214 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, 



(non lead producing), and an examination of the results was 

 made. ^ 



Great trouble was experienced in collecting tlie statistics for 

 the townships. Xo material has ever been printed which contains 

 the valuations and enumeration of property, as made by the va- 

 rious assessors, nor any record of the votes cast bv the towns. It 

 was necessary to go to Springfield and Galena and examine the 

 manuscript records as they exist in the office of the Secretary of 

 State at Springfield, and in the office of the County Clerk at 

 Galena. The records in the Clerk's office were in a very dis- 

 orderly condition and much searching and sorting of documents 

 w^ere necessary before the figures were made accessible. The 

 records extend back in complete form as far as 1853, the date 

 when to\\aiship organization in the county was adopted, and the 

 township lines established, practically as they are today. Be- 

 fore 1853 the county was governed by a board of three county 

 commissioners,^ and precincts of indefinite extent were the 

 county subdivisions. Careful search among the records of Jo 

 Daviess county failed to reveal the location of the boundary 

 lines of these old precincts, or any statistics concerning them 

 excepting the votes cast at various elections.^ 



As a consequence of this incompleteness of the sources, figures 

 can be presented covering only the period since 1853. This is 

 a period when lead mining had begun to decline, and we are 

 able to study the relative effects of this decline on the various 

 sections of the county. The questions will be considered in the 

 following order: — First, population; second, valuations of 

 property, as an index of relative changes in wealth ; and third, 

 the outcome of these influences, or in other word, the sentiments 

 of the people as expressed in their votes on various questions. 



1 The lead producing group, or Group I, consists of the following towns : East Galena, 

 Council Hill, Scales Mound, Rice, Vinegar Hill, Kawlins, Galena and West Galena. 

 Middle groi^p, or Group II, consists of the following towns: Menomiaee, Guilford, 

 Elizabeth, Apple River, Warren, Thompson, Woodbine and Stockton. Non-lead pro- 

 ducing group, or Group III, consists of the following towns : Dunleith, Rush, Nora, 

 Ward's Grove, Berreman, Hanover, Derinda and Pleasant Valley. 



' History of Jo Daviess County, p. 344. 



' See Maps in Appendix C for changes in town lines. 1854-90. 



