Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Mary’s parents, George and Juliana Elliott, were inspired to move their family from Lewis County in New York to the “Green Bay region”—as the area was then known--in large part because of George’s sister Pamelia’s glowing letters. Mary’s Aunt Pamelia had come to the territory earlier with the James D. Doty family and Pamelia lived with Mr. and Mrs. Doty. The Dotys were friends and neighbors of the Elliotts in New York state. Also, as a land surveyor, Mary’s father’s skill was in demand in the newly opening territory of Wisconsin.
Mary was very young when the family set off--just three years old--but she vividly remembered that it was “peach time”. She could distinctly recall the sight and smell of the large, ripe peaches hanging on the trees in places along the journey. Their overland travel with a number of families in the caravan—all neighbors in New York--took them through Canada.
Their journey was not completed that year. When they arrived in Clinton, Michigan,
Mary’s mother fell ill and they could not go on. The illness was prolonged and winter came. Father George got a job at a store. One thing led to another and travel was
delayed for three years. The family resumed
their journey in 1839, coming to Green Bay by steamer on the lakes.
It was at Mackinaw that they first saw Indians in the
territory. The family lived in Green Bay
for about a year. Mary recalled the
place as a collection of small houses near the river. They lived in one and her Uncle Lewis Crofoot
and his family lived nearby. Fort Howard
was occupied by soldiers as a military post and the banks of the river were
lined with Indian wigwams.
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| George W. Elliott |
The next spring the family moved up the Fox River to Cokelo*,
now Kaukauna. The trip was made on pole
boats navigated by Indians. There her
father and Uncle Lewis Crofoot operated a small sawmill on the island in the
river.
They lived in Cokelo according to Mary during one summer and then moved on to
the southern end of Lake Winnebago.
Again the Indians transported the family in their boats up the river and
lake to their new home in Taycheedah.
At that time, even though there were only a few houses in the
village when they arrived, Taycheedah was an important place in Wisconsin. James D. Doty, who was a judge, land speculator, and
active in politics, had established a dairy farm in Taycheedah. Doty had also purchased land in what would
become the city of Madison hoping that Madison would become the capital,
replacing Belmont, which was the temporary capital. Mary’s father had assisted in surveying the
land in Madison that Doty intended for the capital.
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| James D. Doty |
Mary’s family lived on the Doty farm for three or four years. Then her father built a hewed-timber house
northeast of the village and the family moved there. During their time in Taycheedah, the Elliotts
experienced numerous encounters with Indians as the agency for territorial Indian affairs was located about 60 miles to the southwest (Portage, Wisconsin). Mary wrote that her mother was absolutely
terrified of Indians.
At Taycheedah, the Elliott family grew with the addition of
brothers Charles, Park, and Irving, and baby sister Ella who was born in 1849. Then, Mary’s mother died in 1850. Her father, who had built a sawmill, lost it in
a fire. He decided to relocate the
family to the village of Gravesville in Calumet County.
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| Mary Elliott Wing |
In the fall of 1855, after Mary’s marriage, her father made
a trip to Wolf River in Kewaunee County to do some surveying for James
Doty. Mary’s father liked the country so
he purchased some property there and returned to Gravesville for the
winter.
In the spring, he set out again for Wolf River. Both of these trips were made on foot because
there were no roads into the area then and the only means of transportation
were by lake or foot trails. Her father walked
the beach from Two Rivers, forded the river at Kewaunee, and stopped for the
night at a frontier hotel run by an old man named Blackwell.
By September, 1858, Mary’s father had built a new house in
Wolf River. He urged Mary and Rufus to move
their little family, which now included baby boy George W. Wing, to Wolf River. They were convinced. That same fall they traveled with their
household goods overland to Manitowoc and took the old steamer “Ogontz” to Wolf
River.
That’s how Mary’s family came to live in Kewaunee
County. Her remembrances of pioneer life
in early Wisconsin paint a vivid picture of the experiences of the first
settlers of the territory.
* The Kaukauna website says the name was Okaukalin, Okaukanna, or Caucaulin pronounced "Cock-o-lin". Cokelo is the name Mary used for Kaukauna in her memoir.
Photo of James D. Doty from Wiki.
* The Kaukauna website says the name was Okaukalin, Okaukanna, or Caucaulin pronounced "Cock-o-lin". Cokelo is the name Mary used for Kaukauna in her memoir.
Photo of James D. Doty from Wiki.
