Liberty

from a 1967 newspaper article written by Robert C. Gehl

Of course, there is a place called Liberty.

Today its only a busy crossroads store and tavern on Highway 56, nine miles east of Viroqua on the West Fork of the Kickapoo River.

Gone are any traces of the old saw mill. The old church has been torn down and the two-story brick cheese factory stands vacant.

And the old-timers who are still around best recall the exciting times when dances were held upstairs in the store-tavern.

Fred Sutherland, 76, who is really from over on the East Kickapoo but “got his wife here,” relates that “pretty nearly every time they had a dance they had a fight. I got some broken down knuckles in those days,” recalled Sutherland.

Charley Cooley, also 76, is another old-timer, who moved into the area when he was two years old.

One customer who recalls the early day dances enlarged upon Sutherland’s story by commenting that “you mean that every time they had a drink they had a fight.”

Heal said he understood the place was once called “Rusk Corners,” which was traceable, and “Frog Chapel,” which may or may not have been related to the church that once existed.

No one appeared too certain what denomination the church had been, but it seems to have been a “Christian” or a “Free” church.

Edmund Randles, 59, was born about one mile southwest of the store, and he recalls “some roaring times at the dances Saturday nights.”

Randles lived in the area until five years ago, when he moved over “hill and holler”, to the old Lister School some five miles distant as the crow flies. He recalls visiting the store with his grandmother when he was but five years old.

Randles grandparents on both sides moved into the area and he says the place was already called “Liberty” when his dad was a boy around 1885.

Too many years have passed, however, for even the old-times to recall the events leading to the establishment of the pioneer settlement, and eventually the search must turn the pages of history books.

The influx of pioneer settlers into the area apparently began in 1855. The most influential pioneer was Allen Rusk, who is recorded as the first settler within a one-mile radius of the present Liberty.

Rusk was born February 6, 1825, in Perry County, Ohio, and first looked over the land in this vicinity in 1852. He pre-empted land here in 1854 and settled on it in 1855.

James Gilman, however, appears to have been the first settler in what was later to become the town of Liberty, but he took up land several miles north of the crossroads hamlet.

Other early settlers in the Town of Liberty - beginning in 1855 - were George W. Wise, George P. Martin, Jonas Groves, John R. Joseph, Samuel Graham, Samuel Fish, Stephen A. Fish, James Schooley, James W. Hunter, John W. Church, Frederick Groves, Stanley Stout, H.L Turner, R.H. Bucanan and Cincinnatus Ward.

But it was due to the efforts of Allen Rusk - brother of Jeremiah McLain Rusk, who was governor of Wisconsin from 1882 to 1889 - that the township of Liberty was organized in 1858, and it was Rusk who suggested the name.

The first town officers elected in 1858 were Allen Rusk, Chairman; Samuel Graham and George Martin, supervisors; Samuel C. Fish, Clerk; John R. Joseph, Treasurer; and Rusk and Graham, justices of the peace.

The first child born in the town, October 28, 1855, was J.N., son of Allen and Mary Rusk.

The first marriage united Sandford Hanchett and Ann Harris in 1855.

The first death recorded in the town was that of a child of Joseph P. Martin, and the child was buried in the old Martin Cemetery near the Martin home about three-fourths miles north of the present crossroads. Another cemetery was in existence nearby by 1884.

The early day post office was referred to as “the office on wheels” because it was always located in the home of the person who was appointed postmaster and therefore the office was moved about.

The Liberty Post Office was first established in in the residence of John R. Joseph in 1859 or 1860 and his wife was the first postmaster. Succeeding postmasters were: Mrs. M.A. Davis, Mrs. Wolford again and allen Rusk, who held the job in 1884.

The first school was in the residence of George P. Martin, and it was taught by Emily Clausen.

The first sawmill in this immediate area was operated by William C. Groves on the West Fork of the Kickapoo River just north of Liberty.

The only two churches in the town prior to 1884 were the Methodist Episcopal and United Brethren.

One of the striking features of the town is its numerous springs.

Early day historians reported “about 40” Indian mounds of large animals, birds and reptiles at neighboring Viola, while a contemporary reports additional mounds three-fourths of a mile west of the Liberty Store.

Send all inquires, letters, questions or answers, and photos to Hans c/o the Westby Times or Hans at westby.times@gmail. com.