The land through time

The property

• 1824 Thiebault, a Frenchman, established himself at the Turtle village, probably about this year.

Beloit

• 1823 1823 (about; the passage gives "about 1823 or 182J") — Thiebault, a French-Canadian trader, made his home at what is now Beloit.

The region

• Summer 1823 Summer 1823 — Squatters began taking possession of the rich land occupied by the Sacs toward the mouth of Rock river.
• 1820 The Winnebagoes had five villages on Winnebago lake and fourteen on Rock river.
• 1822 White miners invaded the lead regions formerly worked by Sauks and Foxes, as they had begun to in 1821; the Winnebagoes were in possession and claimed that country.
• Fall 1823 Autumn 1823 — In company with his father, a man erected a saw-mill on the Vandermark Creek; a second passage states that the father came out in 1823 and united with him in erecting the first sawmill on the Vandermark creek, which they got to running the last day of that year.

Nation and world

• 1822 The Sacs and Foxes concluded a treaty with the United States by which they relinquished their right to have the United States establish a trading house or factory, and were paid one thousand dollars in merchandise.
• May 2, 1824 Congress granted quarter sections of land to counties for seats of justice / county buildings; the two passages give different approval dates.
• March 1823 March 3, 1823 — An act of congress was approved authorizing the electors of the Territory of Michigan to choose eighteen by ballot at the next election of the delegate for that territory.
• 1824 Major Long's expedition took place.

Beloit

• 1829 The father of Captain John P. Houston built a bridge and made that his business.
• 1826 The subject of P56 commenced the study of law in the office of S. G.

The region

• 1825 The Winnebagoes' territorial claim was extensive, its southeast boundary stretching from the source of Rock river to within forty miles of its mouth, where they had a village.
• July 29, 1829 A treaty was made at Prairie du Chien with the Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawattamies. Three passages date it July 29 ; P6 instead dates the Prairie du Chien treaty at which the country to the south was ceded as July 19, 1829. The cession is described two ways: P5 says these nations ceded all lands they claimed in the northwestern part of Illinois; P53 says they ceded to the United States all their land south of the Wisconsin river and covered by the Sac and Fox cession of 1804, including the lead regions and the whole of the present county.
• February 6, 1826 A treaty was proclaimed between the Sioux and Chippewa, Sac and Fox, Menomonee, Iowa, Winnebago, and a portion of the Ottawa, Chippewa and Pottawatomie tribes, for promoting peace and establishing boundaries; the Winnebago country it created was bounded on the southeast by Rock River.
• 1828 The Winnebago war took place; P41 describes it as a war between Colonel Dodge and Chief Red Bird, in which Red Bird gave himself up.

Nation and world

• January 29, 1827 An act of congress was approved authorizing the electors of the territory to elect the members of the legislative council, without submitting names to the president for appointment.
• February 5, 1825 An act of congress was approved increasing the legislative council to thirteen members.

The property

• 1834 Thiebault's cabin at the Turtle village was noted in the plat of the Government survey of the township.

Beloit

• June 30, 1832 General Atkinson's army, including Private Abraham Lincoln, entered Rock county, marched through the deserted Turtle village (now Beloit), and encamped — the first recorded visit of white men to this locality.
• November 18, 1833 Survey contracts (including George W. Harrison's surveys of subdivisions) were dated November 18, 1833.
• 1831 Death of the father of a future Magnolia Township landowner.
• 1833 A resident of Newark (Beloit P.O.) was born in Norway.

Rock County

• Summer 1832 The summer of 1832 saw the gathering of Indian "hordes," painted and plumed and at war with the whites, within the limits of the territory afterward included in Rock County, during June and July.
• Summer 1833 The United States began the surveys of this part of Rock county; the portion of the town of Janesville west of the river was surveyed first.
• Winter 1834 The residue of what became Rock County (the portion not southwest of Sugar River) was surveyed by the General Government in the first quarter of 1834.
• 1834 Government Surveyors noted eight mounds on the west shore of Lake Koshkonong.

The region

• Spring 1830 Black Hawk and his band, returning from an unsuccessful winter's hunt, found their town demolished and the site ploughed up; the passage states that during the preceding winter, squatters after seven years of illegal occupancy had preempted several quarter sections at the mouth of the Rock covering the village site and the Sac corn fields.
• July 1, 1832 The army continued its march up the river and saw an Indian spy on the high ground on the west side of Rock river.
• 1830 Farmer's "Map of the Territories of Michigan and Ouisconsin" was published; it gave the river draining the four lakes as the "Goosh-ke-hawn," noted Lake Koshkonong ("the lake we live on"), and marked a Winnebago village at the mouth of that river.
• 1830 A party of Menomonees and Sioux murdered some of the British band of Sacs; the passage states that in 1831 Black Hawk's war party retaliated by killing twenty-seven Menomonees near Fort Crawford.

Nation and world

• April 1833 Black Hawk, along with the prophet and Neapope, was taken to Washington, D. C., and kept as a prisoner in Fortress Monroe.
• June 4, 1833 Black Hawk and his fellow prisoners were discharged from Fortress Monroe.
• June 26, 1834 Congress approved an act creating additional land districts, establishing the Wisconsin and Green Bay land districts in the Territory of Michigan.
• June 28, 1834 Congress attached the country west of the Mississippi river and north of the State of Missouri to the Territory of Michigan for temporary judicial purposes.

The property

• 1835 William Yost came to Wisconsin and purchased a tract of land in sections 11 and 12, Beloit township.
• 1835 Caleb Blodgett made his first visit to the Beloit site, found the Frenchman Thiebeau there, and quieted his claim for $250; one passage dates the purchase to 1835 and '6, and Blodgett is described as temporarily located with his family in a log cabin at Meacham's in 1835.
• 1836 Caleb Blodgett came to Beloit (early in 1836) and bought Thiebault's claim for $200 — the log cabin becoming the settlers' first abode; the purchase is also dated December 1836 in another passage (see December above).
• May 1836 Caleb Blodgett purchased the claim associated with Joseph Thibault at the future Beloit site. The transaction marked the documented transfer of the location from a French-associated fur-trade claimant to an American settler.

Beloit

• 1835 The first step toward settlement of the town of Beloit was made; the first settlement in that township was made within what is now the corporate limits of Beloit City, and John Inman, the Holmes family and others settled there.
• Fall 1836 Erastus Giles came from Roscoe, Illinois, to Rock County and helped raise the first house put up in Beloit; he is registered as settling in Turtle in October 1836.
• August 1837 The Crosby family came to Rock County, among the first white settlers of Beloit.
• Spring 1838 S. G. Colley came to Beloit and made a claim of 320 acres in Sec. 21, Range 13, building a little frame house in which eleven lived the first winter.

Rock County

• December 1835 Latter part of December 1835 — Samuel St. John and family (including the first white woman settler in Rock County) arrived after the Inman-Holmes party had made the first settlement.
• 1838 Ezra and Matilda (Taft) came to Rock County and settled on Section 2.
• July 15, 1838 James P. Pierce came to Wisconsin and settled in Rock County, his first purchase being eighty acres from the Government on Section 3 of Harmony.
• November 16, 1838 Henry B. and Lucinda Crandall came to Rock County and located on Section 28 [in Milton], claiming 240 acres (a related passage gives 320 acres in all).

The region

• November 26, 1838 R. P. Crane, acting for the Beloit settlers, entered at the Milwaukee land office under his pre-emption claim Lots 6 and 7 in Section 35, Town 1, Range 12 east (78.57 acres), then deeded the lots back to the original owners.
• 1839 Biographical events dated only to 1839: a lawyer sold his Illinois farm and opened a law office in Beloit ; a minister toured the Territory for the American Home Mission Society and accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church of Milwaukee ; another clergyman was called to St. John's Church, Marcellus, New York ; a marriage to Lydia S. Ellsworth took place in Berlin, Connecticut ; a marriage to Cornelia A. Reynolds took place ; a Beloit lawyer located there in practice ; a district attorney was appointed ; a sheriff of Rock County was appointed by Governor Dodge ; a settler came to Beloit to look at land ; a settler came to Wisconsin and bought 235 acres of government land ; the Walker brothers (Aaron, Jason, Alfred) came to Milton and took up large claims ; a father and oldest brother came to Wisconsin and built a large log house ; a father came to Rock County and entered government land in Milton township ; Ezra Goodrich came with his parents to Wisconsin ; settlers came from Jamestown, New York, to Janesville ; Norwegian families emigrated to America and to Newark/Clinton townships ; Ole Knudson Natesta built a small log house in Clinton township ; a widow Odegarden came to America with four daughters ; a man left Janesville going to Missouri ; a family removed from the Rock/Walworth county line to Indiana ; William returned to Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and married Alma H. Wright ; a family moved from Albany County to Rensselaer County, New York ; a settler located at Du Page County, Illinois ; a man came West and settled in the lead mines near Galena ; a blacksmith commenced business in York State ; a factory destroyed by fire in 1838 was rebuilt ; Edward V. Whiton moved into Janesville in 1839 or 1840 ; a man united with the Congregational church in Newburyport, Massachusetts ; a marriage to Susan Sorbor took place in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania ; a marriage to Amanda O. Daniels took place ; a marriage to Mary E. Blakoslee took place in Oneida County ; a marriage to Miss M. J. took place ; a marriage to Annie E. Lindsay took place ; a marriage to Mary Makin took place ; a marriage to Nancy A. Fordham took place and she came to Rock County ; a marriage to Lavina Cravath took place in Cortland County, New York ; a child, Mary Jane, died in 1839 ; Isaac P. Ferguson removed to Wisconsin and farmed in Johnstown Center ; a man came to Beloit and settled at Shopiere in 1841 ; Judge White moved into the city (1839 or 1840) .
• February 13, 1839 The Territorial Legislature approved the act organizing Rock County. (Other passages date the county's full organization to February 19, 1839, and to the spring of 1839 — see those entries.)
• 1839 A post route from Belvidere to Janesville, via Beloit, was established; John Hackett took charge of the new post office.

Nation and world

• June 15, 1836 Congress passed an act accepting, ratifying and confirming Michigan's constitution and state government, and an act creating the Milwaukee land district (which included present Rock County).
• June 18, 1838 Congress approved a land grant (the odd-numbered sections on a belt ten miles wide from Lake Michigan to Rock River, 139,190 acres) to aid construction of the Milwaukee–Rock River canal.
• Summer 1836 Col. James M. Burgess made the first claim in Lima, on Section 17; he and a partner stayed through the season, made improvements, then returned East.
• June 16, 1838 A treaty with the Winnebagoes, concluded at Washington City, was proclaimed, by which the Winnebago Nation ceded all their land east of the Mississippi River.

Beloit

• 1840 The Hanchett family came to Beloit, bought forty acres in Sec. 34, and Mr. Hanchett built the dam across Rock River at Beloit.
• August 7, 1840 Caleb Blodgett, the first white settler at Beloit, died.
• 1844 John Chamberlin and family came to Beloit; he took up 160 acres in Sec. 8 and built a log cabin.
• 1840 By fall, the Rock Prairie Norwegian settlement was established, consisting of five homesteads: Gravdal, Hallan, Odegarden, Lars Skavlem, and Gullik Halvorsen Blakstad (Skavlem); Gisle Hallan had taken possession of his new home in Sec. 6, Town of Beloit, and Gullick Halvorsen Blackstad (Skavlem) located on Sec. 28 during the spring and summer.

Rock County

• September 1841 Silas and Cynthia Hurd arrived in Rock county, settling in a log cabin on the Rock river east of Indian Ford.
• Fall 1841 Rollin Thorpe came to Rock County and purchased 160 acres in Sec. 11, Town 4, Range 13.
• November 1843 James Sowle came to Rock County and settled on Sec. 26, purchasing 240 acres; the land was deeded to him from the Probate Court in the fall of 1843.
• September 1840 The parents of Paul M. Green came to Rock Co. and purchased 120 acres on Sections 4 and 5 (Milton).

The region

• 1841 The Government sent a military detachment to enforce the removal of the Rock River Winnebagoes beyond the Mississippi.
• April 12, 1843 An act was approved appointing commissioners to alter the Beloit–Madison road and lay out roads from Janesville to Ellis's Mill and to Mineral Point.
• 1843 The log schoolhouse at the "big ford" of Rock river was used until 1843, when another log house was occupied by the school.
• 1843 Surveyor Willard Barrows noted Black Hawk's wigwam and grave while surveying.

Nation and world

• May 9, 1842 The government patent was issued to Mr. Crane for lots 6 and 7 (he had entered them in 1838 and had reconveyed them to the parties in interest before receiving the patent).
• September 13, 1841 President Tyler appointed James Duane Doty governor of the Territory in place of Dodge; another passage gives the appointment date as September 30, 1841.
• August 5, 1840 James D. Doty was re-elected Territorial delegate.
• January 25, 1841 Dunn was commissioned as secretary of the Territory in place of William B. Slaughter.

Beloit

• 1849 Benjamin Willford came to Beloit and bought 109 acres in Section 17.
• September 1845 A tavern-keeper came to Beloit and bought eighty acres of land in Section 4, building a log house.
• 1846 The first Catholic services recorded in Rock County were held in Beloit by Rev. Father McKernan, who celebrated mass in the house of Captain Powers.
• 1846 Settlers came to Beloit in 1846: a Connecticut-born settler (40 acres in Sec. 7), a Herkimer Co. N. Y. settler (120 acres in Sec. 21), William Shaw of Ireland (farm outside the city), and a teacher seeking occupation.

Rock County

• 1845 Arrivals and settlements in Rock County recorded without more precise dates: A. Wyatt Smith removed to Janesville ; Capt. William Macloon came from Boston and settled at Janesville ; A. M. Simmons (father) settled in Harmony about 1845 ; a Beloit lawyer removed to Beloit ; Ezra Philo Doty came to Janesville ; a Walworth lawyer came to Wisconsin and located at Janesville ; a New York farmer bought a farm at Beloit ; a Connecticut man took up eighty acres in Sec. 18 at Beloit ; the Millett family located in Beloit ; Hans and Bargitt Halverson's family came to Newark, buying land in Section 12 ; a Durham Co. settler located in Newark, buying and improving two farms ; the Case family moved to Clinton and settled on 160 acres ; L. Burdick's neighbors ; a Rhode Island man located in the town of Lima ; Abram Caufman emigrated to Center ; an 1837-born resident came to Wisconsin ; E. Footville-resident moved to what is now Footville ; a settler located on his present homestead in Center ; families emigrated to Wisconsin ; a Bennett came to Wisconsin and taught school in Union ; Leonard Bullard's family settled in Union Township ; a Hancock Co., Me., man located in Union Township ; the Hubbard family settled on land entered in 1840 in Union Township ; a Cortland Co. man located in Union Township ; a settler bought 200 acres and built one of the first log houses in Plymouth Township ; Jacob Fisher came to Plymouth Township about 1845 ; a Steuben Co. man located at Darien ; a New York man came to Wisconsin locating at Johnstown ; a Scotland-born man came to America in 1845 and settled on a farm in Harmony ; A. Douglas entered forty acres of land settled in 1843 ; Johnstown settlers from New York located there, purchasing farms [B156]; G. came to Rock County and bought a farm of forty acres of government land ; M. Wilcox located and bought 100 acres in Harmony ; the Miller family came to Harmony Township, buying 240 acres ; families from Ohio settled in Milton township ; a father settled on a 1,000-acre farm in Lima township ; the Marquart family moved from Ohio and settled in Wisconsin ; an Irish couple (Clinchy) came to Wisconsin and bought a farm northwest of Beloit ; a family settled in Milton township ; Thomas bought eighty acres in section 6, Bradford township ; the Moore family located near Milwaukee ; the Bradley family settled on a farm in Turtle township ; Mr. Fifield's brothers later joined his lumber business ; a resident came to Janesville prior to January 1845 and served as probate judge for Rock County in 1845 and 1846 ; Carpenter engaged in general merchandising in Beloit .
• July 8, 1846 A Vermont-born settler came to Rock County and bought ninety-five acres on Sec. 1.
• Fall 1847 A family came to Rock Co. and bought a farm of eighty acres in Sec. 25, Newark Township, and 80 acres in Sec. 30, Beloit Township.
• March 13, 1846 Gullek Olsen bought the S.E. ¼ [of a section, Rock County land].

The region

• February 21, 1848 The territorial legislature approved an act authorizing A. Hyatt Smith, Ira Miltimore and associates to erect a dam across Rock river.
• February 24, 1845 Prior to this date Rock and Walworth counties constituted one election district; the territorial legislature of 1845 passed an act dividing the district and constituting Rock County an election district.
• November 1, 1849 A meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Beloit & Taycheedah Railroad was convened at the Planters' Hotel, Watertown, for the purpose of organization.
• February 2, 1846 A charter was granted to Beloit College by the Territorial Legislature.

Nation and world

• April 8, 1845 Henry Dodge was appointed governor of Wisconsin Territory; the 1908 history gives his term as beginning May 13, 1845, a discrepancy with the April 8 date.
• January 14, 1846 Morgan L. Martin, territorial delegate, introduced in the House of Representatives a bill to enable Wisconsin to adopt a constitution and form a state government.
• August 6, 1846 The congressional enabling act for Wisconsin statehood became law.
• Fall 1847 A man was appointed by Gov. Dodge and confirmed by the Legislative Council as Attorney General of the Territory.

Beloit

• 1850 The Fletcher family (William D. and Mary C.) settled at Beloit.
• 1850 A family came to the United States from Norway and settled in Beloit (later moving to Newark township).
• 1850 An individual came to Beloit in 1850 to work on paper mills.

Rock County

• November 19, 1850 Preliminary steps were taken toward the formation of an agricultural society in Rock County, with a call made on farmers to meet at the Court House in Janesville.
• 1850 An individual came to Wisconsin and located in Rock County, settling in Plymouth.
• 1850 An individual came to Rock County in 1850 and settled in Lima.

The region

• 1850 A willow tree was set out from a little sprout near a house in Waterloo (now Shopiere).
• 1850 An act of the Wisconsin legislature was passed regarding the Oak Hill Cemetery Association.
• 1850 Land that had been pre-empted in 1844 was sold.

Nation and world

• 1850 The Madison & Beloit Railroad Company was authorized by an act of the legislature to extend its road and its name was changed to the Rock River Valley Union Railroad Company.