This chronology, which spans the years 1837 to 1904, is a brief exploration of the historical context within which the Frautschi letters were written. Included in the timeline below are important historical events and other items of interest related to Madison's and Wisconsin's history. Click on a date in the list to learn more about that event.

1837 -	Construction of first Capitol Building
1838 -	First school in Madison
1840 -	First Federal census in Wisconsin
1848 -	Wisconsin's statehood
1851 -	First University building
1854 -	First railroad reaches Madison
1856 -	Madison receives city charter
1860 -	Madison's population is 6,611
1861 -	Beginning of the Civil War
1863 -	Construction of Second Capitol building begins
1864 -	Railroad line from Chicago
1865 -	End of the Civil War
1866 -	Second Capitol opened
1870 -	State capital nearly moved to Milwaukee
1871 -	Several notable buildings erected
1875 -	First free library in Wisconsin
1878 -	President Hayes visits
1878 -	Destructive storms in three counties
1883 -	Another Capitol disaster
1887 -	President Cleveland visits
1894 -	Beginning of Madison Park System
1898 -	Spanish-American War
1898 -	Wisconsin celebrates 50 years of statehood
1899 -	President McKinley visits
1904 -	Second Capitol destroyed by fire

This chronology is part of The Wisconsin Mosaic, a class project in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. To return to the Wisconsin Mosaic home page, click the image at left.

For credits and information on source materials for this chronology, click here.