Mequon

1861/1862: Moving Time

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 14 Comments

Mary Clark and the children move to Milwaukee

On July 20, 1860, the eighth federal decennial census recorded Mary Clark and her family living together on their Mequon farm. Less than a year later, on May 15, 1861, eldest daughter Caroline Clark married William W. Woodward and, presumably, left the Clark house to start their new life together. By the next federal census—June 1, 1870—Mary Clark, her six youngest daughters, one son-in-law, one grandchild, and one future-son-in-law, would be enumerated together in Mary’s home in Milwaukee.

What happened to the Clarks between July, 1860, and June, 1870? Ozaukee County land records show that Mary and her children did not finally sell the Mequon land, stone house, barn, and other structures until April, 1872. Catherine Doyle, matriarch of Mequon’s Doyle family was the buyer. Two years earlier, the 1870 federal census shows that Catherine Doyle, her husband John, and their family were already farming on the old Jonathan M. Clark farm. It appears that Mary Clark had rented or leased the Clark farm to the Doyles and, presumably, used the income to support her family.

So when did the Clarks move to Milwaukee? Did they buy a house, rent, or move in with Mary’s father, Peter Turck? To find out, we need to consult a mundane but very useful resource, the City Directory.

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The Clark Family in 1860, part 2

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 3 Comments

A Closer Look at the 1860 Census: Checking Ages and Dates

As we did for their 1850 census, I thought we should do the math and check whether the enumerator got everyone’s correct age on the Clark family’s 1860 census schedule. And do the ages agree with the Clark “Family Record” and other Clark family documents and known facts, including their 1850 census schedule?

First, examine the Clark’s 1860 census page header. It was enumerated by Assistant Marshall (for the census) Hugo Boclo and covered the “Free Inhabitants in the town of Mequon in the County of Ozaukee State of Wisconsin enumerated by me, on the 20th day of July. 1860.”

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View from the window…

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes at Clark House Historian these days. I’ve got a half-dozen blog posts in various stages of completion, plus ongoing research and information-checking projects with Nina Look, Liz Hickman, and others. And, I’ve just heard from a third-great-granddaughter of two of the original Mequon settler families! How cool is that? More on those folks in an upcoming post—or two!

So let’s take a break, and enjoy a relaxing summer view from the Clark House. In this instance, a lovely July, 2015, view from the Clark’s front parlour, looking to the southwest toward present-day Bonniwell Road. According to the 1872 “Shoolmap” of Mequon, neighbors John Kurz and J. H. Townsend lived just across the street. A bit farther west down the road were—still—the farms of old friends and original Mequon settlers William Bonniwell and Jesse Hubbard.

Photo by Anna Perkins, used by permission. Click to open larger image in new window.

Monday: Map Day! – “Shoolmap” of Mequon, c. 1872

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 3 Comments

Today’s Monday: Map Day! introduces a rare and very interesting map, from a wonderful digital collection of maps. It’s the c. 1872 “SHOOLMAP of the TOWN of MEQUON,” from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s American Geographical Society Digital Map Collection, and it is packed with information and unique details:

Shoolmap of the Town of Mequon / School Map of the Town of Mequon, 1872?, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, American Geographical Society Digital Map Collection. Manuscript map. Mequon-Thiensville Historical Society, donor. Copyright notice here, presented in this post as a public domain item and/or under fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law.

To view a beautiful, large version of today’s map, click here, or on the map image (above). That will open a new window and take you to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s American Geographical Society Digital Map Collection, and the home page of this map. It will look something like this:

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The Clark Family in 1860

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 5 Comments

UPDATED, December 27, 2020, to correct a typo in the list of family ages. Mary Clark was enumerated as age 39 (not 44 as previously mis-typed). —R.P.

The death of Jonathan M. Clark in September, 1857, must have been a tremendous blow to his family. Suddenly, Mary Turck Clark was a 37-year-old widow, with a nursing infant and seven other children, all under the age of 17. She had a family to raise, a 160-acre farm to manage, and important decisions to make.

What to do? Remarry for economic security? Sell the farm and move to Milwaukee for a better education for the children? Her father, Peter Turck, was already living in the city with his second wife, Christina, and their 8 year old daughter; could she and the children move in with them? Or would Mary find a new home of her own in the city?

Still here

Mary decided to stay, and make a go of it on her own. When the federal decennial census was enumerated in the summer of 1860, Mary and the children were still on the farm in Mequon:

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Monday: Map Day! – Another look at Ouisconsin Territory, 1836

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins.

UPDATED, February 11, 2024, to include a revised annotated map. But for the full update—with additional notes and corrections—please see the most recent version of this, posted on February 12, 2024.

As a kind of postscript to our look at the early Wisconsin territorial, state and federal censuses, today’s Monday: Map Day! revisits an interesting map that we first discussed on October 29, 2017. Today’s post includes a few updates and corrections based on new information. 

It’s 1836. Where’s…Wisconsin?

In September, 1836, Sgt. Jonathan M. Clark was discharged from the U.S. Army at “Camp Hamilton,” Wisconsin Territory. after serving his three-year term of service with Co. K, Fifth Regiment of Infantry.1  One year later, in the autumn of 1837, Jonathan’s future wife Mary Turck would make the long trip from Palmyra, New York, to Milwaukee and finally Mequon, Washington County, Wisconsin, with her parents Peter and Rachael Turck and six younger siblings. By the end of 1840 Jonathan and Mary would be married and starting their family in Mequon.

That seems simple enough, until you take a moment to wonder how much Jonathan—or especially Mary and her family—knew about this new Wisconsin Territory.  Jonathan had been in the territory since October, 1833, mostly on post at Ft. Howard. In the last year or so of his service he was busy cutting trees and building bridges for the military road along the Fox River waterway from Ft. Howard (Green Bay) towards Ft. Winnebago (near modern Portage). As a road-building soldier, Jonathan might have done some surveying and seen—or helped draw—a variety of maps of the military road and its vicinity. But for a better overview of this new territory, Jonathan or Mary might have sought out a map such as this2:

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1857: Disaster

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 11 Comments

As the year 1857 began, things seemed to be going well for the Clark family. Jonathan M. and Mary Turck Clark had been married for seventeen years. On May 25, 1857, they welcomed the birth of their eighth child, daughter Jennie Marietta Clark. She joined six older sisters—Caroline, Elizabeth, Persie, Theresa, Laura and Josie—and one brother, Henry.

The family had been living in their handsome, two-story home of stone and wood—now the Jonathan Clark House Museum—for nine years. They owned 160 acres of fine farmland, and appeared to be one of the more successful and comfortable farm families in the area.

But not all was well in the neighborhood. In November, 1856, typhus struck Rev. James W. Woodworth’s father, Peter. By late December, Rev. Woodworth’s daughters Rosetta and Julietta were both ill with the disease. In early February, Rev. Woodworth’s wife, Cerena Loomer Woodworth was taken ill with typhus, followed by daughter Sophia a few days later.

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Census Records for the In-Between Years: 1838

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 3 Comments

UPDATED, July 24, 2021 with another spelling and additional info on early settler S. McEvony-McEvery-McEvany.

The Second Wisconsin Territorial Census

The second Wisconsin territorial census, taken in 1838, is the only Wisconsin territorial census we have not yet discussed here at Clark House Historian. If you need to catch up, at the end of this post is a list of our previous discussions of Jonathan Clark, Mary Turck, and their family on the federal, territorial and state censuses enumerated between 1836 to 1855.

By early 1838, several new counties—Dodge, Jefferson and Washington—had been created from the original, larger, Milwaukee and Brown counties, although the new counties were still “attached” to Milwaukee county for judicial purposes.1 This means that the 1838 territorial census of the newly-created Jefferson, Dodge and Washington counties was the responsibility of the Milwaukee county enumerator, Sheriff Own (sic) Aldrich.

The filmed images for the second Wisconsin territorial census, enumerated in 1838, are available online as FHL film no.1,293,919 , aka DGS film 7,897,817 (Item 2, following the 1836 census. The 1838 census begins at image 118 of 532). Here’s the first page of the Milwaukee county census (including the attached counties of Jefferson, Dodge and Washington):

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Census Records for the In-Between Years: 1855 — Part 2

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 5 Comments

Who’s On That 1855 Census Page?

This is a follow-up to our previous post about the Jonathan M. Clark family and the 1855 Wisconsin state census. You might want to read that post first, and also take a look at our recent discussion of English/Latin and German Kurrent hand writing styles as used in places like Wisconsin in the 1800s.

In the comments to that 1855 state census post, blog reader and Clark House friend Liz Hickman asked:

Am curious about the others listed on the page; starts with James Woodworth [Rev.?]. Do you see any other names of interest? Can you figure out the name below Jonathan’s?

Liz Hickman, reply to Census Records for the In-Between Years: 1855

Thanks again, Liz, let me see if I can help. First of all, let’s take a look at that first page of the Mequon return for the 1855 state census:

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