Rock County Genealogical Society

This guide contains the second township in a series of twenty township resource guides. It is intended to be of use to those doing genealogical or historical research in LaPrairie Township, Rock County, Wisconsin. Additions and corrections to this information are welcome and should be sent to the Rock County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 711, Janesville, WI 53547. These additions and corrections will be put on file and added before final publication of the compendium of Rock County Township Guides in the future.

Besides being published here, the resource materials collected for each Rock County township will be placed on file in the RCGS Library located at the Wilson King Stone House on the grounds of the Lincoln-Tallman House Museum. These materials will be available and much-used by RCGS research volunteers and individual genealogists and historians.

General resources that apply to all Rock County Townships are listed once on the Rock County General Resources Page and not repeated for each of twenty townships. Review General Resources for Rock County Townships at http://www.rootsweb.com/~wircgs/rock_twps.html .

Placenames of Fulton Township

*Not shown on map

Town of Fulton

Town 4N Range 12E

Physical Features

Rock Prairie

Ramsey’s Prairie

Catfish Prairie

Morse’s Prairie

Rock River

Yahara River (Catfish)

Lake Koshkonong

History of Fulton Township

Fulton Township

Fulton Township was completely surveyed in 1833-1834. In 1836 Robert & Daniel Stone came to the mouth of the Yahara River (Catfish) and became the first settlers of Fulton Township. In 1838 they built the first log house. William B. Foster came in 1837 and started Foster’s ferry in the south part of the township.

The first known marriage in the township was George E. Cowan and Mary Ward in 1840 at the house of Silas Hurd. The first death was Mrs. Proctor who died in 1840 and was buried on the Cloudin Stoughton farm. The first child was born in 1839.

Edgerton

Edgerton was first settled in 1836 when Robert & Daniel Stone and William Squires came west. Thomas Quigley followed in 1843 and claimed land where the railroad depot now stands. Other early settlers were Lucius M. Page, H. S. Swift, J. and E. A. Burdick, Ferdinand Davis and Nelson Coon. The settlement was laid out as a village in 1854 and incorporated in 1883. It was an important station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad.

Edgerton’s fame throughout the United States was as a tobacco growing and shipping area. The tobacco grown in the region was known as cigar leaf and was used for chewing tobacco and as a binder for cigars. The first commercial crop was grown in 1854, and the first of many warehouses was built in 1869. In 1878 Edgerton was known as the largest market for cigar leaf tobacco in the world. By 1900 there were 50 warehouses in Edgerton and they employed from 1500 to 3000 people in season. All of the big tobacco firms had agents in Edgerton.

Fulton Village

Fulton village along Catfish Creek was settled by Emanuel Cawker. In 1846 he started a grist mill which was the center of Fulton village for many years. Other early settlers included James Merwin, Edward Hyland, Nelson Coon, David L. Mills, Stiles Hakes, and Henry Dickinson.

Indian Ford (Fulton Center)

Indian Ford is located on the Rock River and received its name because Indians forded the river here. Guy and Cloudin Stoughton obtained a charter for water-power and erected a dam and built a mill in 1843. Early settlers included Silas Hurd and George E. Cowan.

Newville

Anson Goodrich settled at the foot of Lake Koshkonong in 1838 and ran a ferry across the Rock River where the bridge is presently.

Resources for Fulton Township

In addition to the resources listed in the tables, below, William Hanke has a personal database called The Edgerton Area Family Tree which has almost 90,000 people from Edgerton, Evansville, Cooksville, Albion, Koshkonong, etc. - Contact: behanke@att.net Bill

See http://www.rootsweb.com/~wircgs/rock_twps.html for addresses, phone numbers and web pages of places below.

Key to Resource Location in Tables Below:

HPL - Hedberg Public Library

EPL - Edgerton Public Library

RCHS - Rock County Historical Society Archives

RCGS - Rock County Genealogical Society Library

UW-W - University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Area Research Center

WHS - Wisconsin Historical Society

Churches in Fulton Township

Albion Prairie Primitive Methodist

Address: RR 3, 344 Craig Rd., Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-8138

Location: Albion Twp., Dane Co.

Denomination: Primitive Methodist

Records:

Organized: 1844

Albion Seventh Day Baptist

Address: 616 Albion Rd., Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-3711 (pastor’s home)

Location: Albion Twp., Dane Co.

Denomination: Seventh Day Baptist

Records: will answer requests by mail or email to sdbpastor@charter.net

Organized: 1843

Central Lutheran (Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran)

Address: 100 W. Rollin St., Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-9418

Location: City of Edgerton

Denomination: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

Records: can view records with supervision, will photocopy, will answer mail request, early records written in Norwegian

Organized: 1874 from East Koshkonong Lutheran Church

Congregational United Church of Christ (First Congregational)

Address: 114 N. Henry St., Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-6154

Location: City of Edgerton

Denomination: United Church of Christ

Records:

Organized: 1889

Fulton Church (originally Fulton Congregational)

Mailing Address: PO Box 241, Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-8512

Location: Village of Fulton, 9209 N. Fulton St.

Denomination: non-denominational

Records:

Organized: 1851 as Fulton Congregational

Grace Baptist

Address: 809 E. Mallwood Dr., Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-3073

Location: Newville

Denomination: Baptist

Records:

Organized: as First Edgerton Baptist in 1975 in Albion School, moved to Union Hall 1976, moved to Newville School, merged with First Baptist Church of Milton 1986 and took present name

St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran (German Lutheran)

Address: 207 E. High St., Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-3515

Location: City of Edgerton

Denomination: Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

Records: can view records, will photocopy if possible, will answer limited mail requests, early records are in German

Organized: 1872

St. Joseph Catholic (originally Mission of St. Michael’s)

Address: 590 St. Joseph Circle, Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-3038

Location: City of Edgerton

Denomination: Catholic – Madison Diocese

Records: will answer requests by mail or phone

Organized: 1859 on Lord St. as a mission of St. Michael’s; 1870 became the mother church; 1904 to 122 N. Swift; 1964 to St .Joseph Cir.

Saunders Creek Community

Mailing address: PO Box 129, Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-2286

Location: Veterans Memorial Building, 414 Albion St.

Denomination:

Records:

Organized: 2001

Trinity Lutheran

Address: 726 S. Main St., Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-8614

Location: City of Edgerton

Denomination: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

Records:

Organized: 1958 with members leaving Central Lutheran; 1961 Wartburg Synod, 1963 Lutheran Church of America, 1988 ELCA

United Methodist (Methodist Episcopal)

Address: 112 Albion St., Edgerton, WI 53534

Phone: 608-884-6931

Location: city of Edgerton

Denomination: United Methodist

Records:

Organized: 1863

Churches No Longer in Existence

Good Templars

New Community Hall, Newville was built in 1882. Services and Sunday School were held in the Hall. In 1897 it merged with United Brethren. They held services in Lima Center, Sandy Sink and Newville.

Indian Ford

There was not a church building here, but services were held by a Methodist minister starting in 1848.

Union Church

Location: City of Edgerton; first in the depot and then the schoolhouse

Organized: 1853

Baptist Church Society of Edgerton

Location: 101 Albion St.

Organized: 1856; inactive in 1904

Primitive Methodist

Location: Edgerton

Organized: before 1856

Church on Hwy. 51 (sec. 36)

Rock Prairie of Lima Circuit owned land 1868-1923.

Funeral Homes in Edgerton

Names of former funeral homes:

Bruni, Bruni-Nygaard-Ward, Edgerton, Ehlert-Ward, Ellingston, Jones, Nygaard, Tellefson

Cemeteries in Fulton Township

Fassett Cemetery

Location: S. Main St., Edgerton, east side of the road, section 9

Began: 1857

Transcription: for sale by Rock Co. Genealogical Society

Sexton: Edgerton Public Works, 608-884-4037

Jenson Cemetery

Location: S. Main St., Edgerton, west side of the road, section 9

Began: 1892

Transcription: for sale by Rock Co. Genealogical Society

Sexton: Central Lutheran Church, 608-884-9418

St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery

Location: S. Main St., Edgerton, west side of the road, section 9

Began: 1869

Transcription: for sale by Rock Co. Genealogical Society and Origins Genealogy Book Store

Sexton: St. Joseph Catholic Church, 608-884-3038

Spaulding Farm Burials

Location: Leisure Estates Campground next to I-90, section 12

Transcription: in Rock Co. Historical Society Archives

Began: 1840-1855

Mt. Olive/Sandy Sink Cemetery

Location: Manogue Rd., 1/2 mile west of Hwy. 51, section 35

Transcription: WI State Genealogical Society newsletter and Hedberg Public Library

Began: 1861

Sexton: Fulton Township, 608-868-4103

Cemeteries located in neighboring townships:

Rock River Cemetery

Location: Milton Township, Trescher Rd., south of Vincent Rd., section 7

Began: 1856

Transcription: for sale by Origins Genealogy Book Store

Sexton: Dennis Balch, 608-884-3028

Fulton Cemetery

Location: Porter Township, south of Caledonia Rd., west side of Yahara River, section 13

Began: 1848

Transcription: WI State Genealogical Society newsletter

Sexton: James Raymond, 608-884-8711

Newspapers in Fulton Township

*=Microfilms at Wisconsin Historical Society and Edgerton Public Library

compiled by Linda Herrick

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Other Fulton Township Links
Courtesy of USGenWeb and Lori Niemuth

1873 Plat Map - Fulton Township

1873 Atlas Lithographs - Fulton Township

Fulton Township History (from historical resources)

1873 Plat Map - Rock Co. with Townships Identified

1873 Map & Atlas - Rock Co. Surname Index

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