Reminiscences of a Pioneer Woman

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

In 1836, her parents loaded their household belongings and their little family consisting of Mother, Father, baby brother David, and herself into a covered emigrant wagon and set out on the long overland journey to the far distant wilds of Wisconsin.  Thus begins the story of Kewaunee County settler Mary Elliott Wing in her memoir, “Reminiscences of a Pioneer Woman”.    

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.

George W. Elliott

Mary attended school for the first time in Green Bay and her sister Frances (who later became Mrs. De Wayne Stebbins) was born in Green Bay in October, 1840.

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. 

James D. Doty

President John Tyler made James D. Doty Wisconsin Territory’s governor in 1841.  Duties took Governor Doty from his dairy farm so Mary’s father purchased the governor’s farm.  The Dotys were frequent visitors at the Elliott home—often coming from Madison to stay for weeks at a time. 

The settlers of Taycheedah were cultured in the rugged wilderness according to Mary.  She wrote, “In all the north-west, at that time, there was no social coterie to be compared to this one.  Their children were taught French, music and art, by private tutors.  They frequently gave hunting and other parties on an extensive scale.  …in every way (they) added a charm and wholesomeness to society that had never been known in a new country…”    Governor Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, who succeeded Doty as territorial governor, was their neighbor to the south.  A mile to the north lived Judge Stow, the first chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. 

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. 

Mary Elliott Wing

In Gravesville, Mary’s father built another sawmill.  As the eldest daughter, Mary kept her widowed father’s home.  It was in Gravesville that Mary met and married her husband, Rufus Wing, in 1855.  Mary and Rufus lived with her family until she and Rufus bought a 30 acre tract of land in Chilton and built a home.

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.