HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY. 
 
ties, of strict integrity and honor. He died 
Feb. 4, 1862. His wife died Nov. 28, 1864. 
In 1857, the year following his marriage, the 
subject of this sketch, James H. Chapel, com- 
menced life on his own farm. After living 
there one year, with his wife and his brother, 
R. H. Chapel, he left for the west to seek a for- 
tune. I hey started with a team and covered 
wagon, traveling west until late in August. 
They reached the Missouri river at Booneville, 
Mo., where they remained until the following 
spring, cutting and barking wood on a contract. 
April 4, 1859, one year to a day from the time 
of leaving his Wisconsin home, having ex- 
changed his horses for oxen, they left the Mis- 
souri river, and "Westward Ho! bound for 
Pike's Peak," was the cry. With varied ad- 
venture they reached the present site of the 
city of Denver, during the last days of June, 
While there, a few days later, Mr. Chapel as- 
sisted in raising the first house of any kind ever 
built in that city. It was constructed of cot- 
tonwood logs. July 4, Mr. Ghapel and his 
brother joined fortunes with seven others, and 
started prospecting for gold in the mountains. 
[hey made a claim about forty-five miles from 
Denver. The day they reached the mountains 
it snowed furiously, and the party suffered se- 
verely with the cold. Not many days afterward 
Mr. Chapel returned to Denver for provisions. 
He made these trips several times, and at one 
time upon his return loaded with fifty pounds 
of flour, and climbing the mountain path just 
wide enough for an Indian pony to walk, he 
met a large party of Arapahoes, who were re- 
turning from the war path with scalps of their 
enemies, the Utes, war paint and war trappings, 
which gave them a wicked appearance, and 
Mr. Chapel was in doubt as to whether they 
might not be yet one scalp short. -But they 
dashed by, every brave giving the short "how." 
Mrs. Chapel spent some weeks at the foot of 
the mountains grazing the oxen and one cow, 
in company with another woman, the wife of 
one of the party, twenty miles from    the 
 
camp at the working claim. The mountain 
fever getting hold of Mr. Chapel, he was cured 
of the "gold fever," and a longing for there- 
freshing shades and quiet dells of Wisconsin 
came over him, and -then it was that"Home- 
ward Ho," was the cry. A long, tedious jour- 
ney was before them. In September they set 
their faces eastward, and Dec. 2, 1859, found 
them  again in Spring Grove. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Chapel found themselves not only broken 
in expense, but also in health, from exposure 
necessarily incident to the kind of life they had 
been leading. They were obliged to rent lands 
until 1863, when he bought land where he now 
lives on section 23. On that section, and on 
section 22, he now owns 213 acres of good land, 
all under improvement. They have had nine 
children-Alvarus, born Oct. 7, 1857, and died 
in infancy; Viella N., born Feb. 12, 1860, wife 
of Adam Bener; Hattie V., born Aug. 19, 1863, 
wife of Uriah H. Hartman; J. Ralph, born 
Sept. 22,1866; John A., born Nov. 25, 1868, and 
died July 15, 1876; Maud A., born Nov. 9, 
1870; Martha E., born Oct. 6, 1875; Columbus 
C., born Oct. 14, 1877, and Jessie M., born June 
21, 1880. Mr. Chapel enlisted in company I, 
46th Wisconsin Volunteers, and served until 
the regiment was mustered out of service. He 
was elected town treasurer in 1867, and held 
that office for eight years, during which time 
he made the town assessment three or four 
times. He is now the town assessor. He is a 
public spirited man, and a good citizen. He is 
a member of the G. A. R. Post No. 90. 
James P. Atwood, one of the young men 
born in the town of Spring Grove, is a son of 
P. and M. J. Atwood, and was born Jan. 10, 
1855. He was brought up on a farm, and lived 
with his father until his marriage with Susan 
A. Baxter, Oct. 24, 1874. His wife is a daugh- 
ter of Thomas J. Baxter, and a granddaughter 
of the old pioneer, Daniel Baxter, who settled 
in this town in 1837. She was born June 17, 
1856. Two boys have been born to them-- 
 
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