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Genealogy & Local History |
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| Fond du Lac was visited by French traders as early as 1787, for in that year a trading post was established at the forks of the Fond du Lac river, by one Jacob Franks of Green Bay, and Franks' clerk, Jacques Poltier, was placed in charge of the stock of goods. The name Fond du Lac is a French term meaning 'farthest end of the lake'. | In November, 1835, a number of prominent men of Green Bay associated themselves into a land company, for the purpose of buying and selling land at the head of Lake Winnebago, then in the county of Brown, Wisconsin Territory. Articles of association were drawn up and signed by the parties interested and the organization became known as the Fond du Lac Company. Three hundred shares were issued and sold at the par value of one hundred dollars each. These shares were distributed amongst the members of the company as follows: James Duane Doty, president, 46 shares; Joshua Hathaway, 12 shares; John Parndt, 40 shares; George McWilliams, 20 shares; R. S. Clarey, 10 shares; R. B. Marcy, 4 shares; F. F. Hamilton, 35 shares; David Ward, 3 shares; Brush, Rees and Company, 6 shares; C. C. Sibley, 12 shares; William Brown, 64 shares; Henry S. Baird, 3 shares; M. E. Merrill, 10 shares; R. S. Satterlee, 20 shares; Silas Stedman, 10 shares; Samuel Ryan, 7 shares; Alexander J. Irwin, 4 shares; David Jones, 15 shares; W. Alexander, 4 shares; E. Childs, 14 shares; M. Scott, 3 shares. | The company, by the first of January, 1836, came into possession of 3,705 acres of land, all of which now lies within the confines of the city of Fond du Lac, and the officials of the company, comprising James Duane Doty, president, David Jones, George McWilliams, F. F. hamilton and W. H. Bruce, directors, had laid out a village and completed its survey in November, 1835, the name of which was designated as the "Town of Fond du Lac." The plat of the village was acknowledged before a notary public on August 23, 1836, was recorded in the office of the register of deeds from Brown county, of which Fond du Lac county was then a part. |
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