Rare Earliest Version 1852 Mitchell Map №15 Wisconsin & Michigan
This early version of Map №15 can be confirmed by the configuration of St. Croix County, WI.
When Wisconsin was admitted to the Union as a full-fledged state in 1848, the western boundary was set at the Saint Croix River, thus creating the western boundary of St. Croix County. After this, Saint Croix County was considerably larger than it is today—including what is now Pierce and Polk counties—until a final reorganization of county boundaries in 1853. The towns of Elizabeth and Buena Vista were laid out at the first meeting of the county board of supervisors in 1849. Elizabeth was renamed Prescott in 1851. Buena Vista was changed to Willow River and changed again to Hudson in 1852, as it remains today.
Most №15 maps show a truncated St. Croix County reduced by Polk County.
This map was taken from
Mitchell's School Atlas
Designed to Accompany Mitchell's School and Family Geography
Published by
Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co.
1853
Samuel Augustus Mitchell
Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1792-1864) was a renown American geographer. Born in Connecticut he worked as a geography teacher but soon realizing there were only poor quality geographical resources available to teachers he turned to publishing. He moved to Philadelphia, a major center for publishing at the time, around 1830 and founded his company. An early adopter of steel plate engraving. With J.H. Young as his principle engraver his company became one of the leading map and atlas publishers of the nineteenth century. His son S. Augustus Mitchell become owner in 1860.
Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co.
An American publishing company based in Philadelphia. They were part of the flowering of American atlas and map publishing in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Originally a school publisher, they expanded to sell many geographic materials and published many famous works.
Atlas cover and title page shown in the photos are not part of the sale
but are for documentation of the maps origin only.