I’m working on a subject suggested by my friends Sam Cutler and Bob Blazich from the Mequon-Thiensville Historical Society. Among other projects over the last few decades, they and their colleagues at the MTHS have restored what is believed to be Ozaukee county’s oldest building on its original foundation, the historic Isham Day house, and developed its interior into the Mequon River Postal Museum. Now my friends at the MTHS want to know more about the life of Mequon River Post Office’s original postmaster, one of Mequon’s very first pioneer settlers, John Weston.

Isham Day house, exterior, west front. Photo credit: Anna Perkins, 2021

So for the last several weeks I’ve been doing a great deal of behind-the-scenes reading and re-reading of primary and secondary sources, as well as a lot of searching for additional relevant documents, including early Milwaukee and Washington/Ozaukee county deeds and other land records. In the process, I’m learning a lot about John Weston, Isham Day, Henry Thien, and some of our other first white settlers. But I’m not quite ready to write a John Weston profile, and I still need to clear up some mysteries about Isham Day’s land and house, too.

First Postmaster(s)

New post office…at Mequan River…John Weston appointed postmaster, Milwaukee Advertiser, Oct. 10, 1840, page 2

Let’s get our bearings by making an accurate list of the county’s first postmasters and their terms of office. Our source is from the National Archives in Washington, DC, the Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-Sept. 30, 1971; Records of the Post Office Department; Record Group Number: 28; Series: M841; Roll Number: 144. County: Polk – Wood, Vol. 12B, circa 1832-1844, pages 794-795, currently available via Ancestry.com as U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 [database on-line], 2010, image 428 of 583 (accessed 18 Jan 2024). Here’s the microfilmed image of the two-page ledger recording Washington county’s first post offices and postmasters, slightly retouched to make for easier reading:

Click the image for a higher-resolution view, and then read on for more details about old Washington/Ozaukee county’s first two post offices and their original postmasters.

The county’s first post office, 1837

The first ledger page is titled Washington Co. Wis. Ty. [Washington County, Wisconsin Territory]. The post offices are entered in the ledger from top to bottom, in chronological order of each post office’s creation. The first post office created was at Washington (ch), which is the abbreviation for Washington Court House, our present-day city of Port Washington.

That post office was established on 19 July 1837; John W. Taylor was first postmaster. He was succeeded by Andrew J. Vieau on 15 Oct. 1839 and [Mr.] Aurora Adams on 1 June 1840.

The extended financial crisis following the Panic of 1837 caused the fledgling village of Washington C.H. to be pretty much abandoned for a few years. The post office there was discontinued on 8 Sept. 1841. Following the village’s rebirth in the early 1840s, the Washington C.H. post office was reinstated on 1 May 1844 with Orlando A. Watrous serving as postmaster.

Mequon River P.O. 1840

While Washington C.H. saw its fortunes ebb, the settlements in T9N-R21E, the future Town of Mequon—including the Bonniwell District, the Jonathan Clark House, and the nascent village of Thiensville—was growing rapidly. The county’s next post office would be established here on 24 June 1840, and be known as the Mequon River Post Office. John Weston was the first postmaster, taking office on the same date, 24 June 1840 (and not earlier, as some later sources suggest).

Weston did not remain postmaster for long. He was succeeded by John Armstrong on 6 Oct. 1841. Subsequent postmasters at Mequon River included Jonathan Judd, appointed 23 Sept 1842; George E. Graves, 28 April 1843; Taylor Heavelin, 30 Sept 1843, and Frederick W. Horn, the first German-born postmaster in the county, who began his term on 17 Nov. 1843.

Later county post offices

During the 1840s, the rapid influx of immigrants into the Washington/Ozaukee county from eastern North America and abroad—particularly from the German lands—required the creation of additional post offices. As recorded on this ledger, the first of these, after Washington C.H. and Mequon River, were:

• Phelps, established 7 June 1842 and discontinued 28 July 1843
• Limestone, established 29 September 1843
• Hamburgh (later Grafton), established 17 April 1844
• Meeker, established 1 April 1844
• Rubicon, established 19 December 1844

A few of these locations might puzzle the modern reader. According to the very useful Wisconsin: Its Territorial and Statehood Post Offices, compiled by Frank Moertel, published as Wisconsin Postal Historical Society Bulletin No, 23, first edition 1993, third printing, 2002:

• The short-lived Phelps P.O. was located in the SW 1/4 of Section 6, T11N R18E in the Town of Addison.
• Limestone P.O. also had a short run. It was located in the SE 1/4 of Section 20, T11 N R18E in the Town of Addison and was discontinued 1 March 1845.
• Meeker P.O. was discontinued 15 February 1902, and its papers sent to Richfield. It was located in Section 19, T9N R20E in the Town of Germantown.
• Rubicon P.O. changed its name to Polk on January 11, 1848. The office was discontinued 17 June 1851. It was located in Section 24, T10N R18E in the Town of Hartford.

Postscript…

So John Weston was Mequon’s first postmaster, serving a brief term that began in mid-summer, 1840. But how does his story fit with what we know of Isham Day, Henry Thien, and the other early non-native settlers of Mequon and Thiensville? And who built the Isham Day house, and when? The documents I’ve been looking at raise some interesting questions, for which I hope to find some answers shortly. I’ll be back with details in just a bit.