1852: Kewaunee County is Born

What today is the Door Peninsula was once part of Brown County, as illustrated on this undated map representing Northeast Wisconsin before 1851. American Indians inhabited the wilderness that became Wisconsin and Indian lands west of Fort Howard -Green Bay today - appear on the map.

Chapter 664 of the Laws of 1851 of the State of Wisconsin created Door County, setting it apart from Brown. A year later Kewaunee County was created and set a apart from Door. Governor Leonard Farwell approved the new county, created in Chapter 363 of the Laws of Wisconsin, on April 16, 1852. An Act to attach Kewaunee County to the 4th Judicial Circuit and to Manitowoc County, for judicial purposes, was approved almost four years later on March 31, 1856. Door County had also been judicially attached to Manitowoc County. From then until the organization of Kewaunee County - on or  about January 24, 1857 - the county's records were kept in both Manitowoc and Brown Counties. In a letter to Edward Decker on April 8, 1857, James Parker of Green Bay mentions the judicial attachment. It was on May 4, 1858 that the Legislature approved an Act organizing Kewaunee County judicially.

Edward Decker was chosen as Register of Deeds in the first general election that November, and the office opened on January 1, 1859. At that point, records held in Manitowoc County were transcribed and deposited in Kewaunee.

There were earlier elections. However as there were no roads in the county, which early surveyors estimated to be 90% timber and 10% marsh, and when possible travel was by water. The first county election was held on May 10, 1852 at John Volk's home at the mouth of the Kewaunee River. The men of Wolf River (today's Algoma) were among those arriving by boat. 

During the meeting, the Town of Kewaunee, the county's only town, was organized. Orin Warner was elected as a supervisor and Abraham Hall was chosen as the first town clerk. John W. Lee was elected as one of the constables and John Hughes was elected as one of the justices, although the county was attached to Manitowoc.  They were Wolf River men as were George Rosier and William Dutton who arrived in Wolf River in the spring of 1852. They attended the meeting and were among the 16 county men men voting.

Twenty-eight men voted in the November 1852 presidential election, favoring Franklin Pierce to General Winfield Scott  by 23 to 5 vote. The meeting was again at Volk's home. It took another six years before there was an attempt to divide the electorate into parties. A year later, 1859, the new Kewaunee Enterprize encouraged immigrants to file their "first papers" so they could vote.

Note: The Enterprize was renamed Enterprise in 1865.