Janesville became a city with corporate powers under the charter.

The evidence

• “Janesville became a city with corporate powers under a charter obtained from the Legislature, in the spring of 1853. Its board. of officers elected annually are a Mayor, two Aldermen from each ward, a Clerk, a Treasurer, an Assessor, a Surveyor, a Marshal, an Attorney, four Justices of the Peace, and a Board of school Commissioners.”

  1856-history-of-rock-county/25-city-of-janesville.md, PDF p. 186 / book p. 168

  Guernsey, Orrin, and Josiah F. Willard, editors. History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute. Janesville, Wis.: William M. Doty & Brother, 1856. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871593.

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