Cooksville is on the cover of BRAVA magazine this month—or at least a bride and groom kissing in a Cooksville cornfield is on the cover.
The couple, Gillian Morgan and Spencer Striker, who wanted a simple, rural wedding with “an old-world touch,” chose the Cooksville Public Square with a tent and the Cooksville Schoolhouse for their wedding in late summer last year.
The two-page story and inside-photos feature the Cooksville Community Center and the wedding party—with lots of chalked messages on the blackboards for the happy couple!
BRAVA, a women’s magazine, is published in Verona, Wisconsin. The cover story, called a “Wisconsin Wedding,” is in the March 2012 issue.
(By Larry Reed)
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
The Stage Coach to Cooksville – Part 1 by Larry Reed
The Village of Cooksville was on the route of the earliest transportation system in southern Wisconsin — the Territory and the State— in the 1840s to the 1860s.
Back then the long-distance transportation system was, of course, the fabled stagecoach. When the U.S. government opened land in the area for sale in 1837, the population grew rapidly, as did the need for regular routes for transporting mail, goods and people.
The early stagecoach route from Janesville to Madison generally followed what is now U. S. Highway 14, with some deviations. The two- or four-horse coaches carrying passengers and mail stopped after ten or so “stages,” or segments, along the dirt road, picking up more mail and passengers at each stop, and changing horses once, as they traveled the forty-mile distance.
The Janesville-Madison route came very close to Cooksville and, for a time, included Cooksville as a stop. Cooksville’s stagecoach stop, tavern and inn was the Waucoma House, built in 1850. It stood on the northeast corner of Main and Rock streets (now Hwy 59 and Hwy 138). A small, simple pencil sketch of the inn exists, done from memory, showing a large Greek Revival-style building with a columned porch, a typical design of the time.
Hawks Inn, Delafield WI, 1846, looked similar to Waucoma House
A local story about Waucoma House was told as follows: Earl Woodbury was watering his two horses at the tavern’s well probably about 1860; he tied their tails together to keep them at the well and then adjourned to the inn to satisfy his own thirst. Later, after a few too many mugs of refreshment, he remembered wondering if he had the horses securely tied or not, so he apparently staggered out to check on them. When he came to his senses a few hours later, he was safe in bed at home in the village with four hoof marks painted on his body. Undoubtedly, the work of Cooksville jokesters.
Waucoma House, besides serving as tavern and lodging, was also used for various other community purposes such as a dancing school where classes were held every two weeks, taught by a Mr. Brown from Oregon. (Dance classes were eventually moved to the third floor in Mrs. Harrison Stebbins’ home east of Cooksville because she liked dancing so well.) The inn also served as a tailor shop for a brief time. Eventually, as Cooksville declined in population, Waucoma House was no longer needed as a hotel or an inn or, indeed, for any business. It was demolished about 1915.
Early Wisconsin communities were linked together by, and dependent upon, the stage lines. The Janesville-Madison stagecoach— the Frink & Walker Stagecoach Line owned by John Frink and Aaron Walker—operated from about 1840 to 1860. In the first few years, two weekly two-horse stages traveled the route. But soon a four-horse coach made the forty-mile trip daily and as business increased expanded to two coaches each way.
Janesville and Madison were not yet officially villages when the first stagecoaches ran, but they were growing. Janesville in 1842 consisted of two stores, two taverns and about ten dwelling for about 75 inhabitants. Madison was only about twice the size. Both would, of course, develop rapidly in the next ten years.
(To be continued….)
Back then the long-distance transportation system was, of course, the fabled stagecoach. When the U.S. government opened land in the area for sale in 1837, the population grew rapidly, as did the need for regular routes for transporting mail, goods and people.
The early stagecoach route from Janesville to Madison generally followed what is now U. S. Highway 14, with some deviations. The two- or four-horse coaches carrying passengers and mail stopped after ten or so “stages,” or segments, along the dirt road, picking up more mail and passengers at each stop, and changing horses once, as they traveled the forty-mile distance.
The Janesville-Madison route came very close to Cooksville and, for a time, included Cooksville as a stop. Cooksville’s stagecoach stop, tavern and inn was the Waucoma House, built in 1850. It stood on the northeast corner of Main and Rock streets (now Hwy 59 and Hwy 138). A small, simple pencil sketch of the inn exists, done from memory, showing a large Greek Revival-style building with a columned porch, a typical design of the time.
Hawks Inn, Delafield WI, 1846, looked similar to Waucoma House
A local story about Waucoma House was told as follows: Earl Woodbury was watering his two horses at the tavern’s well probably about 1860; he tied their tails together to keep them at the well and then adjourned to the inn to satisfy his own thirst. Later, after a few too many mugs of refreshment, he remembered wondering if he had the horses securely tied or not, so he apparently staggered out to check on them. When he came to his senses a few hours later, he was safe in bed at home in the village with four hoof marks painted on his body. Undoubtedly, the work of Cooksville jokesters.
Waucoma House, besides serving as tavern and lodging, was also used for various other community purposes such as a dancing school where classes were held every two weeks, taught by a Mr. Brown from Oregon. (Dance classes were eventually moved to the third floor in Mrs. Harrison Stebbins’ home east of Cooksville because she liked dancing so well.) The inn also served as a tailor shop for a brief time. Eventually, as Cooksville declined in population, Waucoma House was no longer needed as a hotel or an inn or, indeed, for any business. It was demolished about 1915.
Early Wisconsin communities were linked together by, and dependent upon, the stage lines. The Janesville-Madison stagecoach— the Frink & Walker Stagecoach Line owned by John Frink and Aaron Walker—operated from about 1840 to 1860. In the first few years, two weekly two-horse stages traveled the route. But soon a four-horse coach made the forty-mile trip daily and as business increased expanded to two coaches each way.
Janesville and Madison were not yet officially villages when the first stagecoaches ran, but they were growing. Janesville in 1842 consisted of two stores, two taverns and about ten dwelling for about 75 inhabitants. Madison was only about twice the size. Both would, of course, develop rapidly in the next ten years.
(To be continued….)
Monday, March 19, 2012
Cooksville Community Center 2012 Calendar of Events
Clean Up Day at the Center (Interior only)
Friday, April 6, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Come join the crew to shine up the center for a new season. Bring a rag, sponge and bucket, broom and dust pan. We will sweep up the bugs, mop floors, clean bathrooms and kitchen, and wipe flat surfaces. We will also clean the basement. A separate date will be scheduled for yard work, cleaning of the outhouses, and removal of garlic mustard. Treats will be served. Location: Cooksville Community Center
Stoughton Chamber Singers Concert
Sunday, June 10, 7:00 p.m.
This year’s concert, entitled “Music For The Evening” will feature music by a broad range of composers from Baroque to Broadway. Location: Cooksville Church at the corner of Highways 138 and 59. Admission is $5 per person. A reception will follow at the Cooksville Community Center, two blocks east on Hwy 59.
Gardening program
Sunday, June 24, 2012, 4:00 p.m.
Deb Sharpee, owner of Norwegianwood in Deforest and unofficial “hosta lady” of the Dane County Farmer’s Market, will bring us up-to-date on what is new in the world of hostas. She will talk about some of the new hosta varieties on the market, how to divide and propagate your plants, and problems with hosta pests and viruses. Come to hear this informative and entertaining presentation and bring your questions about growing hostas. You are also invited to tour Charlie and Ralph's hosta gardens, across the road from the Cooksville Community Center. LISTEN to Deb Sharpee talk about how “It’s Easy to Love a Hosta” on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMEqZk7ibE0
Location: Cooksville Community Center.
Independence Day Family Potluck Picnic
Monday, July 4, 12:30 p.m.
Come and visit with your friends and neighbors and eat about 12:30 PM. Cooksville native, Jeanne Julseth-Heinrich, an accomplished accordion player, will begin playing about 1:15 p.m. Bring a dish to pass and your own plate, silverware and liquid refreshments to this annual event under the oak trees at the Location: Cooksville Commons or Community Center in case of rain.
Back by popular demand: “Wild Animals” program
Sunday, July 29, 1 p.m.
The staff at 4 Lakes Wildlife Center, hopefully with wildlife rehabilitation specialist Patrick Comfert, will return to the Center and entertain us with stories of their experiences with rehabilitation wild animals. This program is for all ages. Location: Cooksville Community Center.
Origami, the Art of Japanese Paper Folding
Sat., Sept. 15, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Henri Dutilly, presenter, has been folding and teaching Origami to kids and adults for more than twenty years. Join Henri to learn how to make a number of Origami models, including some moveable ones. A parent or other adult should be present to assist children ages four and younger. Supplies will be provided. There is no fee, but advance registration is required. The program is limited to 25 people. To register, contact Martha Degner, 882- 2550, madegner@litewire.net Location: Cooksville Community Center.
Cooksville Lutheran Church Fall Festival
Tentative date: Sunday, September 9, 11:00 a.m.
Home cooked meal, prepared by members of the Church, with children’s games, items for sale (arts & crafts, collectibles, antiques, produce, fall mums), Silent Auction, and more. Sponsored by and proceeds benefit Cooksville Lutheran Church. Location: Cooksville Lutheran Church
Cooksville Community Center Annual Meeting
Monday, September 24, 7 p.m.
Learn what has happened this year and what is on the agenda for the future at this annual Cooksville Community Center event. This is your opportunity to voice your opinions about the Center. We want your input to help us manage the Center. Sponsored by Cooksville Community Center. Location: Cooksville Community Center
Annual Halloween Party
Saturday, October 20, 6:30 p.m.
Join us for an annual Halloween tradition. There will be games and activities for kids and a bonfire for adults. Bring your own beverages and a snack or dessert to share. Flashlights are strongly encouraged for all -- the Commons and schoolyard can get very dark, especially around Halloween! You are also welcome to get into the Halloween spirit by helping to decorate for the party at 12:00 noon on the same day. Sponsored by Cooksville Community Center. Location: Cooksville Community Center
Cooksville Lutheran Annual Harvest Dinner
Tentative date: Sunday, November 11, 12:00 – 3:00 p.m.
This is another annual event in Cooksville. A home cooked Thanksgiving meal prepared and served by members of the Church. Proceeds from the event will benefit the church. Location: Cooksville Lutheran Church.
Support your local community center by:
being a member,
attending scheduled events and the Annual Meeting,
volunteering to serve on the Board of Directors and/or committees [Programming, Fundraising or Maintenance], and
making financial contributions.
Quarterly Community Center Board Meetings
The board meets the 2nd Monday of March, June, September and December. Members of the Center are invited to attend the quarterly board meetings.
Changes and updates to the Calendar of Events will be posted at the Cooksville Store as well as on the Town of Porter website which is www.porterwi.com. We are trying to schedule another bagpipe demonstration by the Shriners Pipe & Drum Corps. Stay tuned. Check out www.cooksvillenews.blogspot.com for pictures and stories. Find the Cooksville Community Center on Facebook and become a friend.
Rentals: The Community Center building is available for rent throughout the summer and fall for graduation parties, baby/bridal showers, dinners, family events and meetings. The building is air-conditioned, has a kitchen and bathrooms. Contact Bill Zimmerman 873-1652 or 608-628-8566 for rates and reservations.
Cooksville merchandise: The Center has note cards of historic homes in the village, guidebooks of the village, and ceramic plates of Cooksville for sale, which will be available for purchase during Center events OR phone Bill Zimmerman, 873-1652.
BOARD MEMBERS
Carl Franseen, President/Treasurer
Keith Axford, Vice President
Martha Degner, Secretary –
Jennifer Ehle, Program Chair
Bill Zimmerman, Maintenance, Membership, Rentals
Ralph Pelkey
Larry McDonnell
Kathleen Hipke
Please phone or email a board member with questions regarding events or programs.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Cooksville is 170 Years Old in 2012
The Cook House, c. 1930
In 2012, Cooksville celebrates 170 years since its founding in 1842— the year the Village of Cooksville was officially platted by John Cook in the newly-opened lands of the Wisconsin Territory.
The recorded history of the Village begins even earlier, on May 9, 1840, when its eponymous founder, John Cook and his younger brother Daniel (both born in Ohio), along with a small contingent from Indiana arrived on America’s new frontier by oxen-drawn wagons. That was the date Cook purchased his piece of the American frontier; soon after, on June 22, he entered two more parcels of land from the same Section 6 in the four-year-old Wisconsin Territory.
John Cook and his fellow travelers had set out for their new lands from Indiana in early 1840. They were a typical immigrant family group in America’s Westward movement, and they traveled to Rock County, Wisconsin, across prairies, through oak openings and oak savannas, arriving on June 25, 1840, in Union, the midway stagecoach stop between Janesville and Madison. The Village of Union was the jumping off place for all new settlers in that area of Rock County—and it was the only village between Janesville and Madison. Cook’s new farmland was just three miles to the east of Union.
Cooks’ group traveled in covered wagons pulled by yoked oxen, probably accompanied by a horse or two, and maybe a cow. The pioneers included the brothers John Cook and Daniel Cook and Daniel’s wife Elizabeth and daughter Rhoda; Mrs. Cook’s brother James Shurrum and his wife Hannah Courter; and Hannah’s sister Angeline Courter Johnson and her husband David Johnson and their three children. The Johnson family remained in Union, but the Shurrums traveled on with the Cooks to their new land in the oak-openings along a little fish-filled creek.
According to a daughter of the Johnson’s, when the families arrived in Wisconsin there were “several houses and one general store” in Janesville, and only one house stood between Janesville and Union. Two houses were in the vicinity of Union; Evansville did not yet exist and only one house was on the stage route from Union to Madison. Union was the only settlement for many miles around at the time.
When the Cooks and Shurrums arrived at the place soon to be known as Cooksville, they initially lived in their wagons and in tents. Then, before winter set in, the Cook brothers built themselves a log cabin—the first house in Cooksville—to shelter the family. They probably built a log barn as well as to shelter their animals; sometimes barns for the animals were built first. The log house was about 14 feet square without floors or doors or windows, probably with a crude earthen and stone fireplace on a dirt floor; a split log floor was typically added later.
When the census taker counted noses at John Cook’s residence in 1840, his family consisted of himself, a bachelor; his younger brother Daniel Cook (born February 27, 1818), the latter’s wife, nee Elizabeth Shurrum, and their young daughter, Rhoda, aged 2. Apparently, John Cook married his wife, Nancy Ann, sometime after 1840. Little, in fact, is known about either John Cook or Daniel Cook.
In 1842, after two years, John Cook must have felt that the growing westward movement of people in America justified an effort to establish a more permanent settlement. To cash in on that westward migration of Americans (and immigrants from the British Isles), in 1842 Cook platted three blocks of a village he named “Cooksville” on the western side of the half-section line from the Badfish Creek on the north to “Union Road” (now State Highway 59) on the south, with the eastern limit being “Main Street” (now State Highway 138).
(Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts owned the land to the east, adjacent to Cook, and in four years Webster’s land, sold to John Porter, would be the site of a second village immediately joined to the Cook brothers, named the Village of Waucoma, which Porter platted in 1846.)
Cook’s 1842 plat included three blocks of six lots each, all on the west side of his Main Street. At the north end of Cook’s village was Block 1, bounded by Front Street on the north, Mill Street on the west, and Spring Street on the south. Block 2 was south of Spring Street, and Block 3 extended south to the road to Union.
In the same year,1842, Cook built a sawmill just north of his new village on the swift-running creek, with a dam and a pond. The Cooksville Mill, a significant addition to the fledgling frontier community, signaled that Cooks’ eponymously named village was firmly on the map, geared up for business, and ready to saw lumber. The industrial age had arrived, on a small scale, and the new village had great expectations of success.
The year 1842 also saw the first church organized in Cooksville: the Free Will Baptist church, with about 15 members. Meetings were held in John Cook’s log cabin and, later, in the sawmill and then, probably, in his new residence. The pastor was Elder Low, who preached without a salary.
Governmental units were also getting organized. The Town of Union was formally organized in 1842 and initially consisted of what are now the towns of Union, Porter, and the northern halves of Magnolia and Center townships. In 1847, the Town of Porter was created separately.
The Cook families did not remain in Cooksville very long. By 1852, Daniel and his family had moved further west to Iowa, and the same may have been true for John and his family.
Other settlers soon followed to Cooksville and to Wisconsin, and the state’s population jumped dramatically from about 3,000 in 1830 to 11,683 in 1836, and to 305,391 in 1850. One by one, family by family, settlers arrived, lured by the inexpensive land and by great expectations. They, too, lived in their wagons and in tents, or crude shelters, quickly constructing small log cabins, staking out their land-holdings, beginning their new lives among the oak-openings on the prairie.
In Cooksville, the fertile soil and the clear-flowing creek, which the Indians had named Waucoma and later became known as the Bad Fish, provided a relatively comfortable, sustainable, and potentially profitable setting for these early pioneers. And logs cabins quickly gave way to solid oak-framed houses, thanks to the early operating saw-mill, and to sturdy brick houses, thanks to the vermilion-colored clay that ran through Cooksville.
It’s interesting to note that other villages were planned for the area near Cooksville. These “paper cities” were usually planned and laid out on paper by speculators and entrepreneurs who hoped to sell individual plots of land to prospective pioneers back East. New waves of settlers were heading West to the Wisconsin Territory as the U.S. government began selling the newly-surveyed land. And money was to be made, they hoped.
Several of these “paper cities” were plotted in the vicinity of Cooksville. But these “imaginary villages” were soon-to-be-forgotten places. For instance, northwest of Cooksville on the present border of Rock Country and Dane County, along the Badfish Creek, the village of “Van Buren” was laid out on December 13, 1836, platted into 61 blocks. By 1843 it had disappeared without a trace into farmland.
Nearby, to the southeast, “Saratoga” was platted on January 6, 1837, with 36 blocks around Caledonia Spring. Apparently, only one sale of land was made. “Carramana,” named for a Winnebago chief of that name and translated as “The Walking Turtle,” was planned near Fulton, at the junction of the Rock and Yahara rivers, and was laid out in early 1836, consisting of about 50 blocks, but it, too, never materialized.
“Warsaw,” just south of Edgerton, with 24 blocks, was platted on September 21, 1836, and disappeared about a year later. “Wisconsin City,” another early, ambitious (containing over 200 blocks) but failed attempt, was to be located just west of Janesville. None of these “paper cities” succeeded in attracting permanent settlers.
Eventually, new villages and cities would be established to the east, west and north of Cooksville, but the little, well-preserved Village of Cooksville established in 1842—“the town that time forgot”— survives as the first historic village in northwestern Rock County.
[Excerpt from “The Village of Cooksville: A Chronicle of the Town that Time Forgot,” by Larry Reed.]
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Historic Cooksville General Store
The Cooksville General Store has a record of about 165 years serving the small village of Cooksville in Rock County, Wisconsin. Most likely it is the oldest General Store operating in Wisconsin.
The General Store dates from about 1847. In that year, Charles Smith acquired from John Cook, founder of the village in 1842, a corner lot, 26 feet by 66 feet, at Main and Spring streets and built and began operating his store in the small Village of Cooksville.
In 1864, the building was sold to the second floor tenant, Waucoma Lodge No. 90. The lodge had been chartered in 1858 and had been leasing the second floor of the building. Thus begun the long association of the Masonic Lodge with the General Store.
The Masons made several improvements to the building. In 1879 shutter blinds were hung on the building’s windows, and the Masonic hall on the second floor acquired new chairs, hanging lamps, carpets, and wallpaper. In 1882 the large glass front windows were installed and new paint was applied and the “store looks very nobby,” reported the nearby Evansville newspaper at the time.
Old diaries provide details of the store’s business dealings—purchases of raisins, cream of tartar, a barrel of Spitzenberg apples, fifty pounds of flour, and delivery to the store of 19 ½ pounds of cheese—and records of luxury goods for those times such a shipment of oysters in 1872, most probably destined for an oyster supper at the Lodge (oysters were actually a frequent component of a special supper). And in June 1874 rare lemons arrived.
In 1890 the Masons bought 18 feet of land west of the building for expansion of the building, accomplished in 1894 and, as the Badger newspaper of Evansville wrote, “the room over the new part will be used as a dining room” for the Masonic Hall.
In 1893, in a jocular but nonetheless fairly accurate newspaper story, the store owner was described as a “dealer in soft and hard coal, ice cream, wood, lime, cement, perfumery, nails, putty, spectacles and tomato catsup, chocolate caramels and tar roofing, hides, tallow and maple syrup, fine gold jewelry, silverware, salt, glue, codfish and gents neckwear, full line of patent medicines, diseases of horses and children a specialty.”
The Cooksville General Store was, like most early stores, a basic dry goods, grocery and produce store. It the early days there were cracker and pickle and flour barrels, and cookies and tea in bulk tins. At times, the Cooksville Store also included fuels and building materials and hardware. Eventually, the store sold such widely assorted things as Cornish game hens, lag bolts, wash pans, clothesline, bone-meal, garden seeds, drill bits, underwear, anchovies, overshoes, lamp chimneys, paint, tobacco cloth, and kitchen utensils, as well as dairy and meat products and hot sandwiches and newspapers.
The barter system was used for many of the early years, and credit was given, even in later years, and the storekeeper functioned in some ways as a middleman for locally-grown produce.
By the mid-20th century, traveling salesman and their companies’ delivery trucks kept the rural Cooksville General Store supplied with everything on the market. That most famous of country store institutions, the” hot stove league,” weakened by many factors of modern life, such as television. was there throughout the 20th century providing written and oral communications, as well as other services for the community such as receiving and mailing packages or a place to turn to when in need of emergency assistance.
By the end of the 20th century, having been in business in the same location since 1847, the Cooksville General Store had achieved the status of the oldest operating general store in Wisconsin. At least no one has disputed the title.
# # #
[Written by Larry Reed, 2011]
Friday, November 18, 2011
The Archeology of Historic Cooksville, by Larry Reed
Like most communities, the Village of Cooksville and the Town of Porter has evidence of its history (and prehistory) that is found both hidden underground and is visible on top of the ground.
In addition to the dozens of visible historic houses and buildings, Cooksville has several significant historic archeological sites—once-important features of the village that have disappeared from view but retain important, significant information about the community’s history found beneath the ground.
Three of these sites are within the village and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and one of them, also listed in the National Register, is located just to the northwest of Cooksville.
One village archeological site, the Hoxie Sash and Door Factor that later housed the important Van Vleck Implement Factory, is located near the northwest corner of Webster and Dane streets. Isaac Hoxie (brother of self-trained architect, Benjamin Hoxie) built his sash and door carpentry shop in 1848 to supply the area with doors, windows and blinds (shutters). Powered by a horse walking in a circle to turn the gears, the workshop ceased operation in 1858, when the local “building boom” ended.
Shortly afterward the building became the Van Vleck Implement Factory (1861-1928), manufacturing wagons, corn and potato planters, farm gates, and other implements, as well as repairing them. The second floor housed the Lyceum Hall and the Cooksville Academy. News about the Civil War was shouted to the citizens from the second-story porch.
When the deteriorated Van Vleck building was demolished in 1928, a Wisconsin newspaper printed a photograph of the deteriorated structure and called it “Wisconsin’s first implement factory.”
Another important archeological site is the Cooksville Mill Site, west of the Main Street (State Road 138) bridge over the Badfish Creek. Built as a sawmill by John Cook in 1842, it became a gristmill by 1847, grinding locally-grown wheat, oats and corn, and operated by a series of owners. The dam and pond were abandoned in 1897, and the mill building was used as a family residence for a time, and, later, the derelict structure served as shelter for homeless tramps and then as storage. It burned down in 1905.
A third archeological site is the Champney Brickyard and House Site, located on the south side of the village, on Church Street (then South Street). Hubbard Champney was the brick-maker (and farmer) and operated the brickyard for about ten years, making the distinctive vermilion-colored Cooksville brick. Others operated the brickyard until about 1860, when the property was turned into farmland. Shards of brick, glass and pottery have been found in the area. (A second Cooksville brickyard was located just west of Cooksville, but little evidence of its location remains.)
The fourth officially-designated archeological site is the Leedle Mill Truss Bridge and Mill Site, located just northwest of Cooksville on the Badfish Creek in the Town of Union. The mill was built about 1849, owned by various operators including William Leedle, who enlarged the dam and the mill. The dam washed out a number of times, permanently about 1918, and the mill’s wood frame structure and most of the foundation were demolished in the late 1950s.
Unfortunately, the historic Leedle Mill Pratt truss bridge constructed about 1916 over the Badfish Creek at the location of the mill, which had been closed to traffic for many years, was demolished in 2011 and a new bridge has replaced it.
Other undiscovered archeological sites, prehistoric and historic, in or near Cooksville, may lie hidden from view—or almost hidden. For instance, the remains of a blacksmith shop’s brick foundation can be seen near the Gunn House at Breckhurst; two outhouse foundations remain in the yard of the Cooksville Congregational Church; dozens of horseshoes, doorknobs, hinges, etc., have been found in the ground near the historic Van Buren House and Barn, along with many shards of pottery and an almost-intact bourbon bottle from 1825. Probably every Cooksville property owner has uncovered similar pieces of pottery, china or metal in their backyards, especially in the cultivated gardens.
And perhaps evidence of Cooksville’s long-lost stage coach inn, the Waucoma House, and the village’s Opera House remains buried in the ground. Or there may exist, along the Badfish Creek, Native American sites that pre-date the existence of Cooksville and the State of Wisconsin.
Several prehistoric and historic Native American archeological sites have been previously reported east of Cooksville in the Town of Porter, classified as campsites or village sites, probably because arrowheads or other artifacts had been discovered there. These sites, recorded in Wisconsin’s Archeological Sites Inventory, remain uninvestigated and unevaluated.
Other interesting archeological sites and artifacts undoubtedly remain in or near historic Cooksville, undiscovered, unexamined and unevaluated, a hidden part of the area’s long history.
# # #
In addition to the dozens of visible historic houses and buildings, Cooksville has several significant historic archeological sites—once-important features of the village that have disappeared from view but retain important, significant information about the community’s history found beneath the ground.
Three of these sites are within the village and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and one of them, also listed in the National Register, is located just to the northwest of Cooksville.
One village archeological site, the Hoxie Sash and Door Factor that later housed the important Van Vleck Implement Factory, is located near the northwest corner of Webster and Dane streets. Isaac Hoxie (brother of self-trained architect, Benjamin Hoxie) built his sash and door carpentry shop in 1848 to supply the area with doors, windows and blinds (shutters). Powered by a horse walking in a circle to turn the gears, the workshop ceased operation in 1858, when the local “building boom” ended.
Shortly afterward the building became the Van Vleck Implement Factory (1861-1928), manufacturing wagons, corn and potato planters, farm gates, and other implements, as well as repairing them. The second floor housed the Lyceum Hall and the Cooksville Academy. News about the Civil War was shouted to the citizens from the second-story porch.
When the deteriorated Van Vleck building was demolished in 1928, a Wisconsin newspaper printed a photograph of the deteriorated structure and called it “Wisconsin’s first implement factory.”
Another important archeological site is the Cooksville Mill Site, west of the Main Street (State Road 138) bridge over the Badfish Creek. Built as a sawmill by John Cook in 1842, it became a gristmill by 1847, grinding locally-grown wheat, oats and corn, and operated by a series of owners. The dam and pond were abandoned in 1897, and the mill building was used as a family residence for a time, and, later, the derelict structure served as shelter for homeless tramps and then as storage. It burned down in 1905.
A third archeological site is the Champney Brickyard and House Site, located on the south side of the village, on Church Street (then South Street). Hubbard Champney was the brick-maker (and farmer) and operated the brickyard for about ten years, making the distinctive vermilion-colored Cooksville brick. Others operated the brickyard until about 1860, when the property was turned into farmland. Shards of brick, glass and pottery have been found in the area. (A second Cooksville brickyard was located just west of Cooksville, but little evidence of its location remains.)
The fourth officially-designated archeological site is the Leedle Mill Truss Bridge and Mill Site, located just northwest of Cooksville on the Badfish Creek in the Town of Union. The mill was built about 1849, owned by various operators including William Leedle, who enlarged the dam and the mill. The dam washed out a number of times, permanently about 1918, and the mill’s wood frame structure and most of the foundation were demolished in the late 1950s.
Unfortunately, the historic Leedle Mill Pratt truss bridge constructed about 1916 over the Badfish Creek at the location of the mill, which had been closed to traffic for many years, was demolished in 2011 and a new bridge has replaced it.
Other undiscovered archeological sites, prehistoric and historic, in or near Cooksville, may lie hidden from view—or almost hidden. For instance, the remains of a blacksmith shop’s brick foundation can be seen near the Gunn House at Breckhurst; two outhouse foundations remain in the yard of the Cooksville Congregational Church; dozens of horseshoes, doorknobs, hinges, etc., have been found in the ground near the historic Van Buren House and Barn, along with many shards of pottery and an almost-intact bourbon bottle from 1825. Probably every Cooksville property owner has uncovered similar pieces of pottery, china or metal in their backyards, especially in the cultivated gardens.
And perhaps evidence of Cooksville’s long-lost stage coach inn, the Waucoma House, and the village’s Opera House remains buried in the ground. Or there may exist, along the Badfish Creek, Native American sites that pre-date the existence of Cooksville and the State of Wisconsin.
Several prehistoric and historic Native American archeological sites have been previously reported east of Cooksville in the Town of Porter, classified as campsites or village sites, probably because arrowheads or other artifacts had been discovered there. These sites, recorded in Wisconsin’s Archeological Sites Inventory, remain uninvestigated and unevaluated.
Other interesting archeological sites and artifacts undoubtedly remain in or near historic Cooksville, undiscovered, unexamined and unevaluated, a hidden part of the area’s long history.
# # #
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Cooksville: What's in a Name? - "Badfish" and "Waucoma"?
Two questions, related to each other, are often asked about two distinctive names in Cooksville’s history: “Why is the creek named ‘Badfish’?” and “Why is the larger part of the village of Cooksville legally named ‘Waucoma’?”
The name “Badfish” is the present name given to the small river or creek that runs along the northern edge of Cooksville, flowing and zigzagging from the Madison-Oregon area southeast to the Yahara River east of Cooksville. But it probably had another name originally.
The name, “Bad Fish,” appears to have been applied, perhaps mistakenly, in late 1833, when the U.S. government land surveyors were moving through the Wisconsin part of the Michigan Territory from the east and the Rock River to the west past the Yahara (Catfish) River and on further west in Rock County (then part of Brown County), through a “Rolling Prairie,” as their sketch map called it. When the surveyors came upon a large creek in the northwest corner of what is now Rock County, they apparently thought they had reached a part of the Bad Fish River (later the Sugar River) system
The Bad Fish River was the name of the upper branch of the Sugar River at that time. (A map published in 1833 by Baldwin and Crudock shows the “Bad Fish River” flowing south from the Four Lakes area near Madison to the Sugar River in Illinois.) The land surveyors presumed, mistakenly, that the little creek flowing from that direction was a small tributary of the Bad Fish River. Thus, they named it the Bad Fish Creek. (Most likely these early surveyors did not know the existing Indian name of the creek.)
For whatever reason, the name “Bad Fish Creek” was recorded in the early 1830s survey.
The original name of the creek appears to have been “Waucoma.” A recollection by a Cooksville resident, possibly Isaac Porter, written circa 1911, describes the early 1840s settlement of the area, which later became Porter Township. His recollection sheds some light on the origin of the name “Waucoma” chosen by his uncle, Dr. John Porter, for the village he platted in 1846 adjacent to Cooksville. The recollection also reveals the possible original name of the “lovely little river” flowing through Cooksville.
Filed under “Porter Memories” in the collections of Susan Porter (daughter of William Porter) and now part of the Cooksville Archives, the document refers to the Cooksville area as a “lovely region along the lovely little river Waucoma…. Dr. John Porter named his village plat Waucoma, the Indian name of the river…” Later, the anonymous writer also states that, “very early a saw mill was built by Dr. Porter on that Waucoma River…” (This was the mill built on the Porter farm about a mile east of Cooksville.)
It seems the creek was also known as Waucoma River when the villages of Cooksville (1842) and Waucoma (1846) were settled.
To give some credence to the Indian name of “Waucoma” for the little river— or perhaps to add some confusion — Joseph K.P. Porter, another nephew of Dr. John Porter, published his “reminiscence of the early history of Cooksville” as number seven in a series of “Old Settlers’ Stories” in The Badger newspaper, Evansville, April 6, 1895. In that article, Porter writes that Dr. John Porter “platted it [the village] and gave it the name of Waucoma. Waucoma is an Indian name meaning Clear Water. It was thought to be an appropriate name, as the village lies upon the bank of a fine stream of water. The name was suggested by Governor Doty, who was well versed in Indian lore.”
Perhaps Governor Doty was one of those who knew the creek’s Indian name and suggested it as the name for Porter’s new village, Waucoma, located on that “fine stream of water.”
The name “Waucoma” was researched in the 1960s, but the etymology was undiscovered and did not appear to mean “clear water” in any Indian language. However, in Wisconsin many place names that seem to be associated with water contain that Indian language syllable “wau,” as in Waukesha, Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wautoma, Wausau, Waubesa and others. So it seems “Waucoma” could well be of Indian origin. And it may well have been the first name of what eventually became Cooksville’s little Badfish Creek.
So, what’s in a name? The Indians no doubt called the clear-running creek a name, apparently “Waucoma,” and early surveyors named it, perhaps mistakenly, the “Bad Fish,” after the nearby Bad Fish River. And Dr. Porter may well have chosen the name “Waucoma” for his new village, one of the many pleasant, musical names that the Indians had long ago given to the land and its features that once was theirs to name and to claim.
The rather silly “myth” that the name “Bad Fish” came from an Indian husband who blamed his upset stomach on a dinner of bad fish from the creek rather than disparage his new wife’s bad cooking can be easily dismissed if for no other reason than the Indian husband most likely did not utter the English words “bad fish” —or “bad fish fry”—as he rubbed his troubled tummy. (But, then, how did the “Bad Fish River,” now the Sugar River, get its original name?)
Both of these names are part of Cooksville’s story, and the two names—Badfish and Waucoma—reflect two characteristics of the time: the long Native American occupancy of the land and water and the brash spirit of the American frontier as it quickly moved westward into the Wisconsin Territory.
Knowing (or making an educated etymological guess) at the reasons for a particular name can prove interesting. For instance, thanks to the Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, who first realized in 1507 that the two continents in the western Atlantic were not Asia, and especially thanks to Martin Waldseemüller, the German cartographer who made the continents’ first map in 1507 and applied Amerigo’s first name to those mysterious, new continents— thanks to them, we are known as “Americans” and not as “Vespuccians”!
[Excerpt from “The Village of Cooksville: A Chronicle of the Town that Time Forgot,” being written by Larry Reed.]
The name “Badfish” is the present name given to the small river or creek that runs along the northern edge of Cooksville, flowing and zigzagging from the Madison-Oregon area southeast to the Yahara River east of Cooksville. But it probably had another name originally.
The name, “Bad Fish,” appears to have been applied, perhaps mistakenly, in late 1833, when the U.S. government land surveyors were moving through the Wisconsin part of the Michigan Territory from the east and the Rock River to the west past the Yahara (Catfish) River and on further west in Rock County (then part of Brown County), through a “Rolling Prairie,” as their sketch map called it. When the surveyors came upon a large creek in the northwest corner of what is now Rock County, they apparently thought they had reached a part of the Bad Fish River (later the Sugar River) system
The Bad Fish River was the name of the upper branch of the Sugar River at that time. (A map published in 1833 by Baldwin and Crudock shows the “Bad Fish River” flowing south from the Four Lakes area near Madison to the Sugar River in Illinois.) The land surveyors presumed, mistakenly, that the little creek flowing from that direction was a small tributary of the Bad Fish River. Thus, they named it the Bad Fish Creek. (Most likely these early surveyors did not know the existing Indian name of the creek.)
For whatever reason, the name “Bad Fish Creek” was recorded in the early 1830s survey.
The original name of the creek appears to have been “Waucoma.” A recollection by a Cooksville resident, possibly Isaac Porter, written circa 1911, describes the early 1840s settlement of the area, which later became Porter Township. His recollection sheds some light on the origin of the name “Waucoma” chosen by his uncle, Dr. John Porter, for the village he platted in 1846 adjacent to Cooksville. The recollection also reveals the possible original name of the “lovely little river” flowing through Cooksville.
Filed under “Porter Memories” in the collections of Susan Porter (daughter of William Porter) and now part of the Cooksville Archives, the document refers to the Cooksville area as a “lovely region along the lovely little river Waucoma…. Dr. John Porter named his village plat Waucoma, the Indian name of the river…” Later, the anonymous writer also states that, “very early a saw mill was built by Dr. Porter on that Waucoma River…” (This was the mill built on the Porter farm about a mile east of Cooksville.)
It seems the creek was also known as Waucoma River when the villages of Cooksville (1842) and Waucoma (1846) were settled.
To give some credence to the Indian name of “Waucoma” for the little river— or perhaps to add some confusion — Joseph K.P. Porter, another nephew of Dr. John Porter, published his “reminiscence of the early history of Cooksville” as number seven in a series of “Old Settlers’ Stories” in The Badger newspaper, Evansville, April 6, 1895. In that article, Porter writes that Dr. John Porter “platted it [the village] and gave it the name of Waucoma. Waucoma is an Indian name meaning Clear Water. It was thought to be an appropriate name, as the village lies upon the bank of a fine stream of water. The name was suggested by Governor Doty, who was well versed in Indian lore.”
Perhaps Governor Doty was one of those who knew the creek’s Indian name and suggested it as the name for Porter’s new village, Waucoma, located on that “fine stream of water.”
The name “Waucoma” was researched in the 1960s, but the etymology was undiscovered and did not appear to mean “clear water” in any Indian language. However, in Wisconsin many place names that seem to be associated with water contain that Indian language syllable “wau,” as in Waukesha, Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wautoma, Wausau, Waubesa and others. So it seems “Waucoma” could well be of Indian origin. And it may well have been the first name of what eventually became Cooksville’s little Badfish Creek.
So, what’s in a name? The Indians no doubt called the clear-running creek a name, apparently “Waucoma,” and early surveyors named it, perhaps mistakenly, the “Bad Fish,” after the nearby Bad Fish River. And Dr. Porter may well have chosen the name “Waucoma” for his new village, one of the many pleasant, musical names that the Indians had long ago given to the land and its features that once was theirs to name and to claim.
The rather silly “myth” that the name “Bad Fish” came from an Indian husband who blamed his upset stomach on a dinner of bad fish from the creek rather than disparage his new wife’s bad cooking can be easily dismissed if for no other reason than the Indian husband most likely did not utter the English words “bad fish” —or “bad fish fry”—as he rubbed his troubled tummy. (But, then, how did the “Bad Fish River,” now the Sugar River, get its original name?)
Both of these names are part of Cooksville’s story, and the two names—Badfish and Waucoma—reflect two characteristics of the time: the long Native American occupancy of the land and water and the brash spirit of the American frontier as it quickly moved westward into the Wisconsin Territory.
Knowing (or making an educated etymological guess) at the reasons for a particular name can prove interesting. For instance, thanks to the Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, who first realized in 1507 that the two continents in the western Atlantic were not Asia, and especially thanks to Martin Waldseemüller, the German cartographer who made the continents’ first map in 1507 and applied Amerigo’s first name to those mysterious, new continents— thanks to them, we are known as “Americans” and not as “Vespuccians”!
[Excerpt from “The Village of Cooksville: A Chronicle of the Town that Time Forgot,” being written by Larry Reed.]
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