EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF LAKE GENEVA (BIG FOOT LAKE), WISCONSIN
By George Manierre[83]
My grandfather, William Reid, came to Chicago in 1840. At that time, although a mere village of 4,479 inhabitants, it was in the midst of a speculative fever and was even then speaking of its certain future greatness and of Lake Geneva (Big Foot Lake) as a probable summer resort for its citizens. My grandfather came of a well-known family whose ancestor with his tenants fought at the battle of Bothwell Bridge, June 22, 1679, under the flag “For God, King, and Covenant,” and who inherited through him the estate of Kilbryd, situated near Glasgow, Scotland. William Reid inherited wealth which he, as a barrister, increased, so that at about middle life he made up his mind to retire. Unfortunately for his family his investments proved unsuccessful, and after the loss of the greater part of his fortune he came to America and started anew. When he came to Chicago he had a relatively large sum of money, which, if invested in Chicago, might eventually have increased to great wealth; but he was stricken by the Lake Geneva fever and went there with his family, locating at the head of the lake. He invested largely in land by the lake and on Big Foot Prairie, buying a large tract of land on the higher ground and about seventy acres along the lake.
HOUSE OF WILLIAM REID AT THE HEAD OF LAKE GENEVA
From a water color in the Wisconsin Historical Library painted in 1842 by Mrs. James Drew
My grandmother, Mary Drew, came of a cultivated family which was distantly related to the family of the Duke of Hamilton. Her niece was the first wife of William Gladstone, the English statesman. Mention is made of these things to show the change from the ease of their former mode
of living to the vicissitudes which locating on the frontier entailed.
My grandparents had nine children, five boys and four girls, part of whom were born in the log house at the head of the lake. This house stood about two hundred feet from shore at the bottom of a rise of ground known as the Potawatomi Indian burial ground, upon which site the electric railway depot now stands. I remember as a boy digging Indian relics out of this hill. The house was neatly built of logs and had two large wings; in the center of one room was a fireplace suitable for burning large logs. Among the early settlers in the neighborhood at this time who had land and houses at the head of the lake were the Van Slykes,[84] the Mohrs,[85] the Russells,[86] and the Douglasses.[87]