- Agriculture - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- [Photo; caption reads: This is a depiction of the first State
Fair which was held in Janesville in 1851.]
-
- First State Fair held in Janesville
- In 1851, a group of farmers and mechanics got together to
promote what they called a "great
- experiment" on the prairies of the Court House Park.
- The Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics Institute
- proceeding without money, state
- aid or too many members - put together a combined Rock County
and State Fair held Oct. 1-2.
- With this premier event - the forerunner of Wisconsin's popular
state fairs - farmers planted the
- seeds for a long tradition of "fair" excellence
in Rock County.
- Organizers hoped the gathering, which drew 5,000 people,
would promote healthier farming
- methods at a time when wheat had worn out the soil and many
farmers were facing financial crisis. In addition, they wanted
to see whether the farmers of "young Rock had sufficient
enterprise to get up anything like a creditable show."
- Exhibits included 52 cattle, 68 horses, 120 sheep and 20
hogs. The horse exhibit included stallions,
- matched pleasure and working horses, draught horses, pleasure
horses and colts. The cattle exhibit was limited to working oxen,
Durham bulls and milk cows, native bulls and milk cows and three-year-old
steers. A dairy of 20 cows and no competition.
- Two kinds of sheep - Marino and Leicestershire bucks and
ewes - were shown. In addition, a few
- grade boars and breeding sows were entered.
- All in all, prizes for first place in these exhibits ranged
from $1.50 to #3. Though all the participants
- were busy getting themselves going in a new land, there were
two entries in the "painting and drawing exhibit."
Cost for premiums and other expenses was $206 and net receipts
was $291.91, leaving a balance of $86 in the treasury for the
following year.
- According to Robert and Maryo GARD's "My Home,
My Land, My Wisconsin," a newspaper
- reporting on the event had the following to say:
- "The first state fair held in Wisconsin commenced here
this morning. The beginning is an auspicious
- one, and when it is remembered how young our state is, it
reflects great credit upon the enterprise and intelligence of
her Farmers. An area of something over six acres, on the edge
of the plateau which looks down upon the rapid and silvery Rock,
and enclosed by a high board fence, constitutes the fair ground.Along
two sides of the enclosure are pens for sheep and swine and stands
for cattle. Near the centre is a large and lofty tent, for the
display of fruits, flowers, fancy articles, paintings, jewelry.
Hard by is a long shed for the exhibition of agricultural and
mechanical products. In the open space between these centre pieces
and the cattle stands on the sides there is ample room for the
exhibition and trial of all sorts of agricultural implements,
as well as for the display of single and matched horses."
- "The infant was feeble, but healthy," another report
stated.
- The first meeting of the agricultural society was in January
1851 at the courthouse. "All other
- classes associate - why not the farmers? Farmers, awake to
your interests!" was the call that went out.
- Chairing the first meeting was J. P. WHEELER of La
Prairie, who was elected president. Other
- officers were W. F. TOMPKINS of Janesville, Ansel
DICKINSON of Bradford, Joseph GOODRICH of Milton,
J. M. BURGESS and A. W. POPE of Janesville, vice
presidents. Also involved were Josiah F. WILLARD of Rock,
recording secretary; Andrew PALMER, corresponding secretary;
and John RUSSELL of Janesville, treasurer. A board of
20 directors, one for each town in the county, was elected.
- Subsequent combined county and State Fairs were held in 1857,
1864, 1866 and 1877 - first in
- the Spring Brook area and later in the new fairgrounds on
East Milwaukee Street.
- In 1851, the committee for locating the county fair reported
that the town of Beloit had offered a
- bonus of $240, the highest offer of any town in the county.
The agricultural group then voted that the next county fair would
be held in Beloit Sept. 28-29, 1852. The second year of the fair,
3,000 people attended and receipts totaled almost $350, which
after paying premiums and other expenses, left about $70 in the
treasury.
- First prize for farm and flower garden went to Josiah F.
WILLARD, whose 340-acre farm was
- on the east side of the Rock River about two miles below
Janesville. WILLARD was the father of Frances WILLARD,
renowned temperance leader and early spokesperson for women's
rights.
- At the group's next annual meeting in September 1853, the
society decided to buy four acres of
- land by selling $10 life memberships to be paid in installments
of $2.50 each. The society spent almost $700 to buy and prepare
the permanent fairgrounds, and they found their funds depleted,
leaving a deficiency for premiums. Rather than reducing premiums,
they asked those who received the large payments to take only
part of them or wait until the following year to collect them.
Expenses for the society that year were $101 to buy the fairgrounds,
$559 for fencing and permanent fixtures; and $515 for a premium
list, printing and other expenses. The group's net income was
$1,176, leaving an indebtedness of $334.
- In 1854, the fair got under way Sept. 13-14. And, "there
had never been seen in the place a larger
- number of people gathered together. The amount of premiums
awarded exceeded $2,000," according to the 1908 Rock County
History.
- In 1855, the fair was held Sept. 25-27. Receipts amounted
to $1,500, while the amount paid out
- for premiums was $700. A large number of people attended
and the society decided the fairgrounds was too small to accommodate
the crowds.
- During that year, the society sold its land and bought 10
acres in the southern part of the city for
- the 1856 fair on Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Highlights that year were
the ladies' equestrian match and a display of fire engines, which
drew an estimated 20,000 people.
- From 1861-64, the county was so involved in the Civil War
that the society ceased to exist and no
- fairs were held. Finally, in 1865 another agricultural group
organized and a fair was held in September, again drawing large
crowds.
- From the great experiment in 1851, the fair tradition evolved
and grew. Later, as it emerged into
- the 20th Century, the 4-H club movement left an indelible
mark on the event and opened a whole new chapter of its history.
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