Finding Amelia: a Black Woman Navigates Life in Wisconsin's Mining District

Amelia "Meal" Hopper arrived in the mining district of southwestern Wisconsin in the mid-nineteenth century, supporting herself as a domestic servant and even operating a bakery in Cuba City. What brought this young Black woman to rural Wisconsin? What was her experience like? This is an attempt to answer those questions, searching for traces of her unique life in the records left behind.

Amelia's early years are a mystery. She was born in New York State, likely around 1840. Her race, when noted at all in census records, was described as "mulatto," an outdated term defined by Merriam-Webster as "the first-generation offspring of a Black person and a white person," or "a person of mixed white and Black ancestry." 

Amelia's parents were both born in New York, as well. Their identities and circumstances are unknown, but Amelia's death record lists the name of her father as "Clark" and her mother's maiden name as Hopper. Interestingly, a prominent man and slave owner named Jasper Hopper lived in Onondaga County, New York, where Amelia first appears in census records. [1] Slavery legally existed in New York State until 1827.

At the age of thirteen, Amelia was living on a farm near Syracuse with Matthew and Chloe Van Vleck and their three young children. The girl presumably served as household help and, though her relationship with the Van Vlecks is not explicitly stated in the census, it certainly was a life-changing one. When the family left New York for more opportunities in the West, it seems that Amelia joined them.

By 1855, Matthew Van Vleck and family had made their home in the mining region of Jamestown, Wisconsin.  Matthew's father, Henry, had arrived in the district two decades earlier and was working what was called the Menomonie Diggings in the Jamestown area. Matthew followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a successful miner and farmer, as well as operating a store and engaging in several other pursuits, including a short-lived circus!

The initial Jamestown settlement was located in the southwestern corner of Grant County, around the intersection of today's County Road H and Jimtown Road. Residences and businesses also popped up further south in an area that would be called South Jamestown, Puckerville, and finally, Louisburg.

 

The settlement of Jamestown is visible at the top of this map, at the border of Jamestown and Hazel Green Townships. This detail comes from the 1857 Map of Grant County, Wisconsin, by James Wilson. (Digitized by the Library of Congress.)

This detail of the Jamestown area, and the future Louisburg, come from the 1868 New Map of Grant County, Wisconsin, by Gray & Pattengill. (Digitized by the Library of Congress.)

 

As far as available records are concerned, Amelia Hopper lived in the Jamestown area for over 25 years. The teenager was no longer living with Matthew and Chloe Van Vleck in 1855, but she remained nearby, first keeping house for Chloe's mother and then, in 1860, for Matthew's parents. Amelia would continue to move around where she was needed, living with the widow Barbara Collogan in 1875 on a farm northeast of Kieler, and then on to the Louisburg area where, for the first time in the census records, she lived on her own, likely working for a nearby family.

It is hard to imagine what life was like for Amelia Hopper when she arrived in this rural mining settlement. The young woman could read and write, and if she had the time or the inclination to peruse one of the local newspapers (or most American publications, really), she would have found jokes and stories depicting African Americans as witless or nefarious creatures. Advertisements were also abundant for minstrel shows, a form of entertainment that promoted similar negative stereotypes of Black people.

The southwestern corner of Wisconsin had become home to many settlers of European descent, including several from the southern United States, some of whom supported slavery. Roughly ten years before Amelia set foot in Jamestown, an abolitionist attempted to speak about the evils of slavery in nearby Fairplay, only to be pelted with eggs and bricks and forced to flee for his life under cover of darkness. [2]

Amelia lived in the Jamestown area during the Civil War when residents were divided between supporting the Union or sympathizing with the Confederacy. Matthew Van Vleck, for example, was part of a pro-Lincoln group of men who volunteered to serve the Union. Other residents did not support the war, and these divisive politics allegedly resulted in the removal (and later reinstatement) of the Jamestown postmaster a few years after the war's end. [3] [4]

The number of African Americans in Grant County increased after the Civil War, from 35 in 1860 to 105 in 1875. [5] But, as the population breakdown below illustrates, that growth did not occur in the southern part of the county. The numbers for Jamestown Township are highlighted, the columns representing white men and women, followed by "colored" men and women. Amelia remained the sole Black resident of the township, and out of the neighboring townships, only one other Black man is recorded living in Smelser. [6]

The 1875 population of Grant County, published in The History of Grant County (1881).

 

By 1895, Amelia had left Jamestown Township for Cuba City, a nearby village along the railroad that was growing steadily thanks to the surrounding farms and recently revived mining industry. Cuba City boasted a population of 441 when Amelia lived there. [7] There were two churches within the village limits, a high school, telephone service, and a weekly newspaper. A quick scan of a directory from this period also finds a hotel, bank, barber, blacksmith, two physicians, four saloons, and a variety of other shops and businesses. [8] 

According to one history of Cuba City, Amelia ran a small bakery at the corner of Main and Calhoun Streets, where Hops Auto Service is today. [9] There is no mention of a bakery in the Wisconsin business directory from this time, but there is a structure at that location on the 1895 map below.  

 

This map of Cuba City can be found in the 1895 Plat Book of Grant County, Wisconsin. C. M. Foote & Co. (Digitized by the Wisconsin Historical Society.)

Another of Amelia's occupations during this period of her life was caterer and/or event planner. Her actual role in the "balls" mentioned below is not clear, but it was obviously considered worth noting in the newspaper:

 "A grand ball was held at the residence of Mr Herman Rousch at Long Grove Tuesday evening January 21, 1896, given by Amelia Hopper and Will Rousch." -- Galena Daily Gazette (January 23, 1896).

"A grand ball will be given in John Ash's hall at Louisburg, Friday evening Nov. 19, given by Miss M. Hopper." -- Galena Daily Gazette (November 15, 1897).

It was likely Amelia's connection with the Herman and Caroline Rousch family in the 1890s that explains her appearance in the photograph below, taken at the wedding of Caroline's brother, Peter Johns, and Laura Himan.

 

Amelia Hopper is visible standing behind a gentleman at the far left of this photograph, which was taken at the wedding of Peter Johns and Laura Himan on August 25, 1891 in Paris Township. Local photographer George H. Perry was responsible for capturing this impressive image. (Photo credit: Linda Hansen and Bob Johns.)

At the turn of the new century, Amelia left southwestern Wisconsin for what may have been the first time since her arrival fifty years earlier. By 1901, the now middle-aged woman was living on Dubuque's North End, working as a laundress. She resided at three different locations during this time: 1105 High Bluff, 1202 Garfield, and 983 High Bluff. [10] [11] The census record for Amelia below was recorded while she was at the latter location and contains one of the more unique interpretations of her race.

1905 Iowa State Census (Dubuque County), available online from Familysearch.org.

 

By 1910, Amelia was back in Wisconsin and, in the last few years of her life, she continued to do what she had always done: move from place to place, and household to household, working where she was needed. One such household was that of widower William Banfield and his four children on a farm on St. Rose Road, east of Highway 80. Amelia was living here in 1910; her occupation was "servant".

Amelia also apparently still worked at the Herman and Caroline Rousch farm, where she had given a dance in 1896. The photograph below was taken with the Rousch family, who lived west of Georgetown in Long Grove. According to Caroline Rousch's great-nephew, Charles Nichols, "Meal" Hopper served as hired help for the family for many years. This photograph was likely taken toward the end of Amelia's life.

Charles Nichols provided this photograph and, according to him, the woman seated on the edge of the porch is Caroline Rousch. Behind her, in black, is Mrs. Mae Dall, of Jenkynsville. One of the boys, likely the younger, is Delbert "Dutch" Dall. Amelia stands off to the side, wrapped in a shawl.

 

In July 1912, Amelia must have begun noticing medical symptoms she could no longer ignore and sought the care of Cuba City physician, D. L. Brady. By December, her illness had progressed, and she passed away on December 17, 1912, at the home of William and Catherine Lange, perhaps the final family she served, who lived at the corner of St. Rose Road and Highway 80. The official cause of death was "cancer of liver."

The following notice of her death was originally published in the Cuba City Herald:

"Amelia Hopper died at the home of Wm. Lange, at St. Rose, Tuesday evening, at 11:00 o'clock, of a complication of ailments after having been sick the past several weeks. As nearly as can be computed, she was about 73 years of age." --The Pick and Gad (Shullsburg; December 26, 1912)

Amelia's burial was arranged by Cuba City undertakers Kenney & Bartlett and she was laid to rest at the St. Rose Catholic Cemetery north of town. Her gravestone stands alone in an unusually vacant section of the cemetery. The 1823 birth year on her grave was a best guess by those erecting the stone, though it likely ages her 15-20 years beyond her actual lifespan. It is not clear why 1913 was inscribed as the death date, but the St. Rose church records also incorrectly list that as the year of her death. 

 

 

Despite the wealth of information found about Amelia, so many questions remain--questions not as easily answered by census records or newspaper articles. What was she like? What did her social circle look like? Why did she stay in this area? So many questions, most of which will likely remain unanswered. Still, bringing Amelia out of the shadows makes our local history so much richer.

 

**I am indebted to the late Charlie Nichols for sharing the photograph of Amelia Hopper with the Rousch family, as well as Linda Hansen and Bob Johns for saving and sharing the image of Amelia at the Johns-Himan wedding. Also thanks to Dick Bartlett, Sharon Steines at the St. Rose parish office, and the Grant County Register of Deeds for searching their records!

Notes

[1] Bruce, Dwight H., ed. Onondaga's Centennial: Gleanings of a Century. Boston: Boston History Company, 1896, 854.

[2] Mathews, Edward. "An Abolitionist in Territorial Wisconsin: the Journal of Reverend Edward Mathews (Part III)." Wisconsin Magazine of History 52, no. 3 (Spring 1969): 248-250

[3] "Meeting of the Citizens of Jamestown," Grant County Witness (Platteville, WI), May 9, 1861.

[4] "Wisconsin Items," Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI), Feb. 9, 1867.

[5] Holford, Castello N. History of Grant County Wisconsin. Lancaster, WI: Teller Print, 1900, 58.

[6] History of Grant County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1881, 252.

[7] "The County Seat," The Times Review (Fennimore, WI), August 14, 1895.

[8] Wisconsin State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1895-96. Vol. 6. Chicago: R. L. Polk & Co., 274-275.

[9] Cuba City Centennial: 100 Years, 1875 to 1975. 1975.

[10] Dubuque and Dubuque County Directory. Dubuque, IA: Telegraph-Herald and McCoy Directory Co., 1906.

[11] M. S. Hardie's Dubuque City Directory. Dubuque, Iowa: M. S. Hardie, 1901-1903.