Middleton's Beginning

Middleton's Beginning. . This immediate area was the site of the first Middleton, settled shortly after Dane County was formed. Early settlers Harry Barnes and his father, Joe, were captains in the Civil War. Harry suggested that the area be called Middletown, after his home in Vermont. When the township was established in 1847 it was named Middleton., The cemetery was started at the top of the hill with the first burial in 1850. The Barnes families were buried there. Later additions brought the cemetery to the road, often referred to as Military Road or Stagecoach Road. It was the route used by teams hauling lead from Mineral Point to Milwaukee. The University farm home across the road, built by James D. Sanford, served as an inn and informal post office. Mr. Sanford also built a log building across the road from here which served as a first (private) school. Also in the area Ebenezer Clewett built the Junction House Hotel. There are several of the original homes still in use in the immediate area. A Congregational Church stood at this site until 1891, and a Methodist church stood at the N.E. corner of the cemetery., Early burials of note were: Clewett; Sanford; Joseph and Constance Taylor, great-grandparents of Wisconsin writer Zona Gale; Solomon Freeman, a freed slave who served the Middleton community; John W. and Lydia Morse, grandparents of Senator Wayne Morse; Jno McIntosh, a veteran of the war of 18 12; nineteen Civil War veterans; George W. VanNorman, a Spanish-American war veteran; and three generations of Drs. Rowley who served the area., When the railroad came through to the north in 1856, the village of Middleton developed there and this area became known as Middleton Junction.