The village of Afton first became known through the railroad; it was laid out by Joseph Church, and the first birth occurred in the family of Charles Pulker.

The evidence

• “The village of Afton, a burg of about one hundred inhabitants, on the line of the Chicago & North-Western Railway, first became known, through the medium of that road in 1855, Messrs. Dimock, J. Allen, John Moore and Reuben Deuel being the first settlers to locate upon its site. It was laid out in 1855 by Mr. Joseph Church (the land then being the property of Messrs. Tripp, Hoyt and Hodgson) and speedily settled up. The first birth in the village o.ccurred in 1855, in the family of Mr. Charles Pulker, the young lady being now known to the world as Miss Sally Pulker.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/16-rock-county-ch10-villages.md, PDF p. 669 / book p. 673

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources