COUNTY
HISTORY - TOWNSHIP HISTORY AND THIS N' THAT
OUTAGAMIE COUNTY - How it Got
Its Name
The Township of Grand Chute
was not the only government for the people of the Fox
River Valley. As Lawrence University was rising from the
wilderness, other changes were underway. On May 29, 1848,
the Territory of Wisconsin was dissolved and Wisconsin
officially joined the union as the thirtieth state. With
statehood, the men of the Grand Chute area could elect
representatives to the state legislature (women would not
get the vote until the next century). In 1851, one of
those legislators, State Senator Theodore Conkey,
introduced a bill to divide Brown County in half, east to
west. From the western part, Conkey proposed a new county
to be called "Utaghamie." This was a common
practice at the time. As settlers moved into Wisconsin
and created their own little communities, counties were
being carved out across the state. Conkey's bill passed
through the legislature easily, although at one point the
name of the county was changed from "Utaghamie"
to "Fox." Then, against Conkey's wishes, the
name was changed again to "Outagamie." In that
form, with the Town of Grand Chute listed as the county
seat, the bill was approved on February 17, 1851.
That April, the first
elections were held for county officers. The first county
board met on April 18, 1851, in Appleton, at the home and
hotel of R.P. Edgerton. From the six elected supervisors,
George Robinson was chosen as chairman and Lorenzo
Darling as clerk. George Grignon was elected county
treasurer, and Charles Turner as county surveyor. The
first business was an official request to Brown County
for all records of the land that was now in Outagamie
County. From Appleton Public Library Resources.
THE
CITY OF APPLETON
Until 1848, all of what is
now Appleton was called Grand Chute, after the rushing
falls of the Fox River. Reeder Smith was the first person
to use the name Appleton to describe the community
surrounding the Lawrence Institute. He chose the name to
honor the wife of Mr. Lawrence. She was Sarah Elizabeth
Appleton, the daughter of William Appleton, a wealthy
Boston merchant and member of Congress. Appleton was an
important name in Boston, belonging to many prominent
figures. One of these was Samuel Appleton, a cousin of
William, who came to believe that the tiny village in
Wisconsin was named for him, Samuel Appleton was born in
Concord, New Hampshire, on June 22, 1766. He had a hard,
frontier childhood, and received only a few years of
schooling before becoming a teacher himself. After trying
farming in the new territory of Maine, he worked as a
storekeeper and went into business with his brother,
Nathan Appleton. Their Boston enterprise was a success,
and Samuel traveled for many years between America and
Europe on business. As their worth increased, the
brothers invested in the new cotton industry, in real
estate, and in railroads. Eventually, Samuel became one
of the leading men of New England finance. He also played
a small part in politics, serving in the Massachusetts
state legislature from 1828 to 1831, and as a
presidential elector for Daniel Webster in 1836. When he
was 53, Samuel Appleton married a widow, Mrs. Mary Gore.
They had no children, but their niece, Frances, became
prominent as the second wife of the poet Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow. It was after her tragic death in a fire in
1861 that Longfellow wrote what many believe to be his
greatest poem, "The Cross of Snow." At age 60,
Samuel Appleton retired from business to devote his life
to philanthropic activities. He gave his time and money
to hospitals, colleges, museums, and historical societies.
Among his many gifts is the Appleton Chapel at Harvard
University, which is named for him. Upon his death on
July 12, 1853, Samuel left a fortune of nearly one
million dollars, which was divided among his family,
friends, and favorite charities. Always looking for a new
source of funds, Reeder Smith was well aware of Samuel
Appleton's generosity. Contacting Mr. Lawrence, Smith
suggested telling Samuel Appleton that the little
community on the Fox River was named for him, rather than
for Mr. Lawrence's wife. By deceiving Mr. Appleton in
this way, they hoped to get some money for the Lawrence
Institute. In a letter to a friend dated October 1, 1849,
Mr. Lawrence explained that "Mr. Smith has had a
number of interviews with old Sam Appleton for whom the
town was named. He is a very liberal and a very rich man
and eighty-five years old. He is very interested in the
town and I hope may do something for the Institute."
Reeder Smith's plan worked, and Samuel Appleton gave $10,000
to the school as an endowment for the library. As a
gesture of appreciation, for many years all the books in
the Lawrence library were marked with a bookplate taken
from a portrait of Mr. Appleton. The original painting
from which the bookplates were made now hangs in the
Boston Atheneum. From Appleton Public Library Resources.
THE TOWN OF GRAND CHUTE
As the little community of Appleton was growing around
the Lawrence Institute, other villages were springing up
in the same area. In 1849, George W. Lawe plotted a
village on his property to the east of Appleton, which he
named Lawesburg. Another group of investors, Morgan L.
Martin, Theodore Conkey, and Abram B. Bowen, purchased
the western part of Jean Benoit's land, just east of
where Pierce Park is today. This property was platted in
1849 with the name of the village given as Martin. The
next year, when the official plat was recorded, the name
of the village had been changed to Grand Chute. In this
way, by 1850, three tiny villages -- Grand Chute,
Appleton, and Lawesburg -- were all nestled in a row
along the Fox River. While those three villages were
being established, the government for the area was
exercised by the Township, which was also named Grand
Chute. Townships, then as now, existed to provide
services and collect taxes for areas that are not part of
incorporated villages or cities. Because the villages of
Grand Chute, Appleton, and Lawesburg were not yet
incorporated, or officially recognized by the state of
Wisconsin, the government for the people of those
villages, as well as for the surrounding farmland, was
provided by the Township of Grand Chute. The first
official meeting for the Township of Grand Chute was held
in Appleton on April 3, 1849, in the home of W.S. Warner.
The first order of business was the election of town
officers. Henry L. Blood was chosen as town chairman and
assessor, Ezra L. Thurber as town clerk, John Stevens as
inspector of schools, and Hiram Polly as treasurer and
tax collector. In addition, two supervisors were
selected, along with three constables, and four Justices
of the peace. After the election of officers, a budget of
$200 was adopted. To raise the money for the budget, a
tax of $2.50 was imposed on each quarter section of
deeded land. Any landowner unable or unwilling to pay the
tax had the option of giving the township two days work
instead. Between the second and tenth of September 1850,
the United States government took the first census of the
Town of Grand Chute. The census showed 619 people living
in the township, within 120 families. There were 113
houses, including some lodging houses and small hotels.
The population was young, with a median age of 21. One
fourth of the citizens were children under the age of
nine, only 55 were over the age of 40, and only 20 were
50 years old or above. This was a common pattern on the
frontier. Older people were left behind in the East as
the young sought their fortunes in the open, wild west.
Another pattern was for families to move frequently. Of
the 619 people listed in the 1850 census, only 102 were
still there in 1860. Meanwhile, of course, thousands of
others had arrived. The census revealed that only 89 of
the township's 619 residents had been born in Wisconsin,
and that most of those were children. Of the 392 born
elsewhere in the United States, most came from New York
or the New England states. Another 49 came from Canada,
primarily the province of Ontario. Of those from Europe,
35 came from England, 20 from Ireland, 9 from Scotland,
12 from Germany, 12 from Holland, and one from Norway.
The economic activity of the township can be determined
from the occupations listed on that fi rst census. Fifty
men described themselves as farmers, 32 as carpenters,
and many more as laborers. There were six shoemakers,
four tailors, ten merchants, and seven who worked in
lumbering. Of the professional occupations, there were
several teachers connected with Lawrence University, five
lawyers, three physicians, and four clergymen, all with
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Many of the men at the
time were occupied with the construction of a canal and
four locks on the Fox River. Between 1850 and 1852, about
$32,500 was spent on that project. Similar construction
was underway down the river at Little Chute. From
Appleton Public Library Resources.
NEENAH
MENASHA
KAUKAUNA
KIMBERLY
COMBINED LOCKS
LITTLE CHUTE
FREEDOM
VANDENBROEK
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