THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1861. Visited the camp in the P. M. Two squads (14
& 18) have gone home from the B. C. Co. but the U. G. boys were in
neither of them. The parade tonight was drill & uninteresting, so many
of them having gone home.
Finished review of Geometry today and take original propositions for
remainder of the recitations.
Got the key from Dr. Carr & visited the Mineralogical, Geological &
Natural History Cabinet, with Will & Holt.
Was much interested in some of the curiosities to be seen there.
FRIDAY 14. By invitation of the boys we took supper at the camp this
evening and were well pleased with the fare. There is some prospect of
the boys going home to-morrow. The regiment will probably start for
the east Tuesday.
Finished the review of Latin today, and now the class is going to try
and get through Liber Tertius by Tuesday.
Attended the Society’s meetings. The Hesperian discussed the property
qualification question, and the Ath’s “That the legal profession
presents greater inducement than the others” The A’s elected officers
for the ensuing term--Griswold, Presd. Silverthorne, V. P.
Fallows,[56] Secy. Holt, Censor.
SATURDAY 15. On visiting the camp at 9 O’Clk found that another squad
had been made up to go home, and Geo. L. & T. St G. were among them.
Went back to our rooms and wrote letters to send by them.
At 4 O’Clk, Billy W. came to our rooms & said that he, T. Graham &
Alec. Adams had also got furloughs and were going home on the 10 o’clk
train, expecting to hire livery from Milwaukee. Went with Billy down
town where he got his picture taken and the boys ate supper with us.
SUNDAY 16TH.--Heard Mr. Green preach & attended Bible Class--Prof. C.
was not there & Mr Dudley took charge, which made it very dull.
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 1861. Went to G. B. Smith’s law office to see if he
would deliver the address at U. G. on the 4th. He was not in; but his
student (Mr. Bird) told me tha[t] his engagements would prevent his
accepting the invitation. Then wrote a letter to “Pump Carpenter”[57]
for the same purpose, as he is now living on his farm 6 miles from the
city. Attended the panorama of Dr. Kane’s Arctic Expedition & was much
pleased with it.
TUESDAY 18. After school Will and I went with Frost across Lake Monona
to his home, where we were treated to a warm supper, strawberry
shortcake and strawberries & cream.
There is an encampment of Indians near by which we visited. There were
two wigwams, in which or near by were 5 men, 4 squaws, & 7 children.
We also saw a young man & 2 boys in a canoe when coming down. There
were two canoes in the river close by and Frost & Will got into one
which came very [near] upsetting as it requires much practice to get
used to them.
Picked up some clams in the lake & cooked them when we got home. The
soup was very good but the clams were tough.
WEDNESDAY 19. Examination commences today. At 9 O’clock & until 11,
the Senior Class was examined by Prof. Read on International &
Constitutional Law. This was by means of lectures by members of the
class on different subjects connected with this study and proved very
interesting From 11 to 12 Prof. Sterling’s class in Analytical
Geometry was examined. This was “all Greek” to me, but the students
seemed to understand the subject well especially as it was one of last
term’s studies. Between 3 & 4 o’clock attended Prof. Butler’s class in
Homer’s Iliad. McMynn[58] was present at this examination. From there
we went into Prof. Read’s room where the Seniors were examined on
Political Economy. Rec’d a letter from home.
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1861. Went down to camp at 8 o’clock to see the
boys off. The Belle City Co. (Co. F.) was in the “Operative Machinery”
room, having just got there haversacks filled with provision. The
regiment soon after formed on parade & were ordered by the Col. to
repair to the pumps & fill their canteens; which being accomplished
they formed in front of the speakers stand and were addressed by Gov.
Randall. They then marched to the cars, which had been run down to the
camp ground and filled two trains one of 11 & the other of 13 cars. We
stood near the car which the Racine Co. entered and shook hands with
all the boys as they passed.[59] Attended Prof. Carr’s examination of
the Chemistry class from 2 to 5 P. M.
FRIDAY 21. Went strawberrying nearly all forenoon, and in the
afternoon attended Dr. Carr’s examination. This exercise like his
recitation consists of lectures by the students on subjects which the
Dr. himself has previously discussed before the class. This P. M. was
devoted principally to Geology, and, although the boys had only since
last night to prepare their subjects, they were well handled both as
orations and as recitations Visited Camp in the evening. 1 Co. of the
5th. Regt. has arrived (from Waukesha). The men are rather small but
the Co. is well officered and present a pretty good appearance. In the
Ath. discussed whether the time devoted to the Classics in College
could not be better employed--Decided affirmative
SATURDAY 22. Went to the depot at 1 o’clock to learn the arrangement
of trains &c. preparatory to going home. From thence up town--we
visited the Jail. There are only about a dozen prisoners there now,
much less, they told us, than usual. One had his feet in irons having
been attempting to break jail lately. Three of them were crazy.
SUNDAY 23d--Went to the Catholic Church this morning at 9, but the
first mass was nearly over when we got there & as we did not know they
would have another, we saw but little of their proceedings. Attended
the Episcopal Church & Prof. C’s Bible Class. The Baccalaureate Sermon
was preached by Prof. Butler in the Univ. Chapel at 4 P. M. His text
was Sol. Song 4:4 & his sermon, or rather lecture, the finest I ever
heard.
[3] John E. Goldsworthy, a student from Union Grove, who
accompanied Reid to Madison and shared his room in North
Hall, then used as a dormitory.
[4] Simeon S. Bradford, a member of the Wisconsin Assembly
from Racine County. In his reminiscences Reid characterizes
Bradford, who was for a time his teacher, as “a gentleman of
excellent education, and a fluent, ready public speaker.”
Reid further states that he was descended in direct line
from Governor William Bradford of Plymouth. Before coming to
Wisconsin he had been principal of an academy at Homer,
Cortland County, New York, and had also published a paper
there for several years.
[5] Joseph W. Curtis of Madison.
[6] John W. Sterling, dean of the faculty and professor of
mathematics and natural philosophy. His connection with the
university lasted from 1848 until his death in 1885. He was
in turn acting chancellor, vice-chancellor, and
vice-president of the university.
[7] Rev. James B. Britton, pastor of Grace Episcopal Church
at Madison from 1855 until his resignation to become a
chaplain in the Eleventh Wisconsin Infantry.
[8] Rev. W. H. Brisbane. He became pastor of this church in
1860, resigning at the outbreak of the war to become
chaplain of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry.
[9] Prof. John B. Parkinson, now (1917) vice-president and
_emeritus_ professor of constitutional law of the
university.
[10] The _Lady Elgin_ was a steamer running between
Milwaukee and Chicago. On September 8, 1860, the vessel was
wrecked near Waukegan, as the result of a collision in the
night-time with another vessel. The _Lady Elgin_ had on
board several hundred excursionists from Milwaukee,
returning from a visit to Chicago. Of them all, only about
100 were saved. Among the victims were the editor of the New
Orleans _Picayune_ and his family, and the proprietor of the
London _Illustrated News_.
[11] David H. Johnson was a member of the assembly from Bad
Ax and Crawford Counties; Gilbert Knapp, from Racine County,
was the founder and first white settler of the city of
Racine. His title of “captain” was won by long connection
with the United States internal revenue marine service and
by his naval rank during the Civil War.
[12] The allusion is to the inventions of John Muir, who was
then a student at the university. For the story of his
inventions, and of his life at the University of Wisconsin,
see his _The Story of My Boyhood and Youth_ (Boston and New
York, 1913), chaps. vii and viii.
[13] Pliny Norcross of La Grange, George G. Green of
Milford, and Augustus H. Salisbury of Oregon. Norcross was
the first University of Wisconsin student to enlist for
military service, and his example, says Professor Butler,
“was followed by so many sons of Mars that the largest and
best Greek class I ever had was sadly thinned out.” Norcross
returned to the university after his three months’
enlistment had expired, but within a short time he again
left school and raised a company (Company K, Thirteenth
Wisconsin Infantry), of which he was elected captain. In
after life he became a prominent lawyer and business man of
Janesville. Salisbury was graduated from the university in
1867. He became a physician and made his home in
Minneapolis, where he died in 1893.
[14] William Fuller, from Union Grove, who boarded and
roomed with Reid and Goldsworthy in North Hall.
[15] James D. Butler, professor of ancient languages and
literature, and librarian. He was a scholar of note in his
day, who brought much distinction to the University of
Wisconsin and, after his retirement to private life in 1868,
to Madison.
[16] Obadiah M. Conover, professor of ancient languages and
literature in the university 1852-58. After his withdrawal
from this position he studied law, and spent the rest of his
career as Wisconsin Supreme Court reporter.
[17] Charles J. White had been Reid’s teacher in the Union
Grove school. Writing forty years later the pupil speaks of
him as “one who, to a marked degree, left the impress of his
fine character and careful scholarship upon all of the young
people who were so fortunate as to come under his
instruction.”
[18] At the outbreak of the Civil War the currency of
Wisconsin was secured in very large measure by the bonds of
southern states. Never considered wholly safe in the
financial world, these securities, as soon as hostilities
between the North and the South began, fell to a third of
their face value. Wisconsin bankers were unable to make good
the depreciation, and the value of their currency reflected
their embarrassment. On April 4, 1861, the bankers of
Chicago resolved not to accept the notes of 40 of the 109
Wisconsin banks. On the following day the Milwaukee bankers
rejected the notes of 19 of the institutions proscribed at
Chicago. This affected the value of about $1,000,000 of the
$4,500,000 of Wisconsin currency. Brokers in the state
during the succeeding weeks purchased the discredited money
at prices which rapidly sank to fifty cents on the dollar.
[19] George B. Smith was born in New York in 1823 and came
with his father to Racine, Wisconsin, in 1843. From 1844
until his death in 1877 his residence was at Madison. He was
the youngest member of the first constitutional convention
of the state, served as mayor of Madison several terms and
several as state legislator, was attorney-general of
Wisconsin for two years, and engaged in many other
activities of a public nature.
[20] Moses M. Strong, author of a _History of Wisconsin_,
had been since 1838 one of the leading public men of the
territory and of the state. John Y. Smith had settled at
Green Bay in 1828, and later at Milwaukee and at Madison. He
served in the first constitutional convention and was for
many years an influential editor and publicist. Smith had
made a speech denouncing secession and upholding the Union
and the administration at Washington. Strong also denounced
secession but argued that a union held together by force was
worthless and that compulsion should not be resorted to keep
the South in the Union.
[21] By the chair, according to the _State Journal’s_ report
of the meeting, which asserts that two-thirds of the
audience voted against tabling the motion.
[22] Rev. Lathrop Taylor, pastor of this church from April,
1860, till January, 1864. Except for these three years his
forty-seven years of service in the pastorate were passed in
Massachusetts and in Illinois.
[23] Ezra S. Carr, professor of chemistry and natural
history in the University of Wisconsin from 1856 to 1868. He
later served as professor in the University of California
for six years and as superintendent of public instruction of
the same state.
[24] Joseph W. Curtis of Madison, Lewis Frost of Madison,
William A. Wyse of Sauk City, James L. High of Black Earth,
Pliny Norcross of La Grange, Edward G. Miller of Sweet Home,
Henry Reed of Union Grove, and James M. Bull of Middleton.
Frost became a first lieutenant in the Twenty-third
Infantry. High was graduated from the university in 1864. He
enlisted in the Forty-ninth Wisconsin Infantry and attained
the rank of adjutant. In later years he became a leading
lawyer of the Chicago bar, being granted the degree of LL.D.
both by his Alma Mater and by the University of Michigan.
James Bull became lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Wisconsin
Infantry. Of him Professor Butler has said: “When this
stampede [of the students to enlist] took place we were
engaged in Xenophon’s _Memorab lia_. My own pocket copy,
Trübner’s edition, I gave to James M. Bull, one of my most
zealous pupils. It was his _vade mecum_ throughout the war,
and kept alive in him classical instincts…. The American
soldier found the notes of the Greek soldier a congenial
manual.” Bull returned to the university after the war and
was graduated in 1869.
[25] David Atwood, a native of New Hampshire, came to
Wisconsin in 1847 and became one of the leading newspaper
publishers of the state. His military title was gained from
his connection with the state militia. He served in the
state legislature and for a short time in Congress. He died
at Madison, December 11, 1889.
[26] Phineas J. Clawson of Waukesha, Gideon W. Allen of
Trempealeau, Farlin Q. Ball of Monroe, Henry Vilas of
Madison, Michael Leahy of Portland, and J. D. Parkinson of
Georgetown. Clawson entered the army, where he rose to the
rank of first lieutenant. In 1867 he was graduated from the
university and thereafter followed the profession of law,
making his home in Green County. He was at different times
clerk of the circuit court, district attorney, and state
senator. Allen was graduated from the University of
Wisconsin in 1862 and, later, from the law school of the
University of Michigan. The greater portion of his career
thereafter was spent in Sturgeon Bay. Ball served in the
army where he became a captain and a major by brevet. In
1865 he was admitted to the bar and later became a prominent
lawyer and judge of Chicago. Vilas obtained his degree from
the university in 1865, adopted the profession of law, and
died in 1872 while still a young man. Leahy entered the army
and rose to the rank of captain. In after life he served in
the general assembly of Iowa and as Indian agent at La
Pointe. Parkinson was graduated from the university in 1861;
he became a lawyer in Kansas City and served nine years as
judge of the twenty-fifth Missouri circuit.
[27] Washington I. Wallace of Baraboo. He was graduated from
the University of Wisconsin in 1864 and later became a
lawyer. At different times he served as member of the
Missouri state senate, prosecuting attorney, and judge of
the fourteenth Missouri circuit.
[28] William W. Church of Madison and William W. Silverthorn
of Oakland. Church was graduated from the university in
1865; he adopted the profession of law, and spent his later
life in Missouri and Utah.
[29] Cary M. Campbell of Madison and George S. Marsh of
Whitewater.
[30] Levi B. Vilas, at this time mayor of Madison. Already a
man of prominence in Vermont, his native state, he came west
in 1851, settling at Madison. Here he served at different
times as member of the state legislature, mayor of the city,
and regent of the university. One of his sons was William F.
Vilas, United States senator and cabinet member.
[31] Alexander W. Randall, circuit judge and governor of
Wisconsin, United States minister to Rome, and
postmaster-general.
[32] The singing was done by Mrs. Kate and Miss Susan Denin,
members of a theatrical company which was giving the play
_Joseph and His Brethren_ in Madison.
[33] Oscar F. Black of Sextonville, George G. Green of
Milford, J. Heathcock of Linden, Washington I. Wallace of
Baraboo, Shadrach Azariah Hall of Eau Claire, C. Frank Holt
of Kenosha, James L. High of Black Earth, and Frank Waterman
of Madison. Waterman was graduated from the university in
1863, after which he is lost to sight. Hall was graduated in
1861, and for the next three years was principal of the Eau
Claire Seminary. During 1861-65 he served in the army, with
the rank of captain. He later taught school in Wisconsin and
Minnesota, and finally became a farmer in the latter state.
[34] Rev. William L. Green who came to this church from
Kentucky in September, 1856.
[35] The Belle City Rifles, from Racine, became Company F,
Second Wisconsin infantry.
[36] George B. Lincoln of Racine, killed in action at
Gainesville, Virginia, August 28, 1862.
[37] William C. Sheldon of Burlington.
[38] Charles H. Wildish of Waukesha.
[39] Farlin Q. Ball of Monroe, J. Stannard Baker of Hudson,
and Gideon W. Allen of Trempealeau.
[40] Daniel Read, professor of mental, ethical, and moral
science. He had served for many years as professor in the
universities of Ohio and Indiana before coming to Wisconsin.
From 1868-76 he was president of the University of Missouri.
[41] Thomas J. Hale of Madison, Isaac N. Stewart of
Waukesha, J. Dwight Tredway of Madison, and J. G. Hall of
Monroe. Hale was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin,
having received his degree in 1860. Stewart was graduated
from the university in 1862. He entered the army and at the
close of the war engaged in teaching, being for thirty years
a prominent educator of the state. Tredway was graduated
from the University in 1863.
[42] See _ante_, p. 11.
[43] Henry B. Foster, Thomas Graham, and Alexander B. Adams.
[44] Isaac Martine and Henry B. Ginty.
[45] Harvey W. Emery, member of the assembly from Columbia
County, later lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Wisconsin
Infantry. He died of disease at Lisbon, Ohio, October 13,
1862.
[46] Noah H. Virgin, George W. Hazelton, Charles Quentin,
Densmore W. Maxon, Alden I. Bennett, Charles R. Gill, Buell
E. Hutchinson, and Dennison Worthington. Of these men Virgin
came to Wisconsin in 1835. He served at different times in
the territorial legislature and in the state senate and
assembly. Maxon came to Wisconsin in 1843, made his home in
Washington County (from 1846), and served numerous terms in
the senate and the assembly of the state; in 1865 he was the
democratic candidate for lieutenant-governor. He died in
California in 1887. Gill came to Wisconsin in 1856 and
opened a law office in Watertown. In 1860 and 1861 he was
the youngest member of the state senate. He enlisted as a
private in the army and rose to the colonelcy of the
Twenty-ninth Wisconsin Infantry. From 1866 to 1870 he was
attorney-general of the state. Hutchinson came to Wisconsin
in 1848 and settled at Prairie du Chien. He was admitted to
the bar and in 1856 was elected to membership in the state
assembly. In later years he lived successively in South
Dakota and in Chicago. Worthington settled in Waukesha
County in 1847. He served in the assembly and from 1855 to
1861 in the senate. The remainder of his active career was
devoted to the life insurance business at Madison.
[47] Charles B. Cox, Lemuel W. Joiner, and Charles Quentin.
Joiner came to Wisconsin in 1845. He served several terms in
the state assembly and senate. He died at Wyoming,
Wisconsin, October 22, 1886.
[48] Wyman Spooner of Walworth County, Jared Warner of
Grant, David Atwood of Dane, and William H. Ramsey of
Ozaukee. Spooner, a native of Massachusetts, came to
Wisconsin in 1842, settling first at Racine and then at
Elkhorn. He served for many years as probate and as circuit
judge, and a number of terms in the senate and the assembly.
He was at one time speaker of the assembly and at another
time president of the senate, and beginning in 1863 was
three times elected lieutenant-governor of the state. He
died November 18, 1877, in his eighty-third year.
[49] Charles Hathaway Larrabee. He came to Wisconsin in 1846
and the following year served in the second constitutional
convention of the state. He served as circuit judge for a
number of years and from 1858-60 was in the national House
of Representatives. He entered the army shortly after Fort
Sumter was fired on, and before ill health compelled him to
retire rose to the rank of colonel. Upon leaving the army he
removed to the Pacific Coast, where he met death in a
railway accident in January, 1883.
[50] Leander F. Frisby of Washington County, Henry G. Webb
of Waushara, and Franklin Z. Hicks of Iowa. Frisby came to
Wisconsin from Ohio in 1846. In 1850 he opened a law office
at West Bend, where he continued to practice for thirty-one
years. He served as attorney-general of Wisconsin from 1882
to 1887. Hicks, a native of New York, came to Grant County,
Wisconsin, in early life and engaged in lead mining. He
served several terms in the territorial legislature and in
1846 as a member of the first constitutional convention of
the state.
[51] Company F, Second Infantry, Capt. William E. Strong of
Racine, and Company H, Second Infantry, Capt. Julius F.
Randolph of Madison. Strong rose to the rank of
brigadier-general during the war; Randolph was killed in
action at Gainesville, Virginia, August 28, 1862.
[52] Stephen A. Douglas, famous Illinois senator and
statesman.
[53] Elias A. Calkins was editor of the Madison _Argus and
Democrat_, and one of the leading newspaper publishers of
the state. In 1861 he entered the army as major of the Third
Wisconsin Cavalry, having declined a commission as colonel.
After the war he resumed the newspaper business and at the
time of his death in 1904 was an editorial writer on the
Chicago _Chronicle_. L. P. Harvey was governor of the state
from January 6 to April 19, 1862, his career being
tragically cut short by drowning while engaged in a mission
of succor to Wisconsin’s soldiers wounded in the battle of
Pittsburg Landing. Myron H. Orton was born in New York in
1810 and came to Wisconsin in 1849, settling first at
Milwaukee and a few years later at Madison. He was a lawyer
by profession. He died at Madison in 1860. Jared C. Gregory
was born in New York in 1823 and died at Madison in 1892. He
served for twelve years as a regent of the University of
Wisconsin and from 1880 until his death as a curator of the
State Historical Society. Jairus C. Fairchild came to
Madison from Ohio in 1846. Two years later he became the
first treasurer of the state of Wisconsin, and in 1853
failed of election to the governorship by only two votes.
From the time of his first coming to Madison until his death
in 1862 he occupied positions of prominence in the city and
the state.
[54] Thomas Graham and Thomas St. George of Racine.
[55] Miss L. L. Coues. Because of lack of funds the board of
directors early in 1861 suspended indefinitely the public
high school. Miss Coues thereupon proposed, if the board
would grant her the free use of the building and equipment,
to maintain a high school free of expense to the board, on a
tuition basis. Afterward the arrangement was modified so as
to make the school one for girls only. Such, for two years,
were the high school facilities afforded the young people of
Madison.
[56] Milton S. Griswold of Waukesha and William Fallows of
Hanchettville. Griswold was graduated from the university in
1863, became a lawyer, and practiced first at Madison and
later at Waukesha, where he served at different times as
county judge. For an interesting account of his pedagogical
proclivities while at the university, see John Muir’s _Story
of My Boyhood and Youth_, 280-82.
[57] Stephen D. Carpenter, locally prominent as editor,
publisher, and inventor. He located in Madison in 1850 and
thereafter for many years was intermittently engaged in the
printing and publishing business. In 1853 he invented a pump
which is said by one authority to have brought him $35,000.
Among other inventions of his were a power-press, a
voting-machine, and a type-setting machine. He claimed to
have invented the first mechanical knotter for binding
grain. In later life his prosperity departed. He died at
Carthage, Missouri, in October, 1906.
[58] John G. McMynn, noted Wisconsin teacher and educator.
He came to the state about the year 1848, settling first at
Kenosha and then at Racine. He served as manager of the J.
I. Case Threshing Machine Company, regent of the University
of Wisconsin, superintendent of the Racine public schools,
and state superintendent of public instruction. During the
war he rose to the colonelcy of the Tenth Wisconsin
Infantry. He died at Madison in June, 1900.
[59] Thus the first of the seventy thousand soldiers who
were to pass through Camp Randall during the next few years
departed for the war. Of this farewell, and the further
record of the regiment Reid wrote in old age as follows:
“On the twentieth day of June, the entire student force of
the university formed part of the throng which assembled at
the railroad depot to witness the departure of that gallant
regiment, which was destined, before the return of its
remnant to the state, to earn the proud but sad record of
losing in battle more men in proportion to its numbers than
any other regiment which fought on either side among the
great hosts engaged in the tremendous struggle. That twenty
per cent of its entire enlistment fell dead on battlefields
during three years’ service cannot, indeed, be said of any
other regiment of any nation in modern times.”