HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



was burst open and fell on top of him, which severely injured his chest and
spine,
in addition to which his right leg was fractured below the knee and the bone
broken.
He was so badly hurt that he was unconscious for two weeks, and was in the
hos-
pital at Kingston, Ga., until after the evacuation of Atlanta. After it was
possible
to move him he was sent to Chattanooga, and thence to Nashville, where on
Oct.
26, 1864, for the first time since his accident, he was able to assume an
upright
position. When he had recovered sufficiently to be good for anything, he
was
placed in charge of the dining-room of the hospital at Nashville, Tenn. In
De-
cember, 1864, he was a witness of the fight at Nashville, which was the time
Gen.
Hood of the Confederate army sent word to the Union army that he would eat
his Christmas dinner in Nashville. Mr. Getts left the city of Nashville on
Jan.
18, 1865, to rejoin his regiment at Savannah, Ga., going from there by rail
to New
York, then by the U. S. Steamer Ajax to Savannah,- which city had then lately
been taken by General Sherman's army. He found his regiment about 20 miles
from the city and with it found his old comrades, who had hardly expected
to see
him again. He was still in poor health, having left Nashville contrary to
the orders
of the physician. He was made orderly sergeant of his company and was on
the
march from Savannah to Bentonville. He also took part in the fighting at
Ben-
tonville, March 19, 1865, and was subsequently at Raleigh, N. C., when General
Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman and saw the surrender on the day
that President Lincoln was assassinated he was in camp at Raleigh. On May
23,
-24, 1865, he took part in the Grand Review at Washington, and was mustered
out at Louisville, Ky., July 8, 1865, receiving a final discharge at Madison,
Wis.,
July 20, 1865. He had the command of his company on its return home and was
entitled to the rank of second lieutenant, but did not receive his commission
as
the war had closed. After arriving home Mr. Getts worked on his father's
farm
until the spring of 1866, when he started out for the southern part of the
state,
where he worked on a farm for two months. He then went west, was in Denver
in July, 1866, and then traveled about, turning east again, and stopping
at differ-
ent places until he arrived at Centralia, now Wisconsin Rapids on October
11,
1866, with so little cash capital that, after paying his hotel bill he had
but $1.15
left. The next day he secured a job in a sawmill at $30 a month with board
and
washing included, which he regarded as very good pay and felt quite rejoiced.
At
that time there were but two stores here and a hotel or boarding house on
the west
side of the river. The outskirts were wild and there were no roads nor bridges,
and where the Citizens National Bank now stands the ground was so marshy
that
horses and cattle would mire. The first new store building was erected in
1879
where the Madison pool hall now stands by a Frenchman named Geo. A. Corriveau.
The firm with which Mr. Getts had obtained work was the Garrison Mill Co.
During the winter of 1866-67 he cooked in the woods for the loggers, and
in the
spring worked on the drive. The next summer and fall he worked in the harvest
fields, and in the following winter cooked for a camp of 32 men. In the spring
of
1868 he entered the employ of Matthews & Herschleb, wagon-makers, for
whom
he worked two years. Then from 1870 to the spring of 1872 he rented and operated
the shop on his own account. At the end of that time he sold out to Read
Moore,
for whom he went to work, and, being a good painter, was placed in charge
of the
painting department. In 1874 Mr. Getts went to Nebraska, where he tried farm-



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