Sampson is a town in Chippewa County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The population was 892 at the 2010 census.

History

The squares that would become Sampson were first surveyed in June 1852 by a crew working for the U.S. government. That fall other crews marked all the section corners of the six mile squares, walking through the woods and wading the swamps, measuring with

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

and

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description of the western six miles:

This Township contains numerous small ponds many of them have no outlet the bottoms are sand or gravel the water clear and abound in fish, The Lake superior Trail comes in in section 34 with a N.N.W. cours passes over a divideing ridge between the waters of Oneals creek and those of Duncans Creek and goes out of sec 6, West of this Trail is a large swamp unfit for cultivation, the largest portion of this Township is well Timbered with
Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
& Hard Wood

A different crew surveyed the eastern six miles of the town, describing it thus:

This Township contains a great many Lakes and Swamps one Stream of water on the East Side. The Timber on dry land principally
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
some
maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...
and
Birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...
. The Soil Generally is 2d Rate on dry land; in the swamps unfit for Cultivation.

The town is named for Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, a hero of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

Geography

The Town of Sampson is roughly a rectangle, north to south and east to west. The town occupies the northwest corner of Chippewa County and is bordered to the north by Rusk County and to the west by Barron County. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 8.42%, is water. The Chippewa Moraine State Recreation Area, part of the

Ice Age National Scientific Reserve The Ice Age National Scientific Reserve is an affiliated area of the National Park System of the United States comprising nine sites in Wisconsin that preserve geological evidence of glaciation. To protect the scientific and scenic value ...

, is in the southern part of the town.

Demographics

At the 2000

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, there were 816 people, 330 households and 232 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 13.1 per square mile (5.0/km²). There were 449 housing units at an average density of 7.2 per square mile (2.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.39%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.12% Asian, and 0.49% from two or more races. There were 330 households, of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.96. 24.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.5 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $33,021, and the median family income was $38,229. Males had a median income of $28,289 versus $17,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $14,714. About 10.0% of families and 15.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 28.6% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Town of Sampson official website
{{authority control Towns in Chippewa County, Wisconsin Eau Claire–Chippewa Falls metropolitan area Towns in Wisconsin