News: Holton Township – Observed 100th Anniversary (Apr 1975)

Transcriber: Stan

Surnames: Rankl, Holton, Grant, Tennant

----Source: Tribune/Phonograph (Abbotsford, Clark Co., Wis.) 10 Apr 1975

The Town of Holton, Marathon County, held their 100th annual meeting on Tuesday, April 1, 1975. The first meeting of the township was held in a log cabin on the R. C. Tennant farm, which now belongs to Jerome Rankl.

George W. Holton, after whom the town was named, was considered the first homesteader in this area. He proved his homestead in December 1873, and received a deed to his farm signed by Ulysses S. Grant in August 1874.

The Town of Holton was a part of the Town of Hull in March 26, 1874, and became a separate township on September 17, 1875. On May 30, 1878, the Town of Holton included the Town of Johnson.

At its beginning, the Town of Holton included 36 sections, and every other one was owned by the railroad. The railroad has since sold all of its property.

For a number of years, the annual meetings were held in the district schoolhouses number one and three.

The Town of Holton is mainly an agricultural township and has no industry and very few businesses.

There is a difference of one years between the Town of Holton’s records and Marathon County’s records.