Collected & edited by Amorin Mello

… continued from Number VII.

Early Recollections of Ashland: Number VIII

by Asaph Whittlesey

We now offer a few comments upon our experience in common, and our appreciation of Doctor Edwin Ellis.  I observe first that the inherent modesty of the man left him with next to no thought of himself in his “Early Recollections of Ashland,” and therefore the weightier of the task falling upon me.  Had the question been raised “who is Dr. Ellis?” a proper reply would have been “Dr. Ellis is Dr. Ellis.”

Edwin Ellis, M.D.

In all my acquaintance I find no person more clearly identified than is this man.  His manner of shaking hands, the music of his voice, and his unconscious habit of setting his hair on end, belong to no one but the man Edwin Ellis.  For near a quarter of a century have I known him in the relationship of neighbor, physician, oarsman, farmer, speculator, preacher, merchant and as one skilled in back gammon, and can testify that he is a man who does with his might whatsoever his hands find to do.  Those of us who were known as pre-emptors or town site claimants had occasion to regard the arrival of Dr. Ellis with no little suspicion, as certainly an emergency only would have induced him to make the trip from La Pointe during the most inclement season of the year.  I remember well my anxiety to know whether or not he was a married man, and so direct were my inquiries as to this, that seemingly there was no way left but for him to satisfy our curiosity by simply saying yes or no.  However we soon discovered that we were only wasting words in pressing the subject, and abandoned all further inquiry regarding it.  Is it not strange that so good a man and one possessing so admirable a wife should be found so unwilling to satisfy our inquisitive minds in regard to this matter?

There was still another peculiarity noticeable in the Doctor, and that was his proclivity for secret organizations.  He was chosen Chairman of a secret organization having for its object protection to pre-emptors from having their claims jumped, though one writer informs us that in the eye of the law they were all trespassers, – but by this means those holding claims felt a security in being absent from them the greater portion of their time.  Perhaps the existence of this organization may explain why there has been so many little acres of early clearings discovered by brother Pratt, in the vicinity of Ashland.

Again, Dr. Ellis is one who thinks for himself, but is ever free to weigh the arguments of others, that he may be convinced of the right, and having formed his conclusion is outspoken, so that no one can mistake his position.  Being of a hopeful and cheerful turn of mind, his company is courted.  All in all whether as to his fitness for the life of a pioneer or as a neighbor and Christian friend I never knew a better.

I have been with him also in times of very great peril, when seemingly we were destined to a watery grave.  But through presence of mind and well directed effort we succeeded in reaching the shore amid a feeling of profound gratitude toward our Great Protector above, for sparing our lives.  As it is my intention hereafter to refer briefly to the history of a few of the ladies who first settled in and about Ashland.  I will omit any special reference to Mrs. Ellis at this time.

HON. SAMUEL S. VAUGHN

Samuel Stuart Vaughn

First arrived at La Pointe in 1852.  At the time of my arrival there in 1854, I found him running a one horse store in an old frame building, standing in the sand near the present residence of George A. Stahl.  So far as I am enabled to bring to mind the succession of events, my first sight of this man was at his own store where I invested in a very poor pocket compass, and this I soon after deposited on the copper range while upon an exploring trip with Ervin Leihy, Esq.  Mr. Vaughn, however, claims that he first caught sight of me on the occasion of my aiding Rev. L. H. Wheeler in a social talk with the La Pointe people upon the subject of temperance one Sunday afternoon, in the store of Julias Austrian, Esq.

Reverend
Leonard H Wheeler

The leading man then engaged in the grocery business, as it was called, was one Peter B. Vanderventer, who subsequently left the country at a midnight hour rather than remain and meet a worse doom.  Vanderventer was a large sized man and more a hellish countenance, and in exhibition of his bravery at the temperance meeting to which I have referred, he planted himself directly in front of me, and not more than three feet distant, so that I presume he did not mistake my language.

Julius Austrian

I cannot let slip the opportunity now furnished for informing the public of what seemed to me a rather severe practical joke inflicted upon Vaughn and Vanderventer, as it is too good to be lost, we will mention it right here.  It seems that at the time Mr. Austrian made so extended entries of land upon the island, Messrs. Vaughn and Vanderventer discovered that Austrian had failed to enter a fraction shown upon the official plot, as reaching quite a distance into the bay, from what was known as Boyd’s Point and containing some forty acres or more.  As La Pointe seemed likely to hold prominence as a business place, they saw the necessity of forthwith securing the tract of land in question.  The two therefore suddenly disappeared amid the coldest days of a Lake Superior winter, and footed it under very adverse circumstances through to Willow River, something like one hundred and seventy-five miles, and returned, but yet were quite satisfied to know that they had secured to themselves what they had started for.  From this time forward for several years these gentlemen paid their taxes promptly, until they finally employed a surveyor to re-survey and plot their promising possessions.  Right here is where they discovered the point of the joke, by being informed that there was not a single foot of their land left, but all and much more had been washed away.  Perhaps it was cruel in me to do so, but I could not resist making frequent inquiries as to their real estate.

Section 6 from 1852 GLO PLSS survey of T49N-R3W-4PM showing Boyds Point (now Grants Point) on Madeline Island.

Modern aerial imagery overlay showing Vanderventer & Vaughn’s Lot 3 lost to the sands of time (along with parts of Boyd & Rowley’s Lots 1 & 2).

In 1855 Vaughn removed his stock of goods to a building near where Thomas Stahl, Esq., now resides, where I often shared his bed and board, and it remains a pleasure to me to this day to testify to his qualities as a No. one cook, while biscuits of his make were entitled to special mention.  It was a standing rule with him to have a controversy of words with Mr. McElroy, neither being specially noted for the refinement of their language.  I think it was during the August term of the Circuit Court in 1860 that Mr. Vaughn and Andrew Tate were admitted to the practice of law before the Hon. S.N. Fuller, Judge of the Eighth Circuit of Wisconsin.  It is said that they passed a very creditable examination.

This was the first term of Circuit Court held in the County of La Pointe, Elisha Pike being honored as foreman of the first grand jury convened within the county.  Although Mr. Vaughn is but forty-eight years of age he can boast of having held the following positions of trust: Post-master, Justice of the Peace, Chairman of Town and County Boards, also member of the Wisconsin legislature in 1871, (having a constituency of 6,365 souls).  In the practice of law his maiden effort was that of procuring papers of divorce in a somewhat renowned case.  It is thought that but for the public trust which he held as a Chairman of the School Board he probably would never have known married life, – but as it was so foreordained they accepted the situation, while the people shouted, Amen!

On the arrival of business at Ashland in 1873, Mr. Vaughn removed his family to that place where he once more engaged as trader and forwarding and commission merchant.

To be continued in Number IX…