William Hodson - Turtleville

𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄'𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐀 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐍𝐎𝐖

by Betty Walrath

Soon, the last vestige remaining of the once-thriving settlement of Turtleville will be gone. Lying in the verdant Turtle Creek Valley near the little hamlet of Shopiere in Rock County, the William Hodson house was once the showplace of the southern Wisconsin countryside.

For well over a century, time and the elements have acted as a demolition team. Tarnished by stinging winter storms and scorching summer suns, her pewter gray walnut timbers have been slowly rotting. Doors that once slammed shut with ringing voices, now sag on rusted hinges. Empty window eyes stare in vacant sockets and blinds that once screened intimacies, flap abandonedly.

This house, that once was home, is pregnant with memories of hand-stoked stoves and smell of golden loaves, down-filled quilts, drunken revelries, dark concealments, pounding horses hoofs and rumbling wagon wheels.

Now, this decrepit beauty shows only traces of her elegant past. When she is gone, nothing will be left to show that once back in the late 1800's a prosperous little community hummed with activity here.

Many stories have sprung up about this old, historic house. A great many have no basis in fact, - according to a man who should know. He is Kenneth Kettlehorn, grandson of Jens Jensen, who bought the place in 1903.

"The stories about this being a stagecoach stop or inn aren't true. Neither are those that tell of Hodson using the tunnel in his house to help slaves escape to the creek," Kettlehorn says.

Records do show that an Englishman by the name of William Hodson came to Turtleville in 1850.

Here, he found a dam, sawmill and store, that had Been built by John and Abel Lewis, who had come to the region from Pennsylvania in 1838.

The Lewises had selected Turtleville for the same reason many early settlements were chosen.It was a good milling site. Since mills were operated by water power, it was necessary to build a mill along a stream and Turtle Creek was ideal for that purpose.

At one time Rock County was one of the leading milling areas in the Upper Midwest. Wheat and corn grown on the land left empty by the Indians and settled by farmers in the 1800's had to be transported by horse or oxen over rough roads and farmers found it difficult to get their grain to market unless there was a mill nearby.

The Lewises erected a timber house at Turtleville, even before they had received title to the land, a practice that was common in those days.

When Hodson arrived in 1850, he demonstrated his ability and affluence by soon having a flouring mill and distillery in operation. It was a sizeable plant employing many people and soon the settlement became a prosperous place with a stone schoolhouse where town meetings were held, a blacksmith shop, a Baptist church with an active membership and many residences,

On the site overlooking Turtle Creek and across from his distillery, Hodson had a large frame house built. Walnut was hewn out of the nearby woods and sawed at the Turtleville mill. Some of the boards used in construction were two feet wide and an inch and a quarter thick.

The house was Greek Revival in feeling and had 17 rooms with 12-foot ceilings and several fireplaces. French window-doors were placed to open out onto the yard, where flower gardens, shrubs and fruit trees were planted. In the cellar, arched vaults were used for storing "spirits".

Here, Hodson lived the life of a country gentleman with his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Maria. Miss Angelina Beckwith from England acted as his secretary and companion for Maria.

Among the stories that are true, Kettlehorn says, are the ones that tell of Hodson's sympathy for the South during the Civil War. He refused to put stamps on his whiskey, as was required by the government, and shipped barrels of liquor hidden under loads of potatoes to conceal them. One of his hired hands turned out to be a government agent, who revealed his employer's deception. The government then moved to confiscate everything that Hodson owned.

Records show Hodson was ordered to pay the sum of $98,407.50 in a decree handed down by the U.S. District Court in October 1867 in La Crosse. All efforts of Hodson to place property in the names of others in order to escape the collection of assessments against him met with failure.

In February 1872, all of his property was conveyed to the U.S. government and on the 30th of June, 1876, a public auction was held at the front door of the Rock County Courthouse in Janesville. Here, all the property, including the flouring mill and house was sold for $3,000 to the First National Bank of Janesville, the highest bidder.

Meanwhile, Hodson was seen wandering in and out of taverns in the Janesville area, playing his fiddle and drinking heavily. He was listed in the 1866 Janesville directory as a "gentleman" and died there before 1884.

On July 30, 1877, the bank sold the Turtleville property to James Cleland of Janesville. He, in turn, sold it to Jens Jensen and his wife, Karen, on June 22, 1903.

"My grandfather, Jens Jensen, was known as "triphammer John" because he invented the first trip hammer used in a Racine factory. He founded the Belle City Malleable Iron Company in Racine," Kettlehorn says.

After his grandparents bought the Hodson place, they lived there with their children, Jennie, Jinny, Inga, Martin, Louis and James. Kenneth was the only child of the marriage between Jennie and William Kettlehorn.

For several years Martin lived a lonely existence in the Hodson place. Then, only the whining wind, raccoon's scratching and squeaking of mice disturbed the quiet.

Many, passing the weathered derelict, have remarked, "How sad... someone should restore this place."

And there have been those who have tried. One couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Carlson, went to the extent of purchasing it in 1967 with the intent of restoration. When they discovered the cost, they backed off. Others investigated its possibilities, but gave up when they learned how badly the structure had deteriorated.

And there have been those who have tried. One couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Carlson, went to the extent of purchasing it in 1967 with the intent of restoration. When they discovered the cost, they backed off. Others investigated its possibilities but gave up when they learned how badly the structure had deteriorated.

Soon, nothing will be left of a mansion that has captured the imagination of most who have passed it in the past century. Only rippling shadows in the creek tell where the mill dam once was. Over on the west bank of the stream above its willows, is Turtleville Cemetery, where lie the Turtle pioneers. Small stones mark their graves in accord with the austere Puritan tradition that marked their lives.

Aged hawthorns, that have lived through generations, and woods of shadowy birch, walnut, and oak are all that will remain to mark the site of Turtleville, the place that time forgot.