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.

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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
common toils and danger. I cannot leave you, colonel, without expressing my thanks for that hearty support and co-operation which has ever characterized your actions and bearing in the field. You have been very much in command of your regiment, it has won a proud name, second to none that I know in our armies. You, by your faithful and untiring efforts, have con¬ tributed largely to this. You are entitled to, and I hope will receive the generous thanks of the executive and the people of your State, for your faithfulness to the troops entrusted to your care. The able manner in which you have discharged every duty in the field entitles you to the gratitude of all who loye the cause in which you have served so well.
Please accept, colonel, my sincere wishes for your prosperity and happiness. Your friend,
J. W. Sprague, Brigadier- General. To Col. J. M.  Rusk,  25th Wisconsin Volun¬ teers.
Such was Gen. Rusk as a soldier, as is found recorded, and gathered from those who know his history.
In September, 1865, the republican State convention of Wisconsin nominated the gen¬ eral for bank comptroller by acclamation. He was elected in the November following by upwards of 10,000 majority. In 1867 he was again nominated and elected by the repub licans of his State, and served the two terms in a most acceptable manner. During his second term the business of State banking having become nearly obsolete, by reason of the discrimina¬ tions against it in the national banking law, the people passed an amendment to the State Con¬ stitution abolishing the office of bank comptrol¬ ler. So that he was the last bank comptroller of Wisconsin. The following editorial ap¬ peared in the Wisconsin State Journal on the occasion of Gen. Rusk's final retirement from the office of bank comptroller:
"As a State officer he was thoroughly conver¬ sant with the law and  rules pertaining to  his
department. In closing out old banks he has saved the State much money. His suggestions concerning the final settlement of all bank ac¬ counts have been valuable.
"The general is distinguished for his thoroughness in business matters, the absence of narrow prejudices in all things, a determina¬ tion to do what is fair, for his excellent judg¬ ment and unswerving devotion to republican principles.
"In August, 1870, he was nominated by the republicans of the sixth congressional district in Wisconsin as their candidate for represent¬ ative in Congress and in November of the same year was elected by the largest majority given by any district of the State to its representa- ive.    He is now serving his term in Congress. '
Gov. Rusk's congressional career commenced on the 4th day of March, 1871. He w^as then brought face to face with the most eminent statesmen of both political parties, and placed on a higher plane of action than he had before occupied. Would he be found equal to the emergency? His district was "the old sixth" that had been represented so many years by the late C. C. Washburn. It was very large, em¬ bracing twenty-four counties, and covering nearly, if not quite, one-half the area of the State. It embraced all that portion of the State which was rapidly filling up with new set¬ tlers and in which new industries were being developed. It extended from the Wisconsin river on the south and east, to the Mississippi river on the west and to Lake Superior on the north. To become acquainted with and to protect all the mixed interests of his district re¬ quired great labor and ceaseless care.
When he appeared in the field as a candidate for the nomination, he found the Hon. William T. Price, of Black River Falls, to be his princi¬ pal competitor; the Hon. John T. Kingston, of Needah, was also in the field with quite a strong and influential following, but he was not so prominent an opponent as was Mr. Price.