A charter was granted the Madison & Beloit Railroad Company by an act of the first legislature.

The evidence

• “By an act approved August 19, 1848, passed by the first Legislature under the State Government, a charter was granted the Madison & Beloit Railroad Company for the purpose of building a road up the Rock River Valley from Beloit to Janesville ; thence to the mouth of the Catfish, and up that valley to Madison.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/10-rock-county-ch04-early-maps-courts-railroads.md, PDF p. 377 / book p. 381

  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