Patrick McPhillips & John Smith Farm - Bear Creek

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Its hard to say which of these buildings was around when John and Susan Smith began farming near Bear Creek, but most likely many were built by John Smith prior to the Patrick McPhillips family moving onto the farmstead.  . It is not clear if the land was purchased by Patrick McPhillips from John Smith.  The maps below show that John Smith (and subsequently Mayme Carroll) owned property through the 1940s.. 

click on photo to enlarge.  Photo of oil painting provided by Susan Eberle.

1893 Map showing lands owned by John Smith.  The John Smith land was located in Section 20.

Same View in 1906 Map, however, John Smith land expanded to include farm lands south of Section 20.

1945.  The land has been transferred to John Smith's daughter, Mayme Carroll.

In 1963, Anna Dorgan who at this time was 90 years old, wrote down her personal memoirs of her life in Bear Creek.  The following are highlights that may have been familiar with our ancestors, along with some personal observations.

One of the things I had wondered was "what type of transportation did the Smyth and McPhillips family take to make their way into Wisconsin."  As the Dorgans came from the New York area, it appears that the route they took probably was the same route our ancestors made.

They traveled by boat on the Erie Canal and by train until they reached Madison, 

Wisconsin. They arrived in Richland City  by stage in 1856 and lived there until 1858.   

The Dorgans lived northwest of the John Smith farm - on this map their 80 acres was adjacent to the J & P Weitzel farm. 

When I was five years old, my parents sold their farm near Sextonville and purchased a ninety acre farm in Bear Valley near the town of Bear Creek, in Sauk County. This was just across the county line from Richland County. They paid $1350.00 for the farm. On a $1000.00 unpaid mortgage, they were obliged to pay $100.00 on the note and 10% interest annually for ten years. This farm had been a victim of the Hop Crash and was in poor condition

What was the Bear Creek area's perception by others in Wisconsin?

Bear Valley is one of the finest sections in Wisconsin. Together with Little Bear Valley and other smaller valleys, it was known as the “Land of Milk and Honey.” Red, white and burr oak, maple, poplar, elm, hickory, birch, wild cherry, and plum trees covered most of the hills. (Imagine their beauty when Jack Frost’s icy fingers touched their foliage.) The nut trees and hazel bushes supplied plenty of nuts. The fruit trees—cherry, plum--, wild grapevines, blackberry, raspberry, gooseberry, huckle­­berry, and blue berry bushes plus the wild strawberry plants furnished fruit just for the picking. Wild flowers grew on the hills and throughout the valleys

The first post office was established in Lone Rock in 1856. Later a mail route was formed to extend from Lone Rock to La Valle in Sauk County and carried mail and passengers. 

      In 1880, a post office was opened in the home of Mrs. Helen Eaton, several miles north of Lone Rock and named in honor of William Dixon, an early settler in Ithaca township. Dixon was born in England and in 1817 came to America with his parents. In 1855 he bought a farm in Bear Valley, wass elected Justice of the Peace, and held this office until his death in 1887. He was the chairman of the Town Board, a member of the state assembly, and a Republican. He voluntarily collected all the mail at the Dixon Post Office for all of his neighbors and delivered it to them, which was much more convenient for them than going to the post office. The Dixons were our neighbors and were honored and revered by the whole community. 

      I can remember when John Smith carried the mail and passengers from Lone Rock to Bear Valley in a covered stagecoach and met the driver from La Valle there. The mail was delivered to the home of Mrs. Rebecca Shontz, the Bear Valley Post Office. Another post office enroute to La Valle was in Keyesville, established in 1883 with Paul Misstich as post master.

    Note:  I wonder which relative this was?