably, for the issues of succeeding years.

A brief statement concerning four important editorial enterprises now being prosecuted may be in order. Work on the series of volumes designed to constitute a documentary history of Wisconsin’s constitution, which has been prosecuted intermittently by the Superintendent for the past two years, has now reached a stage where it seems likely that copy for one volume can be sent to the printer before the close of the Society’s present fiscal year. Probably four volumes will be requisite to complete the series. After the editing of the first one shall have been completed, the remaining ones may be expected to follow in fairly rapid order. Work on the second volume of the Draper Calendar series, mention of which was made in the MAGAZINE for September, 1917, has progressed haltingly, due to the war-time disruption of the office staff. It now seems safe to predict that the copy will be ready for the printer by the end of the month. The other enterprises alluded to were both initiated in the autumn of 1917. Dr. Kellogg began work at that time on the preparation of a volume of source material pertaining to the Indian treaties and land cessions which are of more particular interest to Wisconsin. This project has long been in mind, but its execution was necessarily deferred until the search for documents in the Indian Office Files, begun three years ago, should be completed. Dr. Oliver began in September the editing of a volume of source material in the Society’s manuscript collection pertaining to Wisconsin’s activities in the Civil War. With this volume will be initiated a Civil War series of the _Collections_ which will in time, it is hoped, run to many volumes.

A note may be inserted here concerning three items of lesser scope and importance than the foregoing, all of them bibliographical in character. A trenchant and thoroughgoing report on the state archives situation in Wisconsin, prepared for the Society by Mr. Theodore Blegen in the summer of 1917, was sent to the printer early in the winter. Copy for a supplementary checklist of the collection of newspapers in the Historical Library to list the accessions from the time of publication in 1911 of the Society’s monumental _Annotated Catalogue of Newspaper Files_ down to January 1, 1918, has been under preparation for more than a year. It has at length been sent to the printer, and will appear in due time as one of the Society’s _Bulletins of Information_. Taken in conjunction with the _Annotated Catalogue_, this bulletin will afford a complete index to the Society’s splendid collection of newspapers, the second largest, it is believed, in America. It is hoped that in the future, annual supplements of the previous year’s accumulations may be issued in connection with the annual checklist of _Periodicals and Newspapers Currently Received_ by the Library. In February, 1917, the Society began the publication of a monthly _Checklist of Wisconsin Public Documents_ the contents of each number pertaining to the state documents issued during the preceding month. This publication has proved of much usefulness, apparently, and is in widespread demand by librarians, students of the social sciences, and governmental departments. A cumulative checklist of all state documents issued during the year 1917 has been prepared and will be issued as soon as practicable.

The project for the initial volume of the Society’s Hollister Pharmaceutical Series, made possible by the bequest of the late Colonel and Mrs. Hollister of Madison, has at length assumed definite and, it is believed, interesting form. According to the original plan, Dr. Edward Kremers of the University Pharmacy Department undertook to translate and edit for the Society Pierre Jartu’s notable treatise on the ginseng plant. In the course of the work this project has gradually enlarged until now, with the coöperation of Dr. Richtmann, it is proposed to prepare a comprehensive treatise of the several aspects, pharmaceutical, commercial, and otherwise, of the history of ginseng. Such a volume should worthily initiate this unique scientific series for which the Society has long been planning.

Colonel John Hicks of Oshkosh, publisher of the _Daily Northwestern_ and one of the best known newspaper men in Wisconsin, died suddenly at San Antonio, Texas, December 20, 1917. Colonel Hicks was much interested in Wisconsin history, in the making of which he had been for fifty years an active participant. At the time of his death, he was engaged in writing his reminiscences for publication in the _Northwestern_, and within a few days of his demise had taken up with the State Historical Society the question of possible publication by it of his reminiscences in book form. As a result of Colonel Hick’s public beneficence, statues of Chief Oshkosh and of Carl Schurz adorn his home city, while in several of the public schools are bronze busts of prominent Americans for whom the buildings are severally named.

Mr. William H. Ellsworth of Milwaukee, one of Wisconsin’s best known archeological collectors, died November 6, 1917. At the time of his death Mr. Ellsworth was vice president of the Wisconsin Archeological Society. To the work of that institution he had devoted a large part of his time and means. Valuable archeological collections made by him are found in the museums of Beloit College, in the Minnesota Historical Society, and in the Milwaukee Public Museum.

John F. Appleby, inventor of the Appleby twine binder, died at his home in Chicago, November 8, 1917. Mr. Appleby was one of the notable Wisconsin inventors who have contributed materially to the scientific and economic development of the country. During the decade of the fifties, when the great West was unfolding its agricultural riches, the farmers suddenly realized that the only limitation upon the amount of their wheat acreage was their ability to harvest the crop. The McCormick reaper had already made its appearance, but it served only to cut the grain, leaving it lying loose upon the ground to be bound by hand. Some device for holding the grain and binding it into sheaves was essential before the wheat acreage of the West could be materially increased. After years of experimentation in a little shop in Beloit, Appleby announced the construction of a mechanical twine binder. The original model of his invention, which is substantially identical with the device now in use on scores of thousands of farms in America and abroad, may be seen in the museum of the State Historical Society at Madison.

Mr. Christian Abrahamson, of Chicago, has recently painted a portrait of former Supreme Court Judge J. E. Dodge, of Milwaukee, for presentation to the State Historical Society. A replica of the portrait has also been prepared for the Supreme Court room in the Capitol.

Mr. C. E. Freeman, of Menomonie, Wisconsin, has presented to the Society an interesting document pertaining to the railroad farm-mortgage projects of the fifties in Wisconsin. Readers of Mr. Merk’s _Economic History of Wisconsin During the Civil War Decade_, published by the Society last year, need not be told how important was the rôle played by the railroad farm mortgage in the economic and political annals of early Wisconsin. The document presented by Mr. Freeman is a contract between the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad and a farmer, whereby the railroad company agrees to cancel the interest on the individual’s farm mortgage in return for the relinquishment by the latter of his prospective dividends on his railroad stock. This was a central feature of the farm mortgage scheme, yet at the time of writing his _Economic History_, Mr. Merk was unable to uncover any direct documentary evidence concerning it. This hiatus in the Society’s collection of historical material pertaining to the subject of railroad farm mortgages is now filled by the gift of Mr. Freeman.

A fine bronze bas relief of Mary Elizabeth Mears, better known, perhaps, by her pen name, Nellie Wildwood, has been received by the Society from her daughter in New York. The bas relief is the work of another daughter of Mrs. Mears, Helen Farnsworth Mears, who was for many years prior to her death in 1916 one of Wisconsin’s most notable artists. The “Recollections” of Mrs. Mears were published in the _Proceedings_ of the Society for 1916. The Madison Art Association has secured for hanging in the State Historical Museum a copy of Miss Mears’s Augustus St. Gaudens.

Colonel Michael Frank, “father of the free public school system of Wisconsin,” was born in New York in 1804 and died in Kenosha in 1895. He came to Southport (now Kenosha) to reside in October, 1839. Three months later, on January 1, 1840, he began keeping a diary. Upon its conclusion, December 31, 1890, this work had continued half a century and filled thirty-nine bound manuscript volumes. Throughout this half-century Colonel Frank figured as one of the prominently useful citizens of the territory and state. His voluminous diary has now come to the State Historical Society from its possessor, Mr. F. H. Lyman, of Kenosha, an old neighbor and friend of Colonel Frank. The diary is well preserved and written in an excellent hand. Although only a cursory examination has as yet been made of its contents, it seems evident that the work will prove a valuable aid to students interested in this period of Wisconsin’s history.

A collection of papers of Governor Nelson Dewey, consisting principally of a business account book and several annual volumes of his diary, has been presented to the Society by Mr. R. A. Watkins of Lancaster. The diary of Governor Dewey seems to have been widely scattered. Some volumes of it have long been in the Historical Library, and several more are in the possession of a resident of Cassville.

Several interesting additions of noncurrent newspaper files were made to the Library during the quarter ending December 31, 1917. Most interesting locally, perhaps, is a file of _Lucifer_, 1884-98, in fifteen bound volumes. Publication of _Lucifer_ was begun at Madison in 1882; later it was continued at Milwaukee until the demise of the paper in 1898. Published in German, it was the organ of the Turner societies, and manifested a liberal and anti-Catholic viewpoint. To the Society’s slowly-growing file of photostatic copies of the _Boston News Letter_ all known existing issues for the years 1726-29, inclusive, were acquired during the quarter. Other files of Massachusetts papers acquired are the Newburyport _Evening Union_ (daily), January 1-September 18, 1851, and _Russell’s Gazette_ (Boston, semi-weekly), January-July, 1800. Finally, two Ohio papers were added: the Cleveland _Recorder_, 1896-97, and July-December, 1899, in four volumes, and the Cincinnati _Graphic_, August, 1885-November, 1886, in two volumes.

From Captain George Jackson of Chicago the Society has received a rare volume possessed of much sentimental interest. It is “Dr. Mort. Luther’s _Lesser Catechism_,” published in New York in 1842. But one other copy of the book is known to be in existence and this is in private hands. The _Lesser Catechism_ was the first book in the Norwegian language to be printed in America.

A scrapbook filled with clippings concerning the Kansas troubles and the Civil War has been presented to the State Historical Society by Louis W. Bridgman, son of Edward Bridgman, who died in Madison in August, 1915. Mr. Bridgman migrated to “Bleeding Kansas” from Massachusetts in the spring of 1856. Staking out a claim near Osawatomie, he soon took up living quarters with the brother of Susan B. Anthony, who was also a Massachusetts crusader in the cause of freedom. To their cabin one evening late in August, 1856, came John Brown with his band of tired followers. Here they spent the night and were having breakfast the next morning, when news arrived of the impending attack upon Osawatomie by a large band of proslavery Missourians. Leaving the unfinished meal, Brown and his men started to meet the invaders. Bridgman and Anthony followed as soon as they could pull their cooking utensils from the open fire. Thus Bridgman participated in Osawatomie, John Brown’s most notable battle, and lived to become probably the last survivor of Brown’s band of followers on that day.

A few years later, having returned to Massachusetts, he enlisted in the Thirty-seventh Infantry in which he served during the Civil War. A school teacher by profession, he wrote frequent letters to the press, both during his Civil War career and in later years, describing his experiences, and retailing his recollections. The scrapbook now presented by his son, and largely made up of such clippings, constitutes a valuable contribution to the Society’s collection of Civil War material.

The September number of the MAGAZINE contained an account of the gift to the state of Perrot State Park, including in its limits Trempealeau Mountain and the site of Perrot’s “fort” or wintering place of 1689. It is gratifying to be able to record the gift at Christmas time of another splendid park site to the state. Mr. Martin Pattison of Superior is the donor whose enlightened generosity makes possible the preservation for public use and enjoyment of the Manitou Falls of Black River, some fifteen miles out of Superior. Mr. Pattison has been quietly at work for several years securing the title to some 600 acres of woodland around the falls, “Douglas County’s most cherished beauty spot,” in order to make this public disposition of it. Thus another bit of historic Wisconsin scenery gives promise of being permanently preserved in its virgin state for the enjoyment of future generations of Wisconsin citizens.

During the holiday season the State Historical Museum had on exhibit a small Christmas tree, decorated with patriotic emblems of all the allied countries. Diminutive flags representing the national colors, Red Cross flags, food conservation buttons, a miniature Red Cross service flag, tiny bundles of liberty bonds, diminutive airplanes, and machine guns were all displayed. Small gilt discs, representing each of the camps in which Wisconsin boys are training, were also displayed. All of the decorations were arranged so as to embody the red, white, and blue color scheme.

Mr. Charles E. Graves, formerly exchange librarian of the University of Illinois, became librarian of the Minnesota Historical Society at St. Paul, November 1, 1917.

During the closing months of 1917 the Minnesota Historical Society moved into its splendid new home which has been in the process of erection during the last two years. As the historical development of Wisconsin and of Minnesota has much in common, it is but natural that the relations between the historical societies of the two states should be cordial and intimate. That the further career of the Minnesota Historical Society shall be such that before many years the new home will prove to be as inadequate as the old one has long been, is the best wish we, in behalf of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, can extend to it at this season of congratulation.

The Michigan Historical Commission is actively engaged in a campaign to save the important state documents and archives of the commonwealth. Recently the original copy of the first Michigan constitution (1835) was found in the state capitol hidden away in an old tin can, where it had been placed many years ago. The ends of the document were so badly mutilated that the names of some of the signers could no longer be read. Appropriate treatment to insure against further deterioration of this priceless manuscript was applied, and it is now suitably housed in the capitol building. The preliminary step looking to the establishment of an archival department for Michigan has already been taken by the historical commission. Messrs. F. B. Streeter and J. H. Russell have been engaged to collect, arrange, and classify the archives of the state, and have already entered upon this important work.

SOME WISCONSIN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS AUGUST-DECEMBER, 1917

In a bulletin published by the Wisconsin Highway Commission in September, 1917, on the state trunk highway law, the announcement is made that there is available from the federal government $128,361.07. During the next four years it is estimated there will be a total of $1,925,416.05 available for road construction in Wisconsin. The federal law provides that a state, in order to receive this appropriation, must set aside each year an amount at least equal to that provided by the national government. The money thus derived may be expended upon any public road over which the United States mails are now or may hereafter be transported. The State Highway Commission predicts that by the close of the year 1918 Wisconsin will have a system of travelable roads connecting all county seats and all the principal centers of population in the state. Wisconsin is already one of the leading good-roads states in the country; under the operation of the new law this position of leadership should easily be retained.

The _Biennial Report_ of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, issued in September, 1917, indicates that the two years just closed have been the most fruitful and active in the entire history of public education in Wisconsin. The state educational staff has been increased by the addition of a supervisor of manual training, a supervisor of tests and measurements, an editorial and statistical secretary, and an additional supervisor of city and village grades. The report is particularly valuable in that it includes not only a compilation of all the data dealing with the public schools, but also a system of graphs, diagrams, and charts which set forth in striking manner the educational facts of the state. By these illustrations the reader is able to see on a single page all the facts relating to any one phase of education.

A most suggestive pamphlet entitled _Illiteracy and Americanization_, prepared by Amy Bronsky, was issued from the office of the state superintendent of public instruction in October, 1917. The vital importance of educating and Americanizing every person within our borders is well set forth. According to the census of 1910, Wisconsin had 57,769 illiterates over ten years of age, and 120,665 non-English speaking residents over ten years of age. Miss Bronsky adds that, notwithstanding the efforts made to reduce this number, it is probable that it has been growing larger rather than smaller since the year 1910. Wisconsin’s percentage of illiteracy (3.2) is lower than that of the country at large, but not so low as in two of our neighboring states, Minnesota (3) and Iowa (1.7). By the establishment of the continuation schools, night sessions, reading circles, and other allied agencies, it is believed that the next decade will show a considerable decrease in the percentage of illiteracy.

The _Proceedings_ of the Wisconsin State Conference of Charities and Corrections for 1916 deal almost exclusively with the one problem of feeble-mindedness. Never before has the importance of this subject been brought so strikingly to the attention of the social workers of Wisconsin. The first report ever submitted dealing with these unfortunates in our midst was made at this conference. It reveals the fact, surprising to most people, that there are over 13,000 of them in the state. Of this number only 5,000 can be accommodated in the institutions that are now provided. The imperative need of securing additional facilities for their care and instruction was the chief problem dealt with by the conference.

The 1917 _Annual Report_ of the State Horticultural Society shows that field work is now being conducted at eleven different points throughout the state. At Polar, Maple, Whitehall, Manitowoc, Sparta, Baraboo, Holcombe, Pewaukee, Gays Mills, Lake Geneva, and Weston experiments are under way. The supervision of trial orchards at the stations constitutes the major part of the society’s activities, and absorbs the larger portion of its funds. The trial orchard at Gays Mills is regarded as the best of its age in the state.

That the reading-circle movement has made great progress in Wisconsin during the last two years is shown by the report issued for 1917-1918, which reveals an increase of over 175 per cent in the number of persons who are doing work under the auspices of this organization. An increase of more than 300 per cent in the number of boys and girls reading under the direction of the Young People’s Circles is reported. Upwards of 2,500 teachers and more than 24,000 pupils did the required reading in their respective circles during the last school year. Fifty-four counties took part in the Young People’s Reading Circle, and fifty in the Teachers’ Circle. Of the cities that have taken the lead in the number of members enrolled in the Young People’s Circle, Janesville heads the list with 507. Marinette County leads in the number of seals and diplomas granted to teachers with a total of 158.

That the town mutual fire insurance companies in Wisconsin experienced their usual increase in business during the last year is seen from their _Forty-eighth Annual Report_ issued in 1917. The insurance in force at the close of the business year in December, 1916, was $28,943,362 more than at the close of the preceding year. Practically the entire agricultural interests of the state are protected by some one of these mutual companies. The prediction is made that the territory will remain about the same in the future as at the present. The only change in business to be looked for will be the gradual increase in the value of rural property and improved conditions making for increased insurance. Only one new company has entered the field--the North Wisconsin Finnish Farmers of Marengo.

The December (1917) number of the _Wisconsin Library Bulletin_ presents what is practically a first report of the work done in this state in raising funds for camp libraries. Wisconsin’s contribution to the million dollar fund was approximately $41,000. Since our quota, according to the basis of population, was slightly over $25,000, it will be seen that the state not only did her share but greatly exceeded it.

The _Wisconsin State Board of Health Bulletin_ for September, 1917, reports that during the preceding three months 6,230 deaths occurred in the state. This corresponds to an annual death rate of 9.9 a thousand of the population. This record shows a decline of 422 in the total number of deaths when compared to the report for the same three months in 1916. It is interesting to note that during the three months covered by this report--July, August, and September--the death rate in the northern part of the state was only 8.6 a thousand, in the central counties, 10 a thousand, and in the southern counties, 10.4 a thousand.

The _Proceedings_ of the Fifty-first Annual Encampment of the Department of Wisconsin Grand Army of the Republic, 1917, shows that at the beginning of the year there were only 4,247 surviving members left. The highest membership ever reached by the Wisconsin organization was in 1899 when there were 13,944 enrolled. Death claimed 420 of the veterans during the year from December 31, 1915, to December 31, 1916.

The _Opinions of the Attorney-General of Wisconsin_ issued for October, 1917, shows that his advice was sought upon thirty-seven different questions. The uncertainties attending the statutes relating to the construction of bridges and highways brought forth the largest number of inquiries. The duties of public officers, particularly county officials, and the interpretation of the fish and game laws also required a large number of opinions to be handed down at that time of the year.

The _Consolidated Annual Reports_ of the Wisconsin Dairyman’s Association for the annual meetings of 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916 was issued in July, 1917. The report shows that since the organization of the association in 1872, the dairy products of the state have increased from $1,000,000 to over $120,000,000. Wisconsin now stands first among the states both in the value of dairy products and in the number of dairy cows. In July, 1917, there were 81 cow-testing associations. The total membership was 2,417, while the number of cows under test exceeded 38,000. The average cow in Wisconsin produces 175 pounds of fat a year, although there was one herd reported where the average reached 564 pounds of fat.

_Fuel Conservation by the Economical Combustion of Soft Coal_ by Gustus Ludwig Larson is the title of Bulletin No. 888 of the University of Wisconsin issued in December, 1917. The author declares that many plants waste through unscientific firing and inadequate equipment as much as fifty per cent of the coal they buy. The criminal waste in the burning of coal in which many firemen engage is regarded as the most serious problem facing our people during the winter season. The question of proper combustion, both in the firing power plants and in domestic heating, and a discussion of the different devices for burning soft coal without smoke are set forth in a practical manner by Professor Larson. A table showing the characteristic analyses of soft coal available to Wisconsin buyers is included in the bulletin.

SOME PUBLICATIONS

Professor F. A. Ogg of the University of Wisconsin, and a member of the State Historical Society, is the author of a new volume entitled _National Progress, 1907 to 1917_. All students of American history are familiar with the monumental coöperative history of our country edited by Professor Hart of Harvard, entitled _The American Nation_. This work in twenty-seven volumes was completed in 1907. Professor Ogg’s new book is designed to bring the work down to date by covering the history of the nation for the decade ending with 1917.

The recent volume by Dr. Kellogg, Research Associate in the State Historical Society, entitled _Early Narratives of the Northwest 1634-1699_, is reviewed in the _American Historical Review_ in part as follows:

“If the early history of Wisconsin and neighboring regions
is not adequately accessible to future generations, it will
be through no fault of a group of zealous and competent
students who, perhaps inspired by the examples of Draper,
the collector, and Thwaites, editor and collector, continue
the work in true historical spirit and scientific method. If
Wisconsin is fortunate in her students, she is also
abundantly rich in material for study. * * * For all of the
journals Miss Kellogg’s abundant annotation is helpful. We
wish she had added one more note, explaining Raddison’s
wonderful word _auxotacicae_ (p. 65). The clearly-penned
introduction to each narrative not merely summarizes it, but
informs the student of what printing it has already had,
either in French or English, and makes plain the editor’s
choice of text. Not the least interesting feature of the
work is a facsimile of a contemporary map drawn to
illustrate Marquette’s discoveries, here reproduced from the
original in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. A portion of
Franquelin’s map of 1688 is also given. Few typographical
slips are noted; even La Salle (Cavelier), recorded in more
than one work as ‘Chevalier,’ gets through safely here, with
but one transformation into ‘Cavalier’ (p. 164).

“The volume as a whole bespeaks scholarly care and regard
for the needs of a large class of students to whom rare
volumes or obscure texts may not be available; and admirably
presents the essential original material of the first
half-century and more, from the first known advent of the
white man in the _pays d’en haut_.”

_Wisconsin’s Social Democracy_ is a forty-six page pamphlet by Hon. Frederick W. von Cotzhausen, of Milwaukee, printed in advance from a projected volume containing the author’s “Historic Reminiscences and Reflections.” The pamphlet now issued consists of three parts written respectively in 1906, 1914, and 1917, and aims at “Sketching a few Episodes” in the history of Socialism in Wisconsin “which may be of future historical interest and of which I may speak from personal observation.” The tone and sentiments of the author are strongly antisocialistic in character.

_Henry Baird Favill, A.B., M.D., LL.D., 1860-1916_, is the title of a memorial volume, privately printed, to this noted son of Wisconsin. Wisconsin has produced many great physicians but of them all none has achieved worthier fame than did Doctor Favill. Born in Madison in 1860, the capital city continued to be his home until 1894. He then removed to Chicago where in a few years he gained recognition not only as one of the city’s leading physicians but also as one of the most industrious civic workers and useful citizens. The memorial volume, compiled by his son, contains two parts: one devoted to tributes and resolutions, the other to addresses and papers by Doctor Favill. The wide range of topics covered by the latter and the charm of style and breadth of vision manifested in their treatment afford a glimpse, at least, of the intellectual and human greatness of their author.

To the La Crosse _Tribune_ for November 4, 1917, E. S. Hebberd contributes a proposal that the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Cadwalader C. Washburn, which occurs in 1918, be observed in fitting manner. The Washburn family is remarkable for the ability and the public careers of its members. All of the seven brothers achieved distinction. Four were members of Congress, each representing a different state. Two were governors of their respective states, and two, including one of the congressmen, were ministers of the United States to foreign countries. Wisconsin owes a debt of gratitude to C. C. Washburn, and it would seem fitting that appropriate recognition should be made of the centennial of his birth.

_The Wisconsin Archeologist_ for July, 1917, has as its leading article a survey of Lake Shawano and the Wolf River, by George R. Fox and H. O. Younger. As a water route the Wolf River was long used by the American Trading Company in reaching its trading stations in northern Wisconsin. The survey here presented constitutes a valuable historical and archeological discussion of this region. The October number is chiefly devoted to a survey of Chetek and Rice lakes written by Charles E. Brown and Robert Becker.

Charles A. Eastman’s _From the Deep Woods to Civilization_, published by Little, Brown and Company, is a fascinating volume. The author, a full-blooded Sioux, began life as a barbarian of the plains, his family having fled to Canada after the Sioux outbreak of 1862 in Minnesota. The present volume tells the story of his life from the time when his father determined to dedicate him to a civilized career. It is interesting to note that from an enthusiastic believer in the superiority of civilized life as compared with savagery, the author has come gradually to doubt the correctness of his earlier view. Apparently the present world cataclysm, which has swept many another thinker from his accustomed moorings, has had some influence upon Mr. Eastman’s views concerning the respective merits of the civilized and the savage states. Wisconsin readers of the book will take special interest in the chapter “College Life in the West,” describing the author’s experiences at Beloit College, to which place the young neophyte in the arts of the paleface turned on leaving the Santee Agency Mission School.

_Methodist Heroes of Other Days_ by Samuel Gardiner Ayer has been issued by the Methodist Book Concern. It is a slight volume containing some thirty-six short appreciative sketches of as many “heroes” of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. Wisconsin readers will be particularly interested in the short account of “Alfred Brunson, the Soldier Preacher,” one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal church in Wisconsin. Readers of the MAGAZINE will be interested still further, perhaps, to learn that a daughter of Reverend Brunson is at the present time engaged in writing a biography of her father for the State Historical Society.

The December, 1917, number of the _Mississippi Valley Historical Review_ maintains the high standard of excellence which readers have been led, by the character of previous numbers, to expect in this periodical. The three leading articles are: “Howell Cobb and the Crisis of 1850,” by R. P. Brooks; “A Larger View of the Yellowstone Expedition, 1819-1820,” by Cardinal Goodwin; and “The Beginnings of British West Florida,” by C. E. Carter. Dan E. Clark contributes the annual review of historical activities in the trans-Mississippi Northwest, and to complete the number are departments devoted to “Notes and Documents,” “Book Reviews,” and “Notes and Comments.”

Announcement has recently been made of the resignation of Clarence W. Alvord as managing editor of the _Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, in which capacity he has acted since the founding of the magazine in 1914. The _Review_, largely because of the efforts of Mr. Alvord, now ranks among the best of American historical publications. Its readers will greatly regret Mr. Alvord’s resignation.

The leading article in the October, 1917, issue of the _Iowa Journal of History and Politics_, describes the Iowa war loan of 1861. By reason in part of a doubtful provision in the state constitution, in part of the concerted efforts of the southern sympathizers living in Iowa, the state administration encountered greater difficulty in floating a war loan than was the case in any other northern state. Through the columns of the distant _New York Herald_ the enemies of the loan conducted their campaign to defeat it. The manner in which Governor Kirkwood and his assistants overbore the opposition and saved the reputation of the state is vividly described.

The life of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa’s war governor, by D. E. Clark, has been issued as one of the Biographical Series of the Iowa Historical Society. The study of Governor Kirkwood’s life takes the reader into the history of three commonwealths, but it is with the development of Iowa that his name is inseparably associated. As Civil War governor, United States senator, and secretary of the interior under Garfield, his name is perhaps more widely known than that of any other person in Iowa history. In preparing the biography, Mr. Clark had access to seven _Civil War Letter Books_ and three letter books for the period when Kirkwood was secretary of the interior. Use was also made of a large collection of letters, covering the period from 1850-1890. From these sources the author has given us a sketch of Iowa’s noted war governor which is both timely and valuable.

In a two-volume work on _Burrows of Michigan and the Republican Party_ published by Longman, Green and Company, 1917, William Dana Orcott has presented a detailed career of one of Michigan’s most famous men. As lawyer, college professor, military hero, and United States senator, Burrows gained an acquaintance that was nation wide. In ability he ranked with Blaine, Garfield, Reed, and McKinley; and had he not been so blindly devoted to the partisan principles which he represented, in all probability he would have occupied a higher office.

The _Michigan Historical Magazine_ for October, 1917, contains an interesting group of Civil War letters written by Hon. Washington Gardiner while serving as a volunteer in 1863-64. The letters were all written from the front, and depict the conditions observed by this youthful soldier of sixteen years.

Those who enjoy reading a frontier narrative will welcome a little volume recently published, entitled _A Soldier Doctor of our Army: James P. Kimball_. The book was written by Maria B. Kimball, wife of Dr. Kimball, and is published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. Dr. Kimball served in the Civil War and later for a number of years at Fort Buford and other places on the western frontier. He was an intimate friend of General Custer, by whom he was chosen to act as the chief medical officer on the campaign which ended in Custer’s death in 1876. But for his inability to meet the appointment, his career would doubtless have terminated at the same time as Custer’s in the disaster which overwhelmed his army.

_The Myth Wawataw_ is the subject of a brief dissertation, beautifully printed, by H. Bedford Jones of Santa Barbara, on the unreliability of Alexander Henry’s account of the events in the Northwest connected with Pontiac’s war. A brief discussion is also included in the booklet on the historical remains at old Michilimackinac.

The October, 1917, number of the _Ohio Archeological Historical Quarterly_ has an article on Muskingum River pilots by Irven Travis which many of our members would take pleasure in reading. The palmy days of small river transportation have long since become a part of history, and any information bearing upon the part they played in our social and economic development is treasured by all students of pioneer days.

Two articles comprise the contents of the _Indiana Magazine of History_ for September, 1917. The first, “Lincoln in Indiana,” is the first installment of an interesting and suggestive account of the obscure period in the great Emancipator’s life of which it treats. The second article is the concluding section of a history of the origin and rise of the Republican Party in Indiana from 1854 to 1860.

A history of _Western Influences on Political Parties to 1825_, by Homer C. Hockett, formerly of the University of Wisconsin, is the title of Ohio State University _Bulletin_, vol. 22, number 3, issued in 1917. Dr. Hockett sketches the growth of political parties in this country from about the middle of the eighteenth century down to the close of the first quarter of the nineteenth. Chief emphasis is placed upon the new political issues that arose out of western conditions during this period, and the manner in which they affected national policies.

Among the important historical periodicals of the country is the _Catholic Historical Review_ of Washington, now in its third year of publication. Its sponsors are valiantly sounding a clarion call to their fellow religionists to awake to the importance of their priceless historical heritage, and to put the preservation and study of its records on a thoroughly scholarly basis. That these matters have been all too little attended to heretofore can hardly be gainsaid. If the campaign waged by the _Catholic Historical Review_ shall meet with a reasonable measure of success, however, we may expect to witness in the not distant future a radical change in the attitude and actions of the adherents of Catholicism in America with respect to the cultivation of their historical domain. For the most part the writing of sectarian religious histories in the United States has been (and now is) conducted on a regretably low plane of scholarship. Historians of all the denominations (and, indeed, of whatever other social groups) would do well to take to heart the principles of scholarly procedure which the _Review_ advocates.

The broadly objective viewpoint of this church organ may be concretely illustrated by citing two or three items from a single issue (that for October, 1917). It is argued that the records of the several dioceses be administered on a scientific basis, and be “easily accessible to all qualified students whether Catholic or non-Catholic.” A generous tribute is paid to the work of the several state historical societies in conserving the Catholic history of the land, notwithstanding the membership rolls of these societies contain “very few Catholic names, and very little Catholic generosity finds its way into their treasury.” In passing it may be observed that our own Society may appropriate to itself a fair portion of this tribute, for much has been done, from its earliest days, to conserve the history of the oldest of Christian denominations in Wisconsin. Again, a recently published meretricious life of George Washington, written by a certain priest, meets with castigation as thorough at the hands of the reviewer as any historical periodical free from church connections could have administered. The example of the _Review_ may well be emulated by the historians of all religious denominations.

The preliminary report of the California Historical Survey Commission, issued in February, 1917, sets forth one of the most ambitious undertakings in the field of local history that has ever been launched in this country. An act passed by the legislature of that state in June, 1915, provided for the appointment of a commission of three members to make a survey of all local historical material in California. An appropriation of ten thousand dollars was made to cover the expense of the work. The work mapped out by the commission in its preliminary report includes a careful survey of the several county archives in the state, of the state archives, and of those of the local federal offices. Reports are also being gathered from all the public libraries, from the collections of historical societies and other similar institutions. Manuscripts in the possession of private individuals are being listed and the files of early newspapers, records of the religious and social organizations and large business concerns of the state are all being examined. Already archival records antedating the organization of the state government have been found, the existence of which had been hitherto unsuspected, while records pertaining to land claims under the Spanish and Mexican governments have been brought to light.

VOL. I, NO. 4 JUNE, 1918

THE
WISCONSIN MAGAZINE
OF HISTORY

PUBLICATIONS OF THE
STATE HISTORICAL
SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN.
Edited by MILO M.
QUAIFE, Superintendent

CONTENTS

Page

COLONEL ELMER E. ELLSWORTH: FIRST HERO OF THE CIVIL WAR
_Charles A. Ingraham_ 349

WHERE IS THE GERMAN FATHERLAND? 375

THE PAUL REVERE PRINT OF THE BOSTON MASSACRE
_Louise P. Kellogg_ 377

DOCUMENTS:
SOME LETTERS OF PAUL O. HUSTING CONCERNING THE PRESENT
CRISIS 388

HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS:
THE BEGINNINGS OF MILWAUKEE; THE SENATORIAL ELECTION OF
1869; “KOSHKONONG” AND “MAN EATER”; THE ALIEN SUFFRAGE
PROVISION IN THE CONSTITUTION OF WISCONSIN 417

EDITORIAL:
INCREASE A. LAPHAM AND THE GERMAN AIR RAIDS; SAVE THE
RELICS; THE NEWSPAPERS; REMOVING THE PAPACY TO CHICAGO 426

COMMUNICATIONS:
“CAMOUFLAGE” AND “EATLESS DAYS” TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO;
DANIEL WEBSTER’S WISCONSIN INVESTMENTS 432

SURVEY OF HISTORICAL ACTIVITIES:
THE SOCIETY AND THE STATE; SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS;
THE WIDER FIELD 435

The Society as a body is not responsible for statements or opinions advanced in the following pages by contributors.

COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN

COLONEL ELMER E. ELLSWORTH: FIRST HERO OF THE CIVIL WAR[128]

CHARLES A. INGRAHAM

On Monday, the twenty-ninth of April, 1861, fourteen days after President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops, a regiment composed of 1,100 men, uniformed and equipped, marched the streets of New York en route to the national capital. Riding at the head of the column was the Colonel, a young man of twenty-four, small of stature, with flashing dark eyes and with a look of authority and power upon his handsome features. The crowds along the line of march cheered enthusiastically as the regiment passed--a magnificent body of men who at his call had rushed in the space of four days to the colors. It was Ellsworth’s regiment of Zouaves, recruited from the firemen of New York City, and afterwards mustered into the service as the Eleventh New York Volunteer Infantry.

But whence came this wonderful youth who, as if by magic, had called into being this stalwart array--bold and fearless men, resenting restraint, but submitting cheerfully now to his iron discipline? Not many years before, he had been but an obscure country boy of northern New York, remote from the places of advancement and culture, a son of worthy parents, unable, however, to contribute of their limited means to the furtherance of the ambitious desires of their offspring. In the brief space of a year he had achieved national prominence; having had up to the summer of 1860 but a local reputation, confined to Chicago and its vicinity, he became the popular idol of the entire northern country. At the head of his United States Zouave Cadets he had toured the leading eastern cities and won distinction for the extraordinary perfection of drill exhibited by his command. Shining through all this historic expedition appears preëminent the attractive personality of the young captain--knightly, magnetic, winning, lofty of character, able to control every one of his cadets under the imperious rule of his native authority and undeviating rectitude.

On the morning of the twenty-fourth of May, less than a month from the departure of the Fire Zouaves from New York, Ellsworth was killed at Alexandria. Not in vain was his fall, for it caused the hesitating northern people to reach firmly at last for the rifle. “Ellsworth’s Avengers,” the Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, recruited from every county of the Empire State, with unusual physical requirements and moral standards, marched from their encampment at Albany for the front on October 21, 1861. Well did they fulfill the name they bore, for on many a battle field this somewhat Puritanical regiment, remarkable for the scholarship and worth of its rank and file, never forgot the assassination of Ellsworth as they carried their rent colors against the foe. Still another regiment of New York City firemen, the Second Fire Zouaves, or the Seventy-third New York Volunteer Infantry, was recruited under the inspiration of Ellsworth’s name and was mustered into the service on July 10, 1861. Reënlisting in 1864, it had a continuous service to the close of the war and enjoys a magnificent history.

Thus Ellsworth had, to his immediate, demonstrable credit, the mustering in of three regiments, which constituted, however, but a small proportion of the multitude whose patriotic devotion was evoked by his death and who followed the flag into the service. Yet many believe him to have been but a rash and adventurous person, vain and superficial. My study of his life, however, convinces me of the error of such opinion and that he was a young man of extraordinary gifts, prudent thought, gentle, loving instincts, and one who had been baptized with a fervent spirit of patriotism. Abraham Lincoln recognized his wonderful abilities and admirable traits of character and loved him for them, had his stricken, cold body brought to the White House, and wept over his remains as he would have grieved over those of his own son. And John Hay, in two notable magazine articles, one written soon after Ellsworth’s fall, the other towards the close of Mr. Hay’s career, has nothing but eulogy for the noble youth whom he had intimately known and loved as a brother. Surely, young Ellsworth had in him the elements of greatness! Schooled in poverty, disciplined by hardship and disappointment, his life is yet a shining path of pure living, high purpose, devoted patriotism, and worthy fame.