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Saratoga Historical Index
SARATOGA is a civil town in Wood County, Wisconsin, located at latitude 441733N and longitude 0894839W.
The town of Saratoga, created 9 Jan 1857, was named after the original town settlement, at the southern end of the township, on what is now
known as Highway 13 South, near the Ten Mile Creek. The legal description reads: "All that portion of the County of Wood lying east of the
main channel of the Wisconsin River and south of the township line between Townships 21 and 22."
The origin of the name Saratoga is unknown, although there is the possibility it was named for another eastern city. During the 1830s and 1840s,
many English and Irish immigrants were arriving in central Wisconsin after stopping in the state of New York. As they settled here, they named
the towns after those they left in New York: Hancock, Almond and Plainfield among them. Some of these same immigrants then made their way into
this immediate area, and quite possibly brought the name of Saratoga with them from New York.
At the time, Saratoga, NY, was a gateway for westward migration of local and New England settlers. The name for Saratoga, NY came from the
Native American Iroquois name for the place: Sarach-togue, meaning "hillside of a great river; place of swift water." It seems a fitting
name for this township on the east bank of the Wisconsin River at Whitney Rapids (now known as Nekoosa). However, without any documentation,
this is naming is only speculation.
Saratoga was called Town 21, Range 6. The first land taken up in the township was in Section 32 (what would now be just north of the Adams
County Line on Highway 13 South), being filed in 1852 by Joseph R. Patte(e). The boundaries of the township as first established have remained
the same, excepting, from March 30, 1874 to March 20, 1875, the portion of Town 21, Range 5, lying west of the Wisconsin River, having been
detached from Port Edwards for that period of time, was then returned.
In 1853, Edward I. Scott took up land in Section 25.
In 1854 Joseph Wood, the founder of Wood County, filed in Section 5, where the Five Mile Creek crosses present-day Highway 13.
In 1855, the following individuals all claimed sections throughout the township: John Snyder, Stephen Snyder, John Hannan, John McCamley,
Hugh Turley, Patrick Mullen, Henry Larsen, Michael Flanagan, Michael Craney, Almanson Eaton, Parley Eaton, Michael McDonald, Robert Turley,
Michael Matthews, Miles McKew, Patrick Crangle, Robert Jones, John Welsh, Winefred Holland, Bishop Fuller, John Douglass, Samuel Lewis,
Freeman Durrell, Andrew Warren Jr., John Rategan and Horace Coon.
In April, 1858, the first town meeting was held on the first Tuesday, at a tavern then kept by Henry Kennedy within the limits of the
new town.
Almost all of the early settlers were of Irish, English and Scottish extraction, along with a few Austrians and French.
If the township can claim one founding father, it would have to be Robert Wakely, as he was the first white settler in the town,
arriving in 1837. By 1846, Wakely had at least a dozen buildings at his settlement, according to some sources. By 1852, Wakely
was operating the ferry across the Wisconsin River from his tavern. Early records indicate taverns being kept by several individuals
in the area, these being necessary for travelers who needed to stop on long journeys.
As the area developed, more Scandinavian names were appearing. Names, such as, Ross, Femling, Roberts, Conway, Richardson, Marr, Christianson,
Chrystal, Johnson, Knudtson, Townsend and Einertson became more common place. Around the turn of the century, closer to the beginning of the
1900s, there was a more predominant shift to a German population in the township. By then, Saratoga Township was well established and on its
way to being an important part of Wood County.
Rhonda Whetstone Neibauer, a writer for the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, has generously donated the information
for this page.
Rhonda Whetstone Neibauer is compiling the Saratoga history at the town's request, for its Web site
Town of Saratoga, Wisconsin. The town
will celebrate its sesquicentennial in 2007.
If you have any history for Wood County Wisconsin, (whether it be Wisconsin Rapids, Nekoosa, Grand Rapids,
Port Edwards, or Saratoga), and you would like to have it included in an article, please contact:
[Rhonda Whetstone Neibauer].
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Friday, 17-Nov-2006 23:00:36 MST
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