Today we will start to read the story of what life was like in the 1850s in Eau Claire. This comes from the book "Sawdust City" by Lois Barland. Eau Claire in the Fifties We think of our life today as being thoroughly organized with too many meetings to attend. The little village of Eau Claire started right in to organized town affairs, educational and social meetings, and religious activities. In 1857 a Literary Society was organized, a dancing assembly was held every Friday evening at Reed's Hall, and that Christmas sixty tickets were sold for the Christmas dance when only two years before there were only enough ladies in town to make two couples. That winter snow was four and five feet deep with a crust which tied up traffic; drifts were thirty feet deep. It was so cold, the mercury 'congealed' in the thermometers. Flour sold @ $11 a barrel, pork $30, and beef $10 per 100 pounds. Potatoes were $1.40 and salt $5.50 per bushel. Kerosene was 80 ¢ per gallon at S. S. Kidder's store. The next year the Shakespearian Club met at the homes of members which included Mr. Thorp and Mr. Huyssen. The "Young America Dancing Assembly" held dances semi-monthly. In 1859 the water was the highest since 1847. The Dewey Street bridge was afloat. (This was the only bridge in the city at the time.) The summer was very hot with temperatures 100 degrees in the shade. In August a whirl wind passed across a corner of town from the west. As it crossed the Chippewa it raised a stream of water to 70 feet. When it crossed the mouth of the Eau Claire River hitting the shore just back of Reed's block, it hoisted boards, planks and shingles into the air and whirled them around like so many feathers. Wagons and coaches were lifted from the ground and carried some distance. James Reed's barn was moved slightly on its foundation. No lives were lost except one old hen which was dashed against Reed's barn. Socially, 1859 was a busy year too. Seventy two children in the Cadets of Temperance attended a picnic where addresses were delivered by H. W. Barnes and Rev. W. W. McNair. The Eau Claire brass band was in attendance. The Cadets held a festival at Johnson's Hall the proceeds of which went to buy a Bible for the Congregational church. The Ladies Benevolent Association gave an entertainment at Reed's Hall for the benefit of the Presbyterian church. Admission including supper was 50¢ with children at half price. The Addisonian Society met every week at the school house at 6:20. A question debated was Resolved, "That the acquisition of Cuba would be beneficial to the U. S." The affirmative speakers were C. H. Howard and James Barnett; negative, John E. Stillman and Thomas Barland. Ladies were invited. A German school met every night. That year the first county fair was held on October 5th and 6th, on the Court House Square. Joseph Thorp was president, Selim Peabody secretary, Delos Moon, Treasurer, with a Board of Control consisting of N. B. Boyden, W. P. Bartlett, Augustus W. Bostworth, Ira Mead and John Perkins. The affair was a great success with numerous exhibits. There were lots of blueberries. Four loads from Beef River sold for $2 per bushel. One dollar would buy 13 pounds of sugar, 3 pounds of tea, 8 pounds of New York dried apples, 8 pounds of prunes, or 7 pounds of crushed sugar. Butter was 15¢ a pound, lard 15¢, and cheese 14¢ per pound. The paper would take grain from farmers in payment of subscriptions. Melons were good that year and ripe corn was picked August 15 by G. M. Howard. Crime was no unknown. One hot Sunday morning a man passing through the woods of "Oak Grove" near where the court house now stands, found a small wooden box, with the cover nailed down tight, under a large oak tree. On removal of the cover, the body of a little baby was disclosed with a nail hole in the forehead. The body was clothed in a very fine white dress with dainty embroidery, exceptionally fine for those pioneer days. Hundreds visited the Grove, but the child was not identified and the mystery was never solved. The first flag raised in the Chippewa Valley was on the Fourth of July, 1856 at the crossing of Dewey and Kelsey. Later the "Liberty Pole" stood at the corner of Eau Claire and Farwell streets. It was still at this location in 1861 when the flag was lowered to half mast on receipt of the news of Senator Douglas' death. Some time later it was moved to Court House Square (Wilson Park). The west side also had a Liberty Pole which stood on the south east corner of Water Street and 4th. This corner may have been the one referred to in 1862 as Market Square. This same corner was equipped with a well which had a wheel, rope, and bucket with a tin cup. The roadway about the well was narrow. An old timer remembered the removal of this flag pole to Randall Park in the early '70s. "There were two brothers, Columbus and Johnnie Scott. They were carpenters by trade and were athletes and were perfect dare-devils when it came to climbing. Johnnie and Tommie Jackson, the old English ex-sailor, had the job of moving the flag staff and I happened along just as they were finishing. After everything was secure, Scott took hold of the hallards and climbed up the pole. He climbed to the top of the ball, lay on his stomach and made movements of swimming. It was foolhardy a thing as I ever saw." ++++++++++ Next time -- the Fourth of July celebration of 1858. Join us! -- Nance mailto:nsampson@spacestar.net