*James P. Lyle, a native of Nova Scotia, selected the first claim in the Township in 1855.

*The Crow River was a favorite hunting and fishing route for the Sioux Indians.

*The first marriage in Franklin Township was Riley Sturman and Louisa Murphy, December 25, 1857.

*US Township census: 1860=353, 1870=797, 1880=2005, 2021=2913

Life for the early settlers, even under the best of circumstances, was exhausting and rugged.  There were ordeals of cutting timber, building houses of logs, and sharing work at the sawing operation that was carried out at Lyle's place.  Taking turns, the settlers were sometimes able to cut as much as 200 feet of rough lumber a day manning a system that had one man standing in a pit beneath a log and one above to operate a cross-cut saw.  The settlers traveled to Watertown and Rockford in canoes or dugouts, but navigating a loaded canoe was difficult.  Roads went through to Watertown and Rockford in 1858, making it possible to bring some lumber in from mills in those towns.

Beyond the struggle to build houses, to hack small fields out of the woods, and to secure provisions, the grasshoppers of 1856 and 1857 took nearly all the crops. With no money for anything, many settlers spoke of leaving the area. Then things changed. Ginseng was in high demand and Franklin was noted for an abundance of the gold producing root. The outlook for the settlers took a cheerful turn as plenty was in the land.

Wright County was divided into townships in 1858.  Township 118, range 25 was designated as Newport.  Since there was a town named Newport in Washington County, residents petitioned to have the name changed.  The commissioners named it Franklin.  The first town meeting was held at the White home, May 11, 1858.  The following officers were elected:  Supervisors, C. A. Wright (chairman), William McKinley and Fred Adickes; town clerk, J. J. Wright; assessor, J. B. White; treasurer and collector, J. P. Lyle; justice of the peace, Samuel Sturman; constable, Philip Martin; overseer of the poor, David White.

Smallpox broke out in 1872.  Stricken households were quarantined and the roads closed.  The house of F. J. Bauman became a hospital.  The only death was that of Bauman who sacrificed his life as the result of being a good neighbor.