Cooksville’s Historic Public Square: 1846-2016, by Larry Reed

Village of Waucoma, 1846 plat map

The Cooksville Public Square has been the heart and soul of the historic19^th century “Yankee” Village of Cooksville since it was established 170 years ago in 1846. That is when Dr. John Porter of Massachusetts platted his fourteen block “Village of Waucoma” next to the smaller Village of Cooksville, which the Cook brothers had established in 1842. 

Porter’s new village was laid out on land that he purchased from the famous Senator Daniel Webster, who had bought it in 1837 from the U.S. Government when the land first went on sale in the Wisconsin Territory. Porter named his new village “Waucoma,” the Indian name of the present creek, which the American government’s land surveyors had named “Bad Fish” in 1833. 

The Public Square was in the center of Porter’s village. He hired surveyor Alanson B. Vaughn of nearby Union (the only other village between Janesville and Madison) to draw up the plat of the new village south of the Badfish Creek immediately next to Cooksville. Waucoma’s layout contained a total of 162 lots within 14 blocks, with the middle Block 8 reserved for the public. 

Sometimes called the “village green” or the “common” or the “park,” the central Square was dedicated for common use, which was the practice in Porter’s home-state of Massachusetts, and he included one in his Wisconsin village. The individual lots were arranged along streets that Dr. Porter named Main, Rock, Webster, Wisconsin, Dane, South, Water and Fourth streets. All the lots were for sale, of course, but not all were ever sold for building purposes.

Since 1846, Porter’s New England-style Public Square has been the focus of the little community. It provides a natural, partially-wooded, green space open to all, with an elegant virgin burr oak grove of trees, along with maple, white ash, elm and hickory, a remnant of the original “oak openings” once prominent in southern Wisconsin’s wide, rich prairies.  

Cooksville Public Square

 

Many uses have been made of the Public Square in the 19^th, 20^th and 21st centuries. Where once sheep, cows and horses grazed on the “green,” now people and dogs enjoy strolling, gamboling and picnicking.  And the Square has been put to other uses. It has served as the scene for horse races and baseballs games, for Old Settlers Reunions, for family and community picnics, for Fourth of July celebrations, and for “Play Day’ for the children of the Town of Porter’s nine one-room schools. It’s also been the setting for Civil War re-enactments, Cooksville School reunions, family reunions, weddings and wedding receptions in tents, and for events of the Cooksville Community Center housed in the old Schoolhouse on the east side of the Square.

For example, in 1876, on July 4^th, Anne Eliza Porter sang two patriotic songs at Cooksville’s Centennial Celebration when a hundred-foot flag pole was erected in the middle of the Square. Three thousand people gathered to watch the raising of this impressive “Liberty Pole.” To erect the flag pole, a ten-foot hole was dug, with a forty-foot trench leading into it, and the flag pole—consisting of two fifty-foot pine tree logs from northern Wisconsin fastened together by local blacksmiths—was rolled into the trench and then lifted upright with ropes and pulleys and sheer brute strength.  The ninety-foot symbol of American liberty was a result of the efforts of two local men who disagreed on religion but agreed on democratic principles as they celebrated their nation’s 100^th birthday.

The event included community singing led by Thomas Morgan accompanied by his daughter, Nettie playing his popular portable organ-like melodeon. The program also featured a fife and drum corps and “talks” by local residents Thomas Earl, Benjamin Hoxie, Joseph Porter, Harrison Stebbins, James Gillies, John Savage, J.P. Van Vleck and John Dow.

And the Liberty Pole remained in place for six years. In 1882, the Evansville Enterprise newspaper reported that it had been sawn down. (However, photos from about 1910 show a tall flagpole standing in the middle of the Public Square, perhaps a new version.)

The Public Square once had a race track on it, for horses. In 1889, a track was constructed around the perimeter, “which when completed will be very handy for those who have horses to train,” according to a newspaper clipping. Tickets to use the track were purchased at the Post Office (in one of the village’s several stores) or at the Broom Factory across Webster Street on the west side of the Square.

And in the same year, according to an Evansville newspaper article, “there will be a base ball ground laid out and all league clubs including Evansville and Chicago will be invited to play on this ground.”  A 1900 photograph shows the Cooksville Cornhuskers baseball team posed for a group picture.  Local ball games on the Public Square brought the men and boys of the village and the Town of Porter together on Saturday afternoons.

Cooksville's Cornhuskers baseball team, 1900

Beginning in 1901 and for fifty years, Old Settlers Reunions were formally organized and well-attended on the Public Square in June of each year. In addition to picnic food—“tables decorated with choice flowers and fruits, and loaded with the most delectable achievements of the culinary art”—the Old Settlers Reunions featured entertainments with fond reminiscences shared by the descendants of the original pioneers with tributes to those who had passed on. Poetry was composed for the occasion and recited, and short plays (such as “Grandmother’s Story” and “Why the Cannon Wasn’t Fired”) depicting Cooksville events were performed. 

Old Settlers Reunion picnic photo c.1945

Music was an important element in those festive reunions. In the early 20^th century, Jack Robertson provided his award-winning fiddle music; the Cooksville Lutheran Quartette and the Janesville Male Quartette sang; Eloise Eager played the violin; June Porter sang vocal solos; and a Drum Corps composed of men from the Town of Porter, Evansville and Janesville got feet tapping with their rousing renditions.

The Public Square has been the scene of another famous annual event:  “Play Day.” In the early and mid-20^th century the eight rural one-room school houses of the Town of Porter  (the ninth, the Stebbinsville Schoolhouse, burned down in 1942) gathered together to celebrate the end of the school year in late spring with a special event of competitive sports and games on the Square on Play Day.

Map of Cooksville by Dorothy Kramer, 1938

An image of the Square in 1938 (a painting of Cooksville by Dorothy Kramer) shows a dirt road cutting diagonally across the green from the schoolhouse to the northwest corner, perhaps as shortcut to the “business district.” This apparently was before Church Street was completed to the north as a gravel-based road in front of the school, then turning west as Dane Street, as originally planned.

The Public Square park has hosted many events of the Cooksville Community Center—and still does. The Community Center was formally organized in 1962 after the schoolhouse (built in 1886) was closed and quickly purchased by local citizens to be preserved and to serve as the Center’s headquarters. The Community Center has sponsored many historic house and garden tours of the village, wood-carving exhibitions, kite-flying, July Fourth celebrations, and winter fun in the snow on the Square, as well as events held inside the historic schoolhouse.

Unfortunately, in August of 1992 it was evident that some of the old burr oaks were slowly dying. Residents requested an investigation by Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources’ Rock County office. The conclusion from samples taken by a forest entomologist and a forest pathologist was that the burr oaks were suffering from oak wilt disease. Trenches were dug around some of the trees in an attempt to control the spread of the disease through root systems to other trees. But since then the disease appears to have slowly and inevitably spread to other burr oaks. (A couple of years earlier Cooksville had lost its State Champion Scotch Pine Tree, a large magnificent pine tree located in the cemetery, to a different fungus disease.) 

The Cooksville Public Square with its open grassy area and the grove of old trees continues to attract people. It is, of course, an important part of the official Cooksville Historic District, which was designated as a significant historic area by the federal, state and local governments in the 1970s. The Square surrounded by original mid-19^th buildings, with a few picnic tables and two out-houses, still features its stand of burr oak trees, presenting a panoramic view of Cooksville‘s landmarks (or Waucoma’s landmarks, to be legally accurate!)

Public Square and wedding tent

The Square is maintained by the Town of Porter and Rock County as a public park.  It can be reserved for special occasions, as can the Community Center’s schoolhouse. An effort to preserve and restore the trees is underway. (See the Cooksville News blog posts of Feb.23 and March 26, 2016).

The famous Public Square remains a quiet, undeveloped oasis surrounded by historic buildings providing a well-maintained green space with a grove of old trees, always available for man, beast and birds—and other wild flora and fauna— to enjoy in a special historic 19^th century setting.

Announcement re: Cooksville Burr Oak Group

The next meeting of the Cooksville Burr Oak Group will be on Wednesday, March 30, at 6:30 at Mary Kohlman's house, 11347 N. State Rd 138 in Cooksville. We will review what we've discovered so far and possibly make a decision about a spring Arbor Day acknowledgement / celebration/ planting and look at the possibility of getting on the agenda for the Porter Town meeting. All interested are welcome.

Cooksville’s Artists and Artisans, PART SEVEN: MICHAEL J. SATERNUS (1936-1990), by Larry Reed

Michael Saternus in front of church door, 1976

Michael J. Saternus (1936-1990), Cooksville’s own preservation architect, led the historic preservation, restoration and rehabilitation efforts in the historic village for 20 years. His expertise, leadership, and architectural skills no doubt were the most important contributions to enhancing and preserving the community’s historic built environment in the 20th century. 

Mike’s many architectural projects in Cooksville’s Historic District during those years included the Congregational Church, Van Buren House, Longbourne House, Isaac Porter House, William Porter House, Newell House, Frank Seaver House, John Seaver House, Cooksville Schoolhouse, Cook House, and Smith House. His purchase in 1971 of the old Cooksville Congregational Church, which had been used as the Porter Town Hall for decades, saved it from potential demolition and succeeded in restoring that important landmark.

His sensitively designed new additions and exterior restorations (removing modern sidings and various inappropriate “remuddlings”) ensured that the village’s significant heritage from the mid-19th century would be restored and preserved for future generations to profit from.

Mike was a generous go-to man in Cooksville for free advice, assistance and encouragement on any and all rehabilitation and restoration projects, big or small.  It helped that he was also energetic, enthusiastic and a very skillful carpenter, as well as an architect.

Mike at the Van Buren House project, 1978

 A native of Chicago, Mike attended the Illinois Institute of Technology and then the University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.S in Art, 1966). He worked for several architectural firms in Madison and at the same time undertook his own preservation projects while he lived in his adopted village of Cooksville.

Mike also took a leadership role in the community and in the township. He served on the Board of the Cooksville Community Center from 1976 to 1990, as a Board member, President, Vice-President and Secretary. He also served as Chair of the Cooksville Historic District Committee of the Town of Porter from the beginning in1979 to 1990.

In addition to his focus on the Cooksville Historic District, Mike also lent his skills to a long list of preservation projects in other parts of Rock County including elsewhere in the Town of Porter and in Fulton, Evansville, Milton and Janesville. Other major preservation projects of his included one in Paoli and eight in historic Mineral Point.

Mike also served as the architect for many important preservation projects elsewhere in the state while working for the architectural firm of Potter, Lawson and Pawlowski of Madison. These included Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien, the Aldo Leopold Shack in Sauk County, the Grand Theatre in Wausau, the National Soldiers’ Home Historic District in Milwaukee, Sparta Free Library, Tomah Library, Christian Science Church, Madison, and a Study for the Mansion Hill Historic District, Madison.

The Governor of Wisconsin appointed Mike to the State Historic Preservation Review Board from 1985-1990 and to the State Historic Building Code Council (1982-1986). Mike received the 1990 award for “exceptional achievement in historic preservation” from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin” and a “Distinguished Service” award from the Wisconsin Society of Architects and American Institute of Architects for “leadership…and commitment to historic preservation,” also in 1990.

Van Buren House and Church in winter

Much of Mike’s energy was spent working on his local Cooksville projects—on his Cooksville Congregational Church (1879) and his home, the Van Buren House (1848,) as well as on his friends’ and neighbors’ restoration and rehabilitation undertakings. He often volunteered his time, spoke about the importance of historic preservation, always encouraged the saving of Wisconsin’s heritage for future generations—and he loved attending operas, traveling the country by car and train to see architectural sites, new and old, and tending to his collection of model railroad trains and layouts— and enjoying village life with his friends and partner Larry Reed, until his early death in 1990.  

MORE DAILY LIFE IN OLD COOKSVILLE: Roads, Sidewalks, Street Lights and Opium in Old Cooksville, by Larry Reed

Life in rural Cooksville in the 19^th century had its own rhythms and requirements, pleasures and disappointments. Bits and pieces of that simple but rigorous life are recorded in the Cooksville Archives, mostly in weekly “newsy” gossip columns clipped from local newspapers, occasionally in diaries, sometimes in books. Now observations of some of those eventful (and not so eventful) 19^th century occurrences can be shared in the 21^st century.

“April 2, 1839, Rock County was divided into two road districts, by a line running east and west about the middle of the county… The slow mode of travel by ox teams was made still slower by the almost total absence of roads and bridges… Indian trails were common, but they were unfit to travel on with vehicles. They were paths about two feet wide—all that was required to accommodate the single-file manner of Indian traveling.” Two “Pathmasters” were chosen to be in charge of new roads. (History of Rock County, 1879.)

Cooksville Church on the main intersection, c.1910, with Tolles Road and Union Road (Hwy 59)

Cooksville Burr Oak Trees Salvation Group - Meri Lau and Mary Kohlman

What is the reason for forming this group?  The Burr Oaks that are a significant feature of the Commons in Cooksville are in demise, probably due to a number of factors.  There have been sporadic conversations over the years surrounding this concern.  But up to this point no formal inquiry has been made into their status or what can be done to help them.

Cooksville Commons

We are approaching an important marker in our community's life and as we plan how we are going to celebrate this event, several of us feel this is an excellent time to look at the Burr Oaks that are also an important part of our community and history, and think about how to keep this part of our legacy alive for generations to come.

Our motto:  "The Burr Oaks of Cooksville:  Trees that Time Did Not Forget."

What is our vision?  Ideally we would like to do what we can to keep the surviving trees alive and in improved health.  Some of these trees are near the end of their lifespan, so we would also like to begin the work of replacing those lost with young trees.  We want this to be a collective effort from members of the immediate and surrounding community of Cooksville.  We see this as an opportunity to

• come togther for a common purpose, 
• to learn about the natural history of the Oak Savannahs in the pre and post settlement of the prairie, specifically Wisconsin, 
• to explore what options are realistically available to us in our efforts to revitalize the stand of oaks that we have, 
• to develop a plan based on these discoveries, 
• to work together as a community to implement this plan, 
• and ultimately to celebrate the first successes of what will no doubt be a long term project.  

Meri Lau and Mary Kohlman, residents of Cooksville, have already begun some of the preliminary work exploring history and resources that may be available.  We would like to meet monthly with whomever is also interested in this dedicated labor of love.  This blog post is a start and as we move forward we will send emails on our progress to interested persons.  Our work will have room for many willing hands, heads and hearts (and probably a few strong backs and arms as well).

If you have questions or have the desire to be in the formative stages of this quest, you can email us at Meri_Lau@yahoo.com or marye.kohlman@yahoo.com.

Thank you in advance for your support,
Meri Lau, Mary Kohlman and the Oaks.

Cooksville Artists and Artisans - PART SIX: MARVIN RANEY (1918-1980) and CHESTER P. HOLWAY (1908-1986), by Larry Reed

Marvin Raney c.1970

 The Village of Cooksville has been gifted with a number of talented people over the past 175 years.  Many have contributed to and enhanced the quality of life—and attracted attention to the small village. Thanks to their legacy— and to their stories and biographies contained in the Cooksville Archives— we have been able to record and remember their lasting contributions.

E. Marvin Raney, Jr. 

E. Marvin Raney (1918-1980), a very active, visible and enthusiastic Cookvillian, was recognized for his extensive knowledge of the village, which grew from the time he arrived in 1945 until he died in 1980. Everyone knew him for his wealth of information, his eagerness to share—and for his ubiquitous cigarette-holder.

Raney resided in the Duncan House (the famous “House Next Door”) with his partner Chester Holway for 35 years, during which he carried on many of the same “antiquarian” undertakings as the house’s previous owner Ralph Warner, which were collecting, researching and preserving Cooksville-related material objects, village history and local genealogy. Raney also learned to weave rugs, which he sold along with other crafts in the shop that he and his neighbor and artist Dorothy Kramer established in the 1950s in the Duncan House barn.

Duncan House painted tile by Dorothy Kramer

"Cooksville House" shop card

He operated two antique businesses, the first in Cooksville was the “Cooksville House” in the Duncan barn (then moved to the Backenstoe-Howard House) in the 1950s and 1960s; and the second near Cooksville was the “Only Yesterday Shop” in the historic granary on the Joseph Porter Farmstead (then known as “Ady Ruth’s Apple Basket”) east of Cooksville in the 1970s. The village proved a perfect place once again for someone who loved history, antiques and gardening. (In Raney’s time there were four antique shops and three commercial gardens and nurseries in or near the village.)

A Texas native, Ely Marvin Raney, Jr., became a well-known authority on Cooksville history and genealogy and on Rock County history, and he was an authority on antiques specializing in pottery and china. He published a number of articles locally and nationally on antiques and served as a director and as acquisitions chairman for the Rock County Historical Society, helping to organize its historical records. He also was the historian and technical advisor on the move of Janesville’s historic Stone House to the grounds of the Lincoln-Tallman House in the 1950s, and he assisted the Wisconsin Historical Society to identify and appraise its collections of pottery and china.

Life in Little Old Cooksville, by Larry Reed

Glimpses of 19^th century life in old Cooksville are found in various scrapbooks with local newspaper clippings, usually from Evansville papers, and in a few local diaries as well as in personal anecdotes preserved in the Cooksville Archives. Here are some, with sources and dates when available:

“Cooksville: This is indeed a land of artists. Most every other one you meet has brushes and a palette or an easel under his arm.”  (Enterprise, December, 1883.)

“Mr. Hoxie found a few days since, an unfinished arrow, a spear head, convex on one side, slightly concave on the other, which measures five inches long and two and one-fourth wide. This is one of the largest of this kind of Indian relics ever found in this vicinity. (Clipping, undated, c.1875.)

“An effort is being made to raise funds enough to fence the public common or park. It is located in the pleasantest part of the village and contains five acres of land, a portion covered with a natural grove, which is gradually being killed out by sheer carelessness in hitching horses, and otherwise damaging the trees which amount to almost vandalism. Now with a little effort this can be prevented, and children and strangers who travel the streets now, and in the future, will be thankful for the effort.” (Clipping, 1875)

Cooksville's brick School House from 1850 to 1886

“As it is probable that yesterday was the last Sunday we shall ever meet for worship in the old schoolhouse, Elder May preached a memorial sermon. This has been our only place of worship for 27 years, and all rejoice that we have a new church finished and ready for dedication, and to be occupied for the first time next Sunday. But to those that have worshipped there for so long a time, as we bid it adieu a thousand recollections clinging around the old land-mark.” (Clipping, c.1879)

Cooksville's Congregational Church, built 1879

“The great event for last week was the dedication of the new church, and it was a good omen to see Methodist, Baptist, Congregationalist, Universalist and Unitarian ministers all on one platform.” (Clipping, 1879)

“Rev. Mr. Barrett, the new Congregationalist minister, who is settled over the parish at Evansville and this place, is a young man who seems to possess a good, sound, healthy digestion, and we judge by his looks and make-up that the idea of an old-fashioned orthodox hell does not enter very much into his sermons.” (Clipping, 1881)

“J.P. Vanvleck [sic] is making about fourteen hundred corn planters this winter. He also has the right to manufacture for Rock County a new gate, called the “Farmers Handy Gate,” which, as its name indicates, seems to be handy indeed.” (Clipping, c.1879)

Van Vleck Implement Factory (1861-1928)

“The Cooksville hand corn planter, with or without pumpkin seed attachment, the best hand planter in existence, warranted, by Clapp and Sausman (implement dealers in Evansville).” (Enterprise, April 1884.)

“The firm of Preston & Searles, broom and brush manufacturers of Cooksville, are turning out good work and will sell at wholesale as cheap as any house this side of Chicago (1883)…. They are making six dozen brooms a day and expect to double that amount soon (1883)…[They] received a large shipment of broom corn …and report quick sales and fair profits (1887).”

“Cooksville, though not a Rail Road town, but it can boast of a fine healthy location. Doctors have always starved out, unless they had some other means of living besides pill peddling. Doctor Roberts has just moved in; may prove an exception, for he is a young man of much ability and with energy enough to take long rides to hunt up the sick ones, may succeed.” (Evansville Citizen, 1866).

Leedle Mill (1849-c.1950)

“The Flood caused by the rapid melting of the snow, with the accompanying rains of last week, did considerable damage by washing away roads, and carrying off all dams. The dam at Davenport’s mill [Leedle Mill] was considerably injured, as also the one at Cooksville, just below it. The damn at Stebbinsville was injured to the extent of nearly a thousand dollars…” (Evansville Review, April 1877)

“”The brook trout ordered sometime since by B.S. Hoxie, for Lynn Creek, have been received from the Madison State hatchery, and were put into the creek. Now, boys, beware of taking any minnows from that stream for fish bate [sic], lest you catch the penalty instead of minnows.” (April, 1881)

“Who owns the grist mill here? It has stood idle and empty for a long time. A tramp has taken possession this winter, and by using the old stove manages to keep warm. He sleeps by standing up or lying on the floor. ‘The poor ye have with you always.’” (Clipping, January 1894)

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