Joshua Hathaway, Jr.: Kewaunee County's First Mover & Shaker

Joshua Hathaway, Jr. was the earliest of Kewaunee County’s movers and shakers. The thing about Hathaway though is that Kewaunee wasn’t a county when he was making his mark. Wisconsin wasn’t even a state and it had yet to become the Wisconsin Territory. The prominent Hathaway was making a huge impact when what would become Wisconsin was still part of the Michigan Territory, an impact affecting what would become Kewaunee County.

Hathaway was born in 1810 to an affluent, educated family in Rome, New York. As both a lawyer and a civil engineer before entering government service, he was sent to Chicago in 1833. The following year his job took him from Chicago to Milwaukee where he met pioneer Solomon Juneau and set up his tent at what became Broadway and Mason Streets, later his home site and eventually part of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus. Following his marriage to his second cousin Ann Jeanette Hathaway in Buffalo in 1842, the couple lived most of their married life in Milwaukee where he died in 1863.

Joshua Hathaway, Jr. got rich in real estate. His advice was sought regarding lands and taxes.  Additionally he was a botanist and geologist who enjoyed map making, and when Wisconsin was organized as a territory he was the first to be appointed in the Office of District Surveyor. Two years later he was appointed to the Office of Public Administrator of Milwaukee County. It was during the two-year period from 1834 to 1836 that ensured Hathaway’s place in Kewaunee County history. 

Much can be learned about the and his times in old histories, but it is his lively correspondence during the Territorial days of both Michigan and Wisconsin that provides far more than a glimpse into the era. A great deal of his correspondence remained well preserved in water-tight leather pouches in the dry attic of his Milwaukee home. A great deal of that historical collection made its way to Wisconsin Historical Society, but other correspondence went into the hands of private collectors such as the person with whom this blogger collaborated. This part of the collection was scanned before being sold in recent years, and again to private collectors. Specifically this portion of the correspondence reflects lands particularly along Lake Michigan in what is now northern Manitowoc County and southern Kewaunee County, including the city by the same name. The correspondence notes obstacles made worse by the day’s primitive communications. 

Hathaway was surveying on the western shore of Lake Michigan in the (then) Michigan Territory while finding time to correspond with his family in New York. His nephew was planning to visit his Uncle Joshua in October 1835, however when he wrote he was still “awaiting conveyance” as he could not get a steamboat captain to stop in Milwaukee for “any consideration.” But, young Hathaway said, the brig White Pigeon was expected hourly and that possibly he could get to Grand River.* He continued the letter telling his uncle that the rifle he (Joshua) took from Ebertz’ store was not paid for. “Mr. E. asked about it” saying Joshua was going to return later to pay the $30 but never did. The rifle was in the closet and Uncle Joshua was asked to advise. Concerns about a map of Milwaukee were also part of the dispatch.

Deputized in 1836 by the Brown County District Surveyor to lay out Kewaunee, Hathaway went forward designing seventy-five foot wide avenues and lots of 50 x 150’. Six blocks along the lake were kept for parks, commons or any other improvements future public spirited citizens might want. As agent and owner Hathaway placed an ad in the Milwaukee Advertiser saying that in due time Kewaunee would send a “full quota of minerals south.” By then there was talk of gold in Kewaunee and during the rush that followed, James Duane Doty, later Territorial Governor, paid $15,000 for land bought from Hathaway, property worth about $3,000 in 1881 when the Leindeckers owned it. Ironically, some of the land bought by Justice Solomon P. Chase* at the same time is the land on which the county court house was built.

Following the gold rush and Hathaway’s surveying in 1837, the Chicago firm of Montgomery and Patterson began their saw milling efforts. When company failed because of an inability to keep the mill stocked, the property reverted to Hathaway, sitting vacant until John Volk came north in 1843.

Timber was the subject of most of the correspondence, but what drew attention to Kewaunee and prompted the huge investments in land was gold. When someone found something along the Kewaunee River that was said to be gold, the story spread like wildfire. Fur trade magnate John Jacob Astor bought land as did James Duane Doty. They were joined by Doty’s cousin Morgan L. Martin who served as President of Wisconsin Territorial Council and was prominent in the drafting of Wisconsin’s constitution. There were Hathaway’s relative New York Judge and Attorney General Samuel Beardsley, Chief Justice Solomon P. Chase and a number of others whose names are prominent in Wisconsin and U.S. history. Several of the names appear in Kewaunee’s original plat and streets. It wasn’t long before State Geologist Chamberlain said the geologic formations of Kewaunee County preclude gold or any other precious metal. By the time the “gold” was known to be iron pyrite, investor Abell wrote Hathaway on how the land he purchased in Kewaunee caused him much trouble and loss of reputation. Abell was not alone.

An October 1836 letter from John W. Cotton forwarded a deed for Samuel Beardsley,* and says he (Cotton) has notes due in Milwaukee. Asking Hathaway to collect what was due, Cotton additionally wrote that he had some lots that he wanted Hathaway to sell.  Cotton’s return address was Green Bay, W.T., Wisconsin Territory. Peter Johnson wrote on June 12, 1838 that Twin Rivers* fishermen were cutting good timber for cord wood. If that wasn’t stopped, the destroyed timber land would be worth little. Johnson suggested that Hathaway write to factors in Kewaunee while questioning legal and moral claims to the timberland in question. Just who were the factors? Hathaway sold water rights to W. Montgomery of Chicago, and in 1837 hired Peter Johnson to build a sawmill.

Charles C.P. Arndt* wrote from Green Bay for his father, Charles P. Arndt, in 1838. In the letter difficult to understand, Arndt uses “Mr.” followed by initials or straight lines to indicate what Hathaway should realize. Sealing wax did not always mean mail was private and the men were speculating. Once again, land ownership and money.

1836 Survey of the Kewaunee River

In September 1838 Hathaway received a letter regarding harbor plans for Kewaunee from George Hosmer who owned about 700 acres of prime lands near the mouth of the river to anywhere from 2 to 5 miles inland. Hosmer was wondering about what was being done to improve navigation and about settlement, about the mill, value of the lumber and whatever else might be of importance. The big issue was the timber that had to be floated downstream on the Kewaunee River. A constantly shifting shoreline prevented logs from getting into the lake. Hosmer also asked for advice about pine land near Chicago as he felt the 1838 pine from Kewaunee was inadequate to supply the increasing demands of the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Hosmer was acting for Henry Hosmer and said he would reciprocate with Hathaway as was possible. Kewaunee’s lack of a good harbor (at the time) was still an issue 10 years later when mill man's John Volk concluded that he would not build a pier there.

Peter Johnson wrote to Hathaway again in 1838 about “Mr. V” and did Hathaway think “V” owned land and a sawmill about 4 miles up the Menominee River. Johnson said he was too poor to journey to Milwaukee for information and was going to commence keeping a public house unless Mr. Jones built a suitable house for him. That portion of the letter was not clear, however “V” was John Volk who operated a Kewaunee sawmill on and off. Years later Volk indicated to others that he owned hundreds of acres along the Kewaunee River until 1854 when he met his match in James Slausson who felt something was not right. It wasn’t and Slausson bought the land Volk claimed was his. Forced out. Volk removed to Oconto Falls where he had done business some years earlier, to which Johnson referred in the letter.

December 1838 brought a letter from David Blish about the schooner Juliet stuck in the ice in Little Sturgeon while bound for Chicago. Blish wrote about Judge John Lawe, another early Brown County resident, who was concerned about of tract of land in Green Bay. Blish wondered if the sale would pay the taxes. Included with the letter was a receipt for $15. Money was mentioned in most letters and was in part at the root of most problems.

Morgan L. Martin was awaiting a steamboat when he penned a few lines to Hathaway on August 18, 1834. In the letter, he told Hathaway that they should be thinking of laying off a new county. Wisconsin was part of the Michigan Territory which was on the verge of statehood and Martin knew there was money to be made. Martin’s address on that letter to Hathaway was simply “In the Woods.” It is the first known letter to go through Kewaunee County, but was outside of government mail service, which had not yet been established. Hathaway received the letter, but how? This blogger questioned postal historian Bill Robinson who said that it was known in which area Hathaway was surveying. Martin’s letter was no doubt left at a place serving the public and when one was going in the direction, he took the letter as far as he was going and left it at another public place. One who stopped there while traveling took the letter in that direction and within a few days, Hathaway got his communication. The address was surely among the most unusual to go through Wisconsin, but the letter did arrive. And the county to be laid off? In 1838 Wisconsin Territory laid off Manitowoc County from Brown. Peter Johnson, who served as an oversight judge of the in Manitowoc's organization vote in March 1839, was elected as Collector.

Today - a period of slow home sales in Kewaunee County - the anticipated growth and money to be made in speculation in the mid-1830s seems incomprehensible. The county today numbers roughly 20,500 residents while in 1835 there was not one non-Native American inhabitant. Until 1851, the present Kewaunee County was a part of Brown County which was the taxing agent. By today's standards, the taxes on the heavily timbered land also seems incomprehensible, especially the land having a "water view." Tax records from 1838, for example, show Hathaway paying 21 cents on 56 1/2 acres valued at $70.63, 28 cents on 73.85 acres valued at $92.31 and 80 acres valued at $100 for 30 cents. Morgan L, Martin paid 29 cents for 79.10 acres valued at $98.88 and C.P. Arndt was charged 28 cents for 74.20 acres valued at $92.75. Time marches on!

Following is brief information about related people and events which have faded away.

*The map dates to 1850 when Calumet County came into existence and before Door County was laid off of Brown in 1851 and Kewaunee laid off of Door in 1852.

*The mouth of the Grand River is at today's Grand Haven, Michigan.

*Solomon P. Chase was elected to the Senate from Ohio in 1848. He became Ohio's first Republican governor in 1855 and served as Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln during the early days of the Civil War. Lincoln appointed Chase as Chief Justice of the U.S. late in 1864. It was Chase who presided at the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. Chase ran for the presidential nomination against Lincoln, but it was Lincoln who secured the nomination.

*Charles C.P. Arndt was a Green Bay attorney who was shot and killed on February 11, 1842 in the Wisconsin Territorial Council’s meeting room following a heated argument with James Vineyard. Vineyard was tried but was acquitted on self-defense grounds. When Arndt fell from the shot, he fell at the feet of his father who was a part of the same council.

*Judge Samuel Beardsley was also Attorney General of New York and the brother-in-law of Joshua Hathaway, Jr. It was through the influence of Beardsley that Hathaway won the appointment as a federal surveyor in the Northwest Territory.

Sources: Bill Robinson,postal historian interview 2009; Deborah Beaumont Martin,  History of Brown Co., 1913; Here Comes the Mail, Post Offices of Kewaunee County, c. 2010; History of Northern Wisconsin, c. 1881; Wisconsin, Its Story & Biography, Usher c. 1914.