Chequamegon History

Collected & edited by Amorin Mello

Originally published in the August 25th, 1877, issue of The Ashland Press. Transcribed with permission from Ashland Narratives by K. Wallin and published in 2013 by Straddle Creek Co.

… continued from Number VI.

Plat of Prentice’s Addition to Ashland:
“It is in this addition, that, the Chippewa River and the St. Croix Indian trails reach the Bay.”

My Dear Press: – Recollections of Ashland which should forget to mention Martin Roehm, would leave out a material part – in truth a connecting link in the “chain of events.”  He came to the Bay in the summer of 1856 – a hearty industrious young man, not many years from the “Fader Land.”  He pre-empted a quarter section of land near the town site – which he still owns.  He was not long in discovering the worth and beauty of a comely young widow, who, like himself, had left the “Fader Land” to improve her worldly condition. – After a somewhat lengthy courtship, they were married by “Esquire Bell” in their own home.  The ruins of the house may be seen in Prentice’s Addition on the flats between “town” and the mouth of Fish Creek.  The bride herself cooked with her own hands the marriage feast, while the guests were gathering.  The ceremony was concluded by a grand gallopade, the music being under the direction of that master of the Terpsichorean art, Conrad Goeltz, assisted by his brother Adam, himself a master of the art.

Photograph from obituary of Martin Roehm:
Ashland Daily Press,
April 17, 1898

Martin and his worthy wife still live in Ashland, having witnessed and participated in its varied fortunes for more than twenty years.  They may be said to form the connecting link between the Old and New Ashland; for when all others had been, by the force of circumstance, compelled to abandon their homes, they alone remained “monarchs of all they surveyed.”  They were in possession of an improved estate in their beautiful valley of Marengo twelve miles from Ashland.  This was their favorite winter retreat; while upon the shores of the bay their palaces exceeded in number the residences of the richest kings of the old world.  For years they were sovereigns alone, in possession of territory rivaling in extent some of the Kingdoms of Europe.

Their herds of cattle increased year by year and in time patriarchal style, were driven from one part of the vast estate to another, as the necessities of forage might require.

And now, although the revival of Ashland has somewhat restricted the extent of Martin’s possessions, he still owns a valuable herd of cows, and finds a sure source of revenue in the milk supply of Ashland, to the mutual satisfaction of his patrons and himself.  His experiments have shown that our soil and climate are adapted to cattle raising and dairy purposes.

Robert Dundas Boyd
Register of Deeds
La Pointe County

Robert D. Boyd, unknown to most of the present generation, came to Ashland in 1855.  He was a native of the island of Mackinac – the son of an Indian Agent there stationed.  His father was connected by marriage with a distinguished ex-President, to whom he owed his appointment.  Rob’t D. as the report was, had, from the effects of a sudden outbreak of passion been guilty of a high crime, and to escape the penalty of the law, had fled to Lake Superior – then almost inaccessible – and safe from invasions of sheriffs and wicked men of that sort.  At La Pointe he married a French mixed blood girl by the name of Cadotte, by whom he had several children.  Except when under the influence of liquor, his conduct was good and his manner gentlemanly and polite.  When partially intoxicated he was thought to be somewhat dangerous if not desperate.

Detail of settlement at Boyd Creek from Augustus Barber’s 1855 survey:
“There is a house in the NE quarter and another in the SE quarter of Section 25.”

He laid claim to a piece of land on the west side of the bay opposite to Ashland, of which a plat was made, to which he gave the name of “Menard,” in memory of the lamented French Jesuit Priest, who, according to tradition, labored for a while at an Indian village then located at this spot, – the point where the old St. Croix Indian trail reached the water of the Great Lake, and which in early years was a well beaten path – but now deserted.  No traces of the village are now visible.  The storms of nearly two hundred and fifty winters have obliterated all traces, of what from its position, must have been an important point among the Ojibwas of the northwest.  According to the tradition, Father Menard left the bay for a missionary tour inland, from which he never returned and no trace of him was ever found.

La Pointe County Deeds Book A Page 577:
 Plat of Mesnard
Surveyed, certified, and recorded in 1857 by Edward L. Baker, as power of attorney for Thomas H. Hogan of La Pointe:
“the SE¼ of the SW¼, the SW¼ of the SE¼, and Lot 3 in Section 24, and Lots 1 & 2 and the NE¼ of the NW¼ and west½ half of the NW¼ of Section 25, all in Township 48 North of Range 5 West of the 4th principal meridian of the State of Wisconsin“

Boyd erected a house in 1857 in the western part of Beaser’s Division which still stands, but unoccupied.

Wisconsin Representative Asaph Whittlesey also wrote about this tragedy.

In the latter part of 1857 he became unusually dispirited; his drunken sprees became frequent and long continued; and he was often under arrest for his disorderly and quarrelsome conduct.  Finally in January 1858 he fell into a drunken debauch of several days duration.  He was then living in the old log cabin  on Main Street – Mr. Whittlesey’s first house – with one bachelor companion by the name of Cross.  Having passed the night in drunken carousals, in the early morning – irritated by some real or imaginary insult from Cross – he approached the latter with a drawn butcher knife in his hand, holding it up in a threatening manner, as if about to strike.  Cross drew a revolver and fired – two balls passed into the chest – one entering the heart.  Boyd fell and in five minutes had breathed his last.  This tragic event produced a profound sensation in our little community.  A coroner’s inquest was held by Asaph Whittlesey, then a justice of the peace, – and although the evidence seemed to show that Cross might have retreated and saved himself without taking Boyd’s life, still Cross was judged by the jury to have acted in self-defense and was acquitted, Boyd’s known desperate character doubtless contributed to this result.

Boyd’s wife had died some years before, and several children were left orphans; and the writer will always carry in his mind the affecting scene as the little daughter three years old was held up in the arms of Mrs. Angus to take a last view of, and imprint a last kiss on the cold brow of her only natural protector.  But God – who is ever the Father of the fatherless, – took care of the orphans, and they are now grown up to manhood and womanhood, and twenty years have effaced from most the memory of this sad event.

To be continued in Number VIII…