Compiled by Bill Schuette
Wisconsin was a growing frontier in the 1850s and recent settlers wrote glowing letters back to relatives in the East, urging them to make the trek West. One family that made the journey, was Joshua and Hannah Spooner and their sons, Leonard, William, Albert and Beaman. They came from New York State and settled first in
Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and later in Loganville, Wisconsin. Another son, Henry and his wife Frances, remained behind in New York, but later were convinced to join their family in Loganville.
By a fortunate stroke of luck, the correspondence between the members of this frontier family has been preserved and passed down through the generations and it gives great insight into how the early settlers lived and prospered in the New Land.
