The chronology
The land through time
Every documented event, from the property outward: Beloit, Rock County, the region and the world. Each one links to the page of the source that records it. The record so far covers 1820–1864; more years are being added.
1845
Beloit
- September 1845 A tavern-keeper came to Beloit and bought eighty acres of land in Section 4, building a log house.
- 1845 The first bridge across Rock River at Indian Ford was built by private subscription, Stephen Allen, builder.
- January 1, 1845 A merchant (a Buffalo former resident) came to Beloit and commenced business as a merchant.
- 1845 A large brick house was built in Beloit, with a conspicuous front portico supported by four tall Corinthian columns.
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 .
- Spring 1845 A Norwegian family (Keesey) came to the United States and purchased and settled on a farm in Rock County.
- October 1845 A Freeborn came to Wisconsin and wintered in Cooksville, Rock County.
- Spring 1845 Guy Stoughton contracted with Mr. Hanchett to build a dam at the foot of Lake Koshkonong; the dam was completed during that year and a saw-mill built.
The region
- 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.
- 1845 Charles C. Cheney, Henry Chesebro (Cheesebro), William Loyd, Adelmon Sherman and Ephraim Leach, Jr., made their land purchases (in 1844 and 1845).
- 1845 The first church organization on Rock Prairie was made by Diedrichson; Lars H. Skavlem was one of its members.
- 1845 Prevost was appointed marshal of the Territory in place of Daniel Hugunin.
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.
- July 6, 1845 The First Congregational Church at Johnstown Village was organized by Rev. Stephen Peet.
- 1845 Other events outside Rock County dated 1845: admission to the bar of Orange Co., Vt. (spring term) ; admission to practice in New York ; graduation from Hamilton College ; admission to the Supreme court of New York at Utica, July 18, 1845 ; fall of 1845 entering the law office of Judge Charles M. Baker at Geneva ; David R. Platts's family settled in Green Lake county ; a father returned to his native state, married, and brought his bride to Milton township ; a family's removal in 1845 ; removal to Manchester, N. H. ; the Wisconsin lawyer moved to Indiana in 1845 ; increase of the father to Wisconsin since 1845 ; the editor of the 1908 history was born in Beloit in 1845 ; Caswell's canoe trip on Lake Koshkonong in the fall of 1845 ; Milwaukee grain exports commenced in 1845, amounting to 213,448 bushels ; lead production attained its maximum in 1845, nearly 25,000 tons ; land sales 1835–1845 inclusive totaled 2,958,592 acres ; the wheat crop of 1845 commenced the blight ; the founder of the Milwaukee female college died May 29, 1845 ; Uriah Goodrich died September 2, 1845 ; Lewis Cass was in 1845 the Democratic nominee for president ; parts of the "pretentious city" (Milwaukee townsite area) were sold for taxes in 1845 ; since 1845 the townsite has been sold as farming lands ; the state constitutional convention delegates assembled 1845-47-48 ; Grant farm sold in 1845 ; and the first saw-mill lumbering operations on the Oconto were begun by David Jones ; moose tracks seen on the Montreal river in the summer of 1845 ; an epidemic malarial fever of a bilious type visited in 1844 and 1845 .
- April 1, 1845 The first town election of Lima was held at the schoolhouse in District No. 9; Prosper Cravath was made chairman of supervisors.
1846
Beloit
- 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.
- 1846 The Chamberlin family moved to Beloit, to a farm a few miles west of Beloit.
- February 24, 1846 The territorial legislature passed an act incorporating the village of Beloit.
Rock County
- July 8, 1846 A Vermont-born settler came to Rock County and bought ninety-five acres on Sec. 1.
- March 13, 1846 Gullek Olsen bought the S.E. ¼ [of a section, Rock County land].
- Spring 1846 A Rhode Island-born carpenter came to Wisconsin and located in Rock County, buying 160 acres of government land.
- 1846 John J. Van Kirk came to Rock County and located in Harmony Township.
The region
- February 2, 1846 A charter was granted to Beloit College by the Territorial Legislature.
- 1846 Some 1,250 Winnebagoes came back from Iowa and settled along the Fox and Wisconsin, Kickapoo and Lemonweir valleys.
- Spring 1846 A settler located at La Prairie, Sec. 11, purchasing a 160-acre farm from the Government.
- January 31, 1846 "An act in relation to the formation of a state government in Wisconsin" was approved; it authorized a census and the election of delegates to a constitutional convention (the 1879 history describes the same act's provisions without a date).
Nation and world
- 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.
- August 8, 1846 Congress approved an act granting land to aid the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers and to connect them by canal.
- 1846 A town (not named in the passage) that had been part of Union was organized into a separate town by legislative act.
1847
Beloit
- Fall 1847 A man came to Beloit and bought eighty acres in Sec. 15.
- Fall 1847 Deacon Samuel Hinman moved to Beloit from Prairieville (now Waukesha).
- Fall 1847 A man came to Beloit, Wisconsin, and was interested in land speculations for eighteen months.
- Fall 1847 George Carey came to Wisconsin and located at Beloit.
Rock County
- 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.
- Fall 1847 Settlers arrived in Rock County townships in 1847: D. I. Daniels, Royal Wood, John Nichols, W. Cator, I. Woodle, Frank Wheeler, A. Lawrence, John M. Keep.
- December 1, 1847 A census of Rock County was taken, showing Janesville at 2,587 and Beloit at 1,851 (the county total from P3 being 14,720).
- Spring 1847 James Sutherland and his wife emigrated to Rock Co. and took up temporary residence in the town of Rock.
The region
- Fall 1847 The cholera (superinduced by misery and starvation) occurred among the Winnebago people.
- Fall 1847 A grist-mill on Bad Fish Creek (built by John Shepard) was completed.
- Fall 1847 A man helped haul stone for the foundation of Middle College.
- March 3, 1847 An act was approved creating an additional land district in the territory (the Chippewa land district).
Nation and world
- Fall 1847 A man was appointed by Gov. Dodge and confirmed by the Legislative Council as Attorney General of the Territory.
- Summer 1847 Mr. Smith, a Democrat, was elected to the first convention to frame a State constitution.
- October 27, 1847 The members of the legislature, having met on October 18, passed an act providing for an election of delegates to a constitutional convention.
- Fall 1847 A stone church edifice (40x60 feet) was finished late in 1847.
1848
Beloit
- Spring 1848 An unnamed settler came to Wisconsin and located at Beloit, where he farmed.
- 1848 The earliest school on the west side of the river in Beloit was taught by Miss Foot.
- Spring 1848 The Crossman family came to Wisconsin; one son settled at Beloit.
- Spring 1848 W. Bullock came to Wisconsin, locating at Beloit.
Rock County
- February 1848 A farm of seventy-three acres in Rock County was purchased.
- August 17, 1848 Surveys were commenced in Rock county for the Rock River Valley railroad.
- December 20, 1848 A meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Madison & Beloit Railroad Company was held at Janesville, with stock subscriptions agreed to.
- September 18, 1848 The first term of the Circuit Court for Rock County convened at the Court House in Janesville, Judge Whiton presiding.
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.
- 1848 Mr. Millett bought 240 acres of Government land in Section 9.
- August 19, 1848 A charter was granted the Madison & Beloit Railroad Company by an act of the first legislature.
- 1848 From 1840 to 1848 six companies of United States soldiers had been kept in Wisconsin to protect citizens and remove renegade Winnebagoes.
Nation and world
- May 29, 1848 Wisconsin was admitted into the Union.
- November 24, 1848 A supplementary treaty was made with the Stockbridges.
- May 8, 1848 William Pitt Lynde was elected Member of Congress for the First District.
- November 7, 1848 Robert C. Cowan was elected Sheriff; at this election a vote on "equal suffrage to colored persons" was taken.
1849
Beloit
- 1849 Benjamin Willford came to Beloit and bought 109 acres in Section 17.
- 1849 A Beloit family built their home (the father being the first drayman in Beloit).
- 1849 A biographical subject came to America and to Beloit, settling on a farm of 576 acres in the towns of Rock and Beloit.
- July 5, 1849 A Hanaford came to Wisconsin, locating at Beloit.
Rock County
- 1849 A father left his native land and came to the United States, settling in Section 33, Johnstown township, Rock county.
- 1849 A settler came to Rock County (from Walworth County).
- 1849 Harvey Frost came with his family to Wisconsin, locating in Union, Rock Co.
- September 1849 A biographical subject came to Wisconsin, locating in Fulton Township, Rock Co.
The region
- 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.
- 1849 The (Jones) mills were completed.
- 1849 Mr. Hugh Lee made the first survey, of the Rock River Valley Union Railroad, from Chicago to Fond du Lac.
- 1849 Hamilton Richardson purchased the starch-factory property and converted it into a flouring-mill.
Nation and world
- 1849 A post office was established at "The Grove," called "Evansville" in Dr. Evans's honor.
- 1849 A brick house of worship was erected (during 1849 and 1850; dedicated Oct., 1850).
- 1849 Isaac P. Walker was re-elected to the United States senate for a full term of six years from March 4, 1849.
- January 1849 L. Kimball was removed from office (through a change in the administration) and C. S. Jordan was appointed in his place.