Lee Park

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Rock County Park post, so I thought it was time to get back at it. As I am focusing on Clinton Township at the moment, Lee Park seems the perfect place to start. Lee Park can be found about four miles south of Clinton on the east side corner of highways 67 and 140.  The main entrance is on Hwy 67. 

The park is named for the Lee family, who sold 40 acres of land to the township on the promise that it would be used as a park. In 1966 the township donated the land to Rock county with a couple caveats including improvements to the park. A small amount of land was added in 1975 by a Mr. Newhouse to create a north entrance to the park. Which can be found just north of the ball diamond on 140.

This is a lovely, peaceful place with many beautiful mature trees to provide shade. A short distance from the entrance is a nice picnic area and a small parking area.

At one end of the parking area are trash containers. The park also has picnic tables and grills for use by visitors, as well as water pumps at both ends of the park.

As you follow the road north you pass a well-maintained pit toilet rest room, a picnic shelter and finally a baseball field and finally, the north entrance.

This is a one lane road and on my visit to the park I stopped my car to take a picture because there was nobody behind me or coming at me. Well of course when I did this there was suddenly a car on both sides! Fortunately, there is just enough leeway to maneuver this type of situation and we all successfully got going in our chosen directions without a problem. 

The ball field at the north end of the park was provided thanks to donations of materials and time from the 4H clubs of Clinton, Turtle. Another donation to the park is the picnic shelter. Rock County provided the materials and volunteers provided the time and muscle to build it. It’s wonderful that the township was willing to put in the time to help create such a beautiful space. 

There are hiking trails through the park and it’s eight acre arboretum at the north end opposite the ball field. I would have liked to explore these trails but unfortunately I didn’t see any of the access points. They are either not marked or I just didn’t see them. The park is open to the public from 5am until 10pm daily.

The only real downside to the park is that there is very little parking available. Beyond that it’s a beautiful addition to our County Park system and I will certainly be visiting Lee Park again. For more information or to rent the picnic shelter or the ball field contact the Rock county Parks Dept. at 608-757-5451.

The Jefferson Prairie Settlement

Life sometimes gets in the way of things we enjoy doing. This blog is one of those things for me. I have rethought the process of sharing our lovely counties story and have decided to tell our stories one township at a time. I am beginning with Clinton Township in the south-eastern corner of the county with the story of:

The Jefferson Prairie Settlement

This story of this historical marker begins with a man named Ole K. Natesta (alternate spelling Nattestad). He was born in or near the Numedal Valley, in December of 1807. In 1836 Ole and his brother Ansten were visiting a neighboring city and learned of the opportunities in America. They liked what they heard so in 1837 the pair boarded a ship and came to check it out. I have conflicting information as to where they landed. One source said that they landed in Massachusetts and another said Rhode Island. In either case the two eventually found their way to Illinois later that year where they joined an existing Norwegian community.

In 1838 Anesten returned to Norway to let people know that they had found America a wonderful place to be. During this time the community in Illinois broke up due to illness and Ole moved North into what would be Clinton Township. He put in a claim for 80 acres of land five miles south of Clinton, and built himself what was described as a log hut. He then and went to work for a farmer named Stephan Dowers for his meals.

Ansten returned the following year with 100 emigrants. Some of stayed in Jefferson Prairie and others moved west to Rock Prairie.

There is more to tell, but that is for another day!

Sharon

 

 

Time for a Comeback

It’s been a very long time since my last post. I believe it is high time I get back to them. I could list all kinds of valid excuses like I have two blogs, five facebook pages to manage, a business I am trying to build and my Mother’s transition. All are valid but the main thing is doing good research is very important to me and this takes time. So, I will begin posting again on August 11th and will post the first and third Wednesday of each month going forward. I will eventually figure out the too many irons in the fire thing!! See you August 1st!!

Black Hawk Grove

This historical marker highlights the second stop on Black Hawks journey through Wisconsin during the event that has come to be known as the Black Hawk War. 

In April of 1832 Black Hawk, angry about having his tribes home stolen from them, moved up the Rock River into Wisconsin with a small group of warriors, women, children and elders. They entered our state through Rock County. Their first stop was near Beloit at Turtle Village, an established Ho – Chunk community where the Turtle Creek meets the Rock River. Black Hawk and his people were offered some amount of help but the Ho-Chunk were not in any hurry to have the Government come down on them. They had enough problems of their own and didn’t need this on top of it. Accepting whatever supplies may have been offered, Black Hawk and his people spent the night then continued north and made camp along the bank of Spring Brook Creek in what is now Black Hawk Golf Course.  

With a water source right there and the bluff for protection from behind, this must have made a nice spot to stay and rest. It is thought that the band stayed for a couple of weeks, resting and hunting for food and needed supplies but these were in short supply. With Atkinson on their trail they moved north to Lake Koshkonong where they spent a good amount of time. As the white population grew in this area after the war there were stories that Tipi poles and camp fire pits could still be seen in the grove. 

 

Tobacco Land

 

This historical marker is a short distance south of Edgerton on highway 51 and tells the story of the rise of tobacco as a cash crop in Wisconsin. Growing tobacco is nothing new. People have been raising and using this plant for personal and spiritual purposes for thousands of years. The indigenous people of our state grew it for ceremonial use. For a time, remnants of their tobacco fields could be seen around Lake Koshkonong. Growing it as a cash crop rather than for personal use would be something entirely new to Wisconsin.

The first exchange of money for tobacco was in 1851. H. C. Russel attended the first meeting of the Agricultural Society & Mechanics Institute held in Janesville and brought with him a sample of his crop. For this he was awarded a prize of .50 cents. It wasn’t until a couple of years later and the arrival of the Pomeroy family that tobacco would be raised as a cash crop.

Ralph, Orrin and William Pomeroy were sons of Thaddeus and Margaret Pomeroy of Suffield Connecticut. The Pomeroy family came to the United States from England in 1630 where they made their living by blacksmithing and gun manufacturing. Thaddeus raised tobacco and passed the knowledge of raising this crop to his sons.

In 1838 at the age of 24 Ralph set out on his own and moved to Montgomery County Ohio where he introduced tobacco to the area. Orrin and WT followed and the three stayed in Ohio for 15 years. This is where the story gets a little smokey. Some of my research states that it was Ralph that first came to Wisconsin, other sources said that it was Orrin. Ultimately it boils down to a family issue because the fact remains that it was a Pomeroy, with decades of tobacco growing experience that moved to Dane County. While there he, with J.J. Heistad, rented a 10 acre plot of land south of Madison and planted a crop of Connecticut Seed tobacco. This produced an excellent crop with a yield of about 1 ton per acre.

Mr. Pomeroy built a two-tier barn and borrowed some fencing to hang the tobacco for drying. After curing and stripping he sold his crop to the Dewey and Chapin Company in Janesville for 3.5 cents per pound. Making this the first commercially grown tobacco in the state of Wisconsin.

After the sale of this crop Pomeroy contacted his brothers with the news of his success and bought a farm near Fulton. By 1860 they also moved to Fulton and tobacco became something of a family business.

The story of this family and their contribution to Rock County is quite interesting. I’ll share more of their story with you later.

 

Loco Motives

How Frank Patton plans to Destroy Lives
in the Midwest 

We grow up believing that if we work hard and do our best, if we are honorable and always try to do the right thing that we will live a happy life. Then something happens causing what we believe in and have worked hard for to come crashing down around us. We’re left wondering, what if anything do we have left? Can we pick up the pieces and rebuild? Of course we will have to try, but we are left a little jaded.

Right now there are farmers, business owners, and communities across three states facing this issue. Frank Patton, the driving force behind the Great Lakes Railroad is planning a project that could potentially change the lives of thousands if not millions of people by taking their lively hood from them. Patton’s idea is to build a 275 mile rail bypass around Chicago because the rail hub is very busy and can take up to 30 hours to move a train across the city.

He plans on doing this by claiming eminent domain and taking the land he needs for his project from the farmers, businesses, and communities in his way. Eminent domain requires fair consideration for the property being taken, but how does one compensate a family who has been farming the land for generations when you are taking both the past and future from them? What about the businesses and communities in the way? How do you calculate and compensate for that kind of loss? Here is a quote from a document posted on the Rock Against The Rail (RATR) Facebook page. It’s something everyone should read. The post went up on April 30. Go check it out http://www.boarddoc.com.

“GLB intends to offer fair prices for the property interests required to construct the railroad and to acquire as much property through negotiated transactions as possible. However, in some cases, GLB expects it will have tc;> resort to the exercise of eminent domain powers. GLB should be able to take advantage of “Quick Take” eminent domain procedures in each of its states to keep recalcitrant landowners from holding the entire project hostage. Under Quick Take, GLB would be allowed to take possession of property needed for the project by paying a court-determined amount, which would be held by the court as the actual value of the property taken is litigated. Appraisals are required in Indiana and Wisconsin, and as a practical matter they would need to be obtained in Illinois as well to support arguments as to what the preliminary and final valuation of taken property should be.”

It was my understanding that private citizens were not authorized to claim eminent domain. This is something that I thought only a government, whether federal or state, must do. Apparently private companies can just take what they want as long it’s for public use and they follow the rules. It is my hope that our elected officials consider this project carefully because there is so much at stake. Here in Rock County we have some of the richest farmland in the world. Once gone there is nothing that can be done to bring it back.

Here is Wisconsin’s eminent domain statute. This is from the Wisconsin Statute, Chapter 32 Sub-Chapter 1, and is also a part of the above document posted on the RATR Facebook page:

Under Wisconsin Statue 32.02(3), “[a]ny railroad corporation” (GLBRWI) may “acquire by condemnation any real estate and personal property appurtenant thereto or interest therein which they have power to acquire and hold … ” This expressly includes rights of way across other railroads (Wisconsin Statute 32.03(2)). Wisconsin Statue 32.05 governs condemnation for “transportation facilities,” which presumably includes freight railroads although this statute doesn’t mention them. After negotiations with the owner do not result in conveyance, the railroad must tender a “jurisdictional offer” of compensation supported by an appraisal. If the owner does not accept the offer within 20 days, and convey the property within 60 days, or commence court action to challenge the taking, the railroad may tender an award to the owner and take possession of the property. However, the owner has the right to challenge the valuation by appealing the award to either “a commission of county condemnation commissioners” or the circuit court. 

Patton claims that his project will create jobs, but in the next breath says his train may take a million truckers off the road. What can those million people do to provide for their families? How can any state government support lost farmland and the revenue that goes with it? How can it support lost business revenue on that scale? Can public services hold up under that kind of pressure? When we are looking at potentially a million truckers being put out of work, farmers no longer having prime fields and pasture land to work as well as businesses closing, That is a lot of people turning to the state for help! Granted this is spread across three states, but we are still talking about a large amount of people looking for work and needing public support.

Patton stated early on in this venture that he had 8 Billion dollars in financial backing and rail lines that had committed to using the new development. It turns out that this may not be the case, as he was caught on camera at a recent scoping meeting saying that he may seek financial backing in the form of government loans. But wait… he said he had so much backing! Government loans mean US! He wants US to pay for a project that will put our family, friends, and neighbors out of work. He wants US to sit back and allow him and his project to take land away from farmers.

This is not acceptable, if the issue is the Chicago rail hub, then fix the hub! Don’t take away a family’s living. Don’t bring a farm that has existed for generations to an end. Don’t take a business that someone has worked to build and cause it close because the rail line has rerouted traffic from their town! In the coming weeks I will be traveling the county interviewing people in the way of this rail, and sharing their stories with you.

We as residents of this county must join together and do what we can to preserve our way of life. It was stated at a scoping meeting that the trains may potentially be a mile long and traveling at speeds up to 70 miles an hour. That is not something I want close to me or anyone else! Moving it to another county will only create devastation there instead of here and that is not an option. The only option is stopping Patton and his project. We must get involved, find out what you can do to help stop the rail.