Plinny Perkins, Burlington, Wis.-- Part 2: Abolitionist

Plinny Perkins was one of the early residents of Burlington.  He and others were attracted to the area in southeast Wisconsin because of the fertile fields for agriculture and the availability of water power from the Fox and White rivers.

He was a shareholder in the abolitionist newspaper The American Free Man which was published in Milwaukee and later Waukesha.

He died 21 August 1889 and is buried at Burlington Cemetery in section E.

His house still stands at 565 W. State Street.

Quite the Entrepreneur.  --Old Secesh

Burlington, Wisconsin, in the Civil War

From the April 2018 Spirit of Geneva Lakes  "Historic Downtown Burlington."

Located in southeast Wisconsin near the Illinois border.  First settlers arrived in mid to late 1830s seeking fertile farmlands and water power for mills at the junction of the White and Fox rivers.

A grist mill supplied flour locally as well as to Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine.

A woolen mill made the first roll of cloth produced in Wisconsin.  During the Civil War is supplied cloth for Union soldier uniforms.

Wheat was the leading farm product through the Civil War but much effort turned to livestock and dairying after that.

--Old Secesh