In 1849, my great great great grandfather, Jacob DOREMUS took his family from Parsippany, Morris County, NJ to Juneau, Dodge County, WI and returned to NJ in 1852. I am looking for any help, what the reason may have been for this move toWI. Were there land grants, employment opportunities etc.? I would appreciate any help or idea. Thanks, Tom in CT P.S. The following story was found in a small book about the DOREMUS family... Written by George Scudder Mott Doremus (Apparently told to him by his uncle, Andrew Doremus, Jacob's son)... "In 1849 (during a movement west) Jacob took his family to Juneau, WI. "All the family, thirteen souls went and eleven returned (1851). The two remaining were Abraham and Joseph. These two returned a couple of years later" says a letter from (Uncle) Andrew. He continued: "Father lost all he had, being robbed at Dunkirk of his last dollar and his R.R. tickets. The conductor was very sympathetic and passed us all as far as his division, Suffern, N.Y. There we remained all night by the kindness of the hotel-keeper. The pay for the night's lodging and meals was made by the two oldest sisters, Martha and Sarah, doing washing early in the morning. Your Uncle John, Elijah and I walked from Suffern to Pompton Plains to mother's Aunt and Uncle (grandmother VanDynes's sister) where we rested. Thence we went to Parsippany to my Uncle John's. The rest of the family was passed (by the solicitation of the previous conductor) by the next to Paterson and thence to Paramus to Uncle Abraham Ackerman's. (Father's sister Rachel) and Aunt Lockey's. From there to Parsippany by them to Uncle John's. Uncle John sold father 15 acres from the north side of his farm, on credit and by neighbors' help he built a small house." The house at the foot of Fox Hill was lost. Jacob signed a note for a neighbor whose "word was as good as his bond, etc." During his absence the note went to protest and the property was taken over."

Hello Tom This probably won't help much. I grew up in Horicon which is 5 miles NE of Juneau and I have relatives living in Juneau. Back in the 1850s most of the towns in that part of Dodge County were less than 10 years old. So there was land available. My ancestors, the Miescke's came to Horicon from Pomerania in 1853 and settled on farms. Juneau, population 2100 is basically a farming community with little industry. The biggest employer in town is probably the county with the courthouse, highway department and other county departments. So more than likely they came for the farmland because there was little else to bring them to Juneau. The courthouse burned down in 1875 so there are no records at Juneau before 1875. Maybe there is someone else out there that knows more about the early history of Juneau than I do and can help. Bill H. --- Tom Smith <thwasm@gmail.com> wrote: > In 1849, my great great great grandfather, Jacob > DOREMUS took his > family from Parsippany, Morris County, NJ to Juneau, > Dodge County, WI > and returned to NJ in 1852. I am looking for any > help, what the > reason may have been for this move toWI. Were there > land grants, > employment opportunities etc.? > > I would appreciate any help or idea. > > Thanks, Tom in CT > > P.S. The following story was found in a small book > about the DOREMUS family... > > Written by George Scudder Mott Doremus (Apparently > told to him by his > uncle, Andrew Doremus, Jacob's son)... > > "In 1849 (during a movement west) Jacob took his > family to Juneau, WI. > "All the family, thirteen souls went and eleven > returned (1851). The > two remaining were Abraham and Joseph. These two > returned a couple of > years later" says a letter from (Uncle) Andrew. He > continued: "Father > lost all he had, being robbed at Dunkirk of his last > dollar and his > R.R. tickets. The conductor was very sympathetic > and passed us all as > far as his division, Suffern, N.Y. There we > remained all night by the > kindness of the hotel-keeper. The pay for the > night's lodging and > meals was made by the two oldest sisters, Martha and > Sarah, doing > washing early in the morning. Your Uncle John, > Elijah and I walked > from Suffern to Pompton Plains to mother's Aunt and > Uncle (grandmother > VanDynes's sister) where we rested. Thence we went > to Parsippany to > my Uncle John's. > > The rest of the family was passed (by the > solicitation of the previous > conductor) by the next to Paterson and thence to > Paramus to Uncle > Abraham Ackerman's. (Father's sister Rachel) and > Aunt Lockey's. From > there to Parsippany by them to Uncle John's. Uncle > John sold father > 15 acres from the north side of his farm, on credit > and by neighbors' > help he built a small house." > > The house at the foot of Fox Hill was lost. Jacob > signed a note for a > neighbor whose "word was as good as his bond, etc." > During his > absence the note went to protest and the property > was taken over." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to WIDODGE-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC