CHAPTER XIV

Durward's Glen--Short History of the Durward Family--Attractive Features of Interesting Place

From Baraboo to Durward's Glen is a trip of exceptional interest and scenic beauty. The ten-mile drive over a picturesque highway which stretches along the backbone of the south range of the Baraboo Bluffs affords rare glimpses of open valleys and wooded slopes, with the Wisconsin River visible in the distance. The Glen, the erstwhile home of the gifted Durward family, is a delightful retreat where the visitor is welcome to spread his lunch by the murmuring trout stream, enjoy the natural beauty of the spot, and the charm of interesting association.

Way to the Glen

In journeying to the Glen, variety of view is obtained by taking the road, from Baraboo, on top of the bluffs and returning by the main highway. The Merrimack road leads via Ringlingville, through Glenville, and on up the bluff to the flat top about three miles from town. Following the first turn to the left a level tract is soon noticed on the right as the machine passes a German Lutheran church and public school. On the unbroken surface reposed a glacial lake hemmed in on one side by ice, and on the other by the hills. But a short distance beyond, on the left, kettle holes (cavities left by melting blocks of ice) may be seen, also the terminal moraine, a ridge of land but a few rods away.

Point Sauk

About two miles from the church, where the road curves slightly to the right, a by-road disappears between a farmhouse and barn, formerly the P. Fitzsimmons homestead. Less than a quarter of a mile from the main road, to the right as one proceeds, is Point Sauk, the most elevated land in the entire region, 1620 feet high. Here one obtains an extensive view. With a glass the capitol dome at Madison, 285 feet high, the highest but one in the United States and the highest but three in the world, nearly thirty miles away, may be seen on the horizon.

Continuing on the main road less than a half-mile to Wawanissee Point. Lake Wisconsin may be seen in the hazy distance, the village of Merrimack being hidden on the right.

Stepping into the wooded pasture and ascending a knoll, a wonderous view is enjoyed. The checkered farms, the shimmering lake, the distant hills combine in making one of the charming pictures of the region. Wawanissee is an Indian word which means beauty or beautiful.

To the left, this side of the river, the Owl's Head, a knot of an elevation, lifts itself above the surrounding country.

Turning to the left at the T in the road, swinging to the right at the first turn, the way but a few rods from the T, leads directly to Durward's Glen. There one stops by a gate at the left, after crossing a bridge at the bottom a hill.

The Durwards

Bernard I. Durward, a professor, poet, and painter, was born at Montrose, Scotland, and married Margaret Hilyard in the Episcopal church at Manchester, England. They came to America and some time after, at the request of a friend, Joshua Hathaway of Milwaukee, Mr. Durward painted a portrait of Archbishop Henni. While engaged on the picture, the artist was converted to Catholicism. He often remarked that while he got the bishop's picture, the bishop got him. The portrait, with one of Mr. Hathaway, is now in the possession of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, at Madison.

Wisconsin Was a Territory

It was in 1845 that the father, mother, and two sons came from England to Wisconsin, then a territory. They reached Milwaukee without funds but provision for the family was soon assured by an order for a portrait from a merchant in the city. Before making Milwaukee their home, however, the family spent a short time in Dodge County and of this experience a son, Rev. Fr. J. T. Durward, has written:

"Indians being then plentiful and Cooper's tales the popular reading, it was no place for a young wife and children, so he rented a house in Milwaukee; his profession also requiring the more populous locality."

While the family resided in Milwaukee the father painted portraits and occupied the chair of belles lettres in St. Francis seminary. But the ebullitions of life in a city, even the size of Milwaukee, disturbed the artistic mind and the painter sought seclusion in a retreat amongst the Caledonia Hills at the Glen. Like Thoreau, politics, palaces and paved streets had no lure for his aesthetic temperament.

The Children

Frederick, afterwards called Bernard, was born in England and died at Riverside, Milwaukee.

Percy, the future artist known as Charles, was born in England and died at the Glen from eating water hemlock. He employed an "o" in his name, spelling it Dorward, the usual form after the so-called reformation. Earlier in Scotch history the name was spelled Durward.

Emerson, afterwards John Thomas, was born in Milwaukee and died in Baraboo in 1918. For many years he had charge of St. Joseph's church in the city, supervised the erection of the present edifice, and wrote a number of books, "Holy Land and Holy Writ," "Durward's Life and Poems," and others.

Emma Theresa, the first daughter, was born and died in Milwaukee. The baby's funeral was by boat and interment was on the Durward property in that city.

Allan, afterwards Rev. James Durward of St. James' Church, St. James, Minnesota, is the owner of the Glen but continues to reside at St. James.

Wilfred J. Durward, taxidermist, photographer, and author of "Annals of the Glen," was born in Milwaukee. For many years his home has been near Tacoma, Washington, where he married in 1919.

Andrew, born in Milwaukee resides near Tacoma, Washington. His marriage was solemnized in the Glen chapel.

Miss Mary Thecla Durward was born at the Glen and after many years in the state of Washington now calls Baraboo her home.

When the Durward family came from Milwaukee in a one-horse wagon in 1862, crossing the Wisconsin River at Portage, the Glen was reached on November 1, All Saint's Day. Near the trout stream which flows through the Glen and close to the first stepping-stones, is the Maltese Cross cut in the hard sandstone to commemorate their arrival. Just above is the Guardian of the Glen, a bit of art in nature's wild.

Weeping Ledge

Continuing up the stream to the boundary of the Glen property, the brook laughs over the projecting stones. Just below is the Weeping Ledge and as the author of "The Annals of the Glen" remarks; "Here one sees that the Glen is indeed

'Filled with streams forever weeping, Through the rocks in mossy rills.'"

When B. I. Durward led visitors to the spot, especially if there were young ladies in the company, he would roguishly remark: "Bathe your brow at the ledge and you will be ever beautiful." Seldom a miss neglected the opportunity.

St. Mary's of the Pines

Ascending the hill by a slender path one reaches St. Mary's of the Pines, standing on a knoll. Here occasionally there has been a baptism, a marriage, and a funeral, three important events in the life of man. The chapel was erected by the family, neighbors and friends in 1866.

Two of the sons, James and John, said their first mass here. (James was ordained at Collegeville, Minnesota, and John at St. Francis, Milwaukee.) Charles, the artist, the father and mother, Father John, as well as others have been buried from it, and one son, Andrew, was married here.

The station shrines encircling the chapel and the cemetery are from designs by Delaroche and others. They were painted by Charles, and erected in 1889. Returning from a trip to Palestine that year, Father John brought a little soil from the site of the stations in the Via Dolorosa at Jerusalem, "and this was incorporated in these making this hill-top a veritable Holy Land."

The father, mother, and two sons sleep on the slope in front of the boulder-made church. The inscription for the elder Durward reads:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Bernard I. Durward * * Poet * * Painter, Professor * * Born * * March 26, 1817 * * Died * * March 21, 1902 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For the mother the following appears:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Theresa M. Durward * * Mother of Priests * * Born * * Feb. 7, 1821 * * Died * * April 22, 1907 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The inscription for the priest reads:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Beloved * * Father John * * Born * * March 7, 1847 * * Died * * Sept. 9, 1918 * * He Wrought in Words * * and Builded of Stone * * and by Grace in the * * Hearts of Men. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A stone for the artist stands at one side, a portion of the inscription reading:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Charles Dorward * * Born * * Sept. 27, 1844 * * Died * * Nov. 12, 1875 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Freshet Is Disturbing

When the family first came to the Glen, a little cabin that stood between the bridge, near the spring, and the cliff, was their home. One night a storm arose and the flood of ice, snow and water came pouring through the family shelter. The sleepers were aroused by the onrush and there was much commotion within. As related in "The Annals," one of the urchins, when the lightning flashed, caught sight of the flood from the top of the stair and cried out with pessimistic instinct that afterwards distinguished him:

"O we're all killed, we're all killed."

The trap door of the cellar floated open on its hinges, and a confused medley of carrots, beets, onions, and turnips were vomited out, while the rats clung to the grain bags and had to be knocked off into the water.

In this cottage the only daughter, Mary Thecla, was born and in his venerable years the father kept a rose bush growing there to mark the spot.

The family garden was then between the brook and the wooded slope.

The Fountain

Ceaselessly flows the fountain by the path across the bridge. This was erected by the poet in memory of his friends and literary heroes. The Christian and Jewish years will be noticed at the base.

The star at the top of the keystone is for Miss Anna Eliza Star, a friend of the family. She resided in Chicago for many years and gave parlor lectures on art.

A de V is for Aubrey Thomas de Vere (1814-1902), the Irish poet and miscellaneous writer. He was a son of Sir Aubrey de Vere, also an Irish poet.

The Greek delta is the nom de plume under which the poet wrote.

On the right, B is for James Booth, a carver and gilder. He was a friend of Mr. Durward in Manchester, England, and later came to New York.

P is for Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (1823-1896), the English Catholic poet. He is best known as the author of "The Angel in the House."

Val Zimmerman, represented by the Z, was a merchant friend of the poet in Milwaukee. The sign for his store was the blue flag.

Captain John Nader, Madison, was a civil engineer and under his direction the wingdams along the Wisconsin River were built. He often made trips up and down the stream while supervising the work, frequently visiting the Glen.

The letter H on the left is for Joshua Hathaway, another civil engineer, who resided in Milwaukee.

He it was who sent the artist-poet to make a portrait of Archbishop Henni.

The stone marked R was placed in memory of John Ruskin.

The remaining stone is for W. J. Onahan, politician and welfare worker of Chicago.

The four basswood trees at the mouth of the Glen, near the Maltese Cross, are often mentioned as the Melzl Quartette, musical friends of the family.

A view of the Potsdam sandstone and basal conglomerate is best obtained by crossing the stepping stones, moving adroitly, if one would not baptise his soles. The rounded pebbles are of quartzite, broken pieces from the Baraboo Mountains of ancient times. Hewing down this wall has been the work of the little trout stream, which has exposed to view the formation left by the waves and action of the Potsdam Sea.

The trout at play in the winding brook and the trees clinging to the fern-clad cliff are interesting sights in this niche of the great outdoors.

The path from the fountain leads to the gallery and low-eaved cottage, the home for many years of the talented family. In the cottage, studio, and gallery the father and sons wrote and painted while the mother made beautiful lace for albs, treasured in many a Catholic church. General Sherman's wife obtained one for her reverend son, Jesuit priest.

Guarding the forest on the crest of the hill to the right is a row of cedars planted in memory of the sons and daughter. Perhaps the Glenman or Glenwoman will tell you about the great Norway spruces of unusual height, about the studio, about "Auld Geordie," the ancient bachelor who gave the disappointing party for the girls of the neighborhood, about the moosewood and other native plants, as well as a word about the feathered visitors that come to the Glen.