Getting to know. . . .
Clark County, Wisconsin
Clark County Jail House, Neillsville.
Clark County Poor Farm, Town of York.
In 1857 William C. Tompkins was induced to locate in Neillsville and established the pioneer journal of the county, — the Clark County Advocate. In 1861 The Union and Flag was published by Dore & Dickinson, and in 1867 the Clark County Journal made its appearance, and later in the same year the Clark County Republican. In 1873 the Clark County Press was started and later combined with the Republican and still appears weekly as the Republican and Press. The Enterprise of Colby represented the northern part of the county during the early years, but succumbed and in 1879 the Colby Phonograph was established. The True Republican was started in Neillsville that year and later became the Neillsville Times, and in 1880 the Deutsch Amerikaner made its appearance and has continued since, the sole publication in the German language.
The Clark County Agricultural Society was organized on March 15th, 1873 and bought forty acres of land just outside of Neillsville on which an adequate grand stand and buildings for the annual exhibitions have been erected.
The county includes a rectangular area seven townships long and five ranges wide, being towns 23 to 29, inclusive and ranges 1 east to 4 west inclusive, except the town 23, range 4 west, in the south-western corner of the rectangle, which is a part of Jackson county. Clark County is just northwest of the center of the state. It is traversed by three principal railroads doing business in the state and by two smaller roads, affording easy communication in all directions. The construction of the first railroad in the county was the result of long contemplated action by Clark County people, the organization of the Black River Railroad Company resulting on Feb. 26, 1878, H. N. Withee, James Hewett, Daniel Gates, F. D. Lindsey, R. J. McBride, J. L. Gates, G. L. Lloyd and F. S. Kirkland being the incorporators. The capital stock was $150,000 and the survey was made and work commenced at once. The town of Pine Valley consented at last, after declining once or twice, to issue bonds to the extent pg $10,000 aid the project, while the towns of Weston and Hewett agreed to chip in $1000 each. On account of some complications, Weston and Grant declined to renew their offer which had expired, but Pine Valley and Hewett extended the time and the work wont on, and on July 4, 1881 the first train made its advent into the county seat from Merrillan and was greeted with appreciated welcome.
And then the old tote road from Humbird to Neillsville over whose corduroyed levels and planked hills the supplies for the county seat and surrounding camps had been transported for years, began to fall into disuse and decay.
Clark County is for the most part gently undulating in surface— drained by the Black river, (so-called because its waters take a dark tinge from the swamps where it rises) which flowing from north to south divides the county into nearly equal parts, and by the branches of the Wisconsin river in its eastern part and by the effluents of the Chippewa river in the north western section. The pineries were located along the banks of the streams and hard wood ridges extended across the county. The soil in the northern, central and south central portions is a rich clay loam and in the southern part a sandy loam. The streams afford practically inexhaustible water power, only a small portion of which has been as yet developed.
The only one of the Silurian formations occurring in this county is the Potsdam sandstone which forms the basement rock of its southern portion, the primary rising to the surface in the northern portion. High bluffs of sandstone occur in several localities in the county, making pleasing land marks distinguishable for miles around.
The present county officers are: Sheriff, Louis Hantke; Clerk of the Court, ‘George Ure; County Clerk, Myron Wilding; Judge of the Probate Court, Oscar W. Schoengarth;
County Superintendent of Schools, Miss Elizabeth Kennedy; County Treasurer, Ole C. Anderson; Register of Deeds, E .J. Rossman; District Attorney, W. J. Rush; Member of Assembly, Emery W. Crosby; Sup’t. of County farm, M. Redmond.
Related Links
1875 American Sketch Book by Bella French
1909 History of Clark Co., WI by Robert J. McBride
1918 History of Clark County, WI; Compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge,
Chicago
and Winona, H. C. Cooper Jr., & Co.;
Villages & Communities;
Logging
1918 Biographical Index of the History of Clark County, WI; Compiled by
Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, Chicago
and Winona, H. C. Cooper Jr., & Co.
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