Timeline: Pre-1860

Electa Quinney

Electa Quinney

Electa "Wuhwehweeheemeew" Quinney was Wisconsin's first public schoolteacher.
Caroline Quarlls

Caroline Quarlls

At age 16, Caroline Quarlls was the first known person to escape slavery through Wisconsin’s Underground Railroad network.
Ho-poe-kaw Glory of the Morning

Ho-poe-kaw Glory of the Morning

Ho-poe-kaw, which translates to “Glory of the Morning,” was a Ho-Chunk chief in the 1700s.
Elizabeth Baird

Elizabeth Baird

Elizabeth Baird’s newspaper stories about the developing Green Bay area in the 1800s were among the earliest written accounts of life in Wisconsin.