WAUPACA REPUBLICAN

September 22, 1992

 

That Street Controversy

 

            Our readers have been treated to more or less petitions of late in regard to a “street alleged to have been laid out in 1855 in the 1st ward” in fact that said street has been up and down before the Council ever since March 1885, but it has never materialized very far toward a street as yet.

            The facts in the case, are that for the past quarter of a century or more there has been a road or several forks of them meandering from the Brainard Bridge around Mr. W. Scott’s land to the Mortensen (or old Blinn place) and to connect with the road near Mrs. Hunts’ place in Farmington.  By a petition of W. Scott and others in 1885 a road was finally established and fences built running westward from the Brainard Bridge taking two rods from Alice Brainard’s land and two rods from W. Scott’ land, to the town line of Farmington, to Henry Mortensen’s place.  Nothing was done about making the new road until 1887.  ‘88 the Council verbally let some party cut off the timber for the wood on the said street.  IN 1889 the town board of Farmington and the City Council jointly laid out a highway to intersect the west end of this alleged highway as above noted running northward on the town line between Waupaca and Farmington to intersect the highway near Mrs. Hunt’s land.

            It seems after the timber was cut off it revealed a good sized stone quarry on that highway for twenty rods or more so there has been no street Committee imbued with sand enough to go ahead and attempt to work a road through it.  The old road has served the only means for travel to the Mortensen farm.  This year Mr. Mortensen got tired of traveling to the city with the old highway obstructed with gates nailed up, so petitioned earnestly and often to the city to work the road laid in 1885 and give him an outlet.  Mr. McFall as Chairman of Farmington joined in the song and dance and threatened to bring action to compel the city to “open sesame” the byways and hedges in that direction.  But the present Council felt that there was not money enough in the treasury to open a stone quarry this year.  In the controversy the records were searched and it was found that the law had not been complied with nor the record of the action of the jury entered in laying out the said street, so the council decided that inasmuch as the law had not been complied with they had no legal rights in the premises; they voted that the Mayor get legal advice upon the matter, which he did of Henry D. Ryan city attorney of Appleton, who holds that the old road is the only legal highway and that the street supposed to have been

 

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