"ERECTED
TO THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM BEAULIEAU
WHO WAS ACCIDENTALLY SHOT
AS A MARK OF AFFECTION
BY HIS BROTHER."
These islands are becoming a fashionable resort for tourists, and many of them have been utilized as pleasant summer residences. Some of them are occupied by lighthouses of which there are five in all. The islands abound in brown stone, which is being quarried extensively for building purposes. The stone for the Milwaukee court house was taken from the quarries on Basswood island.
La Pointe County Election.—In 1848 La Pointe county was set off from St. Croix county, and at an election held Nov. 10, 1848, John H. Wells and Leonard Wheeler were elected justices of the peace, and J. F. Hughes was elected clerk of the board of county commissioners. Returns of their election and that of members of the legislature were made to Hudson, county seat of St. Croix county.
Hon. John W. Bell, born in New York City in 1805, in his eighth year went to Canada with his parents, learned to be a watchmaker, a ship builder and a cooper, and came to La Pointe in 1835, where he has since resided. He carried on the coopering business first, for the American Fur Company, and then for himself established a trading post, became interested in mining stocks, and filled various county offices, having served as county judge and register of deeds a great many years. In later life he was postmaster at La Pointe. He was married in 1837 to Miss Margaret Brahant, in the Catholic chapel, by Bishop Baraga. He died in 1888.
ASHLAND
Is situated on a plateau of about thirty feet elevation, on the south shore and near the head of Chequamegon bay. The first house, a cabin, was built in 1854. Other cabins were added the same year. In the cabin erected by Mr. Asaph Whittlesey, in the winter of 1854-55, was preached the first sermon in Ashland by Rev. L. H. Wheeler, of the Odanah mission. A post office was established in March, 1855, Mr. Whittlesey, postmaster. The first American child born was the second daughter of Asaph Whittlesey. The name of Ashland was conferred upon the town by Martin Beaser, an ardent admirer of Henry Clay, it being the name of Mr. Clay's homestead. The village and post office was first known as Whittlesey, but on the organization of the county in 1860, the name of Ashland was applied to both. The new town was not destined to immediate and continuous prosperity, and at one time, in 1863, had decreased so much in population that its post office was discontinued for a period of nine years. After that date it entered upon an era of prosperity.
Julia Wheeler taught the first school in 1859. The Methodists organized the first Protestant society in 1872. The Catholics commenced a church building in 1873. In 1872 the first newspaper in Ashland, the Press, was established by Sam S. and Hank O. Fifield, under whose charge it remained until 1874, when S. S. Fifield bought his brother's interest in the paper and has since published it continuously, and in 1888 established a daily.
In 1872 the Wisconsin Central railroad commenced work at the bay, and the outlay for improvements that year amounted to $244,800. The Wisconsin Central railroad built the Hotel Chequamegon in 1877. It is built in the form of an L, 120 feet front and 80 feet deep with 400 feet of veranda, and accommodations for 100 guests. There are numerous other hotels in the city, and several boarding houses receive guests during the summer season. Ashland has vast lumber interests. The Ashland Lumber Company built the first mill, in 1872, which had a capacity of about 15,000,000 feet per annum. The Union mill, built in 1878, has a capacity of about 18,000,000 feet. Mueller & Richie's mill, built in 1881, has a capacity of about 20,000,000 feet. There is also a planing mill belonging to Geo. White. Ashland has become a railroad centre. The Wisconsin Central, St. Paul & Omaha, Milwaukee & Lake Shore and Northern Pacific concentrate a heavy freight for their elevators and lake docks. The largest dock in the world was built in Ashland in 1887. It was built almost expressly for iron ore shipments from Penoka and Gogebic ranges.
Asaph Whittlesey selected the site of Ashland in 1854, and in conjunction with George Kilborn built the first dwelling. He was the first postmaster. He was appointed in 1855. He represented Ashland, Burnett, Douglas, La Pointe, Polk, and St. Croix in the Wisconsin assembly in 1860.
J. P. T. Haskell was the second settler in Ashland. He came with his wife, Nov. 2, 1854, but did not long remain.