History of Vernon County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens.

              HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
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"Sec. 2.    Section 1 of the act to which this is amendatory is hereby repealed.
Frederick W. Hork, Speaker of the Assembly, Duncan C. Reei>, President, pro tempore, of the Senate, Approved March 1, 1851.
Nelson Dewey."
Upon the passage of these acts, the proper steps were taken to organize the county as pro¬ vided therein. An election was held on the first Tuesday of April, 1851, to choose all the county officers necessary for a complete county organization (a list of which is given in a subse¬ quent chapter); and the officers so elected were qualified by bond and o^th as prescribed by the the law then in force, on the third Monday of May following, and on that day they entered upon the duties of their respective offices. At the same date, the first circuit court was holden, as will hereafter be more fully explained; so that then the wheels of the county organization were all set in motion. Vernon county, there¬ fore, as to its civil organization, dates from the third Monday of May, 1851.
As provided in the organic acts of the county, a county seat was designated by the board of supervisors, until a place should be permanently located by an election by the qual¬ ified voters of the county. The place desig¬ nated by them was the village of Viroqua; and it was here, therefore, that the various officers entered upon their duties and the circuit court held its first session.
It was provided in the act of March 1, 1851, that "the qualified electors might vote at any election for the permanent location" of the county seat; and the place (designated by ballot) that should have a majority of all the votes cast upon that subject, should be the per¬ manent county seat for the county. Some thought the election, when called, ought to be by the county board of supervisors. Looking to the calling of such an election, the following
petition was handed to  the clerk of  the board and filed Nov. 1, 1851:
"We, the undersigned, citizens of the county of Bad Ax, request the supervisors of Bad Ax county to call an election on the 10th day of January, 1852, * * * for locating the county seat.
R. Dunlap, Rufus Gillet,
George S. McCormick,        L. A. Pierce, T. J. De Frees, Eldad Inman,
Cyrus F. Gillett, James M. Bailey,
Moses Decker, A. Latshaw,
J. A. Cooke, Isaac S. Decker."
But this petition, either because the board thought the day set was too soon, or that they doubted their authority to call an election, was not acted upon by the supervisors.
To remove all difficulties and doubts conccrm^ ing the calling of the election and fixing upon a day when it should be held, the Legislature passed as an act, which was approved by the governor oh the 14th of April, 1852, in these words:
"An act to permanently locate the county seat of Bad Ax county.
'^ The people of the   State of  Wisconsin, repre¬ sented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as fol-
"Sec. 1. The qualified electors of the county of Bad Ax shall be and are hereby authorized to vote for the permanent location of the county seat of said county, at an election hereby au¬ thorized to be held therein on Tuesday, the 25th day of May, 1852, and polls shall be opened at the usual places of holding elections, which shall be conducted in the same manner as is provided by law for conducting general elec¬ tions.
Sec. 2. The sheriff of said county shall give at least ten day's notice of said election by post¬ ing or causing to be posted three written or printed notices, in public places in the vicinity of each place where the polls are to be held, which notice shall state the object and the time and place of holding the same; and the affidavit