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Weekly Column

Each week a small segment of Vernon County history is published in the county papers.


For the week of 3/17/2024
by Kristen Parrott, curator

In honor of Women’s History Month, today we’ll take a look at the women featured in the business directories of the 1878 Vernon County plat map. This is our oldest plat map, and a wall-sized version can be found on the first floor of the history center. The outline of the county is surrounded by business directories for various townships and villages. Well over 100 men are named in these directories, but only four women.

Jennie Bailey is listed in the Town of Genoa directory as a school teacher in Section 19. She was probably living with her parents and siblings, because the map indicates that her father owned land in that section. Jennie was born in Wisconsin in 1857 to James and Elizabeth (Clark) Bailey.

Jennie took her work seriously. In early September of 1878, she attended a Teachers’ Institute in Viroqua along with about 110 other teachers from around Vernon County. The Teachers’ Institutes were kind of like modern-day conferences, providing a chance to learn new ideas and meet others in the field. This Institute lasted for two weeks, with a daily program consisting of reading, math, geography, penmanship, spelling, grammar, history, and theory and practice.

The following year, on Christmas Day in 1879, Jennie Bailey married Alonzo Fox. The 1880 U.S. census lists her occupation as “keeps house”, so presumably she gave up teaching when she married. She and Alonzo had several children, and Jennie died in Sparta in 1905. She is buried in Victory.

Cora Tillotson is listed in the 1878 Town of Jefferson directory as a teacher in Springville. It appears that she was living with her parents and siblings at that time. Cora was born in 1856, so she was in her early twenties when the 1878 plat map was printed.

In 1880, Cora began the year by teaching at Nottingham School, located southwest of Springville and also in the Town of Jefferson. But that same year, before the federal census was taken, she married Cyrus Clay, a farmer, and they moved to Kansas, where Cyrus’ parents were also farming. On the 1880 census, Cora’s occupation is given as “keeping house”. By 1900 they had several children and were living in Oklahoma, where Cora died in 1928.

Mary M. Christopher is listed in the Town of Christiana directory as a teacher who could be reached at the Lovass post office. The post office in 1878 was located inside Christian Olson’s general store in Section 8. Unfortunately, we have not found any more information about Mary. She is the third of the three female teachers found on the map. At that time, many of the schoolhouses in Vernon County were simple log structures furnished with rough benches and few books, so we can imagine the struggles of these early teachers.

And finally, Anna N. Miller is listed on the De Soto directory as the proprietor of the “De Soto House”, a hotel. In 1878, De Soto was a bustling Mississippi River town with several hotels serving mainly the river traffic. Anna was a widow with six children who helped her in the hotel. She ran the De Soto House for many years, and died in 1898.

These four women appeared on local business directories almost 150 years ago. I don’t know why they were listed, but I’m guessing that they saw the opportunity, paid a fee, and were literally put on the map, the same as their male contemporaries.


Fox Family

Jennie Bailey Fox and family, from left to right: Jennie holding daughter Vesta; husband Alonzo standing behind daughter Lottie; Alonzo’s mother Mary Kingston Fox; son Raymond sitting on the ground; unknown girl, possibly Alonzo’s daughter from his first marriage; son Norman; possibly Alonzo’s sister Julia. Photo was taken in 1890 or ‘91 at the home of Mary Kingston Fox near Romance, Vernon County.


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For the week of 3/10/2024
by Kristen Parrott, curator

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up soon, and that’s a good opportunity to take a look at some of the Irish immigrants who settled in Vernon County in the 1800’s. I was surprised to learn recently that the village of Newry was named for a place in Ireland.

Newry is located northeast of Westby, in the Town of Christiana. The name Newry was first attached to the area when a post office was established there in 1868. The first postmaster was Peter Bredel, a German immigrant, but the name must have been offered by one of the Irish immigrants who settled there.

An early Irish family that came to the area was that of David and Mary McKee, who arrived in the 1850’s. A few sources suggest that David McKee and Mary Boyd were married in Newry, Ireland, in 1845, so perhaps they were the ones who gave their new home its new name.

The Irish town of Newry is located along the border between the Counties of Down and Armagh in Northern Ireland. It was founded around 1150 A.D. when a monastery was built there. But long before the monastery was built, a yew tree was planted on the site, and the name “Newry” derives from the Irish Gaelic word for “yew tree”. The town officially became a city in 2002, a status granted by Queen Elizabeth.

In addition to the McKees, other Irish and Irish-American families who settled around Newry in Vernon County included the Boyd, Blair, Fanning, Greer, Madden, McKnight, and Roden families. Several Catholic churches were established some distance from Newry which might have served these families, including St. Patrick’s Church, built in 1867-8 on Irish Ridge in the nearby Town of Clinton. The church burned down in 1936 and was not re-built, but the cemetery is still there.

Many of these Irish families moved on to other places in search of new opportunities, and today Newry is more associated with Norwegian Americans. But the next time you are there, remember its Irish beginnings!



St. Patrick’s Church

St. Patrick’s Church, built in 1867-8 on Irish Ridge in the Town of Clinton


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The previous two articles:

March 3, 2024

February 25, 2024