Friesland, Columbia County, Wisconsin
Friesland is a village in Columbia County, Wisconsin. At the time of the War of the Rebellion, it was commonly referred to as Randolph Centre.
Origins
From the Village of Friesland website:
"Early settlers, primarily of German and Welsh decent, initially called the area the Town of Le Roy. On April 3, 1848 the name was changed to the Town of Portage Prairie and one year later in 1849, the name was changed again, at which point it became the Town of Randolph. The very center of the 6 square miles in the township, which consists of 36 sections, was established as a village called Randolph Centre.
Even though Randolph Centre, at an early day was platted as a village, not enough residents were interested in becoming village officers. Therefore, it remained part of the Town of Randolph and was governed by the Town Board.
In 1910 and 1911, Chicago & Northwestern Railroad extended a line through Randolph Centre. The community was fortunate enough to have a depot placed here and sadly it was demolished in the 1970’s. At the time, the mail was delivered by rail. The Randolph Center community wished to have a post office. The postal authorities demanded that a different name be chosen for this community. They felt there would be too much confusion with South Randolph, the Village of Randolph, the Township of Randolph and Randolph Centre. Randolph Centre was renamed Friesland by the Dutch immigrants. The name was chosen in honor of their homeland, the Province of Friesland in the Netherlands."
Antebellum
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Demographics and Population Information
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Friesland in the Civil War
- Over 4 soldiers from Friesland, Wisconsin served in the War of the Rebellion (Click for full list - NOTE: Because the village was still referred to as Randolph Centre, this list is primarily composed of troops who enlisted from this village)
Post War
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Soldiers Buried in Friesland
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Notes
