History & Community

Looking west from Southwick Creek on Geneva Street

HISTORY & Community

History Timeline
U.S. - Wisconsin, Geneva Lake and Williams Bay

1829-1837 Andrew Jackson
1830 Indian Removal Act
1831 Electron Microscope
1831 Kinzie Party comes upon Big Foot Lake
1832 Black Hawk War
1833 Land treaty with Indians clear
Southern Wisconsin land titles.
1834 Refrigerator Invented
1834 Combine Harvester
1834 John Brink surveys and renames Big Foot Lake Geneva Lake
1835 Morse code
1836 Creation of Wisconsin Territory
1836 Walworth County organized, population was 200
1836 Israel Williams Jr. and brother Moses arrives on South shore of Geneva Lake and builds cabins
1836 Potawatomi relocated to Kansas
1837 Captain Israel Williams arrives in the Wisconsin Territory on July 4th
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Williams Bay: A History
Written by William Dean, Editor Williams Bay Observer
March 12, 1896 - May 7, 1896

In the early part of the nineteenth century when Geneva Lake, then called Big Foot Lake was known only to the denizens of the forest, and a few wandering hunters, traders, and explorers, here dwelt on its shores a band of Potawatomi Indians under the rule of the great Chief Bigfoot.
Where the Village of Williams Bay now stands, was then a cluster of Indian wigwams. There was another village at the head of the lake, now Fontana. Chief Bigfoot seems to have spent a portion of his time at each of his villages.
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History of Williams Bay
Compiled by Mrs. G. Van Biesbroeck
February 1957

Unfortunately, the early settlers of Williams Bay did not leave much in writing about their experiences. However, Colonel Samuel F. Phoenix, the first settler in Delavan kept a diary, and from that, we can get some very good word pictures of the neighborhood, as first viewed by Israel Jr. and Moses Williams.
To the early explorers, the country seemed a veritable paradise, just waiting for man to enter into its possession. The southern and eastern parts of the county, which were the first to be viewed by prospectors, was watered by the most considerable lakes in the county.
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The Rock at Conference Point What Do You Call It?
by Deb Soplanda

Around the western edge of Conference Point in Williams Bay lies a source of controversy. Jutting into Geneva Lake, this object has been a source of heated debate for many years. This object is a giant boulder of granite lying next to the ancient shore path-what is its name?
Putting the question to local Williams Bay History Buffs on Facebook, a surprising variety of names appeared. “Kissing Rock,” “Indian Rock,” “THE Rock,” names I had never heard before began appearing. Different generations seemed to have called it different names.

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Excerpt from Wau-bun
by Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie

Chapter XXV Return Journey Continued

...The third day of our journey rose brilliantly clear, like the two preceding ones, and we shaped our course more to the north than we had hitherto done, in the direction of Big-foot Lake, now known by the somewhat hackneyed appellation, Lake of Geneva.
Our journey this day was without mishaps or disasters of any kind. The air was balmy; the foliage of the forests fresh and fragrant, the little brooks clear and sparkling--everything in nature spoke the praises of the beneficent Creator.

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Chief Big Foot: A Proud Heritage, Legacy, and Region
Reprinted with the permission of John V. and Mary Jane Waters

Nestled in south-central Wal[1]worth County, running along the pristine waters of Geneva Lake, lays the present-day village of Fontana, Wisconsin, once home to a Potawatomi tribe under the leadership of Chief Maunk-suck or Big Foot. This area is rich in century old Native American roots and heritage.
The Potawatomi tribe was part of the Nishinabe triad or “The first man lowered to Earth by the Great Spirit.” Comprised of the Ojibwa, or Chippewa, the Ottawa, and the Potawatomi, each played a vital role in the Nishinabe nation for they were known as the nation of the Three Fires.
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Potawatomi Facts and Mythology

Orange dots = campsites
Yellow Dots = burial sites
Green Dot = Holy Site
Black Dot= Most holy location site of the Spirit Stone

Info from the 1927 Archeological Survey of Potawatomi by the WI State Historical Society.

Also - the Thunderbird lived at Conference Point and Water Panther as well!
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Family Tree of Captain Israel Williams

CROMWELL/WILLIAMS GENEALOGY
By Wilma R. Willis Moore, great granddaughter of Florence May Williams
Source: Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine pages 229-232,
Richard Williams of Taunton and his connection with the Cromwell Family page 209,
And The New England Hist. & Genealogical , Josiah H. Drummond pages 210-212
"The late Honorable Joseph Hartwell Williams of Augusta, Ex-Governor of Maine, a descendant of Richard Williams of Taunton, many years ago became interested in the history of the family, and there after, to the close of his life, devoted much time and money to this object in the face of obstacles that would have daunted any man not able to exercise the wonderful patience and perseverance of Mr. Williams in their researches.
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Education Organization of Williams Bay School

Williams Bay School district was organized in November 1899 when State Superintendent of Schools D. D. Harvey met with Village residents at the home of Festus Williams. Arrangements were made to hold classes in the basement of the Scandinavian Church for $5 per month until a permanent location could be built. Funds were appropriated for building a schoolhouse and for erecting a 7x12 foot outhouse on the church property with the stipulation that it would later be moved to the new school yard.
A site for the new school was found on the northeast corner of Congress & Collie Streets. Read More

Churches Organization of Williams Bay's Churches

Church was an important part of the lives of residents in Williams Bay. The first organized church in the Village was the Free Evangelical Lutheran Church on the southwest corner of Geneva and Williams Streets, formed in 1891. Many of the early Bay residents had a strong Scandinavian heritage and because of this, services in Swedish and Norwegian were alternated weekly. For this reason the church became known as the Scandinavian Church.
A small church west of the village on North Walworth Road, near the intersection with highway 67 and County Road F, served residents who wanted services in English.
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