Miner Lake01

Miner Lake

By Zilpha Davis

July 1960

Dan Cupid, who each summer recklessly fires his arrows about the Chain o’ Lakes, chose this happy hunting ground over 70 years ago, when a boy and girl, whose family names are borne by two of these lakes, Beasley and Miner, met and fell in love while wading in what is today Beasley Creek.

Cornelius Beasley, the father of the girl in the romance was a Welshman who settled in New York State. He was a machinist by trade, and when the emigration west became popular, he took a land claim of 120 acres along Beasley Lake and the Creek. The man had a keen eye for beauty where he could bring up a thriving family of six. The farm passed into many hands after his death. When the farm house was in quite a state of dilapidation, it was sold to Frank Benedict for a sum of $30 which was slapped down on the kitchen table. The site later was owned by Mrs. Castle of Barrington, Illinois and called Castle Point.

J.H. Miner settled along east Miner Lake about the same time in 1856. He had beautiful wooded farm of 10 acres of large Norway pines purchased from Hiram Clemmons. Across the lake, west Miner Lake, Ira Pitcher sold land to Thomas Miner in 1855 for $100. In 1877 Thos. Miner sold Allen Ennis Fern Terrace for $800. Thos. Miner had 40 acres of land in Dayton and 40 acres in Farmington.

Across the road from Miner’s the McCrossens took land and another lake obtained its name from old settlers. One McCrossen family also owned pasture land south of the Miner homestead on East Miner Lake.

The first cottage on Miner Lake was built when Judge Hatch of Waupaca leased land from Mr. Miner and brought his children to the chain o’ lakes to grow. The Menomonee Indians pitched tents along the pines at various times.

So Mary Beasley paddled about Beasley Lake and Wesley Miner fished in Miner Lake, and one day they both waded in Beasley Creek. They were both children, but the budding of a romance was there. When the Civil War broke out, young Wesley fought for the North, and was rewarded at his return by his marriage to Mary Beasley in 1866.

The newlyweds lived for awhile on the Beasley farm and then moved to the small green house that still stands on the shores of Miner Lake. This house is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. C. Brown.

Cornelius Beasley and J.H. Miner, who settled here so many years ago paved the way at the Chain o’ Lakes so that their great grandchildren might enjoy its beauty. They are Esther Beasley, May and Zilpha Davis still cottage owners of the old homestead. The homestead changed hands many times and today is owned by many individual cottage owners.