Outagamie County, WI - "Greenville Developed From a Shanty" ************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.org ************************************************************* Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives Subject: newspaper article "Greenville Developed From a Shanty" Submitted by: county coordinator EMAIL: jmmarasch@aol.com Date Submitted: 15 March 2000 Source: New London Press newspaper article from Bicentennial issue, undated. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Greenville Developed From A Shanty by LeonaMech ( Cont from page 1) Jordan, John Smith, Thomas and Michael Powers, Joshua Howe, John Roberts, Griffith Jones, William Roberts, John H. Seger, John Quinn, Dennis McGraw, James Redmond and Washington Pooler. Jerome Louis came that year, and though his later residence was in the town of Dale he was identified with the early history of Greenville. New residents the following year were M.J. Colby, Frederick Schebler, Frederick Koeler, Frederick Thomas, Michael Schinners, T. Wait and Thomas Marsdon. The Sweetser family came in 1852, the McLeods about the same time. E.S. Palmer came in 1853, soon followed by John Dey, who since 1849 had been living in Grand Chute. John Dey became a prominent Greenville farmer and president of the Outagamie County Pioneer Assocation for many years. He was one of the early active farm leaders. He brought his wife and two children all the way from Illinois in 1849 in a lumber wagon, drawn by two oxen. He lived four years in Grand Chute, arriving there with 10 cents, his cooper's kit, and a little black cow. He settled in the town of Greenville, and worked at his cooper's trade while clearing his farm land. He developed one of the finest and first big orchards in the county, and worked hard to introduce scientific fruit culture to other farmers. He was one of the most active members of the Outagamie Agricultural Society and Fruit Grower's Assocation. In the early 1850's, travelling through Outagamie County, one would find shanties here and there, with a small clearing, occasionally a cow or a pig, and now and then, an ox team. The roads were very poor. There were no school houses, although newcomers did start dwellings and schools, when every year new settlers arrived. Mothers had all the kitchen work and sewing to do, the cow to milk, and the pig to feed, plus helping their husbands with underbrushing, rolling logs, driving oxen, gathering sap and making sugar. By 1854, about 3,900 acres had been sold to farmer-settlers. The richly wooded lands account for its name, Greenville. This rolling countryside drew settlers in the belief that they could establish successful farms, and today is among the most prosperous and enterprising in rural development. The religious history shows the same priests and preachers who labored in Hortonia, Ellington and Dale, labored in Greenville, holding services in homes and schools. Perhaps the first religious organization in Greenville was a Sunday School held in the school-house in district No. 1, not long after the school was built. It was non-denominational in character. John Jewett was superintendent, and the school was maintained under the church and Methodist Sunday school at Medina. Another early Sunday school was held with John Dey superintendent - after the organization of the Baptist and Congregational churches at Hortonville, and the Methodist at Medina, most of the English speaking Protestants found church homes there. An Evangelical Lutheran German and a Catholic congregation 'were organized, both having resident pastors, while a German Evangelical church was served by a pastor from Appleton. Among settlers who came in 1852 were Peter Smith, F. Tharnagel, T. Mulaine. Dennis Long, E.R. Stone, Wakefield and John G. Jewett. John Schefe and family, Frederick Becker, and the Angelroths, Scotts, Barclays and McGregors were in Greenville in 1853. A.P. Lewis and his sister, who later became Mrs. E.S. Palmer, Hiram and Joseph Jack and their families came in 1854. Philo Root came to the county in 1854, but did not settle in Greenville until he had taught two winters in Medina. Michael Woods came, with his bride, in 1855. Hiram Jack built his cabin broadside to the Appleton town road. The Jacks were among the first settlers to keep sheep, a difficult thing to do because predatory animals had a fondness for mutton and lamb. The wool was needed for clothing and stockings, the women (there were nine daughters and one son in this family) spun the wool for clothing as well as for mittens and stockings. In July, 1854, the following article appeared in the Crescent: "The town of Greenville is receiving a large and valuable accession to its population from the central and eastern states. Greenville contains some of the finest lands, and some of the best improvements in the country." June of that year, considerable excitement was caused by the announcement that gold had been discovered along the river. An examination proved that the alleged gold was a large mass of copper, which contained a small percentage of silver. This was the second discovery of huge masses of native copper in this locality. A squirrel hunt on a large scale was held in Greenville in October, 1855. The party dined at Bennett's Hotel in Hortonville, and 500 squirrels were kil1ed. In 1855, Louis Perrot was the father of cheesemaking industry in Outagamie County. Making cheese at first from the milk of his own dairy, then operating a private factory, receiving milk from his neighbors. He demonstrated to the farmers of Greenville and later to the County, that by dropping wheat growing and taking up cheesemaking, they could free their farms from mortgages. In November of that year the average price of improved land was $12 per acre. The farm land from the Kling school house westward through Greenville and Dale was one of the most beautiful tracts in the county. A good road was necessary to open that community to Appleton, and the towns were earnestly working on it. As early as 1857 this town boasted of its rapid settlement, good schools, churches, excellent wheat crops, enterprising population, and sleek cattle. Already there were many Germans in the town, and many farmers who were in the position to give employment to German immigrants who were coming about this period. A number of German families emigrated from Berlin, Ontario, or the region about Berlin (now called Kitchener) and settled in Greenville in 1861-62 to become a part of the prosperous farming community. The first cemetery was a neighborhood burying ground. It was never deeded or dedicated. The land changed ownership and interments ceased. A square acre was secured then by the town board, platted and lots sold September 1, 1860, and most of the bodies removed from the old, to the new cemetery. Religious influences had prevailed from the start, but no attempt had been made to bring together the various religious organizations until September, 1859. A large camp meeting was held and continued for several weeks. It was held on the land of Mr. Wickware, near the Dey school house on the Plank road. - John Dey was then postmaster of Greenville. During the meeting, a large number of Oneida Indians encamped on the grounds. They were not just casual visitors, but took a prominent part in the services, especially in the singing. In 1863, another large and successful camp meeting was held in the town of Greenville, under the auspices of the German Reformed church. - That same year the farmers throughout the county organized farmers' clubs or societies for the purpose of improving agricultural methods and livestock, and acted in conjunction with the County Agricultural Society. In May, 1864, a terrible fire raged through the greater part of the town of Greenville. At first it seemed all the property would be swept away, but by great exertion buildings were saved, and the fire was checked, turning in a direction where it could do little harm. Thousands of rails were burned, and men, women and children were burned out of work, and out of homes. This fire worked double havoc, and imposed greater hardship, owing to a large percentage of the men being at the time far from home in the country's service of the Civil War (1861-1865). Settlers of American birth, of English and Scotch ancestry, and settlers of German and Irish nationality followed, one another, into Greenville. Story taken from notes by Delores Miller, Greenville, and Leona Mech.