The location of this county is immediately west of Milwaukee, and in the second tier from the southern boundary of the state. It is twenty-four miles square, and contains sixteen congressional surveyed townships, or 576 square miles. The general surface configuration and contour of the county is desirably varied and picturesque, presenting to the eye a succession of beautifully rolling prairies and oak openings, wide and fertile valleys, with board stretches of meadow land, groves of native timber, sparkling streams and crystal lakes, so intermingled and blended as to form a landscape of exquisite loveliness. The surface is generally smooth, though seldom level, and presents new and peculiar features of beauty at almost every turn. In some places, the ascents and declivities are so steep and follow each other in such quick succession, as to render the land rather undesirable for agricultural purposes, although it makes excellent grazing land; lasting springs, streams, and lakelets being so well distributed as to furnish an abundant supply of stock-water. There is little or no waste land, the rougher and broken portions being utilized for sheep pastures, while the wet and marshy tracts have been redeemed and converted into valuable meadows. The soil which, though not the deepest, is warm and productive, is usually a calcareous loam, with a mixture of vegetable mould on the prairies and in the valleys, and contains a sufficient quantity of dark sand to make it warm and easy of cultivation. The sub-soil on the prairies and in the valleys is largely gravel, while in the timber and oak openings it is generally clay.

Few portions of the west are so admirably well supplies with pure, healthful springs, clear, sparkling, gravel-margined brooks, and charming lakes. These combine to give the county a well-deserved reputation as a desirable summer resort for those seeking health or pleasure. The streams usually have rapid currents, although to small to furnish valuable water-powers, a few only having been utilized. The are largely fed by spring, as are the lakes, of which there are fifty-one in the county, varying in size from the smallest ponds, nestling among the hill sand groves, to those that are several mile in circumference, nearly all of which are remarkable for their clear and deep waters, their firm gently-sloping and well-shaded banks, and the abundance of excellent fish with which the are supplied. Pewaukee lake has the reputation of being the best for fishing, not only among those in the county, but in the northwest, affording annually large quantities of black and rock bass, perch, pickerel, pike, and other well known and choice varieties, while springs of pure, cold water abundant. Mineral springs, that has acquired an extensive notoriety for the healing properties of their waters, have been found in several places, the most noted one being Bethesda spring, at Waukesha; its valuable curative properties, pensation for having saved the life of an Indian medicine man who jealously guarded the secret.

The timber is composed of the usual hard-wood varieties, the oak family predominating, and although not of so heavy and valuable a growth as in the counties farther north is yet more than sufficient to supply the home demand for years to come. There are a number of excellent and inexhaustible limestone quarries, from which have been taken a large amount of flagging, building, and paving stone, and material for lime. There are twenty-one lime-kilns in the county, which annually ship over two thousand car-loads, while a much larger amount of the different kinds of stone has sometimes been exported. Some of the quarries do quite an extensive business in the manufacture of caps, sills, and other articles, which are sent to Milwaukee, Chicago, and other places. The stone is rather hard, fine-grained, and bears a very good polish, though it is easily quarried, lying in veins of from four to twelve inches in thickness.

Historical.

This county was not only the favorite haunt of the Indians, who occupies the county immediately prior to the advent of the whites, but was also the home of a pre-historic race, who embossed its hill-sides and gentle slopes with their mystic symbols in the form of various animals, birds, and other curious shapes. Implements of copper and stone, bits of pottery, further attest the existence of the forgotten people, and afford us a faint knowledge of their character and habits. Deep-worn trails, radiating from its many health-giving springs and beautiful lakes, conclusively show that this section was inhabited long before America was discovered. When first visited by whites, it was in the possession of the Pottawattamies, with whom many Winnebagoes and Menomonees associated on friendly terms, and intermarried. A somewhat noted Pottawattamie chief, Leatherstrap, with a large number of people, were found by the first settlers living near the site of the village of Waukesha, where he afterwards died, and was buried with his two wives on the handsome grounds now owned by Morris D. Cutler.

The Pottawattamies ceded all their lands in this region, in September, 1833, reserving the privilege of remaining on them for three years under the protection of the United States. They were well disposed toward the whites, who, previous to their removal, settled in the county. Within its limits, they had, at this period, numerous small villages or lodges, surrounded by corn fields, chiefly about Pewaukee lake, and thence down along the Fox river. They were most numerous at the site of Waukesha village. In the fall of 1836, they were mostly removed to the Missouri river, bet roving fragments of the tribe were seen in the county for quite a number of years afterward.

As early as 1817 this county was visited by a trader from Detroit, by the name of Samuel A. Storrow. The first permanent settlement within its boundaries was made in the spring of 1834, by the brothers, Morris D. and Alonzo R. Cutler, on the site of Waukesha village, where the erected a log cabin and cultivated a small crop of potatoes and buckwheat. Morris Cutler laid here the foundation of a substantial fortune, and is still a resident of the county. Later the same season, John Manderville located a claim in section sixteen, and a man by the name of Luther, in section twenty of the same township. These constituted the entire white population of the county at the close of 1834.

In 1835, the settlement was increased in numbers and extended in nearly very direction. A man by the name of McMillen erected a log house 16x24 feet, which was esteemed quite a palace. It was near the site of the present court-house. It was used by him as a hotel. His wife was the (first) pioneer woman in the county. Among the arrivals of that year were A.C. Nickell and Richard and Isaac Smart. They are still residents. Other settlers of 1835 were S. Osborn, Dr. Cornwall, Nelson, Thomas H. and C.C. Olin, E. Fuller, H. Judson, Ira Stewart, Mr. Sargeant, Stewart Judson. Isaac Smart and Nelson Olin were accompanied by their wives. The Olins located in the town of Pewaukee, so also did Fuller, and soon afterward a man names Porter. Nathaniel Walton, Samuel H. Barstow, Vernon Tichenor, the pioneer lawyer of the county Robert Kern, Orrin Brown, and a man by the name of Pettibone were soon added to the settlement. During the year 1835 Sewall Andrews and H.H. Camp looked up an eligible location in the present town of Mukwonago, where they occupied claims the following spring, and were speedily followed by other settlers. The same year Luther Parker took up his residence in the present town of Muskego. A few shanties were built in the town of Brookfield, one of which was occupied by D.R. Curran. Philip Schuyler and two sons located in the town of Delafield. In April, 1837, Charles B. Sheldon took up a claim, and soon afterward became a permanent resident of the town of Oconomowoc. A few days after him, H.W. Blanchard claimed a half-section, upon a part of which the village of that same name stands; in May he sold his claim to Philo Bremer, who, in September following, built the first house in the village -- a log cabin. During the fall, he sold a portion of the claim to Allen W. Hatch and John S. Rockwell, who made their homes here, and in the winter he built a dam and saw-mill.

During the year 1837, the settlement was extended into the limits of the present towns of Summit and Ottawa, where Talbot C. Dousman and Mr. Edgerton were pioneers. Other settlers of 1837 were Alexander F. Pratt, E.D. Clinton, Z. Bidwell, Henry Bowron, James Y. Watson, J.M. Wells, J. Rice, J.W. Rossman, E. Churchill, Ezra Mendall, Joel Bidwell, Daniel Thompson, Robert Love, Moses Ordway, Sabina Barney, Asa S. Watson, and Peter N. Cushman.

During the first years of the settlement the Indians were lawfully in possession of the land. Their corn-fields were unfenced and the cattle of the settlers would often get among them, causing no little trouble. The Indians were not backward in demanding damages, and on one occasion extracted of Cutlers a fat ox for the injury he had done their corn.

The early settlers had other difficulties to contend with. Flour was worth in Milwaukee sixteen to seventeen dollars per barrel; pork thirty to thirty-three dollars; potatoes two to three dollars a bushel. The price of hauling a barrel of pork from there was five dollars, other freight in proportion. The road was any where they chose to travel, and teamsters generally preferred new routes, knowing that a change must necessarily be an improvement, as the mud soon made an old track almost impassable.

The United States survey was commenced immediately after the removal of the Indians, and, in October, 1839, the lands were brought into market. Many of the settlers were, at the time, too poor to pay the government price, one dollar and a quarter and acre. The engaged to pay from twenty-five to fifty per cent interest for the necessary means to purchase their lands, allowing the lender to take titles in their own names for security. Not a few being unable to pay, lost their all; other sold their improvements for what could get and commenced anew. But the settlement of the country went forward steadily, and those who were able to secure lands and keep them until prices advanced, eventually found themselves wealthy.

The first store, which was largely engaged in the Indian trade, was opened in 1836 by Solomon Juneau, while the first school-house, built of logs, was erected in the fall of 1836, in Wm. T. Bidwell taught the first school, followed the next winter by C.C. Olin, who had about thirty pupils. The first religious organization was the Waukesha Congregational Church, which was organized in 1838, in a rude log school-house, which was used for meetings until the next year, at which time they erected the first church building in the county. The first post-office was established at Prairieville, now Waukesha, in 1837, with Mr. Jackson as postmaster. The first native-born white child was I. Smart, a son of I. Smart, who is still a resident of the county, while the first death was an infant child of Thos. Smart. The first adult who died was Mrs. Curtis, mother of Rev. Otis Curtis, in the winter of 1839 or 1840.

When the land was surveyed it was found that the Cutlers, McMillen, and Sargeant were all upon the same tract, and as each wished to hold the valuable water-power upon it, recourse was had to the claim association of the county, a society formed among actual settlers for mutual protection against outsiders and for the settlement of disputes among themselves. After several "claim trials" or hearings before that body, the dispute was compromised by the Cutlers buying off the other claimants. In 1837 they sold their claim to the quarter-section for $6,600 to John Gale, of Milwaukee, who in 1838, commenced building upon the water-power a flour-mill and saw-mill, the first in the county, afterward known as Barstow's mill.

William A. Barstow, afterward Governor, and Robert Lockwood purchased of Gale an undivided interest in this entire property in 1836 (should be 1839), and the company laid out the land into village lots, by the name of Prairie Village, and many lots were speedily sold at high prices. The name was changes to Prairieville in 1840.

The earlier settlers of the county were chiefly from the eastern states. They were an energetic, open-handed class of people. By 1842 every township was sparsely settled; the nucleus of an English settlement was established in the northeast part of the county, and some Scandinavian emigrants had located about Pine lake. Prairieville was a village of three to four hundred inhabitants; Mukwonago, of about half that number. The water-powers at Pewaukee, Delafield, Genesee, Hartland, Muskego, Menomonee and Oconomowoc were taken and improved, or about to be improved, but this was an era of hard times and bankruptcy, and progress was slow.

In 1843, a communistic society of Fourierites organized in England, selected a location upon Spring lake, and about thirty of their number settled there, under the leadership of Thomas Hunt, but after a year's trial their experiment was abandoned. In 1844, David Roberts found in the hills and streams of Delafield and Genesee pleasant reminders of his native Wales, which was the beginning of quite a large Welsh immigration into that section. About the same time Germans began to pour into the county, and in a few years filled the eastern portion. There was also a steady increase of population from eastern states, and by 1845 its inhabitants numbered 13,733. From that time forward its growth and prosperity have been continuous. Its present population is about 30,000.

Organization.

The territory of Waukesha was a part of Milwaukee county until 1846. By an act of the territorial legislature of March 8, 1839, it was divided into eight civil towns: Prairie Village, Vernon, and Mukwonago, each comprising the same territory as at present; Muskego, then including also including the present territory of New Berlin; Brookfield, that of Pewaukee; Lisbon, that of Menomonee; Summit, comprising also Delafield, Merton and Oconomowoc; and Genesee, embracing also the present towns of Ottawa and Eagle. Prairie Village became Prairieville in 1840. The present towns are sixteen in number, conforming to congressional townships.

The project of forming a new county was conceived by William A. Barstow, Alexander W. Randall, and Alexander F. Pratt of Prairieville, and Andrew E. Elmore of Mukwonago. Accordingly a bill was introduced at the legislative session of 1846, submitting the question of division to the voters of the proposed new county, at the April election of that year. There was a lively fight in that body over its passage. Milwaukee was represented by three members in the council, and six in the lower house. Of the councilmen J.H. Kimball, of Prairieville, and Curtis Reed, of Summit, and of the representatives, S.H. Barstow, of Prairieville, Luther Parker, of Muskego, and W.H. Thomas, of Lisbon, resided in the territory of the proposed new county. Reed and Thomas sided with the Milwaukee interest in opposing the bill, while the other named favored its passage, against the balance of the delegation. The bill was passed, but the contest was renewed with redoubled ardor before the people. A paper, favoring the division, called the Waukesha Advocate, was printed at the office of the American Freeman, at Prairieville, and one opposed, called the Unionist, was issued from the office of the Milwaukee Sentinel. The first two or three numbers of the sheets were devoted to argument; afterward they were given almost entirely to bitter personal abuse of the prominent opposing partisans. Prairieville became the headquarters of advocates of the division, and Summit of it opponents. At these two places, on the day of election, traveler and children were conducted to the polls and compelled to vote; hence an emigrant with nine children might have deposited ten votes for division at Prairieville, and an equal number upon the opposite side of the question on reaching Summit, where voting was kept up for two subsequent days. The result was a small majority in favor of division. The provisions of the act above referred to ordained that in case of such a result, the district of country in question should thereupon be set off and organized as a distinct county, by the name of Waukesha, and the line of division obtained for the new county it present boundaries. Its name was adopted at the suggestion of Joseph Bond, of Mukwonago, and is said to signify "fox" in the Pottawattamie language. The county was assigned to the third judicial district of the territory courts, to be held in February and August of each year. The electors were directed to fill their county offices, as in other counties, at the next general election in August. The chairmen of the respective town boards of supervisors were directed to meet meantime at Prairieville on the second Monday of June, and organize as a provisional board for the transaction of county business until the first of the following January, when the regularly chosen county commissioners would take their places. They met accordingly at Vail's hotel, in the village, and organized, by the election of Curtis Reed, chairman, and Harrison Phillips clerk; they however soon adjourned to the Congregational church, where the entire session was held. The sixteen members composing the board were: Hiram Carter, C. Reed, T.C. Dousman, B.P. Melendy, Joseph Bond, S.S. Chase, A.L. Castleman, Wm. Odell, T. Richmond, C. McVean, Jos. Turner, A.A. Flint, L. Martin, M.W. Sherwood, Wm. Fisher, and W. Bancroft. They then appointed T.F. Bancroft, register of deeds (the first acting recorder was E.B. Quiner); John Blane, sheriff; J.W. Brackett, judge of probate; Alexander W. Randall, district attorney; T.S. Huntington, surveyor; and D.H. Shumway, coroner.

On the afternoon of the fourth day of the session, and after having spent the greater portion of three days in considering the subject, they succeeded, after balloting twenty-five times, in permanently locating the county buildings on their present site, in the then village of Prairieville, by a vote of nine to seven. There was considerable excitement, and some bad feeling shown, and the clerk of the board -- H. Phillips -- was, by a vote of nine to seven, removed from office, for alleged incompetency, after they had twice refused to accept his resignation, as it was alleged by some of the members that he has used unfair means in securing the location at Prairieville.

The first assessment of personal and real property, in 1846, was $809,400, in which a tax of $5,551.28 was levied.

The first term of court was begun and held in the academy in Waukesha, on Monday, February 15, 1847, Judge A.G. Miller, of the territorial district presiding; George S. West, clerk; John S. Rockwell, United States marshal; E.P. Cotton and D.H. Rockwell, assistants; Wm. P. Lynde, United States district attorney; Alexander Cook, territorial district attorney; Albert Alden, sheriff; Guy Carleton, crier; and Chas. Buchard, foreman of the grand jury. There were admitted to practice as attorneys; Wm. P. Lynde, Wm. P. Stone, James Holliday, George Reed, Juson Downer, Alexander W. Randall, Alexander Cook, W. S. Hawkins, John E. Gallagher, Robert W. Wright, V. Tichenor, J.E. Arnold, R. Parker, and E.B. Kelsy. There was a full docket, and considerable business transacted. The first circuit court was held in the court-house in Waukesha, November 13, 1848, by Levi Hubbell, judge of the third judicial circuit; A. Alden, sheriff; J.E. Gallagher, district attorney; G. Carleton, crier; L.L. Delano, door-keeper; and R.M. Meigs, foreman of the grand jury.

The county has had a steady growth from its settlement, the most rapid increase being from 1838 to 1847. Immigration was mostly from New York and the New England states, since which a large foreign element has come in. This now forms about one-half of the population. The improvements are generally good, the farmers being wealthy and prosperous. Considerable attention has been paid to the raising of fine stock, while sheep-raising is one of the most important and profitable industries of the county. The two main divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad pass in an east and west direction though the county, affording excellent transportation facilities.

The court-house and jail are serviceable stone buildings, making a fine external appearance, and were erected in 1846; while the fire-proof building for the county court officials is of the same material, and was erected at a more recent day. The county owns the entire block where these buildings stand, which is centrally located, and is enclosed by a neat and lasting stone and iron fence.

The Waukesha Agricultural society was organized in 1852 and re-organized in 1856, and has, with one exception, held annual fairs since, the exhibitions generally being well attended, and making some really extraordinary fine displays of blooded stock, butter, cheese, vegetables, etc., etc. The society now owns a beautiful fair ground, containing seventeen acres, a good half-mile track, with necessary and convenient buildings. The county has for a number of years taken the banner offered by the State Agricultural society for the best general display.

Few other counties in the state have had so many prominent men in both state and national affairs as Waukesha. The first lawyer who opened an office in the county was Alexander W. Randall, who commenced his practice here, and was afterward governor, minister to Rome, first assistant and afterward postmaster-general. His brother Edwin M. Randall, present chief justice of Florida, lived here for years, as did Colonel Sidney A. Bean. Governor Davis of Minnesota, was raised and educated here, as was C.D. Parker. Governor and Colonel Wm. A. Barstow was one of the early settlers, and for many years an honored and trusted citizen of Waukesha, and through whose influence the county was formed and named, and the name of Prairieville changed to Waukesha. Governor and General Lucius Fairchild was educated here; while H.D. Barron, former state senator and leader of the Republican side of that body, and present circuit judge, lived here for many years, as did Colonel R.G. Ingersoll, a prominent Illinois lawyer and politician; also J.B. Grinnell, a member of congress from Iowa, and many other who have held less important positions.

The Press.

The first newspaper that appeared in this county was the American Freeman, which was brought to Prairieville, now Waukesha, in the summer of 1844. It was edited and published by C.C. Olin for some two years, when it was removed to Milwaukee. The second paper was the Waukesha Democrat, which was started by George Hyer in 1846, who, after running it some two years, sold to H.D. Barron. The latter changed the name to Chronotype, and in 1855 sold it to A.F. Pratt, who again changed the name to the Waukesha Plaindealer, and conducted it with success until his death in January 1875, when it passed into the hands of his son-in-law, C.N. Jones, its present genial editor. The Waukesha Freeman was established March 1, 1859, by J. Cullonton, and after passing through a large number of proprietorships, came into the hands of its present editor, H.M. Youman, October 1, 1874.

Village of Waukesha.

This the county seat, and largest village in the county, is beautifully located in the valley of the Fox river of the Illinois, and is built on ground that very gently rises from the banks of the stream to the high land that margins the valley on either side, forming a protected and desirable site for a village. Although it is not regularly laid out, owing to the diagonal course of the old territorial road, which passes through its center, yet it has wide, well-graded and handsomely shaded streets, many of which are bordered with substantial stone sidewalks. A large portion of business houses, churches, and public buildings, and many of the private residences are of stone, which gives a very neat, substantial and massive appearance; while others are constructed of cream-colored brick. Several of the business blocks and churches, and one of the hotels, are really elegant in their design and construction, and would be an honor to the enterprise and public spirit of a much larger place. There are six hotels, with the Fountain house, which is a large, fine structure, containing one hundred and eighty rooms; one very large woolen mill, containing all the improved machinery for the manufacture of woolen and worsted fabrics; one flouring mill; one steam elevator; one threshing-machine factory and foundry; one brewery; one willow factory, with the usual number of smaller concern. Eight churches adorn the town and provide for the religious wants of the community, while three public-school buildings, the largest one costing about $25,000, with Carroll College, which is in a flourishing and prosperous condition, provide ample educational advantages for the rising generation.

One of the most important interests in Waukesha is its numerous mineral springs, which have for the last few years made it a very popular summer resort. These springs have been examined by a number of the best physicians and chemists in the west, who all unite in the opinion that they possess very valuable medicinal qualities. There are some eight which have been tested, all possessing about the same qualities in nearly the same proportions. The town is annually visited by several thousand invalids and pleasure-seekers while thousands of barrels of its health-giving waters are shipped to all parts of the country, going as far as the Atlantic states and the Pacific coast. Adding these to her other natural and acquired advantages Waukesha certainly possess very flattering prospects for the future.

The village was known as Prairieville until 1852, when it was incorporated under a special charter, by the name of Waukesha. Its population now number nearly three thousand.

The State Industrial School for Boys, is situated in the village about three-fourths of a mile west of the railroad depot. The buildings of the institution are seven in number, detached from each other and constructed of stone, each three stories high, roofed with slate, and intended to be substantially fire-proof. Connected with the institution is farm of 233 acres in a good state of cultivation.