1848 was a big year for Jonathan and Mary (Turck) Clark. Their family now included four children: Caroline (b. 1840), Henry (b. 1843), Libbie (b. 1845) and infant daughter Persie (b. 1847). And 1848 was the date that Jonathan M. Clark inscribed—just below his own name—on the Clark House “cornerstone” that still decorates the lintel above the Clark House front (south) door.

Photo credit: Reed Perkins, 2015

1848 was a landmark year in many respects. Gold was discovered in California, the War with Mexico ended with the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo and, most importantly for our Mequon pioneers, the Wisconsin Territory adopted a state constitution and was admitted by act of Congress as the 30th state in the Union.

Of course, on January 1, 1848, those events—and many others—still lay in the future, in the New Year. We’ve blogged about some of those events here at Clark House Historian, and we’ll have more to say about other 1848 events in the future. But did you ever wonder how our Mequon settlers observed the change from one year to the next during the 1840s and 1850s?

Welcoming the New Year

From the little I’ve been able to discover, in the 1840s and ’50s “New Year’s Day” in southeast Wisconsin was celebrated modestly, if at all. There were no rowdy gatherings of crowds of revelers in Milwaukee’s downtown on December 31. No fireworks or bands playing “Auld Lang Syne”. When January 1st dawned, businesses might, or might not, be closed for the day and workers might, or might not, have the day off from their labors.

In various diary entries for December 31 or January 1, Clark House neighbor Reverend J.W. Woodworth recorded that he often spent the evening of the 31st and much of the following day in thoughtful prayer, seeking insight and divine guidance for the coming days and months. By the early 1850s, Rev. Woodworth also mentions his presence at occasional “watch night” services on the 31st, where believers gathered to welcome the New Year together. His first mention of such an event was in his diary entry for December 31, 1853, where he “Attended a watch-night in Grafton.”

A Happy New Year to our numerous readers…

I am fortunate to be able to relax at home with family today. I hope you can, too. And rather than craft a new message of my own for today, I thought you—my numerous readers—might enjoy the following editorial that appeared on page 2 of the January 1, 1848, edition of the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel and Gazette. I think it’s a lovely and well-written piece, almost (but not fully) modern in it’s tone and style. It also embodies many of the forward-looking, civil-toned, and even-handed attitudes that were characteristic of many (but certainly not all) early Wisconsin pioneers.

That’s all for today. I’ll be back soon with fresh Clark House history for you. Until then, thank you for reading, and best wishes to you for a Healthy and Happy New Year!