Kenosha County WI Early History
The area now known as Kenosha County is perhaps the earliest Wisconsin land that was settled. Its proximity to Lake Michigan made access to Kenosha easy for settlers traveling by lake steamer from the East. Some settlers used Kenosha as a place of transition before moving further West, or even further north to the Wisconsin wilderness.

Some settlers decided to make Kenosha their permanent home. Several early settlers recorded the experiences they had in establishing Kenosha. This page is designed to give these early recorded histories a wider audience. However, this scanned text (while convenient to access) should not substitute for the actual published material. Be aware also that these are views of individual settlers and do not necessarily portray the actual history of early Kenosha objectively. In many cases the accounts of what happened differ and are written with bias. Please take this into account when using these texts in your research.

Underground Railroad
As published in
"The City of Kenosha and Kenosha County Wisconsin: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement"
by Frank H. Lyman Vol. 1, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1916, p. 378-379.


Some Pioneer Settlers of Kenosha County
by MRS. HELEN MCVICAR
As published in
June of 1935 on pages 395-402 in an unknown publication.
This text was contributed by Diane Larson. Thank you Diane!


from The Early History of Kenosha
by M. Frank
As published in
"Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin"
editied by Lyman Copeland Draper, L.L.D., Secretary of the Society
Vol. III, Being a page-for-page reprint of the original issue of 1857
Under the editorial direction of Reuben Gold Thwaites, L.L.D., Secretary and Superintendent
Published by the Society, Madison, 1904, p. 370


from First Settlement of Kenosha
by Wallace Mygatt
As published in
"Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin"
editied by Lyman Copeland Draper, L.L.D., Secretary of the Society
Vol. III, Being a page-for-page reprint of the original issue of 1857
Under the editorial direction of Reuben Gold Thwaites, L.L.D., Secretary and Superintendent
Published by the Society, Madison, 1904, p. 395