Natural History
The landscape Town of Westfield residents and visitors enjoy today is the result of the Green Bay lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet that retreated from this area about 12,000 years ago. The ice was over 2,000 feet thick in the township and ice stopped spreading westward just west of 1st Avenue. The ice advanced and retreated multiple times before melting, leaving in its wake the moraines, streams, ponds, lakes, wetlands, hills and fertile valleys we know today.
The glacier also left some huge boulders, called erratics. Two such boulders are along Cty Hwy J, one of which was known as the Big Rock and was used as a landmark by early settlers as they traveled. The township is also home to the Blanchard’s cricket frog, an endangered tree frog species that lives in warm, shallow ponds and marshes.
Native American History
Various Native American populations moved into the area after the glacier retreated—most recently the Town of Westfield was the boundary between the Menominee and Ho-Chunk Nations. The tribes hunted and grew corn in the township and interacted with each other as well as traded with settlers that arrived around 1850. Interactions with settlers continued into the early 1900s.
Scottish History
Hugh Russell, a widower, and his family were the first to arrive and establish a homestead by springs located north of Ember Avenue. Two sons arrived in 1848 to claim land. Hugh and his other 5 children arrived in the Spring of 1850 after a six week journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The area they settled became known as Russell Flats. The family expanded to eventually cover most of the eastern half of Russell Flats, which makes up two-thirds of the Town of Westfield. “The Flats” is a lake bed formed by the retreating glacier and early settlers harvested marsh hay from the area. One homestead remains in the hands of Russell descendants.
Hugh Russell 1796-1872
The Hamiltons arrived in 1852 and built a log cabin by springs near the present day Oak Hill Cemetery. They received the first land grant in the Russell Flats area, dated 1853. A couple years later they built the house that still stands on Ember Avenue and remains owned by descendants of James and Jane (Bennett) Hamilton. The Hamiltons spread to settle most of the lands in the western half of Russell Flats. Grandma Jane, as she was known, liked her tea and sugar, and thought nothing of walking the 10 miles to Packwaukee on Indian trails, carrying her youngest child, to get her tea. She was a very religious woman and would not tolerate drinking alcohol or playing cards.
Jane (Bennett) Hamilton 1812-1912
James, the son of James and Jane Hamilton, was age 7 when the family arrived in the Town of Westfield. He is pictured with his Wife, Maria.
The first home of James and Maria (Nesbitt) Hamilton and their 6 children.
The Scottish settlers strongly believed in education and agriculture. Some came directly from Scotland, others came from Scottish Northern Ireland (Ulster). The families prospered and their descendants became farmers, nursery/florist operators, seed corn producers, apple growers, teachers, college professors, doctors, dentists, food scientists, federal and state agriculture/forestry officials and a State of Wisconsin legislator. The Hamiltons donated the land for the Russell Flats School which is now the Town Hall. They also donated land for Oak Hill Cemetery so those who lived in Russell Flats and all of the first settlers descendants, regardless of where they lived, would have a final resting place near the original homestead.
The Russell Flats area was designated a State of Wisconsin Historic Site in 1999. The marker was placed by the Russell Flats School as it represented the center of activity for the Scottish community. You can still see where these early settlers lived as they planted orange day lilies at driveway entrances and by their homes. Those who came from Northern Ireland were referred to as Orange Irish.
Lily of the Orange Irish
Lawrence
Other settlers created a village in the northwestern part of the Town of Westfield known as Lawrence. Cyrus Thomas first settled the area and was involved with plotting the village in 1856. That same year the first flour mill was built on Lawrence Creek. The community prospered and had more than a half-dozen businesses, including a school and post office. In 1920 August Gramse built a large store on the corner of Main and Lawrence Streets. The building included a general store in the front, a saloon in the back, and a dance hall upstairs.
A dam was built in the early 1930s as was the first electric plant. The plant later became a brewery and, during Prohibition, a pop factory. The dam created Lawrence Lake, which is often described as the best bass fishing lake in the State of Wisconsin. Most of the businesses are gone today, but Lawrence Lake is now home to residents who enjoy the lakeside environment.
Early Development
1851
- 1851 Town of Westfield first surveyed in July and August. Only nine structures were noted, two of which had the names of the owners identified—a Russell cabin in section 26 and W. O'Neil's cabin in section 36. Marquette County itself underwent 7 boundary changes beginning in 1836 before the current size was set in 1865. The original Town Hall was located at Cant’s Corner, just south of the Village of Westfield. The seat of town government moved to the Russell Flats School after the school closed in 1955 due to consolidation of districts.
1853
- Russell Flats School District #3 formed. First school was a log cabin with one window on each end. Within two decades a new school building was constructed.
1853
- There were no roads in the township. Settlers used established NativeAmerican trails. They later expanded these trails to accommodate wagons. These same trails later became highways.
1856
- Village of Westfield platted. Village incorporated 1902 and established its own government.
1856
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Village of Lawrence platted.
1868
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Post office opened in Lawrence.
1878
- The Wisconsin Central Railroad came through the northeast corner of the Town of Westfield. The tracks were located in Sections 1, 12, the border between 13 and 14, and exited the town in Section 24.
1905
- Telephone service arrived in the township when Scottish settlers John Cant and John Campbell constructed the first telephone lines after gaining easements from property owners.
1915
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First deer tracks spotted in the township.
1929
- Our Ideal 4-H Club formed, later renamed the Russell Flats 4-H Club, and is one of the longest continuously operating 4-H Clubs in Marquette County. Lillian Russell organized the club and served as leader for more than two decades.
1939
- Electricity came to the Town of Westfield thanks to the efforts of Francis Russell, who became the first president of the local Rural Electrification Administration (REA) electric cooperative. He went on to serve as a director for many years.
[Special thanks to Authors John and Mary Fullmer.]