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HUBBARD
The civil town of Hubbard has the congressional designation of town 11 north, range 16 east. It is bounded on
the west by Oak Grove, on the north by Williamstown, east by Herman, and south by Hustisford.
The Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad enters near the southeast corner and leaves it at Horicon
in the northwest corner. The land is well watered by Wild Cat creek, and Sinissippi lake covers a large portion
of the southeast section. Most of the land is tillable. In the eastern portion is what is known as Iron Mountain,
where valuable deposits of iron ore have been worked for many years past.
The first settlement recorded was made by Caleb Northrup in 1845. Former histories give him credit of being the
first pioneer of this community. J. Loop, J. H. Warren, H. Mace, G. Taylor and others came shortly after.
Rev. James W. Burton preached the first sermon in the township in 1846 and in the following year the German Lutherans
erected a church on section 35. The first school in the town was started in 1846 in a cabin on section 3.
The first mill was built by Larrabee & Company in 1847 on Rock river in the present village of Horicon. The
following were other early settlers:
J. H. Chandler was born in Lower Canada in 1845. He was a son of John Chandler, who settled with his family on
section 1, town of Oak Grove, in 1844. This was the first family to locate in the vicinity of the village of Horicon,
which was not then in existence. J. Chandler and his sons built the first brickyard in Dodge county and furnished
brick for the courthouse, store and schoolhouse in Juneau, and for the Winter House, schoolhouse and a number of
residences in Horicon.
S. B. Kellogg was born in Hampden county, Massachusetts, in 1823. He came to Dodge county in June, 1844, at which
time there was not a white man on the site of Horicon. He returned east in August of that year and married Catherine
M. Bidwell. They then settled on a piece of wild government land in the town of Clyman, built a log house and began
life as pioneers. After living in various places he returned to Horicon and his business became of a varied nature.
Garry Taylor was a carriage maker and millwright in his native state of New York, whence he came to Horicon in
July, 1844. At that time there was not a foot of land entered in the town of Hubbard, except the water power. With
G. H. Beers he built a Hustisford sawmill and the first sawmill in Horicon. Mr. Taylor contracted for and built
the first flouring mill in the town, which with the sawmill was burned. He also put in the machinery for the Kekoskee
sawmill. In the fall of 1844 he settled on government land in Oak Grove and was one of the committee which named
the town Fairfield, which was afterward changed to Oak Grove.
Vincent Roberts arrived in this country from Wales with his parents in 1843. In 1844 he married Miss Ann Jones,
in New York, and in 1845 they removed with their eldest son, William, to a farm in Emmet, Dodge county. Here his
second and third sons, John and Vincent, were born. Mr. Roberts settled in Hubbard town in the spring of 1848.
He bought heavily timbered land of a squatter and performed the work of a pioneer in chopping and clearing, living
the first summer in a small log shanty. He began with eighty acres, which accumulated into the hundreds.
H. B. Marsh settled in Horicon and began at his trade, that of blacksmithing, in 1846. He came from the state of
New York. Later, for many years, he was the owner of a livery stable. Mr. Marsh bought and repaired the Hiawatha
Mills in 1874. He built the second house on the business side of the river in Horicon and afterward built a number
more. He married Emily F. Eggleston in 1855. He was the first clerk of the village to do actual business and the
original ordinances were written by him.
George Malcher came to Dodge county in 1847 and settled on a farm in this town. Here his son was born in 1853.
The Malchers became quite prominent in business circles here.
Asa F. Goodwin came to this county from New York in 1847 and preempted and settled upon eighty acres of land in
Williamstown, which he sold, and bought eighty acres on section 11, town of Hubbard. After clearing a number of
acres of this he sold the place and settled on another farm of one hundred and twenty acres.
George H. Beers was one of the pioneers of Dodge county, coming here from the state of New York in 1844 and first
locating at Juneau. Early in 1845 he and Garry Taylor completed the Wild Cat sawmill at Hustisford. Mr. Beers then
settled in Horicon in 1846 and in 1847 with Mr. Taylor built the old Horicon sawmill.
Harvey Rice, long since deceased, came to the county from Rhode Island and settled in Horicon in 1847. He had three
sons, S. N., W. H. and Albert T., and a daughter, Cornelia. Sylvester Rice brought a stock of goods from Chicago
to Horicon in November, 1846, and with W. M. Larrabee built a 40 x 40, two story log store, at the corner of Lake
and Vine streets. After about eighteen months Mr. Rice sold his interest and with his brother W. H. built and operated
the first turning shop in Horicon. This was burned.
David M. Roberts was born in Iron Ridge, Hubbard town, in 1849. He was a son of Vincent and Ann Roberts, early
settlers. Mr. Roberts for many years ran the Iron Ridge elevator. George W. Roberts was born in the town of Hubbard,
November 30, 185i. He was a son of Vincent Roberts. He stayed with his father on the farm until 1869, when he began
business as a grain and produce dealer at Iron Ridge. He subsequently went into the grain business at Mayville.
Hall Hewett, a native of New York, came to Dodge county in 1852 and settled on a partially improved farm in the
town of Hubbard, where he lived for twenty three years. He sold this farm and removed to another.
A. Inglis, a native of Scotland, who came to America in 1850, settled in Horicon in 1852, where he plied his trade
of carpenter for a number of years. He invented and manufactured the Horicon Automatic windmill.
Franklin B. Smiley, of the state of New York, came to Horicon in 1854 and was the
owner of a harness shop for some time. He married Miss Harriet E. Wright, who died in 186i, and in 1864 he married
Elizabeth E. Warren, who was the widow of C. F. Warren, who settled here with his wife and two brothers in the
spring of 1845. Mrs. Smiley was the first white woman in the town of Hubbard and slept under the bark of trees
which the men cut down during the day. After building a log house on their claim the Warrens made their furniture
of the boxes in which their household goods were moved. The "bark shanty" of the Warrens was a favorite
stopping place for land hunters of that day. Mr. Warren worked on the Mayville sawmill, helped to lay out roads,
built bridges and was in all respects a public spirited pioneer. He died in 1855, leaving two children, Frank M.
and J. B. Frank M. Warrens was seventeen months old when the Warrens settled in Hubbard. Here he grew to manhood.
He enlisted in the war when at Horicon. J. B. Warren, the other son, was born in Hubbard and lived in Horicon most
of the time until he was nineteen.
John Giessen was born in Germany. He left the fatherland for America in 1855 and coming direct to Dodge county,
settled on a farm of forty acres in this town. The land was wild and though he had but little means he went to
work with a will and soon had splendid results for his labors.
A. H. Otto, long a merchant at Horicon, was born in Williamstown in 1856.
Charles Otis Page early became a merchant at Iron Mountain. He was a native of Massachusetts and immigrated to
Rubicon, this county, in 1856. He was one of the founders of the village and erected the depot and other buildings
there
J. B. Phelps, a machinist, came to Horicon from Syracuse, New York, in 1855, and was employed by the old M. &
H. Railroad Company.
A. F. Schwantz was born in Germany and came to America in 1856. He settled on a farm in this town, beginning with
forty acres of dense forest, in which not a tree had been cut. Building a log but for a habitation, he went to
work and it was not long before he had his farm cleared and well improved. At the time of his coming there were
only two German families in his school district. He was supervisor during the war.
Frederick Ulrich came from his native Germany in 1856 to this locality and worked at his trade of carpentry two
years and then settled on forty acres of land, which was at the time covered with a dense forest. He soon put up
a log house and went cheerfully to work clearing and preparing the land for cultivation.
John Wood was an early settler of Dodge county, who immigrated to this country from England in 1844 He spent four
years in Milwaukee, three years in Hartford and located in Horicon in 1851, where he opened a stock of tailors'
goods and was probably one of the pioneer merchant tailors of the village.
John M. Yorgey was a Pennsylvanian who came to Horicon in 1857. He was a cabinet maker and worked at his trade
for about a year and then went into the employ of Helliwell Brothers in the wheat business. About 1860 he settled
on a claim near Juneau and three years thereafter moved to Horicon.
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