Sheboygan Press April 29, 1927 TOWN OF SHEBOYGAN FALLS THRIVING CITY GROWN ON SPOT WHERE COUNTY FIRST LURED PIONEERS The history of the town of Sheboygan Falls and the present city of Sheboygan Falls are so closely connected that they necessarily must be taken up together. The most interesting events related to the settlement and subsequent developments of the town, as well as Sheboygan county, are found in and near Sheboygan Falls. It was there that the first permanent settlement was made in the county, although a year previous a spirited, though temporary, settlement was made at the present site of the city of Sheboygan. The first authentic record showing the sale of land in the town of Sheboygan Falls indicates that on March 20, 1835, the upper half of Section 36, on which the present city of Sheboygan Falls is located was conveyed by the United States government to Randolph B. MARCY, who became the first owner of land in the township. STEDMAN FIRST SETTLER MARCY never settled there, and Col. Silas B. STEDMAN, who came from Massachusetts, and who bought a part of MARCY's interest on December 1, 1835, was the first to settle within the town limits. Mr. STEDMAN contracted to have a sawmill finished for him by June, 1836; but when he arrived with his family he found that it was not completed, and it was not until the following winter that the mill was ready for use. David GIDDINGS superintended the building of the sawmill, and on March 10, 1838, the records show, Mr. GIDDINGS bought the northeast quarter of Section 36. Included in the land which he purchased is the present Pinehurst Farm and the property upon which the Pine Lodge was erected. The original GIDDING's home was located near the Falls cemetery. At the time this sawmill was built on the east side of the river, near the present new bridge, a log cabin was also put up for the use of the workmen employed in STEDMAN's mill. It is interesting to note that in 1837, lumber sold for $50.00 a thousand feet, and that the wages of good mechanics were $5.00 a day. The following year, however, the entire West suffered a depression and prices and wages generally declined in consequence. FIRST HOME STILL STANDS In 1837, John McNISH, a shoemaker, arrived and built the first frame house in Sheboygan Falls. This house was later occupied by Col. STEDMAN and, for a number of years, a part of it was occupied by Hon. John E. THOMAS and his family. This building still stands where it was erected ninety years ago, at the crest of the hill directly north of the present interurban station. A dwelling house, located on the east side of the river, long occupied by Dr. SHEPHERD, Sr., was the third house built in the town. C. D. COLE/COLO? lived in this house during the early years of Sheboygan Falls. In August, 1837, Deacon William TROWBRIDGE moved on a farm located two and one-half miles west of the Falls, which was the first settlement in the town outside the village of Sheboygan Falls and remained the only one for several years. During the ensuing five years the development of the town was slow and intermittent; but between the years 1842 and 1852, there was an influx of New Englanders and German emigrants, which gave a spur to the growth of the village and town. In 1840 and 1841 Samuel ROUNSEVILLE and Herman PIERCE arrived at the Falls and remained. In September, 1842, George C. COLE with his mother and sisters came and at this time there were four dwellings and about twenty-five inhabitants, all told, besides Deacon TROWBRIDGE's family on the farm. George O. TROWBRIDGE, E. S. THORP and Seth MORSE, unmarried men, lived there at the time. In June, 1844, Dorotha, wife of Deacon TROWBRIDGE, died, and was the first white woman who died in the county, and the first person buried at the Falls. MORE SETTLERS ARRIVE This year came new settlers, among whom were Darius LEAVENS, Henry WILLIAMS, Silas JACKSON, John SMITH, Almond ANDREWS, and others. Village lots were given to those who would build upon them, and a number were occupied in this way. Dr. COELA, a physician and lawyer, came in 1844, as did A. T. LITTLEFIELD and Jonathan LEIGHTON, who built a double sawmill on the west side of the river on the present site of the BRICKNER Woolen Mills. The population of the village in that year was fifty. In 1843 a few additions were made to the settlement of the town by several Germans who came and settled on the Green Bay road two and on-half miles north of the Falls in Sections 13 and 14. Among them were E. LOGEMAN and N. HEIDE. Levi HUBBARD also came and remained in town.